Harper's  Stereotype  Edition,  with  Engravings, 

, ..  i  ,  — -•  -•-        •  .......  f. — . , ..« 

THE 

HISTORY 

OF    THE 

DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENT 

OP 

AME  RICA 

BY  WILLIAM  ROBERTSON,  D.D. 

PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  AT  EDINBURGH,  ETC.  ETC. 

WITH  AN  ACCOUNT   OF  HIS   LIFE  AND  WRITINGS. 


TO  WHICH  ARE  ADDED 

QUESTIONS 

FOR    THE 

EXAMINATION   OF   STUDENTS. 

BY  JOHN  FROST,  A.M. 

COMPLETE  IN  ONE  VOLUME. 


NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

NO.    82   CLIFF-STREET. 
1835. 


LIBRARY 

i'Y  OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE 


LIFE  OF  DR.  WM.  ROBERTSON, 


WILLIAM  ROBERTSON,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Reverend  William  Robert 
son,  was  born  on  the  8th  of  September,  1721,  at  Bprthwick,  in  the  shire  of 
Mid  Lothian,  of  which  parish  his  father  was  the  minister.  By  the  paternal 
line  he  descended  from  a  respectable  family  in  the  county  of  Fife,  a  branch 
of  that  which,  for  many  generations,  possessed  the  estate  of  Struan,  in 
Perthshire.  His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  David  Pitcairn,  esq.  of 
Dreghorn.  He  had  one  brother  and  six  sisters  ;  all  of  whom  were  well 
settled  in  life,  and  most  of  whom  lived  to  an  advanced  age. 

It  was  at  the  parochial  school  of  Borthwick  that  Robertson  received  the 
initiatory  part  of  his  education  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  was  sufficiently  forward 
to  enter  on  the  study  of  the  learned  languages,  he  was  removed  to  the 
school  of  Dalkeith.  The  latter  seminary  was  then  under  the  superintend 
ence  of  Mr.  Leslie,  whose  eminence  as  a  teacher  was  such  as  to  attract 
pupils  from  all  parts  of  Scotland  ;  and  the  father  of  Robertson  was  con 
sequently  induced  to  send  him  to  Dalkeith  rather  than  to  the  Scottish 
metropolis. 

When  the  future  historian  was  twelve  years  old,  his  father  was  trans 
ferred  from  Borthwick  to  one  of  the  churches  of  Edinburgh.  In  the 
autumn  of  1733  he  joined  his  parents  ;  and,  in  October,  he  was  admitted 
into  the  college  and  university  of  the  northern  capital. 

Whatever  were  his  first  attempts  at  composition,  and  it  is  probable  they 
were  many,  nothing  has  been  preserved  to  show  how  early  he  began  to 
exercise  his  talents,  or  with  what  degree  of  rapidity  those  talents  were 
expanded.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  he 
displayed  that  ardour  and  perseverance  without  which  nothing  great  will 
ever  be  accomplished.  A  strong  proof  of  this  is  afforded  by  some  of  his 
early  commonplace  books,  which  bear  the  dates  of  1735,  1736,  and  1737. 
The  motto,  vita  sine  literis  mors  est,  which  he  prefixed  to  these  books, 
sufficiently  indicates  by  what  an  honourable  ambition  and  love  of  literature 
he  was  inspired  at  a  very  tender  and  generally  thoughtless  age.  The  boy 
of  fourteen,  who  can  cherish  the  feeling  which  is  implied  By  this  motto, 
gives  promise  that  his  manhood  will  reflect  lustre  on  himself  and  on  the 
country  of  his  birth. 

Among  the  men  of  eminence,  by  whose  instructions  he  profited  at  the 
university,  were  sir  John  Pringle,  afterwards  president  of  the  Royal 
Society,  but  then  professor  of  moral  philosophy;  Maclaurm,  justly  cele 
brated  for  the  extent  of  his  mathematical  skill  and  the  purity  of  his  style 
and  Dr.  Stevenson,  the  learned  and  indefatigable  professor  of  logic.  To 
the  masterly  prelections  of  the  latter,  especially  to  his  illustrations  of  the 
poetics  of  Aristotle,  and  of  Lpnginus  on  the  Sublime,  Robertson  often 
declared  that  he  considered  himself  to  be  more  deeply  indebted  than  to 
any  circumstance  in  the  course  of  his  academical  career.  It  was  indeed 
not  towards  the  abstract  sciences  that  the  bent  of  his  genius  was  directed. 
To  mathematical  and  mechanical  speculations  he  seems  to  have  been  at 
least  cold,  perhaps  averse.  Neither  was  he  remarkable  for  metaphysical 
acuteness.  His  delight  was  to  trace  and  elucidate  moral  and  religious 
truths,  to  apply  the  process  of  reasoning  to  subjects  more  immediately  con- 


iv  THE  LIFE  OF 

nected  with  the  every-day  business  of  existence,  to  search  into  the  cause? 
and  effects  of  historical  events,  to  expatiate  amidst  the  perennial  beauties  oi 
classic  lore,  and,  by  meditating  on  the  great  models  of  oratorical  art,  to 
render  himself  master  of  all  the  powerful  resources  of  a  ready  and  persua 
sive  eloquence. 

With  respect  to  eloquence,  the  possession  of  it  was  in  fact  indispensable 
to  one  who,  as  in  all  probability  was  the  case  with  Robertson,  had  deter 
mined  to  assume  a  prominent  station  among  the  pastors  and  leaders  of  the 
Scottish  church.  The  mere  knowledge  of  rules,  however,  or  even  a  tho 
rough  acquaintance  with  the  rich  stores  of  ancient  and  modern  oratory, 
will  not  suffice  to  form  an  orator.  It  is  by  use  alone  that  facility  of  speech 
and  promptitude  ol  reply  can  be  acquired.  It  is  the  collision  of  minds 
which  strikes  out  the  "  thoughts  that  breathe,  and  words  that  burn." 
During  the  last  years,  therefore,  of  his  residing  at  college,  he  joined  with 
some  of  his  contemporaries  in  establishing  a  society,  the  avowed  purpose 
of  which,  as  we  are  told  by  Mr.  Stewart,  was  "  to  cultivate  the  study  of 
elocution,  and  to  prepare  themselves,  by  the  habits  of  extemporary  dis 
cussion  and  debate,  for  conducting  the  business  of  popular  assemblies." 

Of  the  colleagues  of  Robertson  in  this  society  many  ultimately  rose,  like 
himself,  to  high  reputation.  Among1  them  were  Cleghorn,  subsequently 
professor  of  moral  philosophy  at  Edinburgh,  Dr.  John  Blair,  who  became 
a  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  a  prebendary  of  Westminster,  and 
who  gave  to  the  public  "  The  Chronology  and  History  of  the  World," 
Wilkie,  the  author  of  the  Epigoniad,  a  faulty  poem,  but  above  ccuempt, 
Home,  the  author  of  Douglas,  and  Dr.  Erskine,  who,  in  after  life,  was  at 
once  the  coadjutor,  rival,  opponent,  and  friend  of  Robertson. 

This  society  continued  in  existence,  and,  no  doubt,  was  beneficial  to  its 
members,  till  it  was  broken  up  by  a  quarrel,  which  had  its  rise  from  a  reli 
gious  source,  and  which,  consequently,  was  of  more  than  common  bitter 
ness.  In  1741  that  extraordinary  man  Whitefield,  who  was  then  in  the 
zenith  of  his  fame,  paid  a  visit  to  Scotland,  and  his  preaching  excited  in 
that  country  a  feeling  equally  as  strong  as  it  had  excited  in  England.  On 
the  subject  of  his  merit  violent  parties  immediately  sprang  up,  especially 
among  the  clergy.  By  the  one  side  he  was  considered  as  a  clerical  won 
der,  a  kind  of  apostle,  from  whose  evangelical  labours  the  happiest  result 
might  be  expected ;  by  the  other  side  he  was  calumniated  as  an  impostor, 
and  a  worthless  private  character,  while  some,  in  the  excess  of  their  holy 
zeal,  did  not  scruple  to  stigmatize  him,  even  from  the  pulpit,  as  "  an  agent 
of  the  devil."  It  was  natural  that  this  question  should  be  debated  by- 
Robertson  and  his  associates ;  and  it  was,  perhaps,  not  less  natural  that  it 
should  be  argued  with  so  much  heat  and  asperity  as  not  only  to  cause  the 
dissolution  of  the  society,  but  even,  it  is  said,  to  interrupt,  for  some  time, 
the  intercourse  of  the  members  as  private  individuals.  Of  those  who 
entertained  doubts  with  regard  to  the  personal  conduct  of  Whitefield,  and 
the  utility  of  his  efforts,  Robertson  was  one.  From  his  acknowledged 
moderation  and  evenness  of  temper  we  may,  however,  infer  that  his  hos 
tility  to  the  preacher  was  carried  on  in  a  liberal  spirit,  and  that  he  did  not 
think  it  either  necessary  or  decorous  to  brand  him  as  an  agent  of  the  prince 
of  darkness. 

To  excel  in  his  written  style  as  much  as  in  his  oral  was  one  object  of  his 
ambition.  The  practice  of  clothing  in  an  English  dress  the  standard  works 
of  the  ancients  has  been  often  recommended,  as  conducive  to  the  improve 
ment  of  style ;  and  he  seems  to  have  believed  it  to  be  so,  for  it  was 
adopted  by  him.  He  carried  it  so  far  as  to  entertain  serious  thoughts  ot 
preparing  for  the  press  a  version  of  Marcus  Antoninus.  His  scheme  was, 
however,  frustrated  by  the  appearance  of  an  anonymous  translation  at 
Glasgow.  "  In  making  choice  of  this  author,"  says  Mr.  Stewart,  "  he  was 
probably  not  a  little  influenced  by  that  partiality  with  which  (among  the 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  v 

writers  of  heathen  moralists)  he  always  regarded  the  remains  of  the  stoical 
philosophy." 

Having  completed  his  academic  course,  and  richly  stored  his  mind,  he 
quitted  the  university,  and,  in  1741,  before  he  had  quite  attained  the  age 
of  twenty,  a  license  to  preach  the  gospel  was  given  to  him  by  the  presby 
tery  of  Dalkeith.  This  kind  of  license,  which  does  not  authorize  to 
administer  the  sacraments  or  to  undertake  the  cure  of  souls,  is  granted  to 
laymen  ;  and  the  person  who  receives  it  may  be  considered  as  being  placed 
by  it  in  a  state  of  probation. 

After  the  lapse  of  two  years,  from  the  period  of  his  leaving  the  univer 
sity,  when  he  was  yet  little  more  than  twenty-two,  he  was,  in  1743,  pre 
sented,  by  the  Earl  of  Hopetoun,  to  the  living  of  Gladsmuir.  Of  this  pre 
ferment  the  yearly  value  was  not  more  than  one  hundred  pounds.  Scanty, 
however,  as  were  its  emoluments,  it  was  most  opportunely  bestowed.  He 
had  not  long  resided  at  Gladsmuir  when  an  unexpected  and  melancholy 
event  occurred,  which  put  to  the  trial  at  once  his  firmness  and  his  benevo 
lence.  His  father  and  mother  expired  within  a  few  hours  of  each  other, 
leaving  behind  them  a  family  of  six  daughters  and  one  son,  without  the 
means  of  providing  for  their  education  and  maintenance.  On  this  occa 
sion  Robertson  acted  in  a  manner  which  bore  irrefragable  testimony  to  the 
goodness  of  his  heart,  and  which  was  also,  as  Mr.  Stewart  justly  observes, 
"  strongly  marked  with  that  manly  decision  in  his  plans,  and  that  perse 
vering  steadiness  in  their  execution,  which  were  the  characteristic  features 
of  his  mind."  Regardless  of  the  privations  to  which  he  must  necessarily 
submit,  and  the  interruption  which  his  literary  and  other  projects  must 
experience,  he  received  his  father's  family  into  his  house  at  Gladsmuir, 
educated  his  sisters  under  his  own  roof,  and  retained  them  there  till  oppor 
tunities  arose  of  settling  them  respectably  in  the  world.  His  merit  is 
enhanced  by  the  circumstance  of  his  fraternal  affection  having  imposed  on 
him  a  sacrifice  far  more  painful  than  that  of  riches  or  fame.  He  was  ten 
derly  attached  to  his  cousin  Miss  Mary  Nesbit,  daughter  of  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Nesbit,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  and  his  attachment  was 
returned  ;  but  it  was  not  till  1751,  when  his  family  had  ceased  to  stand  in 
need  of  his  protecting  care,  that  he  thought  himself  at  liberty  to  complete 
a  union  which  had,  for  several  years,  been  the  object  of  his  ardent  wishes. 
It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  the  wife  whom  he  so  tardily  obtained  was  every 
way  worthy  of  such  a  husband,  and  that  he  suffered  no  interruption  of  his 
domestic  happiness. 

While  he  was  laudably  occupied  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  his  orphan 
relatives,  the  rebellion  broke  out  in  Scotland.  "  It  afforded  him,"  says 
Mr.  Stewart,  "  an  opportunity  of  evincing  the  sincerity  of  that  zeal  for  the 
civil  and  religious  liberties  of  his  country,  which  he  had  imbibed  with  the 
first  principles  of  his  education  ;  and  which  afterwards,  at  the  distance  of 
more  than  forty  years,  when  he  was  called  on  to  employ  his  eloquence  in 
the  national  commemoration  of  the  revolution,  seemed  to  rekindle  the  fires 
of  his  youth.  His  situation  as  a  country  clergyman  confined  indeed  his 
patriotic  exertions  within  a  narrow  sphere ;  but  even  here  his  conduct  was 
guided  by  a  mind  superior  to  the  scene  in  which  he  acted.  On  one  occa 
sion  (when  the  capital  was  in  danger  of  fall  ing  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels) 
the  present  state  of  public  affairs  appeared  so  critical  that  he  thought  him 
self  justified  in  laying  aside  for  a  time  the  pacific  habits  of  his  profession, 
and  in  quitting  his  parochial  residence  at  Gladsmuir  to  join  the  volunteers 
of  Edinburgh.  And  when,  at  last,  it  was  determined  that  the  city  should 
be  surrendered,  he  was  one  of  the  small  band  who  repaired  to  Hadding- 
ton,  and  offered  their  services  to  the  commander  of  His  Majesty's  forces." 
"W  ith  the  exception  of  this  one  troubled  interval  he  continued,  for  many 
years,  in  the  tranquil  performance  of  his  pastoral  duties.  The  hours  of 
his  leisure  were  devoted  to  literary  researches  and  to  laying  the  solid  foun- 


?i  THE  LIFE  OF 

dation  of  future  eminence.  It  was  his  practice  to  rise  early,  and  to  read 
and  write  much  before  breakfast.  The  remainder  of  the  day  he  devoted 
to  the  claims  of  his  profession.  As  a  minister  of  the  gospel  he  was  consci 
entious  and  active  ;  not  confining  himself  to  the  mere  routine  of  his  sacred 
office,  but  endeavouring  by  every  means  to  extend  the  comforts  and  influ 
ence  of  religion.  In  the  summer  months  it  was  customary  for  him,  previous 
to  the  commencement  of  the  church  service,  to  assemble  the  youthful  part 
of  his  flock  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  to  them  the  doctrines  of  the 
catechism.  By  his  zeal,  his  punctuality,  and  the  suavity  of  his  behaviour, 
he  won  the  love  of  his  parishioners  ;  so  that,  in  all  their  difficulties,  it  was 
to  him  that  they  resorted  for  consolation  and  for  counsel.  His  pulpit  elo 
quence  was  such  as  afforded  delight  to  all  classes  of  people  ;  because, 
while  it  was  adorned  with  those  graces  of  style  which  are  required  to 
satisfy  men  of  judgment  and  taste,  it  was  rendered  level  to  the  compre 
hension  of  his  humblest  hearers,  by  the  clearness  of  its  argument  and  the 
perspicuity  of  its  language. 

The  time  at  length  arrived  when  the  talents  of  Robertson  were  to  be 
displayed  on  a  more  extensive  and  public  scene  of  action,  and  he  was  to 
assume  a  leading  share  in  the  government  of  the  Scottish  church.  He  did 
not,  however,  come  forward  among  his  colleagues  till  he  had  attained  the 
mature  age  of  thirty,  and  had  thoroughly  prepared  himself  to  sustain  his 
new  and  important  part  with  untiring  vigour  and  a  decisive  effect.  It  was 
on  the  question  of  patronage  that  he  first  exerted  his  powers  of  eloquence 
in  a  deliberative  assembly. 

To  enable  the  mere  English  reader  to  comprehend  this  subject,  it  may, 
perhaps,  be  proper  to  give  some  account  of  the  constitution  of  the  church 
of  Scotland,  and  also  of  the  right  of  patronage,  out  of  which  arose  the 
contentions  and  heartburnings  by  which  the  church  was  disturbed  for  a 
considerable  period. 

The  church  of  Scotland  is  ruled  by  a  series  of  judicatpries,  rising  by 
regular  gradation  from  the  kirk  session,  or  parochial  consistory,  which  is 
the  lowest  in  order,  to  the  general  assembly,  which  is  the  highest.  The 
kirk  session  is  composed  of  the  ministers  and  lay  elders  of  parishes ;  a 
presbytery  is  formed  of  the  ministers  of  contiguous  parishes,  with  certain 
representatives  from  the  kirk  sessions ;  and  a  provincial  synod  is  consti 
tuted  by  the  union  of  a  plurality  of  presbyteries.  Crowning  the  whole  is 
the  general  assembly.  This  body  consists  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-four 
members,  of  whom  two  hundred  and  two  are  ministers,  and  the  remainder 
are  laymen.  Of  this  number  two  hundred  and  one  ministers  and  eighty- 
nine  lay  elders  are  sent  by  the  presbyteries ;  the  royal  boroughs  elect 
sixty-seven  laymen ;  the  universities  depute  five  persons,  who  may  be 
either  ecclesiastics  or  laymen ;  and  the  Scottish  church  of  Campvere  in 
Holland  supplies  two  deputies,  the  one  lay  and  the  other  clerical.  The 
annual  sittings  of  the  assembly  are  limited  to  ten  days ;  but  whatever  busi 
ness  it  has  left  unsettled  is  transacted  by  a  committee  of  the  whole  house 
(called  the  commission),  which,  in  the  course  of  the  year,  has  four  stated 
meetings.  Among  the  lay  members  of  the  assembly  are  men  of  the  high 
est  consequence  in  the  kingdom  ;  lawyers,  judges,  and  sometimes  nobles. 

Though  all  the  ministers  in  Scotland  are  on  a  perfect  equality  with  each 
other,  yet  each  individual  and  each  judicatory  is  bound  to  yield  a  prompt 
obedience  to  the  superintending  authority,  and  each  court  must  punctually 
lay  the  record  of  its  proceedings  before  the  tribunal  which  is  next  in  rank 
above  it ;  but  the  general  assembly  has  the  power  of  deciding  without 
appeal,  of  enforcing,  uncontrolled,  its  decrees,  and,  with  the  concurrence 
of  a  majority  of  the  presbyteries,  of  enacting  laws  for  the  government  of 
the  Scottish  church. 

The  history  of  clerical  patronage  in  Scotland  since  the  overthrow  of 
Catholicism,  and  of  the  struggles  to  which  it  has  given  rise,  has  been  traced 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  v» 

with  so  much  clearness  by  Dr.  Gleig  that,  though  the  passage  is  of  some 
length,  1  shall  give  it  in  his  own  words.  "  The  Reformation  in  Scotland," 
says  he,  "  was  irregular  and  tumultuous  ;  and  the  great  object  of  the  pow 
erful  aristocracy  of  that  kingdom  seems  to  have  been  rather  to  get  posses 
sion  of  the  tithes,  and  the  lands  of  the  dignified  clergy,  than  to  purify  the 
doctrine  and  reform  the  worship  of  the  church.  Of  this  Knox  and  the 
other  reformed  clergymen  complained  bitterly  ;  and  their  complaints  were 
extorted  from  them  by  their  own  sufferings.  Never,  I  believe,  were  the 
established  clergy  of  any  Christian  country  reduced  to  such  indigence  as 
were  those  zealous  and  well  meaning  men,  during  the  disastrous  reign  of 
queen  Mary,  and  the  minority  of  her  son  and  successor ;  while  the  pit 
tance  that  was  promised  to  them,  instead  of  being  regularly  paid,  was 
often  seized  by  the  rapacity  of  the  regents  and  the  powerful  barons  who 
adhered  to  their  cause,  and  the  ministers  left  to  depend  for  their  subsist 
ence  on  the  generosity  of  the  people. 

"  As  nearly  the  whole  of  the  ecclesiastical  patronage  of  the  kingdom 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  those  barons,  partly  by  inheritance  from 
their  ancestors,  and  partly  with  the  church  lands  which,  on  the  destruction 
of  the  monasteries,  they  had  appropriated  to  themselves,  it  is  not  wonder 
ful  that,  in  an  age  when  men  were  very  apt  to  confound  tk:»  illegal  and 
mischievous  conduct  of  him  who  exercised  an  undoubted  right  with  the 
natural  consequences  of  that  right  itself,  strong  prejudices  were  excited  in 
the  minds  of  the  clergy  and  more  serious  part  of  the  people  against  the 
law  which  vested  in  such  sacrilegious  robbers  the  right  of  presentation  to 
parish  churches.  It  is  not  indeed  very  accurately  known  by  whom  minis 
ters  were  nominated  to  vacant  churches  for  thirty  years  after  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Reformation,  when  there  was  hardly  any  settled 
government  in  the  church  or  in  the  state.  In  some  parishes  they  were 
probably  called  by  the  general  voice  of  the  people  ;  in  others,  obtruded 
on  them  by  the  violence  of  the  prevailing  faction,  to  serve  some  political 
purpose  of  the  day  ;  and  in  others  again  appointed  by  the  superintendent 
and  his  council :  while  in  a  few  the  legal  patron  may  have  exercised  his 
right,  without  making  any  simoniacal  contract  with  the  presentee  ;  v/hich, 
however,  there  is  reasTm  to  suspect  was  no  uncommon  practice,* 

"  Hitherto  the  government  of  the  Protestant  church  of  Scotland  had  fluc 
tuated  from  one  form  to  another,  sometimes  assuming  the  appearance  of  epis 
copacy  under  superintendents,  and  at  other  times  being  presbyterian  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  the  word.  In  the  month  of  June,  1592,  an  act  was  passed, 
giving  a  legal  sanction  to  the  presbyterian  form  of  government,  and  resto 
ring  the  ancient  law  of  patronage.  By  that  act  the  patron  of  a  vacant 
parish  was  authorized  to  present,  to  the  presbytery  comprehending  that 
parish,  a  person  properly  qualified  to  be  intrusted  with  the  cure  of  souls  ; 
and  the  presbytery  was  enjoined,  after  subjecting  the  presentee  to  certain 


"  Though  we  are  assured.Jby  the  highest  authority!  that  this  right  of 
patronage,  thus  conferred-^ : the  fundamental  charter  of  presbyterian 
government  in  Scotland,  was*  early  complained  of  as  a  grievance,  it  ap 
pears  to  have  been  regularrj^exercised  until  the  era  of  the  rebellion  against 
Charles  I.  during  the  establishment  as  well  of  the  presbyterian  as  of  the 
episcopal  church.  It  was  indeed  abolished  by  the  usurping  powers,  which 
in  1649  established  in  its  stead  what  was  then  called  '  the  gospel  right  of 
popular  election  ;'  but  at  the  restoration  it  was  re-established  together  with 
episcopacy,  and  was  regularly  exercised  until  the  revolution,  when  epis- 

*  The  reader  will  derive  much  valuable  information  on  this  subject  from  Dr.  Cook's  "  History 
of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  "  +  Dr.  Hill,  Principal  of  St.  Mary's  College,  in  the  Univei- 

«ty  of  St.  Andrew's. 


viii  THE  LIFE  OF 

copacy  was  finally  overthrown,  and,  by  an  act  passed  on  the  26 th  of  May, 
'the  presbyterian  church,  government,  and  discipline,  by  kirk  sessions, 
presbyteries,  provincial  synods,  and  general  assemblies,'  established  in  its 
stead.  The  act  of  James  VI.  in  1592  was  *  revived  and  confirmed  in  every 
head  thereof,  except  in  that  part  of  it  relating  to  patronages,'  which  were 
utterly  abolished,  though  nothing  was  substituted  in  their  stead  until  the 
19th  of  July  immediately  succeeding. 

"  It  was  then  statuted  and  declared,  to  use  the  language  of  the  act,  *  that, 
in  the  vacancy  of  any  particular  church,  and  for  supplying  the  same  with 
a  minister,  the  protestant  heritors  and  elders  are  to  name  and  propose  the 
person  to  the  whole  congregation,  to  be  either  approven  or  disapproven  by 
them ;  and  if  they  disapprove,  they  are  to  give  in  their  reasons,  to  the 
effect  the  affairs  may  be  cognosced  by  the  presbytery  of  the  bounds ;  at 
whose  judgment,  and  by  whose  determination,  the  calling  and  entry  of 
every  particular  minister  is  to  be  ordered  and  concluded.  In  recompense 
of  which  rights  of  presentation  the  heritors  of  every  parish  were  to  pay 
to  the  patron  six  hundred  merks  (£33  6s.  Sd.  sterling),  against  a  certain 
time,  and  under  certain  proportions. 

"  Whether  this  sum,  which  at  that  period  was  very  considerable,  was 
actually  paid  to  the  patrons  of  the  several  parishes,  I  know  not ;  but  if  it 
was,  or  indeed  whether  it  was  or  not,  had  it  been  the  intention  of  the  legis 
lature  to  produce  dissension  in  the  country,  it  could  not  have  devised  any 
thing  better  calculated  to  effect  its  purpose  than  this  mode  of  appointing 
ministers  to  vacant  churches.  The  heritors  or  landholders,  if  the  price  was 
paid,  would  naturally  contend  for  the  uncontrolled  exercise  of  the  right 
which  they,  and  they  only,  had  purchased  ;  but  it  is  not  by  any  means 
probable  that  at  such  a  period  they  could  often  agree  in  their  choice  of  a 
minister  for  a  vacant  parish.  The  elders,  who  were  men  of  inferior  rank 
and  inferior  education,  would,  by  the  envy  of  the  low,  when  comparing 
themselves  with  the  high,  be  prompted  to  thwart  the  wishes  of  their  land 
lords,  which  the  act  of  parliament  enabled  them  to  do  effectully  ;  and  the 
consequence  must  have  been  that  two  or  three  candidates  for  every  vacant 
church  were  at  once  proposed  to  the  people  of  the  parish  for  their  appro 
bation  or  disapprobation.  The  people  might  either  give  the  preference  to 
one  of  the  candidates  proposed,  or  reject  them  all,  for  reasons  of  which  the 
members  of  the  presbytery  were  constituted  the  judges ;  and  as  it  appears 
that  the  presbytery  generally  took  part  with  the  people,  a  source  of  ever 
lasting  contention  was  thus  established  between  the  country  gentlemen  and 
the  parochial  clergy ;  an  evil  than  which  a  greater  cannot  easily  be  con 
ceived.  For  these,  and  other  reasons,  this  ill  digested  law  was  repealed 
in  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  queen  Anne,  and  the  right  of  patronage 
restored  as  in  all  other  established  churches. 

"By  many  of  the  clergy,  however,  patronage  seems  to  have  been  con 
sidered  as  an  appendage  of  prelacy ;  though  it  has  obviously  no  greater 
connexion  with  that  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  than  with  any  other  that 
is  capable  of  being  allied  with  the  state  ;  and,  till  after  the  year  1730, 
ministers  continued  to  be  settled  in  vacant  parishes  in  the  manner  pre 
scribed  by  the  act  of  king  William  and  queen  Mary.  *  Even  then,'  says 
Dr.  Hill,  *  the  church  courts,  although  they  could  not  entirely  disregard  the 
law,  continued,  in  many  instances,  to  render  it  ineffectual,  and  by  their 
authority  sanctioned  the  prevailing  prejudices  of  the  people  against  it. 
They  admitted,  as  an  incontrovertible  principle  in  presbyterian  church 
government,  that  a  presentee,  although  perfectly  well  qualified,  and  unex 
ceptionable  in  his  life  and  doctrine,  was  nevertheless  inadmissible  to  his 
clerical  office,  till  the  concurrence  of  the  people  who  were  to  be  under  his 
ministry  had  been  regularly  ascertained.'  The  form  of  expressing  this 
concurrence  was  by  the  subscription  of  a  paper  termed  '  a  call ;'  to  which 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  ix 

many  of  the  old  ministers  paid  greater  respect  than  to  the  deed  of  pre 
sentation  by  the  patron  of  the  church. 

"  To  render  the  call  good,  however,  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  land 
holders,  elders,  and  people,  was  not  considered  as  necessary,  nor  indeed 
ever  looked  for.  Nay,  it  appears  that  even  a  majority  was  not  in  all  cases 
deemed  indispensable  ;  for  the  presbytery  often  admitted  to  his  charge, 
and  proceeded  to  ordain  the  presentee  whose  call,  by  whatever  number  of 
parishioners,  appeared  to  them  to  afford  a  reasonable  prospect  of  his  be 
coming,  by  prudent  conduct,  a  useful  parish  minister.  On  the  other  hand, 
presbyteries  sometimes  set  aside  the  presentation  altogether,  when  they 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  call ;  and  when  the  patron  insisted  on  his  right, 
and  the  presbytery  continued  inflexible,  the  general  assembly  was,  in  such 
cases,  under  the  necessity  either  of  compelling  the  members  of  the  presby 
tery,  by  ecclesiastical  censures,  to  do  their  duty,  or  of  appointing  a  com 
mittee  of  its  own  body  to  relieve  them  from  that  duty,  by  ordaining  the 
presentee,  and  inducting  him  into  the  vacant  church.  To  compulsion  re 
course  had  seldom  been  had ;  and  the  consequence  was  that  individuals 
openly  claimed  a  right  to  disobey  the  injunctions  of  the  assembly,  when 
ever  they  conceived  their  disobedience  justified  by  a  principle  of  con 
science. 

"  Such  was  the  state  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  in  Scotland  when  Mr. 
Robertson  first  took  an  active  part  in  the  debates  of  the  general  assembly ; 
and  he  very  justly  thought  that  its  tendency  was  to  overturn  the  presbyte 
rian  establishment,  and  introduce  in  its  stead  a  number  of  independent 
congregational  churches.  He  therefore  supported  the  law  of  patronage, 
not  merely  because  it  was  part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  but  because  he 
thought  it  the  most  expedient  method  of  filling  the  vacant  churches.  It 
did  not  appear  to  him  that  the  people  at  large  are  competent  judges  of 
those  qualities  which  a  minister  should  possess  in  order  to  be  a  useful 
teacher  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  or  of  the  precepts  of  a  sound  morality. 
He  more  than  suspected 4hat  if  the  candidates  for  churches  were  taught 
to  consider  their  success  in  obtaining  a  settlement  as  depending  on  a  popu 
lar  election,  many  of  them  would  be  tempted  to  adopt  a  manner  of  preach 
ing  calculated  rather  to  please  the  people  than  to  promote  their  edification 
He  thought  that  there  is  little  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  the  abuse 
of  the  law  of  patronage ;  because  the  presentee  must  be  chosen  from 
among  those  whom  the  church  had  approved,  and  licensed  as  qualified  for 
the  office  of  a  parish  minister ;  because  a  presentee  cannot  be  admitted  to 
the  benefice  if  any  relevant  objection  to  his  life  or  doctrine  be  proved 
against  him  ;  and  because,  after  ordination  and  admission,  he  is  liable  to 
be  deposed  for  improper  conduct,  and  the  church  declared  vacant." 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  merits  of  the  cause  which  Robertson 
espoused,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  he  was  a  conscientious  supporter  of 
it.  To  undertake  its  defence  some  strength  of  nerve  was,  indeed,  required. 
Success  seemed,  at  the  outset,  to  be  scarcely  within  the  verge  of  proba 
bility,  and  there  was  much  danger ^of  becoming  unpopular.  The  result, 
nevertheless,  gave  ample  proof  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  per 
severance  and  talents.  The  first  time  that  he  came  forward  in  the  assem 
bly  was  in  May,  1751,  when  a  debate  arose  on  the  conduct  of  a  minister., 
who  had  disobeyed  the  sentence  of  a  former  assembly.  Seizing  this 
opportunity  to  enforce  his  principles  of  church  discipline,  Robertson,  in  a 
vigorous  and  eloquent  speech,  contended  that  if  subordination  were  not 
rigidly  maintained  the  presbyterian  establishment  would  ultimately  be 
overthrown,  and,  therefore,  an  exemplary  punishment  ought  to  be  inflicted 
on  the  offending  party.  But,  though  he  was  heard  with  attention,  his  argu 
ments  produced  so  little  present  effect  that,  on  the  house  being  divided,  he 
was  left  in  a  minority  of  no  more  than  eleven  against  two  hundred. 

Though  this  decision  was  not  calculated  to  encourage  him,  he  deter- 


x  THE  LIFE  OF 

mined  to  persist,  and  an  occurrence  very  soon  took  place  which  enabled 
nim  to  renew  the  contest.  The  presbytery  of  Dumferline  having  been 
guilty  of  disobedience,  in  refusing  to  admit  a  minister  to  the  church  of 
Inverkeithing,  the  commission  of  the  assembly,  which  met  in  November, 
ordered  them  to  cease  from  their  opposition,  and  threatened,  that,  if  they 
continued  to  be  refractory,  they  should  be  subjected  to  a  high  censure 
Notwithstanding  this,  the  presbytery  again  disobeyed  the  mandate  of  the 
superior  court.  Yet,  instead  of  carrying  its  threat  into  effect,  the  commis 
sion  came  to  a  resolution  that  no  censure  should  be  inflicted. 

Such  a  resolution  as  this,  after  the  commission  had  gone  so  far  as  to 
resort  to  threats,  was  at  least  absurd.  So  fair  an  opening  as  this  circum 
stance  afforded  was  not  neglected  by  Robertson.  He  accordingly  drew  up 
a  protest,  intituled,  "  Reasons  of  Dissent  from  the  Judgment  and  Resolution 
of  the  Commission."  This  protest,  which  was  signed  by  himself,  Dr. 
Blair,  Home,  and  a  few  other  friends,  is  an  able  and  closely  reasoned  pro 
duction.  It  boldly  declares  the  sentence  of  the  commission  to  be  incon 
sistent  with  the  nature  and  first  principles  of  society ;  charges  the  commis 
sion  itself  with  having,  by  that  sentence,  gone  beyond  its  powers,  and 
betrayed  the  privileges  and  deserted  the  doctrines  of  the  constitution  ;  con 
siders  the  impunity  thus  granted  as  encouraging  and  inviting  contumacy , 
insists  on  the  lawfulness  and  wisdom  of  ecclesiastical  censures,  and  on  the 
absolute  necessity  of  preserving  subordination  and  obedience  in  the  church ; 
and,  finally,  maintains  that  the  exercise  of  no  man's  private  judgment  can 
justify  him  in  disturbing  all  public  order,  that  he, who  becomes  a  member 
of  a  church  ought  to  conform  to  its  decrees,  or,  "  if  he  hath  rashly  joined 
himself,  that  he  is  bound,  as  an  honest  man  and  a  good  Christian,  to  with 
draw,  and  to  keep  his  conscience  pure  and  undefiled." 

When  the  assembly  met,  in  1752,  the  question  was  brought  before  it ; 
and  Robertson  supported  the  principles  of  his  protest  with  such  cogency 
of  argument,  that  he  won  over  a  majority  to  his  side,  and  achieved  a  com- 

Elete  triumph.  The  judgment  of  the  commission  was  reversed,  Mr.  Gil- 
>spie,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  presbytery  of  Dumferline,  was  deposed 
from  his  pastoral  office,  and  ejected  from  his  living,  and  three  other  indi 
viduals  were  suspended  from  their  judicative  capacity  in  the  superior 
ecclesiastical  courts.  Gillespie,  whose  only  crime  was  that  of  being 
absent  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  induction  of  the  presentee,  was  a  pious 
and  amiable  man,  and  his  deposition  occasioned  so  much  dissatisfaction, 
that  it  gave  rise  to  a  new  sect  of  dissenters,  afterwards  known  by  the 
appellation  of  "  the  Presbytery  of  Relief;"  a  sect  which  still  exists,  and  is 
of  considerable  magnitude. 

From  this  time,  though  it  was  not  till  the  year  1763  that  he  became  its 
avowed  leader,  Robertson  was,  in  fact,  at  the  head  of  the  assembly  ;  which 
body,  for  the  whole  period  of  his  ascendancy,  he  contrived  to  keep  steady 
to  his  principles.  In  this  task  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Dr.  Drysdale,  one 
of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh.  It  was  not,  however,  without  many  strug 
gles  that  he  retained  his  pre-eminence.  Those  which  took  place  in  1765 
and  1768  were  peculiarly  violent ;  motions  having  then  been  made,  and 
vehemently  contended  for,  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  rapid  progress 
of  secession  from  the  established  church  ;  and,  in  order  to  counteract  them, 
to  introduce  a  more  popular  mode  of  inducting  the  parochial  ministers. 
From  what  is  mentioned  by  sir  Henry  Wellwood,  m  his  "  Memoirs  of 
Dr.  Erskine,"  it  appears  that  the  exertions  of  Robertson  were  kept  con 
tinually  on  the 
cautious  manag 
Dr.  Robertson's  time, 
tual ;  and  the  opposition  to  presentees  so  extremely  pertinacious,  as  in  a 
great  measure  to  engross  the  business  of  the  assemblies.  The  parties  in 
the  church  were  then  more  equally  balanced  than  they  have  ever  been 


DR.    ROBERTSON.  xi 

since  that  period.  The  measures  which  were  adopted,  in  the  face  of  such 
perpetual  opposition,  it  required  no  common  talents  to  manage  or  defend ; 
especially  considering  that  the  leaders  in  opposition  were  such  men  as  Dr. 
Dick,  Dr.  Macqueen,  Dr.  Erskine,  Mr.  Stevenson  of  St.  Madois,  Mr.  Free- 
bairn  of  Dumbarton,  Mr.  Andrew  Crosbie,  &c.  &c.  ;  men  of  the  first  ability 
in  the  country,  and  some  of  them  possessed  of  an  eloquence  for  a  popular 
assembly  to  which  there  was  nothing  superior  in  the  church  or  in  the 
state. 

"  Dr.  Robertson's  firmness  was  not  easily  shaken,  but  his  caution  and 
prudence  never  deserted  him.  He  held  it  for  a  maxim,  never  wantonly 
to  offend  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  and  rather  to  endeavour  to  manage 
than  directly  to  combat  them.  Some  of  the  settlements  in  dispute  were 
protracted  for  eight  or  ten  years  together;  and  though  the  general  assem 
blies  steadily  pursued  their  system,  and  uniformly  appointed  the  presentees 
to  be  inducted,  their  strongest  sentences  were  not  vindictive,  and  seldom 
went  beyond  the  leading  points  to  which  they  were  directed." 

In  1757  an  event  happened,  which  afforded  to  him  an  opportunity  of 
manifesting  the  liberality  of  his  spirit,  and  of  exercising  his  influence  over 
his  colleagues,  to  moderate  the  vengeance  which  was  threatened  to  be 
hurled  on  some  of  his  brethren,  for  having  been  guilty  of  an  act  which  was 
considered  to  be  of  the  most  profane  nature.  The  chief  offender  was  his 
friend  Home,  who  was  then  minister  of  Athelstaneford.  The  crime  con 
sisted  in  Home  having  not  only  produced  the  tragedy  of  Douglas,  but 
having  also  had  the  temerity  to  be  present  at  the  acting  of  it  in  the  Edin 
burgh  theatre.  With  him  were  involved  several  of  his  clerical  intimates, 
who,  as  much  from  a  desire  to  share  with  him  any  odium  or  peril  which 
might  be  incurred,  as  from  a  natural  curiosity,  had  been  induced  to  accom 
pany  him  to  the  theatre  on  the  first  night  of  the  performance.  The  storm 
which  this  circumstance  raised  among  the  Scottish  clergy  can,  in  the  pre 
sent  age,  hardly  be  imagined.  It  seemed  as  if  they  had  witnessed  nothing 
less  than  the  abomination  of  desolation  standing  in  the  holy  place.  The 
presbytery  of  Edinburgh  hastened  to  summon  before  its  tribunal  such  of 
its  members  as  had  committed  this  heinous  offence,  and  it  likewise 
despatched  circulars  to  the  presbyteries  in  the  vicinity,  recommending- 
rigorous  measures  against  all  clergymen  who  had  desecrated  themselves 
by  appearing  in  the  polluted  region  of  the  theatre.  The  alarm  thus 
sounded  awakened  all  the  bigotry  of  the  circumjacent  presbyteries.  That 
of  Haddington,  to  which  Home  belonged,  cited  him  and  his  friend  Car- 
lyle,  of  Inveresk,  to  answer  for  their  misconduct.  That  of  Glasgow  had  no 
criminals  to  chastise,  but  it  was  resolved  not  to  remain  silent,  and,  there 
fore,  with  a  zeal  which  assuredly  was  not  according  to  knowledge,  it  ful 
minated  forth  a  series  of  resolutions  on  this  appalling  subject.  It  lamented 
"  the  melancholy  but  notorious  fact,  that  one,  who  is  a  minister  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  did  himself  write  and  compose  a  play  entitled  the 
Tragedy  of  Douglas,  and  got  it  to  be  acted  in  the  theatre  at  Edinburgh  -, 
and  that  he,  with  several  other  ministers  of  the  church,  were  present,  and 
some  of  them  oftener  than  once,  at  the  acting  of  the  said  play  before  a 
numerous  audience;"  it  affirmed,  in  direct  hostility  to  historical  evidence, 
that  stage  plays  had  "been  looked  upon  by  the  Christian  church,  in  all 
ages,  and  of  all  different  communions,  as  extremely  prejudicial  to  religion 
jnd  morality;  and,  as  a  natural  consequence  from  this,  it  called  on  the 
general  assembly  to  reprobate  publicly  "  a  practice  unbecoming  the  cha 
racter  of  clergymen,  and  of  such  pernicious  tendency  to  the  great  interests 
of  religion,  industry,  and  virtue."  The  cry  of  the  church  was  echoed  from 
the  press,  angry  disputants  were  arrayed  on  both  sides,  and  a  multitude  ot 
ephemeral  pamphlets  and  pasquinades  was  rapidly  produced. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  ecclesiastical  proceedings,  which  on  this 
occasion  were  instituted  in  the  presbyteries  and  in  the  general  assembly, 


xii  THE  LIFE  OF 

Robertson  exerted  himself  with  more  than  common  ardour  and  eloquence 
on  behalf  of  his  friends.  Though,  being  restrained  by  a  promise  which  he 
had  given  to  his  father,  he  had  himself  never  been  within  the  walls  of  a 
theatre,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  avow  his  belief  that  no  culpability  attached 
to  the  persons  who  were  under  prosecution,  "  The  promise,"  said  he, 
"  which  was  exacted  by  the  most  indulgent  of  parents,  I  have  hitherto 
religiously  kept,  and  it  is  my  intention  to  keep  it  till  the  day  of  my  death. 
I  am  at  the  same  time  free  to  declare,  that  I  perceive  nothing  sinful  or 
inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity  in  writing  a  tragedy,  which 
gives  no  encouragement  to  baseness  or  vice,  and  that  I  cannot  concur  in 
censuring  my  brethren  >  for  being  present  at  the  representation  of  such  a 
tragedy,  from  which  I  was  kept  back  by  a  promise,  which,  though  sacred 
to  me,  is  not  obligatory  on  them." 

Wholly  to  overcome  the  prevalent  spirit  of  bigotry  was  more  than 
Robertson  could  accomplish,  but  it  is  believed  to  have  been  at  least  greatly- 
mitigated  by  his  laudable  efforts.  To  his  persuasive  eloquence  is  attri 
buted,  and  no  doubt  justly,  the  comparative  mildness  of  the  sentence  which 
was  ultimately  pronounced.  A  declaratory  act  was  passed  by  the  assem 
bly,  forbidding  the  clergy  to  visit  the  theatres,  but  not  extending  the  pro 
hibition  to  the  writing  of  plays.  The  silence  of  the  assembly  on  the  latter 
head  was  at  least  one  point  gained  in  favour  of  liberal  principles.  As  to 
the  offending  ministers,  some  of  them  were  rebuked  by  the  presbyteries 
to  which  they  belonged,  and  one  or  two  of  them  were  suspended  from 
their  office  for  a  few  weeks.  Home,  however,  being  disgusted  with  the 
treatment  which  he  had  experienced,  and  having,  perhaps,  already  been 
offered  patronage  in  the  British  metropolis,  resigned  his  living  of  Athel- 
staneford  in  June.  1757,  and  fixed  his  residence  in  London. 

By  the  departure  of  Home,  the  Select  Society,  as  it  was  called,  lost  one 
of  its  ablest  members.  This  society  was  instituted  at  Edinburgh,  in  1754, 
by  Allan  Ramsay,  the  painter,  who  was  son  to  the  poet  of  the  same  name. 
The  object  of  it  was  philosophical  and  literary  inquiry,  and  the  improve 
ment  of  the  members  in  the  art  of  speaking.  It  held  its  meetings  in  the 
Advocates'  Library,  and  met  regularly  every  Friday  evening,  during  the 
sittings  of  the  court  of  session.  At  the  outset  it  consisted  of  only  fifteen 
persons,  of  whom  Robertson  was  one.  It,  however,  soon  acquired  such 
high  reputation,  that  its  list  of  associates  was  swelled  to  more  than  a  hun 
dred  and  thirty  names ;  among  which  were  included  those  of  the  most 
eminent  literary  and  political  characters  in  the  northern  division  of  the 
kingdom.  Of  this  number  were  Hume,  Adam  Smith,  Wedderburn,  after 
wards  Lord  Chancellor,  sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  lord  Elibank,  lord  Monboddo, 
lord  Kames,  lord  Woodhouselee,  Adam  Furguson,  Wilkie,  Dr.  Cullen, 
and  many  others  less  gifted  perhaps,  but  still  rising  far  above  mediocrity 
of  talent.  This  society  flourished  in  full  vigour  for  some  years ;  and  is 
said  by  professor  Stewart,  to  have  produced  such  debates  as  have  not  often 
been  heard  in  modern  assemblies ;  debates,  where  the  dignity  of  the 
speakers  was  not  lowered  by  the  intrigues  of  policy,  or  the  intemperance 
of  faction ;  and  where  the  most  splendid  talents  that  have  ever  adorned 
this  country  were  roused  to  their  best  exertions,  by  the  liberal  and  enno 
bling  discussions  of  literature  and  philosophy."  That  such  an  assemblage 
of  learning  and  genius  must  have  done  much  towards  diffusing  through 
Scotland  a  taste  for  letters,  there  cannot  be  the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  Robert 
son  took  an  active  part,  and  was  one  of  its  presidents.  As  a  speaker,  it 
was  remarked  of  him,  that  "  whereas  most  of  the  others  in  their  previous 
discourses  exhausted  the  subject  so  much  that  there  was  no  room  for 
debate,  he  gave  only  such  brief  but  artful  sketches,  as  served  to  suggest 
ideas,  without  leading  to  a  decision." 

By  a  few  members  of  the  society,  a  Review  was  attempted  in  1755,  the 
principal  contributors  to  which  were  Blair,  Smith,  and  Robertson.  This 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  xiii 

tmdertaking  was  designed  to  form  a  record  of  the  progress  of  Scottish  lite 
rature,  and.  occasionally,  to  criticise  such  English  and  foreign  works  as 
might  appear  to  be  worthy  of  notice.  After  having  published  two  num 
bers,  which  appeared  in  July  and  December,  the  reviewers  were  under 
the  necessity  of  relinquishing  their  plan.  The  failure  is  said  to  have  arisen 
from  their  having  lashed,  with  just  but  caustic  severity,  "some  miserable 
effusions  of  fanaticism,  which  it  was  their  wish  to  banish  from  the  church." 
Their  attack  upon  this  mischievous  trash  excited  such  a  vehement  party 
outcry,  that  they  thought  it  prudent  to  discontinue  labours  which,  while 
they  must  fail  of  being  useful,  could  not  fail  to  expose  them  to  vulgar 
odium,  and  involve  them  in  endless  disputes.  Time,  the  great  worker  ot 
changes,  has  since  produced  a  marvellous  alteration. ,  At  a  period  less  than 
half  a  century  later,  the  most  prejudice-scorning  and  pungent  of  all 
Reviews  was  established  in  the  Scottish  capital,  and  was  received  with 
enthusiasm ! 

The  first  separate  literary  production  of  Robertson,  or  at  least  the  first 
known  production,  was  also  laid  before  the  public  in  1755.  It  is  a  sermon 
which  he  preached  in  that  year  before  the  Scotch  society  for  propagating 
Christian  knowledge.  He  chose  for  his  subject,  "The  situation  of  the 
world  at  the  time  of  Christ's  appearance,  and  its  connexion  with  the  suc 
cess  of  his  religion."  Though  this  discourse  never  rises  into  a  strain  of 
glowing  eloquence,  it  is  a  dignified  and  argumentative  composition,  in  a 
chaste  and  animated  style.  If  it  does  not  flash  and  dazzle,  it  at  least 
shines  with  a  steady  lustre.  Its  merit,  indeed,  affords  us  ample  cause  to 
regret  that,  before  his  removal  from  Gladsmuir,  he  lost  a  volume  of  ser 
mons,  on  which  much  care  is  said  to  have  been  bestowed.  The  sole  spe 
cimen  which  remains  of  his  talents  as  a  preacher  has  passed  through  five 
editions,  and  has  been  translated  into  the  German  language  by  Mr.  Edeling. 

The  time  now  came  when  the  high  character  for  learning  and  talent, 
which  Robertson  had  acquired  among  his  friends,  was  to  be  ratified  by 
the  public  voice.  He  had  long  been  sedulously  engaged  on  the  History 
of  Scotland,  the  plan  of  which  he  is  said  to  have  formed  soon  after  his 
settling  at  Gladsmuir.  By  his  letters  to  Lord  Hailes  we  are,  in  some 
measure,  enabled  to  trace  his  progress.  It  appears  that  as  early  as  1753 
he  had  commenced  his  labours,  and  that  by  the  summer  of  1757  he  had 
advanced  as  far  as  the  narrative  of  Gowrie's  conspiracy.  In  the  spring  of 
1758  he  visited  London,  to  concert  measures  for  publishing;  and  the  His 
tory,  in  two  volumes,  quarto,  was  given  to  the  world  on  the  first  of  Feb 
ruary,  1759,  about  three  months  subsequent  to  the  completion  of  it.  While 
the  last  sheets  were  in  the  press,  the  author  received,  by  diploma,  the  de 
gree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 

At  the  period  when  Dr.  Robertson  commenced  his  career,  this  country 
could  boast  of  few  historians,  possessed  of  philosophic  views  and  an  ele 
gant  style.  Rapin,  who,  besides,  wrote  in  his  native  language,  Carte,  and 
others,  could  not  aspire  to  a  loftier  title  than  that  of  annalists  ;  and  the  re 
cent  production  from  the  pen  of  Smollet,  though  displaying  talent,  was  by 
far  too  imperfect  to  give  him  a  place  among  eminent  historical  wrriters. 
Hume  alone  had  come  near  to  the  standard  of  excellence  ;  and,  after  en 
during  a  doubtful  struggle,  in  the  course  of  which  jiis  spirits  were  well 
nigh  overpowered,  had  at  length  begun  to  enjoy  the  literary  honours  which 
he  had  so  painfully  acquired.  For  a  considerable  time  past  he  had  been 
occupied  on  the  reigns  of  the  Tudor  race  ;  and,  as  this  subject  is  insepa 
rably  connected  with  Scottish  history,  Dr.  Robertson  was  alarmed  lest  he 
himself  should  sustain  injury  from  the  volumes  of  his  friend  being  pub 
lished  simultaneously  with  his  own.  The  new  candidate  for  fame  endea 
voured  to  induce  Hume  to  proceed  with  some  other  portion  of  his  narra 
tive  ;  and,  having  failed  in  this,  he  appears  to  have  been  desirous  that  he 
should  at  least  be  allowed  to  be  the  hrst  to  claim  the  notice  of  the  public. 


xiv  THE  LIFE  OF 

"  I  am  (says  Hume  in  a  letter  to  him)  nearly  printed  out,  and  shall  be  surar 
to  send  you  a  copy  by  the  stage  coach,  or  some  other  conveyance.  I  beg 
of  you  to  make  remarks  as  you  go  along.  It  would  have  been  much  bet 
ter  had  we  communicated  before  printing,  whica  was  always  my  desire, 
and  was  most  suitable  to  the  friendship  which  always  did,  and  I  hope 
always  will  subsist  between  us.  I  speak  this  chiefly  on  my  own  account. 
For  though  I  had  the  perusal  of  your  sheets  before  I  printed,  I  was  not 
able  to  derive  sufficient  benefits  from  them,  or  indeed  to  make  any  altera 
tion  by  their  assistance.  There  still  remain,  I  fear,  many  errors,  of  which 
you  could  have  convinced  me  if  we  had  canvassed  the  matter  in  conversa 
tion.  Perhaps  I  might  also  have  been  sometimes  no  less  fortunate  with 
you."  He  adds,  " Millar  was  proposing  to  publish  me  about  March; 
but  I  shall  communicate  to  him  your  desire,  even  though  I  think  it  entirely 
groundless,  as  you  will  likewise  think  after  you  have  read  my  volume. 
He  has  very  needlessly  delayed  your  publication  till  the  first  week  ot 
February,  at  the  desire  of  the  Edinburgh  booksellers,  who  could  no  way 
be  affected  by  a  publication  in  London.  I  was  exceedingly  sorry  not  to 
be  able  to  comply  with  your  desire,  when  you  expressed  your  wish  that  1 
should  not  write  this  period.  I  could  not  write  downward.  For  when 
you  find  occasion,  by  new  discoveries,  to  correct  your  opinion  with  regard 
to  facts  which  passed  in  queen  Elizabeth's  days ;  who,  that  has  not  the  best 
opportunities  of  informing  himself,  could  venture  to  relate  any  recent 
transactions  ?  I  must  therefore  have  abandoned  altogether  this  scheme  of 
the  English  History,  in  which  I  had  proceeded  so  far,  if  I  had  not  acted  as 
I  did.  You  will  see  what  light  and  force  this  history  of  the  Tudors  be 
stows  on  that  of  the  Stewarts.  Had  I  been  prudent  I  should  have  begun 
with  it." 

The  alarm  which  Dr.  Robertson  conceived  from  the  rivalship  of  his 
friend  was,  however,  groundless.  His  success  was  not,  like  that  of  Hume, 
the  slow  growth  of  years.  It  was  complete  and  immediate.  So  rapid 
was  the  sale  of  the  book,  that,  before  a  month  had  elapsed,  his  publisher 
informed  him  that  it  was  necessary  to  set  about  preparing  for  a  second  edi 
tion.  It  was  read  and  admired  by  a  part  of  the  royal  family  j  and  plau- 
sive  and  gratulatory  letters  were  showered  on  him  from  all  quarters. 
Warburton,  Horace  Walpole,  Lord  Mansfield,  Lord  Lyttelton,  Dr.  Doug 
las,  Hurd,  and  many  other  men  of  eminence,  all  concurred  in  swelling  the 
chorus  of  praise.  Among  the  foremost  to  blazon  his  merits  was  his  ami 
cable  rival,  Hume,  whose  letters  bear  repeated  testimony  to  the  warmth  of 
his  friendship,  and  his  noble  freedom  from  the  base  dominion  of  envy. 
"I  am  diverting  myself,"  says  he,  "with  the  notion  of  how  much  you 
will  profit  by  the  applause  of  my  enemies  in  Scotland.  Had  you  and  I 
been  such  fools  as  to  have  given  way  to  jealousy,  to  have  entertained  ani 
mosity  and  malignity  against  each  other,  and  to  have  rent  all  our  acquaint 
ance  into  parties,  what  a  noble  amusement  we  should  have  exhibited  to 
the  blockheads,  which  now  they  are  likely  to  be  disappointed  of!  All  the 
people  whose  friendship  or  judgment  either  of  us  value  are  friends  to  both, 
and  will  be  pleased  with  the  success  of  both,  as  we  will  be  with  that  of 
each  other.  I  declare  to  you  I  have  not  of  a  long  time  had  a  more  sensi 
ble  pleasure  than  the  good  reception  of  your  History  has  given  me  within 
tnis  fortnight."  In  another  place,  with  a  sportiveness  not  unusual  in  his 
correspondence,  he  exclaims,  "  But  though  I  have  given  this  character  of 
your  work  to  Monsieur  Helvetius,  I  warn  you  that  this  is  the  last  time 
that,  either  to  Frenchman  or  Englishman,  I  shall  ever  speak  the  least  good 
of  it.  A  plague  take  you !  Here  I  sat  near  the  historical  summit  of  rar- 
nassus,  immediately  under  Dr.  Smollet ;  and  you  have  the  impudence  to 
squeeze  yourself  by  me,  and  place  yourself  directly  under  his  feet.  Do 
you  imagine  that  this  can  be  agreeable  to  me !  And  must  not  I  be  guilty  of 
great  simplicity  to  contribute  my  endeavours  to  your  thrusting  me  out  of 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  xv 

Hiy  place  in  Paris  as  well  as  at  London  ?  But  I  give  you  warning  that  you 
will  find  the  matter  somewhat  difficult,  at  least  in  the  former  city.  A 
friend  of  mine,  who  is  there,  writes  home  to  his  father  the  strangest  ac 
counts  on  that  head  ;  which  my  modesty  will  not  permit  me  to  repeat,  but 
which  it  allowed  me  very  deliciously  to  swallow." 

The  hold  which  the  History  of  Scotland  thus  suddenly  acquired  on  the 
public  mind  it  yet  retains.  Fourteen  editions  were  published  during  the 
life-time  of  the  author,  and  the  editions  since  his  decease  have  been  still 
more  numerous.  It  has  undoubtedly  established  itself , as  a  classical  Eng 
lish  production.  For  a  while,  indeed,  the  voice  of  criticism  was  mute  ; 
and  the  historian  had  only  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  his  triumph.  But,  at 
length,  some  of  his  opinions,  particularly  his  belief  of  the  guilt  of  Mary 
found  opponents  in  the  candid  and  well  informed  Tytler,  the  learned,^ 
acute,  and  eloquent  Stuart,  and  the  dogmatical  Whitaker ;  the  latter  of 
whom,  though  master  of  talents,  erudition,  and  forcible  reasoning,  almost 
rendered  truth  itself  repulsive  by  the  petulance  and  overbearingness  of 
his  manner,  and  the  ruggedness  01  his  style.  Of  his  antagonists,  however, 
the  historian  took  not  the  slightest  public  notice,  contenting  himself  with 
the  silent  correction  of  such  passages  in  his  work  as  his  matured  .judgment 
had  decided  to  be  erroneous.  In  a  letter  to  Gibbon  he  laconically  notices 
Whitaker.  "  You  will  see,"  says  he,  "  that  I  have  got  in  Mr.  Whitaker  an 
adversary  so  bigoted  and  zealous,  that  though  I  have  denied  no  article  of 
faith,  and  am  at  least  as  orthodox  as  himself,  yet  he  rails  against  me  with  all 
the  asperity  of  theological  hatred.  I  shall  adhere  to  my  fixed  maxim  of 
making  no  reply." 

It  was  not  merely  a  harvest  of  unproductive  fame  that  was  reaped  by 
Dr.  Robertson.  He  was  no  sooner  known  to  the  world  than  preferment 
was  rapidly  bestowed  on  him.  In  the  autumn  of  1758,  while  his  work 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  printer,  he  was  translated  from.Gladsmuir  to  one 
of  the  churches  of  the  Scottish  metropolis.  I  believe  the  church  to  which 
he  was  removed  to  have  oeen  that  of  the  Old  Gray  Friars,  in  which,  some 

S;ars  afterwards,  his  friend  Dr.  Erskine  became  his  coadjutor.  On  the 
istory  issuing  from  the  press,  he  was  appointed  chaplain  of  Stirling  Cas 
tle,  and,  in  1761,  one  of  his  Majesty's  chaplains  in  ordinary  for  Scotland. 
The  dignity  of  Principal  of  the  College  of  Edinburgh  was  conferred  on 
him  in  1762 ;  and,  two  years  subsequently  to  this,  the  office  of  Historio 
grapher  for  Scotland,  which,  since  the  death  of  Crawfurd,  in  1726,  had 
been  disused,  was  revived  in  his  favour,  with  an  annual  stipend  of  two 
hundred  pounds. 

By  the  remuneration  which  he  had  received  for  his  history,  and  the 
salaries  which  arose  from  his  various  appointments,  Dr.  Robertson  was 
now  in  possession  of  an  income  far  greater  than  had  ever  before  been  pos 
sessed  by  any  Scotch  presbyterian  minister,  and  certainly  not  falling  short 
of  that  which  had  been  enjoyed  by  some  bishops  at  the  period  when  the 
church  of  Scotland  was  under  episcopal  government.  A  few  of  his  indis 
creet  friends  seem,  however,  to  have  thought  that  his  talents  were  not  ade 
quately  rewarded,  and  even  that  the  clerical  profession  in  the  northern 
part  of  our  island  did  not  afford  for  them  a  sphere  of  action  sufficiently  ex 
tensive.  The  church  of  England  held  forth  richer  prospects  to  ambition 
and  to  mental  endowments  ;  and  they  were  of  opinion  that,  by  transferring 
his  services  to  that  church,  he  might  obtain  a  share  in  its  highest  dignities 
and  emoluments.  To  this  scheme  allusions  may  be  found  in  the  Tetters 
which,  about  this  time,  were  addressed  to  him  by  Dr.  John  Blair,  Sir  Gil 
bert  Elliot,  and  Mr.  Hume.  But  Dr.  Robertson  had  a  larger  share  of 
foresight  and  prudence  than  his  advisers,  and  he  rejected  their  dangerous 
though  well  intended  counsel.  It  is,  perhaps,  more  than  doubtful  whether, 
nad  it  been  executed,  their  plan  would  have  produced  the  desired  effect. 
This  kind  of  transplanting  has  often  been  tried,  but  seldom,  if  ever,  with 


xvi  THE  LIFE  OF 

any  degree  of  success.  The  plant,  vigorous  on  its  native  bed,  languished 
and  is  dwarfed  on  an  alien  soil.  Dr.  Robertson  had  now  reached  the  ma 
ture  age  of  forty-one ;  his  opinions,  his  habits,  his  connexions,  had  all  been 
formed  with  a  reference  to  the  circle  in  which  he  moved,  and  it  was  not 
probable  that  they,could  be  suddenly  bent  with  advantage  in  an  opposite 
direction.  In  Scotland  he  had  no  competitors  who  could  rise  to  a  level 
with  him  ;  in  England  he  would,  perhaps,  have  had  many ;  and  he  may 
be  supposed  to  have  thought  with  Caesar,  that  it  is  better  to  be  the  first 
man  in  a  village  than  the|  second  at  Rome.  Nor  was  there  any  room  in 
England  for  the  exercise  of  that  kind  of  eloquence  in  which  he  particularly 
excelled ;  the  eloquence  which  is  manifested  in  debate.  By  the  force  of 
his  oratory  he  left  far  behind  all  his  rivals  and  opponents,  and  wielded  at 
will  the  general  assembly  of  the  Scottish  church  ;  but,  since  the  convoca 
tion  was  shorn  of  its  controversial  and  declamatory  glories,  since  it  was 
smitten  with  an  incapacity  of  embarrassing  the  government,  fostering  theo 
logical  rancour,  and  displaying  the  unseemly  spectacle  of  Christian  divines 
arrayed  in  worse  than  barbarian  hostility  to  each  other,  there  has  not  in 
this  country  existed  any  deliberative  clerical  body  in  which  Dr.  Robert 
son  could  have  exerted  those  argumentative  and  rhetorical  powers  that, 
among  his  fellow  ministers,  obtained  for  him  so  entire  an  ascendancy.  His 
preferment  might  also  have  stopped  short  of  the  point  which  his  sanguine 
friends  expected  it  to  attain  ;  and,  whatever  its  degree,  it  would  in  allpro- 
bability  have  been  looked  on  with  a  jealous  eye  by  many  of  his  brethren 
on  the  south  of  the  Tweed.  There  was,  besides,  another  and  still  more 
powerful  reason  that  must  have  influenced  his  decision.  He  had  for  nearly 
twenty  years  been  a  leading  minister  of  the  presbvterian  establishment ; 
and  his  now  quitting  it  to  enter  into  a  prelatical  church,  which,  as  being 
deemed  a  scion  from  the  hated  stock  of  Rome,  was  still  held  in  abomina 
tion  by  many  of  his  countrymen,  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  be  considered 
as  an  interested  and  base  sacrifice  of  his  principles  and  his  character  at  the 
shrine  of  lucre  and  ambition.  To  be  branded  as  a  deserter  by  the  zealots 
of  the  one  institution,  and  by  the  envious  of  the  other,  was  not  a  favourable 
auspice  under  which  to  commence  his  new  career ;  and  he  therefore  acted 
wisely,  as  well  as  honourably,  in  remaining  a  member  of  the  Scottish 
church. 

Having  resolved  to  remain  in  Scotland,  and  to  rely  chiefly  on  his  pen  for 
the  advancement  of  his  fortune,  Dr.  Robertson  had  now  to  choose  another 
iheme  on  which  his  talents  could  be  profitably  employed.  To  the  com 
position  of  history,  in  which  he  had  met  with  such  stimulating  success,  he 
wisely  determined  to  adhere.  It  was,  indeed,  in  that  department  that  he 
was  peculiarly  qualified  to  excel,  by  his  power  of  vivid  description,  and 
his  happy  delineation  of  character.  His  friends  were  consulted  on  this 
occasion  ;  each  had  some  favourite  plan  to  suggest  to  him  ;  and  he  seems 
to  have  been  absolutely  e,mbarrassed  by  the  affluence  of  subjects,  many 
of  which  were  worthy  of  his  best  exertions  to  illustrate  and  adorn  them. 
if  a  ludicrous  simile  may  be  allowed,  we  may  say  that  he  found  it  no  less 
difficult  to  fix  his  choice,  than  it  was  for  Mr.  Shandy  to  decide  to  what  pur 
pose  he  should  apply  the  legacy  which  was  left  to  him  by  his  sister  Dinah. 
Dr.  John  Blair  strenuously  recommended  to  him  to  write  a  complete  His 
tory  of  England,  and  assured  him  that  Lord  Chesterfield  had  declared  his 
readiness  to  move,  in  the  house  of  peers,  for  public  encouragement  to  him,  in 
case  of  his  undertaking  a  work  which  might  with  justice  IDC  considered  as 
being  a  national  one.  But  from  adopting  this  project,  though  it  was  one  which 
he  had  early  cherished,  Dr.  Robertson  was  deterred  by  his  honourable  un 
willingness  to  interfere  with  his  friend  Hume,  who  was  now  putting  the 
finishing  hand  to  his  great  labour.  Hume  himself  advised  him  to  under 
take  a  series  of  modern  lives,  in  the  manner  of  Plutarch.  "You  see," 
said  he,  "  that  in  Plutarch  the  life  of  Caesar  may  be  read  in  half  an  hour. 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  xvn 

Were  you  to  write  the  life  of  Henry  the  Fourth  of  France  after  that  model, 
you  might  pillage  all  the  pretty  stories  in  Sully,  and  speak  more  of  his 
mistresses  than  of  his  battles.  In  short,  you  might  gather  the  flower  of  all 
modern  history  in  this  manner.  The  remarkable  popes,  the  kings  of  Swe 
den,  the  great  discoverers  and  conquerors  of  the  New  World,  even  the 
eminent  men  of  letters  might  furnish  you  with  matter,  and  the  quick  des 
patch  of  every  different  work  would  encourage  you  to  begin  a  new  one 
If  one  volume  were  successful,  you  might  compose  another  at  your  leisure, 
and  the  field  is  inexhaustible.  There ^are  persons  whom  you  might  meet 
with  in  the  corners  of  history,  so  to  speak,  who  would  be  a  subject  ot  en 
tertainment  quite  unexpected  ;  and  as  long  as  you  live,  you  might  give  and 
receive  amusement  by  such  a  work."  That  so  excellent  an  idea  should 
not  have  been  acted  upon  must  be  regretted  by  every  one  who  is  a  lovei 
of  literature.  By  Horace  Walpole  two  subjects,  of  no  trivial  interest, 
were  pointed  out.  These  were  the  History  of  Learning,  and  the  History 
of  the  reigns  of  Nerva,  Trajan,  Adrian,  and  the  two  Antonines  ;  the  latter 
of  which  Walpole  declared' that  he  should  be  tempted  to  denominate  the 
History  of  Humanity.  Dr.  R.obertson  himself  seems,  at  one  time,  to  have 
thought,  though  but  transiently,  of  tracing  the  events  which  occurred  in 
the  age  of  Leo  the  Tenth.  There  is  no  reason  to  lament  that  he  did  not 
undertake  this  task,  which  was  once  meditated  on  by  Warton,  and  has 
since  been  performed  by  a  writer  whom  nature  has  largely  gifted,  and  who 
possesses  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  records,  arts,  and  language  of  Italy, 
out  the  two  plans  which  had  the  ascendancy  in  his  mind,  and  between 
which  he  long  hesitated,  were  the  History  of  Greece,  and  the  History  of 
Charles  the  Fifth.  At  length,  notwithstanding  the  objections  which  were 
urged  by  Hume  and  Horace  Walpole,  he  made  choice  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  as  the  subject  of  his  second  attempt. 

When  he  had  for  about  a  year  been  engaged,  partly  in  those  preliminary 
researches  which  are  necessary  to  give  value  to  a  work  like  that  on  which 
he  was  occupied,  and  partly  in  composition,  his  progress  was  suddenly 
suspended,  by  the  intervention  of  a  personage  of  such  elevated  rank  as  to 
render  it  almost  impossible  for  him  to  decline  a  compliance  with  that 
which  was  required  from  him.  It  has  been  seen,  that  he  was  early  desirous 
to  be  the  historian  of  his  native  island,  and  that  friendship  alone  prevented 
him  from  being  so.  He  was  now  informed  that  the  wishes  of  the  British 
sovereign  were  in  unison  with  his  own.  In  the  latter  part  of  July,  1761, 
he  was  written  to  on  this  head  by  lord  Cathcart.  "  Lord  Bute  told  me  the 
king's  thoughts  as  well  as  his  own,"  said  lord  Cathcart,  "  with  respect  to 
your  History  of  Scotland,  and  a  wish  his  majesty  had  expressed  to  see  a 
History  of  England  by  your  pen.  His  lordship  assured  me,  every  source 
of  information  which  government  can  command  would  be  open  to  you , 
and  that  great,  laborious,  and  extensive  as  the  work  must  be,  he  would 
take  care  your  encouragement  should  be  proportioned  to  it.  He  seemed 
to  be  aware  of  some  objections  you  once  had,  founded  on  the  apprehen 
sion  of  clashing  or  interfering  with  Mr.  David  Hume,  who  is  your  friend  : 
but  as  your  performance  and  his  will  be  upon  plans  so  different  from  each 
other,  and  as  his  will,  in  point  of  time,  have  so  much  the  start  of  yours, 
these  objections  did  not  seem  to  him  such  as,  upon  reflection,  were  likely 
to  continue  to  have  much  weight  with  you.  t  must  add,  that  though  1 
did  not  think  it  right  to  inquire  into  lord  Bute's  intentions  before  I  knew  a 
little  of  your  mind,  it  appeared  to  me  plain,  that  they  were  higher  than 
any  views  which  can  open  to  you  in  Scotland,  and  which,  I  believe,  he 
would  think  inconsistent  with  the  attention  the  other  subject  would  neces 
sarily  require." 

A  proposition  thus  powerfully  enforced  it  would,  under  any  circum 
stances,  have  been  difficult  for  Dr.  Robertson  to  reject.  But,  in  fact,  the 
reasons  which  formerly  influenced  his  conduct  had  ceased  to  exist.  Hume 

VOL.  I.— C 


xviii  THE  LIFE  OF 

had  now  completed  his  history,  it  was  before  the  public,  and  its  fate 
be  irrevocably  decided  before  a  line  of  the  rival  narrative  could  be  com 
mitted  to  paper.  Dr.  Robertson  was  convinced  of  this,  and  therefore  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  embrace  the  opportunity  which  was  offered  to  him. 
'  After  the  first  publication  of  the  History  of  Scotland,  and  the  favourable 
reception  it  met  with,"  said  he  in  his  answer  to  lord  Cathcart,  "  I  had  both 
very  tempting  offers  from  booksellers,  and  very  confident  assurances  of 
public  encouragement,  if  I  would  undertake  the  History  of  England 
Hut  as  Mr.  Hume,  with  whom,  notwithstanding  the  contrariety  of  our  sen 
timents  both  in  religion  and  politics,  I  live  in  great  friendship,  was  at  that 
time  in  the  middle  of  the  subject,  no  consideration  of  interest  or  reputation 
would  induce  me  to  break  in  upon  a  field  of  which  he  had  taken  prior  pos 
session  ;  and  I  determined  that  my  interference  with  him  should  never  be 
any  obstruction  to  the  sale  or  success  of  his  work.  Nor  do  I  yet  repent  of 
my  having  resisted  so  many  solicitations  to  alter  this  resolution.  But  the 
case  I  now  think  is  entirely  changed.  His  History  will  have  been  pub 
lished  several  years  before  any  work  of  mine  on  the  same  subject  can 
appear;  its  first  run  will  not  be  marred  by  any  justling  with  me,  and  it 
will  have  taken  that  station  in  the  literary  system  which  belongs  to  it. 
This  objection,  therefore,  which  I  thought,  and  still  think,  so  weighty  at 
that  time,  makes  no  impression  on  me  at  present,  and  1  can  now  justify  my 
undertaking  the  English  History,  to  myself,  to  the  world,  and  to  him. 
Besides,  our  manner  of  viewing  the  same  subject  is  so  different  or  peculiar, 
that  (as  was  the  case  in  our  last  books)  both  may  maintain  their  own  rank., 
have  their  own  partisans,  and  possess  their  own  merit,  without  hurting 
each  other." 

To  enable  him  to  accomplish  so  arduous  a  labour,  he  considered  it  neces 
sary,  not  only  that  he  should  be  established  in  such  a  manner  as  would 
divest  him  of  all  anxiety  as  to  pecuniary  concerns,  but  that  he  should  like 
wise  have  the  power  of  devoting  to  stuay  a  larger  portion  of  his  time  than 
it  was  now  possible  for  him  to  allot  to  that  purpose.  "  Were  T  to  carve 
put  my  own  fortune,"  said  he,  "  I  should  wish  to  continue  one  of  his  ma 
jesty's  chaplains  for  Scotland,  but  to  resign  my  charge  as  a  minister  of 
Edinburgh,  which  engrosses  more  of  my  time  than  one  who  is  a  stranger  to 
the  many  minute  duties  of  that  office  can  well  imagine.  I  would  wish  to 
apply  my  whole  time  to  literary  pursuits,  which  is  at  present  parcelled  out 
among  innumerable  occupations.  In  order  to  enable  me  to  make  this  resig 
nation  some  appointment  must  be  assigned  me  for  life.  What  that  should 
be,  it  neither  becomes  me,  nor  do  1  pretend  to  say.  One  thing,  however 
I  wish  with  some  earnestness,  that  the  thing  might  be  executed  soon,  both 
as  it  will  give  me  great  vigour  in  my  studies  to  have  my  future  fortune 
ascertained  in  so  honourable  a  manner,  and  because,  by  allowing  me  to 
apply  myself  wholly  to  my  present  work,  it  will  enable  me  to  finish  it  in 
a  less  time,  and  to  begin  so  much  sooner  to  my  new  task."  But  though  he 
was  desirous  to  obtain  some  appointment,  in  order  that  he  might  not  be 
"  reduced  entirely  to  the  profession  of  an  author,"  he  at  the  same  moment, 
with  becoming  spirit,  declared  that  he  did  not  wish  to  derive  any  emolu 
ment  from  it  before  he  could  commence  the  particular  task  for  which  the 
appointment  was  to  be  given.  The  proposal  that  he  should  remove  to 
London,  he  was  averse  from  complying  with,  though  he  did  not  put  a 
direct  negative  on  it ;  and  he  could  not  consent  to  begin  the  History  of 
Britain  till  he  had  completed  that  of  Charles  the  Fifth. 

This  scheme,  which  seems  to  have  been  almost  brought  to  maturity, 
was,  nevertheless,  dropped ;  but  for  what  reason  is  unknown.  Mr.  Stewart 
is  disposed  to  believe  that  the  failure  of  it  may  in  part  be  attributed  to  the 
resignation  of  lord  Bute.  It  was  certainly  so  much  a  favourite  with  Dr. 
Robertson  that  he  long  cherished  it,  and  abandoned  it  with  reluctance 
We  may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  to  smile,  or  to  wonder,  that  a  sovereign 

3'-"  I.  ..JOT 


DR.    ROBERTSON.  xix 

Should  have  selected  a  writer  confessedly  of  Whig  principles  to  compose 
a  History  of  England,  in  opposition  to  one  produced  by  a  friend  of  arbi 
trary  power ;  and  we  may  also  be  allowed  to  doubt*  whether,  as  far  as 
regarded  its  sentiments,  such  a  work,  written  by  a  Whig  under  the  auspices 
of  a  court,  would  have  proved  quite  satisfactory  either  to  the  monarch  or 
to  the  people.  There  might,  at  least,  have  been  some  danger  that  it  would 
have  justified  the  sarcasm  which  was  uttered  by  Horace  Walpqle,  on  ano 
ther  occasion  "  You  must  know,  sir,"  said  Dr.  Robertson  to  nim,  "  that 
I  look  upon  myself  as  a  moderate  Whig."—;'  Yes,  doctor,"  replied  Wai- 
pole,  "  I  look  on  you  as  a  very  moderate  Whig." 

As  soon  as  this  negotiation  was  broken  off,  he  bent  all  his  exertions  to 
the  task  which  he  had  commenced.  The  public  curiosity  was  highly 
excited,  and  it  was  long  kept  on  the  stretch  before  it  was  gratified.  In 
the  summer  of  1761,  he  stated  that  one  third  of  the  work  was  finished,  and 
that  two  years  more  would  be  required  to  bring  the  whole  to  perfection. 
But  there  never  yet  was  an  author  who  did  not  deceive  himself,  and  con 
sequently  deceive  others,  as  to  the  period  at  which  his  labour  would  be 
completed.  The  stupid,  the  thoughtless,  and  the  malignant  (and  there  are 
many  persons,  not  literary,  though  connected  with  literature,  who  belong 
to  these  classes)  consider  as  intended  for  the  purpose  of  deception  the 
erroneous  estimate  which  authors  are  thus  apt  to  form.  They  either  can 
not  or  will  not  be  taught  that,  in  spite  of  Dr.  Johnson's  bola  assertion  to 
the  contrary,  no  man  is  at  all  hours  capable  of  thinking  deeply,  or  of 
clothing  his  thoughts  in  an  attractive  dress  ;  that  he  who  is  dependent  on  his 
reputation  for  existence  ought  not  to  be  compelled  to  hazard  it  by  crude 
and  slovenly  efforts,  the  product  of  haste  ;  that  he  who  draws  up  a  narra 
tive  from  widely  scattered,  numerous,  and  conflicting  documents  must 
often,  in  painful  research  and  in  balancing  evidence,  spend  more  months 
than  he  had  calculated  on  spending  weeks  ;  that  the  discovery  of  a  single 
paper,  the  existence  of  which  was  previously  unknown^  may  not  only 
throw  a  new  light  upon  a  subject,  but  give  to  it  an  entirely  new  colour, 
and  may  compel  a  writer  to  modify,  to  arrange,  and  even  to  cancel,  much 
that  he  had  supposed  to  have  received  his  last  touches  ;  and,  therefore, 
that  the  delay  which,  as  being  a  proof  of  literary  indolence,  is  so  fre 
quently  and  so  unfeelingly  an  object  of  censure,  ought  rather  in  many  cases 
to  be  rewarded  with  praise,  because  it  is  a  duty  which  an  author  con 
scientiously,  and  at  his  own  cost,  performs  to  society  and  to  truth.  Impe 
diments  of  this  kind  no  doubt  retarded  the  progress  of  Dr.  Robertson  ;  to 
which  must  be  added  his  multifarious  avocations,  as  principal  of  the  uni 
versity,  a  minister  of  one  of  the  churches  of  the  Scottish  metropolis,  and 
an  active  member  of  the  general  assembly,  in  which  body,  as  Mr.  Stewart 
informs  us,  faction  was  running  high  at  that  epoch.  The  transactions 
relative  to  America  he  likewise  found  to  be  of  too  vast  a  magnitude,  to 
allow  of  their  being  compressed  into  an  episode.  He  was  under  the  neces 
sity  of  reserving  them  for  a  separate  history ;  and  this  circumstance  obliged 
him  in  some  degree  to  make  a  change  in  his  original  plan.  It  is,  there 
fore,  not  wonderful  that  the  publication  of  his  work  was  protracted  six 
years  beyond  the  time  which  he  had  himself  assigned  for  it. 

At  length,  early  in  1769,  appeared,  in  three  volumes  quarto,  the  History 
of  Charles  the  Fifth.  It  had  been  perused,  while  in  the  press,  by  Hume, 
and  probably  by  other  friends,  and  had  gained  the  warmest  praise.  "  I 
got  yesterday  from  Strahan,"  says  Hume,  in  one  of  his  letters,  "  about 
thirty  sheets  of  your  History,  to  be  sent  over  to  Suard,  and  last  night  and 
this  morning  have  run  them  over  with  great  avidity.  I  could  not  deny 
myself  the  satisfaction  (which  I  hope  also  will  not  displease  you)  of 
expressing  presently  my  extreme  approbation  of  them.  To  say  only  they 
are  very  well  written,  is  by  Tar  too  faint  an  expression,  and  much  inferior 
to  the  sentiments  I  feel :  they  are  composed  with  nobleness,  with  dignity, 


xx  THE  LIFE  OF 

with  elegance,  and  with  judgment,  to  which  there  are  few  equals.  They 
even  excel,  and  I  think  in  a  sensible  degree,  your  History  of  Scotland.  1 
propose  to  myself  great  pleasure  in  being  the  only  man  in  England,  during 
some  months,  who  will  be  in  the  situation  of  doing  you  justice,  after  which 
you  may  certainly  expect  that  my  voice  will  be  drowned  in  that  of  the 
public.'1 

Hume's  anticipation  was  prophetic.  Soon  after  the  work  had  come  out, 
he  wrote  to  his  friend,  in  the  following  unequivocal  terms.  "  The  success 
has  answered  my  expectations,  and  I,  who  converse  with  the  great,  the 
fair,  and  the  learned,  have  scarcely  heard  an  opposite  voice,  or  even  whis 
per,  to  the  general  sentiments.  Unly  I  have  heard  that  the  Sanhedrim  at 
Mrs.  Macaulay's  condemns  you  as  little  less  a  friend  to  government  and 
monarchy  than  myself."  Horace  Walpole  was  almost  equally  laudatory , 
lord  Lyltelton  testified  his  admiration ;  and,  as  Hume  had  long  before 
done,  recommended  to  the  historian  to  write,  in  the  manner  of  Plutarch, 
the  lives  of  eminent  persons.  Voltaire,  also,  paid  a  flattering  tribute.  "  It 
is  to  you  and  to  Mr.  Hume,"  said  he,  "  that  it  belongs  to  write  history 
You  are  eloquent,  learned,  and  impartial.  I  unite  with  Europe  in  esteem 
ing  you."  Nor  was  the  fame  of  the  author  confined  to  his  native  island. 
Through  the  intervention  of  the  baron  D'Holbach,  M.  Suard  was  induced 
to  translate  the  work  into  French,  while  it  was  being  printed  in  England, 
and  his  masterly  translation  is  said  to  have  established  his  own  literary 
character,  and  to  have  been  the  means  of  his  obtaining  a  seat  in  the  French 
academy.  The  remuneration  which  the  author  himself  received  was  mag 
nificent  ;  especially  in  an  age  when  it  was  not  customary  to  give  a  large 
sum  of  money  for  the  purchase  of  copyright.  It  is  affirmed  to  have  been  no 
less  than  four  thousand  five  hundred  pounds. 

It  is  not  to  be  imagined,  however,  that  the  History  of  Charles  the  Fifth 
could  entirely  escape  the  severity  of  criticism,  which  appears  to  be  the 
common  lot  of  all  literary  productions.  By  the  Abbe  Mably  it  was  attacked 
in  rude  and  contemptuous  language ;  which,  without  having  the  power  to 
injure  the  work,  was  disgraceful  to  the  person  who  descended  to  use  it. 
Gilbert  Stuart  likewise  assailed  it ;  but  with  more  skill  than  the  French 
critic,  and  with  a  vigour  which  was  animated  by  personal  resentment. 
That  his  acuteness  detected  many  inaccuracies,  it  would  be  absurd  to  dis 
pute  ;  but  no  one  can  doubt  that  he  pushed  his  censure  farther  than  was 
consonant  with  justice,  when  he  characterized  Dr.  Robertson  as  an  author 
"  whose  total  abstinence  from  all  ideas  and  inventions  of  his  own  permitted 
nim  to  carry  an  undivided  attention  to  other  men's  thoughts  and  specula 
tions."  Walpole,  too,  in  later  life,  asserted  that  the  reading  of  Dr.  Robert 
son  was  not  extensive,  that  the  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Charles 
abounds  with  gross  errors,  and  that  in  many  instances  he  has  mistaken 
exceptions  for  rules.  The  work^however,  still  maintains  its  station  ;  and, 
even  admitting  all  that  truth  or  ingenious  prejudice  can  urge  against  it, 
who  is  there  who  will  now  have  the  boldness  to  deny  that  it  forms  a  splen 
did  addition  to  our  historical  treasures  ? 

After  having  completed  this  arduous  undertaking,  Dr.  Robertson  allowed 
himself  some  respite  from  literary  toil ;  a  respite  which,  in  fact,  was  neces 
sary  for  the  preservation  of  his  health.  His  mind  was,  however,  too  active 
to  remain  long  unoccupied,  and  he  hastened  to  resume  the  pen.  As  a  se 
quel  to  the  history  of  Charles,  he  had  promised  to  give  to  the  public  a  nar 
rative  of  the  Spanish  discoveries,  conquests,  and  proceedings  in  America. 
This  plan  he  soon  resolved  to  enlarge,  so  as  to  include  in  it  the  transactions 
of  all  the  European  colonizers  of  the  American  continent.  To  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  British  empire  in  that  quarter,  it  was  originally  his  in 
tention  to  devote  an  entire  volume.  Than  the  History  of  the  New  World 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  have  chosen  a  subject  more  fertile,  more 
attractive,  or  better  calculated  for  the  display  of  his  peculiar  talents 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  xxi 

There  was  "  ample  room  and  verge  enough"  for  eloquence  to  expatiate 
In.  The  rapidly  succeeding  events  which  he  was  to  describe  were 
scarcely  less  marvellous  than  those  of  an  oriental  fiction  ;  one  of  his  heroes, 
ihe  dauntless  explorer  of  unknown  oceans,  will  always  excite  the  wonder, 
admiration,  and  pity  of  mankind  ;  others,  though  villains,  were  at  least 
villains  of  no  common  powers  ;  and  the  characters,  the  customs,  the  man 
ners,  the  scenery,  every  thing  in  short  that  was  connected  with  the  work, 
possessed  throughout  the  charm  of  novelty,  and,  in  many  instances,  that  of 
the  most  picturesque  and  forcible  contrast. 

To  the  first  part  of  his  subject,  that  which  relates  to  the  discovery  of  the 
New  World,  and  the  conquests  and  policy  of  the  Spaniards,  eight  years 
of  studious  toil  were  devoted  by  Dr.  Robertson.  At  length,  in  the  spring 
of  1777,  he  put  forth,  in  two  quartos,  the  result  of  his  labours.  The  pub 
lic  again  received  him  with  enthusiasm,  and  his  literary  friends  again 
pressed  forward  to  congratulate  and  to  praise  him.  "  Hume  was  no  longer 
in  existence  ;  but  his  place  was  supplied  by  Gibbon,  who  testified  his  entire 
approbation  of  the  volumes  even  before  he  had  wholly  perused  them. 
"  I  have  seen  enough,"  said  he,  "  to  convince  me  that  the  present  publica 
tion  will  support,  and,  if  possible,  extend  the  fame  of  the  author ;  that  the 
materials  are  collected  with  care,  and  arranged  with  skill ;  that  the  pro 
gress  of  discovery  is  displayed  with  learning  and  perspicuity ;  that  the 
dangers,  the  achievements,  and  the  views  of  the  Spanish  adventurers,  are 
related  with  a  temperate  spirit ;  and  that  the  most  original,  perhaps  the 
most  curious  portion  of  human  manners,  is  at  length  rescued  from  the 
hands  of  sophists  and  declaimers." 

But,  perhaps,  of  all  the  applause  which  was  bestowed  on  Dr.  Robert 
son,  none  was  more  gratifying  than  that  which  was  given  by  Burke ;  a 
man  eminent  at  once  as  a  writer,  an  orator,  and  a  statesman.  "  I  am  per 
fectly  sensible,"  says  he,  "  of  the  very  flattering  distinction  I  have  received 
in  your  thinking  me  worthy  of  so  noble  a  present  as  that  of  }'our  History 
of  America.  I  have,  however,  suffered  my  gratitude  to  lie  under  some 
suspicion,  by  delaying  my  acknowledgment  of  so  great  a  favour.  But  my 
delay  was  only  to  render  my  obligation  to  you  more  complete,  and  my 
thanks,  if  possible,  more  merited.  The  close  of  the  session  brought  a 
great  deal  of  very  troublesome  though  not  important  business  on  me  at 
once.  I  could  not  go  through  your  work  at  one  breath  at  that  time,  though 
I  have  done  it  since.  I  am  now  enabled  to  thank  you,  not  only  for  the 
honour  you  have  done  me,  but  for  the  great  satisfaction,  and  the  infinite 
variety  and  compass  of  instruction,  I  have  received  from  your  incomparable 
work.  Every  thing  has  been  done  which  was  so  naturally  to  be  expected 
from  the  author  of  the  History  of  Scotland,  and  of  the  Age  of  Charles  the 
Fifth.  I  believe  few  books  have  done  more  than  this,  towards  clearing  up 
lark  points,  correcting  errors,  and  removing  prejudices.  You  have  too 
he  rare  secret  of  rekindling  an  interest  on  subjects  that  had  so  often  been 
Created,  and  in  which  every  thing  which  could  feed  a  vital  flame  appeared 
I  >  have  been  consumed.  I  am  sure  I  read  many  parts  of  your  History 
with  that  fresh  concern  and  anxiety  which  attend  those  who  are  not  pre 
viously  apprized  of  the  event.  You  have,  besides,  thrown  quite  a  new 
light  on  the  present  state  of  the  Spanish  provinces,  and  furnished  both  ma 
terials  and  hints  for  a  rational  theory  of  what  may  be  expected  from  them 
in  future 

"  The  part  which  I  read  with  the  greatest  pleasure  is  the  discussion  on 
the  manners  and  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World.  1  have 
always  thought  with  you,  that  we  possess  at  this  time  very  great  advan 
tages  towards  the  knowledge  of  human  nature.  We  need  no  longer  go  to 
history  to  trace  it  in  all  its  ages  and  periods.  History,  from  its  compara 
tive  youth,  is  but  a  poor  instructer.  When  the  Egyptians  called  the  Greeks 
children  in  antiquities,  we  may  well  call  them  children  ;  and  so  we  may 


xxH  THE  LIFE   OF 

call  all  those  nations  which  were  able  to  trace  the  progress  of  society  only 
within  their  own  limits.  But  now  the  great  map  of  mankind  is  unrolled 
at  once,  and  there  is  no  state  or  gradation  of  barbarism,  and  no  mode  oi 
refinement,  which  we  have  not  at  the  same  moment  under  our  view  ;  the 
very  different  civility^pf  Europe  and  of  China  ;  the  barbarism  of  Persia 
and  of  Abyssinia;  me  erratic  manners  of  Tartary  and  of  Arabia  ;  the 
savage  state  of  North  America  and  New  Zealand.  Indeed  you  have  made 
a  noble  use  of  the  advantages  you  have  had.  You  have  employed  philo 
sophy  to  judge  on  manners,  and  from  manners  you  have  drawn  new  re 
sources  for  philosophy.  I  only  think  that  in  one  or  two  points  you  have 
hardly  done  justice  to  the  savage  character." 

The  honours  which  were  paid  to  him  by  foreigners  were  equally  grati 
fying.  The  Royal  Academy  of  History  at  Madrid  unanimously  elected 
him  a  member  on  the  eighth  of  August,  in  1777,  "  in  testimony  of  their 
approbation  of  the  industry  and  care  with  which  he  had  applied  to  the 
study  of  Spanish  History,  and  as  a  recompense  for  his  merit  in  having  con 
tributed  so  much  to  illustrate  and  spread  the  knowledge  of  it  in  foreign 
countries."  It  likewise  appointed  one  of  its  members  to  translate  the  His 
tory  of  America  into  the  Spanish  language,  and  considerable  progress  is 
believed  to  have  been  made  in  the  translation.  But  the  latter  measure 
excited  alarm  in  an  absurd  and  decrepit  government,  which  sought  for 
safety  in  concealment  rather  than  in  a  bold  and  liberal  policy,  and,  like 
the  silly  bird,  imagined  that  by  hiding  its  own  head  it  could  escape  from 
the  view  of  its  pursuers.  The  translation  was,  therefore,  officially  ordered 
to  be  suppressed,  with  the  vain  hope  of  keeping  the  world  still  in  the 
dark,  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  the  Spanish  American  commerce,  and 
of  the  system  of  colonial  administration. 

It  was  not  from  Spain  alone  that  he  received  testimonies  of  respect.  In 
1781,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Padua  elected  him  one  of  its  foreign 
members  ;  and,  in  1783,  the  same  compliment  was  paid  to  him  by  the  Im 
perial  Academy  of  Sciences  at  St.  Petersburgh.  The  empress  Catharine 
also,  who,  numerous  as  were  her  faults,  was  a  woman  of  a  strong  and  en 
lightened  intellect,  also  conferred  on  him  a  flattering  distinction.  She 
ordered  his  friend,  Dr.  Rogerson,  to  transmit  to  him,  as  a  mark  of  her 
esteem,  a  gold  snuff  box,  richly  set  with  diamonds  ;  observing  at  the  same 
time,  that  a  person  whose  labours  had  afforded  her  so  much  satisfaction 
merited  some  attention  from  her.  So  much,  indeed,  was  she  delighted 
with  the  works  of  the  Scottish  author,  that  she  did  not  hesitate  to  assign  to 
him  the  place  of  first  model  in  historical  composition,  to  express  much 
admiration  of  the  sagacity  and  discernment  which  he  displayed  in  painting 
the  human  mind  and  character,  and  to  declare  that  the  History  of  Charles 
the  Fifth  was  the  constant  companion  of  her  journeys,  and  that  she  was 
never  tired  of  perusing  it,  particularly  the  introductory  volume. 

As  soon  as  enthusiasm  had  subsided,  criticism  began  its  labours  in  search 
of  defects.  It  was  objected  to  the  author,  that  he  had  shown  a  disposition 
to  palliate  or  to  veil  the  enormities  of  the  Spaniards,  in  their  American 
conquests,  and  that  he  had  shed  an  illusive  lustre  round  the  daring  and 
intelligent  but  sanguinary  and  unprincipled  Cortes.  Even  Professor  Stew 
art,  notwithstanding  his  honourable  affection  for  the  memory  of  his  friend, 
shrinks  from  vindicating  him  on  this  score,  and  contents  himself  with  oppo 
sing  to  the  charge  "  those  warm  and  enlightened  sentiments  of  humanity 
which  in  general  animate  his  writings."  Unwilling  to  censure  severely, 
and  unable  to  exculpate,  Bryan  Edwards  suggests,  as  an  apology  for  Dr 
Robertson,  that  this  is  one  of  the  cases  in  which  the  mind,  shrinking  from 
the  contemplation  of  alleged  horrors,  wishes  to  resist  conviction,  and  to  re 
lieve  itself  by  incredulity.  Dr.  Gleig,  however,  the  latest  biographer  of 
the  historian,  indignantly  rejects  this  apology  as  absurd ;  and,  more  enter* 
prising  than  his  predecessors,  partly  labours  to  invalidate  the  accusation, 


DR.   ROBERTSON.  xxiii 

fey  lessening  the  sum  of  Spanish  cruelties,  and  partly  to  render  it  of  no 
weight,  by  pleading  that  the  writer  probably  considered  the  conquests  of 
Mexico  and  Peru  as  means  employed  by  Providence  to  accomplish  the  no 
blest  and  most  beneficent  purposes.  That  Dr.  Robertson  did  really  regard 
those  conquests  in  such  a  light  we  may  easily  believe  ;  since,  in  his  ser 
mon  on  the  state  of  the  world  at  the  appearance  of  Christ,  he  manifests 
similar  sentiments  with  respect  to  the  measureless  and  unslumbering  ambi 
tion  of  those  universal  robbers  the  Romans,  whom  he  is  pleased  to  style 
"  the  noblest  people  that  ever  entered  on  the  stage  of  the  world."  But 
this  defence  is  merely  sophistical.  Though  we  are  not  ignorant  that  a  wise 
and  benignant  Providence  educes  good  from  evil,  it  is  not  the  business  of 
an  historian  to  diminish  the  loathing  which  evil  deeds  ought  to  excite  ;  nor 
does  it  appear  that  morality  is  likely  to  be  much  benefited,  by  teaching 
tyrants  and  murderers  to  imagine  that,  while  they  are  giving  the  rein  to 
their  own  furious  and  malignant  passions,  they  are  only  performing  their 
destined  tasks  as  instruments  of  the  Deity. 

This  was  by  no  means  all  that  was  urged  against  the  History  of  Ame 
rica.  It  is,  in  fact,  not  now  attempted  to  be  denied  that,  in  many  instances, 
Dr.  Robertson  was  led  astray  by  his  partiality  to  the  brilliant  but  fallacious 
theories  of  De  Pauw  and  Buffon.  Clavigero,  in  his  History  of  Mexico, 
detected  and  somewhat  harshly  animadverted  on  several  errors,  a  part  of 
which  were  subsequently  rectified.  Bryan  Edwards,  too,  pointed  out  some 
contradictions,  and  some  erroneous  statements.  But  the  most  severe  cen 
sor  is  Mr.  Southey,  a  man  eminently  well  informed  on  ancient  Spanish  and 
American  events.  In  his  History  of  Brazil,  after  having  described  the 
mode  of  reckoning  in  use  among  the  transatlantic  tribes,  he  adds,  "  when 
Pauw  reasoned  upon  the  ignorance  of  the  Americans  in  numbers,  did  he 
suppress  this  remarkable  fact,  or  was  he  ignorant  of  it  ?  The  same  ques 
tion  is  applicable  to  Dr.  Robertson,  who,  on  this,  and  on  many  other  sub 
jects,  in  what  he  calls  his  History  of  America,  is  guilty  of  such  omissions, 
and  consequent  misrepresentations,  as  to  make  it  certain  either  that  he  had 
not  read  some  of  the  most  important  documents  to  which  he  refers,  or  that 
he  did  not  choose  to  notice  the  facts  which  he  found  there,  because  they 
were  not  in  conformity  to  his  own  preconceived  opinions.  A  remarkable 
example  occurs  respecting  a  circulating  medium  ;  when  he  mentions  cocoa- 
nuts,  which  were  used  as  money  in  Mexico,  and  says,  '  this  seems  to  be  the 
utmost  length  which  the  Americans  had  advanced  towards  the  discovery 
of  any  expedient  for  supplying  the  use  of  money.'  Now,  it  is  said  by 
Cortes  himself,  that  when  he  was  about  to  make  cannon,  he  had  copper 
enough,  but  wanted  tin ;  and  having  bought  up  all  the  plates  and  pots, 
which  he  could  find  among  the  soldiers,  he  began  to  inquire  among  the 
natives.  He  then  found,  that  in  the  province  of  Tachco,  little  pieces  of 
tin,  like  thin  coin,  were  used  for  money,  there  and  in  other  places.  And 
this  led  him  to  a  discovery  of  the  mines  from  whence  it  was  taken.  The 
reputation  of  this  author  must  rest  upon  his  History  of  Scotland,  if  that  can 
supporLit.  His  other  works  are  grievously  deficient." 

Such  are  the  defects  which  are  attributed  to  Dr.  Robertson's  History 
On  the  other  hand,  it  ought  to  be  remembered,  that  many  sources  of  know 
ledge,  which  were  then  hidden,  have  since  become  accessible,  that  no 
man  is  at  all  times  exempted  from  the  dominion  of  prejudice,  that  the  most 
cautious  vigilance  may  sink  into  a  momentary  slumber,  and  that  to  him 
who  has  achieved  much,  a  tribute  of  gratitude  is  due,  even  though  it  may 
be  discovered  that  he  has  left  something  undone.  Were  the  History  of 
the  Spanish  Conquests  proved  to  be  merely  a  fiction,  it  would  nevertheless 
continue  to  be  read,  such  attraction  is  there  in  the  general  elegance  of  the 
language,  the  skilful  delineation  of  the  characters,  and  the  sustained  inter 
est  and  spirit  of  the  narrative. 

In  the  preface  to  this  portion  of  his  labours,  he  made  known  his  intention 


xxiv  THE   LIFE   OF 

to  resume  the  suWect  at  a  future  period ;  and  he  assigned  the  ferment 
which  then  agitated  our  North  American  colonies  as  a  reason  for  suspend 
ing,  at  present,  the  execution  of  that  part  of  his  plan  which  related  to 
British  America.  At  the  very  beginning,  in  truth,  of  the  contest  with  the 


History  was  not  finished  before  this  event.  How  many  pit 
that  I  should  have  been  entitled  to  form,  are  contradicted  by  what  has 
now  happened."  A  fragment  of  this  History,  which,  however,  was  care 
fully  corrected  by  him,  and  which  he  preserved  when  he  committed  his 
manuscripts  to  the  flames,  was  all  that  he  subsequently  wrote  of  the  work ; 
and  this  was  published  by  his  son  to  prevent  it  from  falling  into  the  hands 
of  an  editor  who  might  make  alterations  and  additions,  and  obtrude  the 
whole  on  the  public  as  the  genuine  composition  of  the  author. 

With  respect  to  a  separation  between  the  mother  country  and  the  colo 
nists,  Dr.  Robertson  seems  to  have  somewhat  varied  in  his  sentiments,  and 
to  have  contemplated  the  probability  of  such  an  event  with  much  more 
dislike  in  1775  than  he  did  in  1766.  In  the  latter  year,  speaking  of  the 
repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  he  said,  "  I  rejoice,  from  my  love  of  the  human 
species,  that  a  million  of  men  in  America  have  some  chance  of  running  the 
same  great  career  which  other  free  people  have  held  before  them.  I  do 
not  apprehend  revolution  or  independence  sooner  than  these  must  or  should 
come.  A  very  little  skill  and  attention  in  the  art  of  governing  may  pre 
serve  the  supremacy  of  Britain  as  long  as  it  ought  to  be  preserved."  But, 
in  1775,  though  he  still  acknowledged  that  the  colonies  must  ultimately 
become  independent,  he  was  anxious  that  their  liberation  should  be 
delayed  till  as  distant  a  period  as  possible,  and  was  clearly  of  opinion  that 
they  had  as  yet  no  right  to  throw  off  their  allegiance.  Nor  was  he  sparing 
of  his  censure  on  the  ministers  for  the  want  of  policy  and  firmness,  which 
he  considered  them  to  have  displayed  at  the  commencement  of  the  quar 
rel.  "  I  agree  with  you  about  the  affairs  of  America,"  said  he,  in  a  letter, 
which  was  written  in  the  autumn  of  1775,  "  incapacity,  or  want  of  informa 
tion,  has  led  the  people  employed  there  to  deceive  the  ministry.  Trust 
ing  to  them,  they  have  been  trifling*  for  two  years,  when  they  should  have 
been  serious,  until  they  have  rendered  a  very  simple  piece  of  business 
extremely  perplexed.  They  have  permitted  colonies,  disjoined  by  nature 
and  situation,  to  consolidate  into  a  regular  systematical  confederacy;  and 
when  a  few  regiments  stationed  in  each  capital  would  have  rendered  it 
impossible  for  them  to  take  arms,  they  have  suffered  them  quietly  to  levy 
and  train  forces,  as  if  they  had  not  seen  against  whom  they  were  prepared. 
But  now  we  are  fairly  committed,  and  I  do  think  it  fortunate  that  the  vio 
lence  of  the  Americans  has  brought  matters  to  a  crisis  too  soon  for  them 
selves.  From  the  beginning  of  the  contest  I  have  always  asserted  that 
independence  was  their  object.  The  distinction  between  taxation  and 
regulation  is  mere  folly.  There  is  not  an  argument  against  our  right  of 
taxation  that  does  not  conclude  with  tenfold  force  against  our  power  of 
regulating  their  trade.  They  may  profess  or  disclaim  what  they  please, 
and  hold  the  language  that  best  suits  their  purpose ;  but,  if  they  have  any 
meaning,  it  must  be  that  they  should  be  free  states,  connected  with  us  by 
blood,  by  habit,  and  by  religion,  but  at  liberty  to  buy  and  sell  and  trade 
where  and  with  whom  they  please.  This  they  will  one  day  attain,  but 
not  just  now,  if  there  be  any  degree  of  political  wisdom  or  vigour  remain 
ing.  At  the  same  time  one  cannot  but  regret  that  prosperous  growing 
states  should  be  checked  in  their  career.  As  a  lover  of  mankind,  I  bewail 
it ;  but  as  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  I  must  wish  that  their  dependence 
on  it  should  continue.  If  the  wisdom  of  government  can  terminate  the 
contest  with  honour  instantly,  that  would  be  the  most  desirable  issue. 
This,  however,  I  take  to  be  now  impossible ;  and  I  will  venture  to  fore- 


DR.   ROBERTSON.  xxv 

tell,  that  if  our  leaders  do  not  at  once  exert  the  power  of  the  British  em 
pire  in  its  full  force,  the  struggle  will  be  long,  dubious,  and  disgraceful 
We  are  past  the  hour  of  lenitives  and  half  exertions.     If  the  contest  be 
protracted,  the  smallest  interruption  of  the   tranquillity  that   reigns   in 
Europe,  or  even  the  appearance  of  it,  may  be  fatal." 

It  must  be  owned,  that  language  like  this  goes  very  far  towards  justify 
ing  the  sarcasm  of  Horace  Walpole,  that  the  reverend  historian  was  "  a 
very  moderate  Whig."  Perhaps,  also,  his  belief  that,  at  the  outset,  a  few 
regiments  in  each  capital  would  have  sufficed  to  trample  down  the  resist 
ance  of  the  Americans,  may  now  appear  difficult  to  be  reconciled  with  a 
knowledge  of  military  affairs,  or  of  human  nature.  Yet  we  must,  at  the 
same  time,  remember  that  this  erroneous  idea  was  held  by  him  in  com 
mon  with  manv  other  men  of  intellect,  and  that  it  was  even  brought  for 
ward  in  the  British  senate  as  an  undeniable  truth. 

Though  the  American  war  precluded  Dr.  Robertson  from  bringing  to  a 
close  his  history  of  the  British  settlements,  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  why 
he  could  not  continue  it  to  a  certain  point ;  or  why,  at  least,  he  could  not 
proceed  with  that  part  of  his  narrative  which  related  to  the  colonization  of 
Brazil,  and  the  violent  struggles  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Portuguese  in 
that  country— an  extensive  subject,  and  worthy  of  his  pen,  as  it  would  have 
afforded  him  abundant  opportunities  for  the  display  of  his  delineative 
talents.  Our  curiosity  on  this  head  is  not  satisfied  by  the  reason  which, 
as  we  have  recently  seen,  he  himself  gave,  in  his  preface  and  in  his  letter 
to  Mr.  Strahan.  That  reason,  however,  he  repeated  in  a  correspondence 
with  his  friend  Mr.  Waddilove,  and  it  is  now  in  vain  to  seek  for  a  better. 
It  is  certain  that  a  wish  to  retire  from  literary  toil  was  not  his  motive ;  for, 
at  the  same  moment  that  he  postponed  his  History  of  America,  he  declared 
that  it  was  "  neither  his  inclination  nor  his  interest  to  remain  altogether 
idle."  As  a  proof  of  his  sincerity,  he  projected  a  History  of  Great  Bri 
tain,  from  the  revolution  to  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover,  and 
even  began  to  collect  the  necessary  documents.  Notwithstanding  this 
seems  to  have  been,  for  a  while,  a  favourite  scheme,  it  was  speedily  relin 
quished  ;  a  circumstance  which  may  justly  be  regretted.  Hume  then  sug 
gested  the  History  of  the  Protestants  in  France.  "  The  events,"  said  he, 
"  are  important  in  themselves,  and  intimately  connected  with  the  great 
revolutions  of  Europe  :  some  of  the  boldest  or  most  amiable  characters  of 
modern  times,  the  admiral  Coligny,  Henry  IV.,  &c.  would  be  your  peculiar 
heroes  ;  the  materials  are  copious,  and  authentic,  and  accessible  ;  and  the 
objects  appear  to  stand  at  that  just  distance  which  excites  curiosity  with 
out  inspiring  passion." 

The  hint  given  by  Hume  was,  however,  not  adopted.  About  the  year 
1779  or  1780,  Dr.  Robertson  seems,  indeed,  to  have  seriously  resolved  to 
write  no  more  for  the  public,  but  to  pursue  his  studies  at  leisure,  and  for 
his  own  amusement.  "  His  circumstances,"  says  professor  Stewart,  "  were 
independent :  he  was  approaching  to  the  age  of  sixty,  with  a  constitution 
considerably  impaired  by  a  sedentary  life ;  and  a  long  application  to  the 
compositions  he  had  prepared  for  the  press  had  interfered  with  much  of 
the  gratification  he  might  have  enjoyed,  if  he  had  been  at  liberty  to  follow 
the  impulse  of  his  own  taste  and  curiosity.  Such  a  sacrifice  must  be  more 
or  less  made  by  all  who  devote  themselves  to  letters,  whether  with  a  view 
to  emolument  or  to  fame ;  nor  would  it  perhaps  be  easy  to  make  it,  were 
it  not  for  the  prospect  (seldom,  alas!  realized)  of  earning  by  their  exer 
tions,  that  learned  and  honourable  leisure  which  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to 
attain." 

We  must 'now  contemplate  Dr.  Robertson  in  another  point  of  view — that 

of  his  ecclesiastical  and  academical  character ;  in  which,  no  less  than  in 

his  literary  capacity,  he  occupied  a  prominent  station.    The  eminence, 

however,  which  he  had  not  attained  without  difficulty,  he  did  not  hold 

VOL.  I.— D  2 


xxvi  THE  LIFE  OF 

entirely  without  danger.  In  one  instance  he  was  near  falling  a  vict'im  to  hi3 
spirit  of  liberality.  In  1778,  the  British  legislature  relieved  the  English 
Roman  catholics  from  some  of  the  severest  of  the  barbarous  penalties  to 
which  they  had  been  subjected  nearly  a  century  before.  Encouraged  by 
this  event,  the  Scottish  catholics  determined  to  petition  parliament  to  extend 
the  benefit  to  themselves.  To  this  measure  Dr.  Robertson  was  friendly, 
and  he  successfully  exerted  his  influence,  and  that  of  his  partisans,  to  pro 
cure  the  rejection  of  a  remonstrance  against  it,  which  was  brought  forward 
in  the  general  assembly.  But  on  this  occasion,  as,  unhappily,  on  too  many 
others,  bigotry  and  ignorance  triumphed  over  sound  policy  and  Christian 
charity.  The  trumpet  of  fanaticism  vvas  immediately  sounded,  and  men 
of  the  most  opposite  principles  and  interests  hurried  to  obey  the  call. 
Presbyterians,  seceders,  and  even  episcopalians,  the  latter  of  whom  were 
themselves  under  the  lash  of  penal  statutes,  all  combined  in  the  crusade 
against  papistry.  Pamphlets  and  speeches  were  lavished,  to  prove  that 
the  constitution  in  church  and  state  must  inevitably  perish,  if  an  iota  of 
relief  were  granted  to  the  faithless  members  of  an  idolatrous  and  sanguinary 
church.  The  Roman  catholics  were  so  terrified  at  the  fury  that  was  thus 
aroused,  that  the  principal  gentlemen  among  them  informed  the  ministry 
that  they  would  desist  from  appealing  to  parliament ;  and  they  endeavoured 
to  calm  the  popular  tempest,  by  publishing  in  the  daily  papers  an  account 
of  their  proceedings.  But  the  enlightened  mob  of  Edinburgh  had  sagely 
resolved  that  the  catholics  should  not  even  dare  to  wish  for  the  slightest 
participation  in  the  privileges  of  British  subjects,  without  being  punished 
for  their  temerity.  Accordingly,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1779,  multitudes 
of  the  lowest  classes,  headed  by  disguised  leaders,  assembled  in  the  Scottish 
capital,  burnt  the  house  of  the  popish  bishop  and  two  chapels :  and,  in 
their  even-handed  justice,  were  on  the  point  of  committing  to  the  flames 
an  episcopal  chapel,  when  they  were  propitiated,  by  being  told  that  an 
episcopal  clergyman  was  the  author  of  one  of  the  ablest  tracts  which  had 
been  published  against  popery.  As,  however,  they  could  not  consent  to 
remit  their  vengeance,  but  only  to  change  its  object,  they  turned  their 
wrath  upon  those  who  had  expressed  opinions  favourable  to  the  claims  of 
the  catholics.  Dr.  Robertson  was  marked  out  as  one  of  the  most  guilty, 
and  nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of  his  property  and  life  was  considered 
as  sufficient  to  atone  for  his  crime.  Fortunately  his  friends  had  provided 
for  his  safety,  and,  when  the  self-appointed  champions  of  religion  reached 
his  house,  it  was  found  to  be  defended  by  a  military  force,  which  they  had 
not  enough  of  courage  to  look  in  the  face.  As  they  had  come  only  to 
destroy  and  to  murder,  they,  of  course,  retreated,  when  they  discovered 
that,  to  accomplish  their  purpose,  it  would  also  be  necessary  to  fight.  Dr. 
Robertson  is  said  to  have  manifested  great  firmness  and  tranquillity  during 
this  trying  scene. 

In  selecting  Dr.  Robertson  as  the  person  most  worthy  of  suffering  by 
their  summary  process  of  punishment  without  trial,  the  mob  of  Edinburgh 
acted  with  a  more  than  mobbish  share  of  injustice.  Though  desirous  that 
the  catholics  should  be  released  from  their  thraldom,  he  was  not  disposed 
to  put  any  thing  to  the  hazard  for  the  furtherance  of  that  object,  and  had 
already  withdrawn  his  patronage  from  such  obnoxious  clients.  He  was 
not  one  of  those  who,  as  Goldsmith  says  of  Burke,  are  "  too  fond  of  the 
right  to  pursue  the  expedient."  With  him  prudence  was  a  governing 
principle.  When,  therefore,  he  saw  that  his  countrymen  were  adverse 
to  the  measure,  he  advised  the  ministry  to  forbear  from  lending  their  coun 
tenance  to  it.  In  an  eloquent  speech,  delivered  in  the  general  assembly, 
he  afterwards  explained  and  vindicated  the  view  which  he  originally  took 
of  the  subject,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  finally  acted.  The  perusal  of 
that  which  he  urged,  on  the  latter  point,  will  not  merely  show  what  were 
his  motives  in  this  instance,  but  also  afford  some  insight  into  his  general 


DR.   ROBERTSON.  xxvii 

character.  How  far  his  system  of  policy  is  consonant  with  dignity  or 
wisdom,  which,  indeed,  are  inseparable,  I  shall  not  stop  to  inquire.  It 
might,  perhaps,  not  improperly,  be  objected  to  him,  that  he  mistakes  the 
voice  of  a  blind  infuriated  multitude  for  the  voice  of  the  people  ;  though 
it  is  impossible  for  any  two  things  to  be  more  different  in  their  nature.  It 
might  be  asked,  too,  why  the  fanatical  prejudices  of  a  Scottish  mob  were 
to  be  treated  with  more  respect  than  the  complaints  of  the  American 
colonists  ;  why  the  one  were  to  be  indulged  or  complied  with,  while  the 
•other  were  to  be  silenced  by  "a  few  regiments  stationed  in  each  capital  ?" 
*'  As  soon,"  says  he,  "  as  I  perceived  the  extent  and  violence  of  the  flame 
which  the  discussion  of  this  subject  had  kindled  in  Scotland,  my  ideas 
concerning  the  expedience  at  this  juncture  of  the  measure  in  question,  began 
to  alter.  For  although  I  did  think,  and  I  do  still  believe,  that  if  the  pro- 
testants  in  this  country  had  acquiesced  in  the  repeal  as  quietly  as  our 
brethren  in  England  and  Ireland,  a  fatal  blow  would  have  been  given  to 
popery  in  the  British  dominions  ;  I  know,  that  in  legislation,  the  sentiments 
and  dispositions  of  the  people,  for  whom  laws  are  made,  should  be  attended 
to  with  care.  I  remembered  that  one  of  the  wisest  men  of  antiquity  de 
clared,  that  he  had  framed  for  his  fellow-citizens  not  the  best  laws,  but 
the  best  laws  which  they  could  bear.  I  recollected  with  reverence,  that 
the  divine  Legislator  himself,  accommodating  his  dispensations  to  the  frailty 
of  his  subjects,  had  given  the  Israelites  for  a  season  statutes  -which  were 
not  good.  Even  the  prejudices  of  the  people  are,  in  my  opinion,  respectable  ; 
and  an  indulgent  legislator  ought  not  unnecessarily  to  run  counter  to  them. 
It  appeared  manifestly  to  be  sound  policy,  in  the  present  temper  of  the 
people,  to  sooth  rather  than  to  irritate  them  ;  and,  however  ill  founded 
their  apprehensions  might  be,  some  concession  was  now  requisite  in  order 
to  remove  them." 

This  was,  I  believe,  the  last  speech  which  he  made  in  the  General  As 
sembly.  While  he  was  yet  in  the  vigour  of  his  faculties,  and  in  the  exer- 
.cise  of  undiminished  influence  in  that  assembly,  he  came  to  a  resolution  to 
withdraw  himself  entirely  from  public  business.  It  was  in  the  year  1780, 
about  the  time  when  he  ceased  to  be  an  historian,  and  when  he  was  only 
fifty-nine,  that  he  adopted  this  resolution.  Several  causes  seem  to  have 
concurred  in  producing  his  retirement.  It  has  been  supposed  by  some, 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  remain  on  the  scene  till  he  was  eclipsed  by  younger 
rivals  ;  and  it  is  known  that  he  felt  disgusted  by  the  conduct  of  the  violent 
men  of  his  own  party,  who,  though  he  had  yielded  many  points  to  them 
against  his  better  judgment,  were  nevertheless  dissatisfied  that  he  refused 
to  resort  to  stronger  measures  than  he  deemed  to  be  either  right  or  pru 
dent,  and  who,  in  consequence,  tormented  him  with  letters  of  remonstrance 
and  reproach,  which,  as  from  their  nature  may  easily  be  imagined,  were 
written  in  a  petulant  and  acrimonious  style.  In  addition,  there  was  one 
subject,  which  had  long  been  a  particular  annoyance  to  him,  and  on  which 
he  had  been  more  pertinaciously  urged  and  fretted  than  on  every  other. 
This  was  a  scheme  for  abolishing  subscription  to  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Formula.  Into  this  scheme,  which  he  had  avowed  his  determination 
to  resist,  whatever  shape  it  might  assume,  many  of  his  friends  had  zealously 
entered,  and  his  patience  was  severely  tried  by  their  "  beseeching  or  be 
sieging"  him  with  respect  to  so  important  an  object.  By  his  cautious  and 
persuasive  policy,  he  had  for  a  considerable  period  prevented  the  contro 
versy  from  being  agitated  in  the  assemblies  ;  but  he  was  of  opinion  that  it 
would  ultimately  compel  attention,  and  would  give  rise  to  vehement  dis 
putes  ;  and  it  was  this  circumstance,  as  he  himself  confessed,  that  "  at 
least  confirmed  his  resolution  to  retire." 

Having  rendered  triumphant  a  cause  which,  to  say  the  least,  had  nume 
rous  enemies,  it  was  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  his  character  would  not 
be  aspersed  by  many  of  those  who  were  mortified  to  witness  his  success. 


xxvm  THE  LIFE  OF 

Accordingly,  the  charge  of  having  deserted  the  genuine  principles  of  the 
Scottish  church  was  often  urged  against  him  by  some  of  his  antagonists. 
Others,  who  had  more  of  the  zealot  in  their  composition,  did  not  stop  here. 
These  went  so  far  as  to  accuse  him  of  being  indifferent  to  Christianity 
itself ;  and,  in  proof  of  this,  they  alleged  his  habits  of  intimacy  with  Hume, 
and  his  correspondence  with  Gibbon.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  this 
stupid  calumny  ought  to  excite  anger  or  contempt. 

This,  however,  was  the  language  of  only  malignant  hearts,  or  little 
minds.  By  the  great  majority,  even  of  those  who  were  in  opposition  to 
him,  full  justice  was  done  to  his  virtues,  his  talents,  and  the  purity  of  his 
motives.  Among  those  who,  believing  patronage  to  be  a  nuisance,  were 
the  most  strenuous  in  contending  with  him,  was  Dr.  Erskine,  his  college 
mate,  and  colleague  in  the  ministry.  That  venerable  and  learned  person 
always  preserved  for  him  a  warm  esteem,  and,  after  the  historian  was  no 
more,  paid  to  his  memory  an  animated  and  affectionate  tribute  from  the 
pulpit.  "  His  speeches  in  church  courts,"  says  Dr.  Erskine,  "  were  ad 
mired  by  those  whom  they  did  not  convince,  and  acquired  and  preserved 
him  an  influence  over  a  majority  in  them,  which  none  before  him  enjoyed  ; 
though  his  measures  were  sometimes  new,  and  warmly,  and  witn  great 
strength  of  argument,  opposed,  both  from  the  press,  and  in  the  General 
Assembly.  To  this  influence  many  causes  contributed :  his  firm  adhe 
rence  to*  the  principles  of  church  policy,  which  he  early  adopted  ;  his 
sagacity  in  forming  plans  ;  his  steadiness  in  executing  them  ;  his  quick  dis 
cernment  of  whatever  might  hinder  or  promote  his  designs  ;  his  boldness 
in  encountering  difficulties  ;  his  presence  of  mind  in  improving  every  occa 
sional  advantage ;  the  address  with  which,  when  he  saw  it  necessary,  he 
could  make  an  honourable  retreat ;  and  his  skill  in  stating  a  vote,  and 
seizing  the  favourable  moment  for  ending  a  debate  and  urging  a  decision. 
He  guided  and  governed  others,  without  seeming  to  assume  any  superiority 
over  them ;  and  fixed  and  strengthened  his  power,  by  often,  in  matters  of 
form  and  expediency,  preferring  the  opinions  of  those  with  whom  he  acted. 
to  his  own.  In  former  times,  hardly  any  rose  up  to  speak  in  the  General 
Assembly,  till  called  upon  by  the  Moderator,  unless  men  advanced  in  year?, 
of  high  rank,  or  of  established  characters.  His  example  and  influence  en 
couraged  young  men  of  abilities  to  take  their  share  of  public  business  ; 
and  thus  deprived  Moderators  of  an  engine  for  preventing  causes  being 
fairly  and  impartially  discussed.  The  power  of  others,  who  formerly  had 
in  some  measure  guided  ecclesiastical  affairs,  was  derived  from  ministers 
of  state,  and  expired  with  their  fall.  He  remained  unhurt  amidst  frequent 
changes  of  administration.  Great  men  in  office  were  always  ready  to 
countenance  him,  to  co-operate  with  him,  and  to  avail  themselves  of  his 
aid.  But  he  judged  for  himself,  and  scorned  to  be  their  slave,  or  to  submit 
to  receive  their  instructions.  Hence,  his  influence,  not  confined  to  men  of 
mercenary  views,  extended  to  many  of  a  free  and  independent  spirit,  who 
supported,  because  they  approved,  his  measures ;  which  others,  from  the 
same  independent  spirit,  thought  it  their  duty  steadily  to  oppose. 

"  Deliberate  in  forming  his  judgment,  but,  when  formed,  not  easily 
moved  to  renounce  it,  he  sometimes  viewed  the  altered  plans  of  others 
with  too  suspicious  an  eye.  Hence,  there  were  able  and  worthy  men,  of 
whom  he  expressed  himself  less  favourably,  and  whose  later  appearances 
in  church  judicatories  he  censured  as  inconsistent  with  principles  they  had 
formerly  professed :  while  they  maintained,  that  the  system  of  managing 
church  affairs  was  changed,  not  their  opinions  or  conduct.  Still,  however, 
keen  and  determined  opposition  to  his  schemes  of  ecclesiastical  policy 
neither  extinguished  his  esteem  nor  forfeited  his  friendly  offices,  when  he 
saw  opposition  carried  on  without  rancour,  and  when  he  believed  that  it 
originated  from  conscience  and  principle,  not  from  personal  animosity,  or 
envy,  or  ambition." 


DR.  ROBERTSON.  xxix 

Of  his  private  character,  Dr.  Erskine  adds,  that  "  he  enjoyed  the  boun 
ties  of  Providence,  without  running  into  riot ;  was  temperate  without  aus 
terity  ;  condescending  and  affable  without  meanness  ;  and  in  expense  nei 
ther  sordid  nor  prodigal.  He  could  feel  in  injury,  and  yet  bridle  his  pas 
sion  ;  was  grave,  not  sullen  ;  steady,  not  obstinate  5  friendly,  not  officious  ; 
prudent  and  cautious,  not  timid." 

Than  the  triumph  which  the  principles  of  Dr.  Robertson  obtained  in 
the  General  Assembly  nothing  could  be  more  complete ;  and  it  was  the 
more  flattering,  inasmuch  as  it  was  consummated  after  he  had  ceased  to 
take  a  part  in  the  debates.  It  had,  from  the  year  1736,  been  the  custom, 
annually,  for  the  Assembly  to  instruct  the  Commission,  "  to  make  due  ap 
plication  to  the  king  and  parliament  for  redress  of  the  grievance  of  patron 
age,  in  case  a  favourable  opportunity  for  doing  so  should  occur."  So  cau 
tious  was  the  policy  of  Dr.  Robertson,  that,  although  he  had  entirely  sub 
verted  the  very  groundwork  on  which  this  instruction  was  raised,  he  never 
chose  to  move  that  it  should  be  expunged.  He  knew  that  it  was  popular 
with  the  great  body  of  the  people,  and,  therefore,  he  did  not  think  it  ex 
pedient  to  risk  the  chance  of  dissension  in  the  Assembly,  by  an  unnecessary 
and  idle  attack  upon  this  shadow  of  a  shade.  In  the  year  1784,  however, 
it  was  omitted,  without  any  struggle  being  made  in  its  favour,  and  it  has 
never  since  been  renewed. 

Whether  the  system  established  by  him  has  contributed  to  the  harmony 
and  welfare  of  the  Scottish  church  is  a  question  which  yet  remains  unde 
cided.  It  is  urged,  by  the  friends  of  the  system,  that  it  has  given  peace 
to  the  church ;  that  the  General  Assembly  is  no  longer  occupied  with  angry 
appeals  and  tumultuous  disputes ;  that  instead  of  there  being,  as  formerly, 
a  necessity  to  call  in  a  military  force,  to  protect  the  presbytery  in  the  act 
of  induction,  ministers  are  now  peaceably  settled  ;  and  that  the  worst  that 
ever  happens  is  the  secession  of  the  discontented  part  of  the  parishioners, 
and  the  consequent  erection  of  a  separate  place  of  worship,  which  they 
frequent  only  till  their  zeal  cools,  and  then  desert  to  rejoin  the  kirk.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended,  that  the  peace  is  rather  in  appearance 
than  in  reality ;  that,  though  the  people  have  ceased  to  appeal  to  the  As 
sembly,  their  silence  arises  from  disgust  and  weariness,  and  not  from  satis 
faction  ;  that,  grown  too  wise  to  enter  into  a  protracted  and  fruitless  con 
test,  they  immediately  set  themselves  to  rear  a  seceding  meeting  house, 
which  often  carries  off  a  large  proportion  of  the  parishioners  ;  and  that,  by 
this  quiet  but  continual  increase  of  seceding  meetings,  the  influence  of  the 
established  church  has  been  gradually  weakened  and  contracted,  a  spirit  of 
disunion  has  been  spread,  and  a  heavy  additional  burden  has  been  imposed 
on  property  of  every  kind. 

But,  whatever  doubt  may_  exist  on  this  point,  there  seems  to  be  none 
with  respect  to  another.  It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  Dr.  Robertson 
conduced  greatly  to  give  a  more  dignified  character  to  the  proceedings  of 
the  General  Assembly,  to  introduce  an  impartial  exercise  of  the  judicial 
authority  of  the  church,  and  to  diffuse  the  principles  of  tolerance  among 
men  who  had  hitherto  prided  themselves  on  their  utter  contempt  of  them. 
In  such  respect  are  his  decisions  held,  that  they  still  form  a  sort  of  com 
mon  law  in  the  church  ;  and  the  time  which  elapsed  between  his  being 
chosen  Principal  of  the  University  and  his  withdrawing  from  public  life, 
is  distinguished  by  the  name  of  JJr.  Robertson's  administration 

It  is  in  his  capacity  of  Principal  that  he  is  next  to  be  considered.  In  this 
important  office  he  displayed  his  wonted  activity  and  talent.  He  began 
the  performance  of  his  duties,  as  his  predecessors  had  done,  by  delivering 
annually  a  Latin  discourse  before  the  University.  Of  these  orations,  the 
first,  the  object  of  which  was  to  recommend  the  study  of  classical  learn 
ing,  was  delivered  on  the  third  of  February,  1763.  It  is  $aid,  among  nu 
merous  other  splendid  passages,  to  have  contained  a  beautiful  panegyric 


xxx  THE  LIFE  OF 

on  the  stoical  philosophy.     In  the  following  year, his  discourse  "consisted 
chiefly  of  moral  and  literary  observations,  adapted  to  the  particular  cir 
cumstances  of  youth,"  and  the  style  is  affirmed  to  be  "  uncommonly  elegant 
and  impressive,  and  possessed  of  all  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
his  English  compositions."     In  1765  and  1766,  he  chose  for  his  theme  the 
comparative  advantages  of  public  and  private  education ;  a  subject  which 
he  treated  in  a  masterly  manner.    After  1766  these  annual  lectures  ceased 
his  time  being  too  fully  occupied  to  allow  of  the  continuance  of  them. 

But,  though  his  lectures  were  of  necessity  discontinued,  he  never  remit 
ted  in  his  attention  even  to  the  minutest  duties  of  his  office.  He  appears, 
indeed,  to  have  felt  a  filial  anxiety  to  omit  nothing  which  could  assist  in 
giving  lustre  to  the  University  at  which  his  own  talents  had  been  cultivated. 
With  very  slender  funds,  he  made  large  additions  to  the  public  library ; 
he  planned  or  reformed  most  of  the  literary  and  medical  societies,  which 
have  raised  Edinburgh  to  such  eminence  as  a  seminary  of  learning,  and  a 
focus  of  literature  ;  and  he  contrived  to  preserve  an  uninterrupted  harmony 
among  the  numerous  members  of  the  body  which  he  superintended. 
"  The  good  sense,  temper,  and  address,"  says  professor  Stewart,  "  with 
which  he  presided  for  thirty  years  at  our  university  meetings,  were 
attended  with  effects  no  less  essential  to  our  prosperity ;  and  are  attested 
by  a  fact  which  is  perhaps  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  any  other 
literary  community,  that  during  the  whole  of  that  period  there  did  not 
occur  a  single  question  which  was  not  terminated  by  a  unanimous 
decision." 

To  his  exertions  Scotland  is  also  chiefly  indebted  for  its  Royal  Society, 
which  received  its  charter  of  incorporation  in  March,  1763.  The  basis  of 
this  establishment  was  the  Philosophical  Society,  the  founder  of  which  was 
the  celebrated  Maclaurin.  In  his  Zeal  to  give  all  possible  lustre  to  the  new 
institution,  by  drawing  together  men  of  every  species  of  merit,  Dr.  Ro 
bertson  seems,  for  once,  to  have  acted  with  less  than  his  usual  liberality. 
An  antiquarian  society,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  ear]  of  Buchan,  had, 
two  years  before,  been  formed  in  the  Scottish  metropolis ;  and  this  body 
also  was  desirous  to  obtain  the  royal  charter.  The  application  which  it 
made  to  the  crown  was,  however,  eagerly  opposed,  in  a  "  Memorial  from 
the  principal  and  professors  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh."  This  me^ 
morial  is  signed  by  Dr.  Robertson ;  but  it  is  so  feeble  in  composition  as 
well  as  in  reasoning,  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  it  to  have  flowed  from  his 
pen.  Tho  argument  on  which  it  wholly  relies  is,  that  "  narrow  countries" 
cannot  supply  materials  for  more  than  one  society  ;  that  Scotland  is  such  a 
country  ;  and,  there  fore,  that  it  "ought  not  to  form  its  literary  plans  upon 
the  model  of  the  more  extensive  kingdoms  in  Europe,  but  in  imitation  of 
those  which  are  more  circumscribed."  To  this  hostile  proceeding  the 
antiquaries  responded,  in  a  long  memorial,  which  was  penned  with  much 
acuteness,  and  was  naturally  expressive  of  some  degree  of  resentment. 
They  were  successful  in  the  contest,  and  their  charter  was  granted. 

The  labours  of  Dr.  Robertson,  as  a  writer,  were  closed  by  a  work  which 
entered  largely  into  antiquarian  investigation,  as  connected  with  history 
In  1791  he  published  a  quarto  volume,  containing  his  "Historical  Disqui 
sition  concerning  the  Knowledge  which  the  Ancients  had  of  India;  and  the 
Progress  of  Trade  with  that  Country  prior  to  the  Discovery  of  the  Passage 
to  it  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope."  An  Appendix  was  dedicated  to  ob 
servations  on  the  civil  policy,  the  laws  and  judicial  proceedings,  the  arts, 
the  sciences,  and  the  religious  institutions  of  the  Indians.  This  subject,  which 
occupied  him  twelve  months,  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  perusal  of  major 
Rennell's  Memoirs  for  illustrating  his  History  of  Hindostan,  and  was  origi 
nally  taken  up  with  no  other  object  than  his  own  amusement  and  instruction. 
That  it  would  become  as  popular  as  his  other  productions  was,  from  its 
nature,  not  to  be  expected,  but  it  obtained  an  honourable  share  of  public 


DR.   ROBERTSON.  xxxi 

Approbation ;  and,  though  it  has  since  been  partly  superseded  by  more 
elaborate  inquiries,  which,  however,  were  grounded  on  more  ample  mate 
rials,  it  will  always  retain  a  certain  degree  of  value,  and  will  be  con 
sidered  as  a  proof  of  his  industry,  of  his  habits  of  research,  and  of  the 
solidity  of  his  judgment. 

The  latter  years  of  Dr.  Robertson's  existence  were  passed  in  the  well 
earned  enjoyment  of  honourable  leisure.  But,  though  he  ceased  to  write, 
he  did  not  cease  to  be  studious.  Till  the  end  of  his  life  he  is  said  to  have 
risen  early,  and  to  have  given  up  no  part  of  his  time  to  company  before 
the  hour  of  dinner.  What  he  was  in  the  moments  of  social  ease  has  been 
so  excellently  described  by  professor  Stewart,  that  his  own  words  ought 
to  be  used.  "A  rich  stock  of  miscellaneous  information,  acquired  from 
books  and  from  an  extensive  intercourse  with  the  world,  together  with  a 
perfect  acquaintance  at  all  times  with  the  topics  of  the  day,  and  the 
soundest  sagacity  and  good  sense  applied  to  the  occurrencss  of  common 
life,  rendered  him  the  most  instructive  and  agreeable  of  companions.  He 
seldom  aimed  at  art;  but,  with  his  intimate  friends,  he  often  indulged  a 
sportive  and  fanciful  species  of  humour.  He  delighted  in  good  natured, 
characteristical  anecdotes  of  his  acquaintance,  and  added  powerfully  to 
their  effect  by  his  own  enjoyment  in  relating  them.  He  was,  in  a  remark 
able  degree,  susceptible  of  the  ludicrous ;  but  on  no  occasion  did  he  forget 
the  dignity  of  his  character,  or  the  decorum  of  his  profession ;  nor  did  he 
ever  lose  sight  of  that  classical  taste  which  adorned  his  compositions.  His 
turn  of  expression  was  correct  and  pure ;  sometimes,  perhaps,  inclining 
more  than  is  expected,  in  the  carelessness  of  a  social  hour,  to  formal  and 
artificial  periods ;  but  it  was  stamped  with  his  own  manner  no  less  than  his 
premeditated  style  :  it  was  always  the  language  of  a  superior  and  a  culti 
vated  mind,  and.  it  embellished  every  subject  on  which  he  spoke.  In  the 
company  of  strangers,  he  increased  his  exertions  to  amuse  and  to  inform  ; 
and  the  splendid  variety  of  his  conversation  was  commonly  the  chief  cir 
cumstance  on  which  they  dwelt  in  enumerating  his  talents ;  and  yet,  I 
must  acknowledge,  for  my  own  part,  that  much  as  I  always  admired  his 
powers  when  they  were  thus  called  forth,  I  enjoyed  his  society  less  than 
when  I  saw  him  in  the  circle  of  his  intimates,  or  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family." 

It  is  not  one  of  the  least  amiable  features  of  his  character,  that,  though 
he  was  not  forward  to  volunteer  his  advice,  yet,  when  he  was  consulted  by 
his  young  acquaintance,  as  Avas  very  often  the  case,  "  he  entered  into  their 
concerns  with  the  most  lively  interest,  and  seemed  to  have  a  pleasure  and 
a  pride  in  imparting  to  them  all  the  lights  of  his  experience  and  wisdom." 

It  was  about  the  end  of  the  year  1791  that  the  health  of  Dr.  Robertson 
began  to  manifest  indications  of  decline.  Strong  symptoms  of  jaundice 
next  appeared,  his  constitution  was  sapped,  and  a  lingering  and  fatal  illness 
ensued.  His  spirits,  however,  remained  unbroken.  Till  within  a  few 
months  of  his  death,  he  persisted  in  officiating  as  a  minister.  When  his 
decay  ing  strength  no  longer  allowed  him  to  perform  his  clerical  duties,  he 
retired  to  Grange  House,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  that  he  might 
have  the  advantage  of  more  quiet,  a  pure  air,  and  the  sight  of  those  rural 
and  picturesque  objects  in  which  he  had  ever  delighted.  "While  he  was 
able  to  walk  abroad,"  says  Mr.  Stewart,  "he  commonly  passed  a  part  of 
the  day  in  a  small  garden,  enjoying  the  simple  gratifications  it  afforded 
with  all  his  wonted  relish.  Some  who  now  hear  me  will  long  remember, 
among  the  trivial  yet  interesting  incidents  which  marked  these  last  weeks 
of  his  memorable  life,  his  daily  visits  to  the  fruit  trees  (which  were  then 
in  blossom),  and  the  smile  with  which  he,  more  than  once,  contrasted  the 
interest  he  took  in  their  progress,  with  the  event  which  was  to  happen 
before  their  maturity."  It  was  while  he  was  thus  lingering  on  the  verge 
of  the  grave,  that  he  was  visited  by  two  gentlemen  from  New-York,  who 


xxxti  LIFE  OF  DR.  ROBERTSON. 

•Were  extremely  anxious  for  an  interview  with  him.  He  rallied  all  his 
powers  to  entertain  his  guests,  and  to  inspire  in  their  minds  a  feeling  of 
kindness  towards  the  parent  land  of  the  late  colonists ;  and,  on  their  rising 
to  take  leave,  he  said  to  them,  in  accents  at  once  dignified  and  pathetic, 
"  When  you  go  home,  tell  your  countrymen  that  you  saw  the  wreck  of  Dr. 
Robertson."  In  less  than  two  months  that  wreck  disappeared  in  the  ocean 
of  eternity.  He  expired,  with  the  fortitude  which  became  him,  on  the 
llth  of  July,  1793,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age,  and  the  fiftieth  of  his 
ministry. 

So  much  has  been  written  by  others,  respecting  the  literary  merit  of 
Dr.  Robertson,  that  on  this  point  it  is  unnecessary,  even  would  my  con 
fined  limits  permit  me,  to  enter  into  a  lengthened  discussion.  His  style 
has  less  of  careless  easy  grace,  but  has  more  of  equable  dignity,  than  mat 
of  Hume  ;  it  does  not  display  the  masterly  modulation,  but  it  has  none  of 
the  occasional  obscurity  and  meretricious  ornament,  of  that  of  Gibbon ;  it 
is  well  balanced,  unstained  by  vulgarisms,  more  idiomatically  English 
than  might  be  expected  from  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  is  defective,  per 
haps,  only  in  being  too  uniformly  of  an  elevated  tone.  In  arranging  and 
linking  together  into  one  harmonious  whole  the  scattered  parts  of  his  sub 
ject,  he  is  eminently  happy ;  and  in  delineating  characters,  manners,  and 
scenery,  in  making  vividly  present  to  the  mind  that  which  he  describes, 
he  has  few  rivals,  and  no  superiors.  If  all  that  has  been  urged  against  his 
works  be  admitted,  and  some  of  it  cannot  be  denied,  it  may  nevertheless 
safely  be  affirmed,  that  the  balance  heavily  preponderates  in  his  favour, 
and  that  he  will  always  continue  to  rank  in  the  first  class  of  modem 
historians.  •  " 


PREFACE. 

IN  fulfilling  the  engagement  which  I  had  come  under  to  the  Public  with 
respect  to  the  History  of  America,  it  was  my  intention  not  to  have  pul> 
lished  any  part  of  the  Work  until  the  whole  was  completed.  The  present 
state  of  the  British  colonies  has  induced  me  to  alter  that  resolution.  While 
they  are  engaged  in  civil  war  with  Great  Britain,  inquiries  and  specula 
tions  concerning  their  ancient  forms  of  policy  and  laws,  which  exist  no 
longer,  cannot  be  interesting.  The  attention  and  expectation  of  mankind 
are  now  turned  towards  their  future  condition.  In  whatever  manner  this 
unhappy  contest  may  terminate,  a  new  order  of  things  must  arise  in  North 
America,  and  its  affairs  will  assume  another  aspect.  I  wait  with  the  soli 
citude  of  a  good  citizen,  until  the  ferment  subside,  and  regular  government 
be  re-established,  and  then  I  shall  return  to  this  part  of  my  work,  in  which 
I  had  made  some  progress.  That,  together  with  the  history  of  Portuguese 
America,  and  of  the  settlements  made  by  the  several  nations  of  Europe  in 
the  West  India  Islands,  will  complete  my  plan. 

The  three  volumes  which  I  now  publish  contain  an  account  of  the  dis^ 
covery  of  the  New  World,  and  of  the  progress  of  the  Spanish  arms  and 
colonies  there.  This  is  not  only  the  most  splendid  portion  of  the  American 
story,  but  so  much  detached,  as  by  itself  to  form  a  perfect  whole,  remark 
able  for  the  unity  of  the  subject.  As  the  principles  and  maxims  of  the 
Spaniards  in  planting  colonies,  which  have  been  adopted  in  some  measure 
by  every  nation,  are  unfolded  in  this  part  of  my  work ;  it  will  serve  as  a 
proper  introduction  to  the  history  of  all  the  European  establishments  in 
America,  and  convey  such  information  concerning  this  important  article  of 
policy,  as  may  be  deemed  no  less  interesting  than  curious. 

In  describing  the  achievements  and  institutions  of  the  Spaniards  in  the 
New  World,  I  have  departed  in  many  instances,  from  the  accounts  of  pre 
ceding  historians,  and  have  often  related  facts  which  seem  to  have  been  un 
known  to  them.  It  is  a  duty  I  owe  the  Public  to  mention  the  sources  from 
which  I  have  derived  such  intelligence  which  justifies  me  either  in  placing 
transactions  in  a  new  light,  or  in  forming  any  new  opinion  with  respect  to 
their  causes  and  effects.  This  duty  I  perform  with  greater  satisfaction,  as 
it  will  afford  an  opportunity  of  expressing  my  gratitude  to  those  benefactors 
who  have  honoured  me  with  their  countenance  and  aid  in  my  researches. 

As  it  was  from  Spain  that  I  had  to  expect  the  most  important  information, 
with  regard  to  this  part  of  my  work,  I  considered  it  as  a  very  fortunate 
circumstance  for  me,  when  Lord  Grantham,  to  whom  I  had  the  honour  of 
being  personally  known,  and  with  whose  liberality  of  sentiment,  and  dis 
position  to  oblige,  I  was  well  acquainted,  was  appointed  ambassador  to 
the  court  of  Madrid.  Upon  applying  to  him,  I  met  with  such  a  reception 
as  satisfied  me  that  his  endeavours  would  be  employed  in  the  most  proper 
manner,  in  order  to  obtain  the  gratification  of  my  wishes ;  and  I  am  per 
fectly  sensible,  that  what  progress  I  have  made  in  my  inquiries  among  the 
Spaniards,  ought  to  be  ascribed  chiefly  to  their  knowing  how  much  his 
lordship  interested  himself  in  my  success. 

But  did  I  owe  nothing  more  to  Lord  Grantham  than  the  advantages 
which  I  have  derived  from  his  attention  in  engaging  Mr.  Waddilove,  the 
chaplain  of  his  embassy,  to  take  the  conduct  of  my  literary  inquiries  in 
Spain,  the  obligations  I  lie  under  to  him  would  be  very  great.  During  five 
years  that  gentleman  has  carried  on  researches  for  my  behoof,  with  such 
activity,  perseverance,  and  knowledge  of  the  subject,  to  which  his  attention 
was  turned,  as  have  filled  me  with  no  less  astonishment  than  satisfaction. 
He  procured  for  me  the  greater  part  of  the  Spanish  books  which  I  have 
consulted ;  and  as  many  of  them  were  printed  early  in  the  sixteenth  cen 
tury,  and  are  become  extremely  rare,  the  collecting  of  these  was  such  an 


4  PREFACE. 

occupation  as  alone  required  much  time  and  assiduity.  To  his  friendly 
attention  I  am  indebted  for  copies  of  several  valuable  manuscripts,  con 
taining  facts  and  details  which  I  might  have  searched  for  in  vain  in  works 
that  have  been  made  public.  Encouraged  by  the  inviting  good  will  with 
which  Mr.  Waddilove  conferred  his  favours,  I  transmitted  to  him  a  set  of 
queries,  with  respect  both  to  the  customs  and  policy  of  the  native  Ameri 
cans,  and  the  nature  of  several  institutions  in  the  Spanish  settlements, 
framed  in  such  a  manner  that  a  Spaniard  might  answer  them  without  dis 
closing  any  thing  that  was  improper  to  be  communicated  to  a  foreigner. 
He  translated  these  into  Spanish,  and  obtained  from  various  persons  who 
had  resided  in  most  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  such  replies  as  have  afforded 
me  much  instruction. 

Notwithstanding  those  peculiar  advantages  with  which  my  inquiries 
were  carried  on  in  Spain,  it  is  with  regret  I  am  obliged  to  add,  that  their 
success  must  be  ascribed  to  the  beneficence  of  individuals,  not  to  any 
communication  by  public  authority.  By  a  singular  arrangement  of  Philip 
II.  the  records  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  are  deposited  in  the  Archvvo  of 
Simancas,  near  Valladolid,  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
from  the  seat  of  government  and  the  supreme  courts  of  justice.  The 
papers  relative  to  America,  and  chiefly  to  that  early  period  of  its  history 
towards  which  my  attention  was  directed,  are  so  numerous,  that  they  alone, 
according  to  one  account,  fill  the  largest  apartment  in  the  Archive ;  and, 
according  to  another,  they  compose  eight  hundred  and  seventy-three  large 
bundles.  Conscious  of  possessing,  in  some  degree,  the  inaustry  which 
belongs  to  an  historian,  the  prospect  of  such  a  treasure  excited  my  most 
ardent  curiosity.  But  the  prospect  of  it  is  all  that  I  have  enjoyed.  Spain, 
with  an  excess  of  caution,  has  uniformly  thrown  a  veil  over  her  transactions 
in  America.  From  strangers  they  are  concealed  with  peculiar  solicitude. 
Even  to  her  own  subjects  the  Archive  of  Simancas  is  not  opened  without 
a  particular  order  from  the  crown ;  and,  after  obtaining  that,  papers  cannot 
be  copied  without  paying  fees  of  office  so  exorbitant  that  the  expense 
exceeds  what  it  would  be  proper  to  bestow,  when  the  gratification  of  lite 
rary  curiosity  is  the  only  object.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  the  Spaniards  will 
at  last  discover  this  system  of  concealment  to  be  no  less  impolitic  than 
illiberal.  From  what  I  have  experienced  in  the  course  of  my  inquiries,  I 
am  satisfied,  that  upon  a  more  minute  scrutiny  into  their  early  operations 
in  the  New  World,  however  reprehensible  the  actions  of  individuals  may 
appear,  the  conduct  of  the  nation  will  be  placed  in  a  more  favourable  light. 

In  other  parts  of  Europe  very  different  sentiments  prevail.  Having 
searched,  without  success,  in  Spain,  for  a  letter  of  Cortes  to  Charles  V., 
written  soon  after  he  landed  in  the  Mexican  Empire,  which  has  not  hitherto 
been  published ;  it  occurred  to  me,  that  as  the  Ernperor  was  setting  out 
for  Germany  at  the  time  when  the  messengers  from  Cortes  arrived  in 
Europe,  the  letter  with  which  they  were  intrusted  might  possibly  be  pre 
served  in  the  Imperial  library  at  Vienna.  I  communicated  this  idea  to 
Sir  Robert  Murray  Keith,  with  whom  I  have  long  had  the  honour  to  live 
in  friendship,  and  I  had  soon  the  pleasure  to  learn,  that  upon  his  application 
her  Imperial  Majesty  had  been  graciously  pleased  to  issue  an  order,  that 
not  only  a  copy  of  that  letter  (if  it  were  found),  but  of  airy  other  papers  in 
the  library  which  could  throw  light  upon  the  History  of  America,  should 
be  transmitted  to  me.  The  letter  from  Cortes  is  not  in  the  Imperial 
library;  but  an  authentic  copy,  attested  by  a  notary,  of  the  letter  written 
by  the  magistrates  of  the  colony  planted  by  him  at  Vera  Cruz,  which  I 
have  mentioned,  p.  210,  having  been  found,  it  was  transcribed,  and  sent  to 
me.  As  this  letter  is  no  less  curious,  and  as  little  known  as.  that  which 
was  the  object  of  my  inquiries,  1  have  given  some  account,  in  its  proper 
place,  of  what  is  most  worthy  of  notice  in  it.  Together  with  it,  I  received 
a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Cortes,  containing  a  long  account  of  his  expedition 
to  Honduras,  with  respect  to  which  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  enter 


PREFACE.  5 

into  any  particular  detail ;  and  likewise  those  curious  Mexican  paintings, 
which  Ihave  described,  p.  321. 

My  inquiries  at  St.  Petersburg  were  carried  on  with  equal  facility  and 
success.  In  examining  into  the  nearest  communication  between  our  conti 
nent  and  that  of  America,  it  became  of  consequence  to  obtain  authentic 
information  concerning  the  discoveries  of  the  Russians  in  their  navigation 
from  Kamchatka  towards  the  coast  of  America.  Accurate  relations  of 
their  first  voyage,  in  1741,  have  been  published  by  Muller  and  Gmelin. 
Several  foreign  authors  have  entertained  an  opinion  that  the  court  of  Russia 
studiously  conceals  the  progress  which  has  been  made  by  more  recent 
navigators,  and  suffers  the  Public  tcrbe  amused  with  false  accounts  of  their 
route.  Such  conduct  appeared  to  me  unsuitable  to  those  liberal  senti 
ments,  and  that  patronage  of  science,  for  which  the  present  sovereign  of 
Russia  is  eminent;  nor  could  I  discern  any  political  reason,  that  might 
render  it  improper  to  apply  for  information  concerning  the  late  attempts  of 
the  Russians  to  open  a  communication  between  Asia  and  America.  My 
ingenious  countryman,  Dr.  Rogerson,  first  physician  to  the  Empress,  pre 
sented  my  request  to  Her  Imperial  Majesty,  who  not  only  disclaimed  any 
idea  of  concealment,  but  instantly  ordered  the  journal  of  Captain  Krenitzin, 
who  conducted  the  only  voyage  of  discovery  made  by  public  authority 
since  the  year  1741,  to  be  translated,  and  his  original  chart  to  be  copied 
for  my  use.  By  consulting  them,  I  have  been  enabled  to  give  a  more 
accurate  view  of  the  progress  and  extent  of  the  Russian  discoveries  than 
has  hitherto  been  communicated  to  the  Public. 

From  other  quarters  I  have  received  information  of  great  utility  and 
importance.  M.  le  Chevalier  de  Pinto,  the  minister  from  Portugal  to  the 
court  of  Great  Britain,  who  commanded  for  several  years  at  Matagrosso,  a 
settlement  of  the  Portuguese  in  the  interior  part  of  Brazil,  where  the 
Indians  are  numerous,  and  their  original  manners  little  altered  by  inter 
course  with  Europeans,  was  pleased  to  send  me  very  full  answers  to  some 
queries  concerning  the  character  and  institutions  of  the  natives  of  America, 
which  his  polite  reception  of  an  application  made  to  him  in  my  name 
encouraged  me  to  propose.  These  satisfied  me,  that  he  had  contemplated 
with  a  discerning  attention  the  curious  objects  which  his  situation  presented 


procured  me  answers  to  the  same  queries  from  M.  de  Bougainville,  who 
had  opportunities  of  observing  the  Indians  both  of  North  and  South  Ame 
rica,  and  from  M.  Godin  le  Jeune,  who  resided  fifteen  years  among  Indians 
in  Quito,  and  twenty  years  in  Cayenne.  The  latter  are  more  valuable  from 
having  been  examined  by  M.  de  la  Condamine,  who,  a  few  weeks  before 
his  death,  made  some  short  additions  to  them,  which  may  be  considered 
as  the  last  effort  of  that  attention  to  science  which  occupied  a  long  life. 

My  inquiries  were  not  confined  to  one  region  in  America.  Governor  Hutch- 
inson  took  the  trouble  of  recommending  the  consideration  of  my  queries 
to  Mr.  Hawley  and  Mr.  Brainerd,  two  protestant  missionaries  employed 
among  the  Indians  of  the  Five  Nations,  who  favoured  me  with  answers 
which  discover  a  considerable  knowledge  of  the  people  whose  customs 
they  describe.  From  William  Smith,  Esq.  the  ingenious  historian  of  New 
York,  I  received  some  useful  information.  When  I  enter  upon  the  History 
of  our  Colonies  in  North  America,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  acknowledge 
how  much  I  have  been  indebted  to  many  other  gentlemen  of  that  country. 

From  the  valuable  Collection  of  Voyages  made  by  Alexander  Dairy  mple, 
Esq.,  with  whose  attention  to  the  History  of  Navigation  and  Discovery  the 
Public  is  well  acquainted,  I  have  received  some  very  rare  books,  particu 
larly  two  large  volumes  of  Memorials,  partly  manuscript  and  partly  in 
print,  which  were  presented  to  the  court  of  Spain  during  the  reigns  of 
Philip  III.  and  Philip  IV.  From  these  I  have  learned  many  curious  par- 


6  PREFACE. 

ticulars  with  respect  to  the  interior  state  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  and  the 
various  schemes  formed  for  their  improvement.  As  this  collection  of 
Memorials  formerly  belonged  to  the  Colbert  Library,  I  have  quoted  them 
by  that  title. 

All  those  books  and  manuscripts  1  have  consulted  with  that  attention 
which  the  respect  due  from  an  Author  to  the  Public  required ;  and  by 
minute  references  to  them,  I  have  endeavoured  to  authenticate  whatever  I 
relate.  The  longer  I  reflect  on  the  nature  of  historical  composition,  the 
more  I  am  convinced  that  this  scrupulous  accuracy  is  necessary.  The  his 
torian  who  records  the  events  of  his  own  time,  is  credited  in  proportion  to 
the  opinion  which  the  Public  entertains  with  respect  to  his  means  of  infor 
mation  and  his  veracity.  He  who  delineates  the  transactions  of  a  remote 
period,  has  no  title  to  claim  assent,  unless  he  produces  evidence  in  proof  of 
his  assertions.  Without  this  he  may  write  an  amusing  tale,  but  cannot  be 
said  to  have  composed  an  authentic  history.  In  those  sentiments  I  have 
been  confirmed  by  the  opinion  of  an  Author,*  whom  his  industry,  erudition, 
and  discernment,  have  deservedly  placed  in  a  high  rank  among  the  most 
eminent  historians  of  the  age.  Imboldened  by  a  hint  from  him,  I  have 
published  a  catalogue  of  the  Spanish  books  which  I  have  consulted.  This 
practice  was  frequent  in  the  last  century,  and  was  considered  as  an  evi 
dence  of  laudable  industry  in  an  author;  in  the  present,  it  may,  perhaps, 
be  deemed  the  effect  of  ostentation ;  but,  as  many  of  these  books  are 
unknown  in  Great  Britain,  I  could  not  otherwise  have  referred  to  them  as 
authorities,  without  encumbering  the  page  with  an  insertion  of  their  full 
titles.  To  any  person  who  may  choose  to  follow  me  in  this  path  of 
inquiry,  the  catalogue  must  be  very  useful. 

My  readers  will  observe,  that  in  mentioning  sums  of  money,  I  have 
uniformly  followed  the  Spanish  method  of  computing  by  pesos.  In  Ame 
rica,  the  pesofudrte,  or  duro,  is  the  only  one  known ;  and  that  is  always 
meant  when  any  sum  imported  from  America  is  mentioned.  The  peso 
fuerte,  as  well  as  other  coins,  has  varied  in  its  numerary  value ;  but  I  have 
been  advised,  without  attending  to  such  minute  variations,  to  consider  it  as 
equal  to  four  shillings  and  six-pence  of  our  money.  It  is  to  be  remembered, 
however,  that,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  effective  value  of  a  peso,  i.  e. 
the  quantity  of  labour  which  it  represented,  or  of  goods  which  it  would 
purchase,  was  five  or  six  times  as  much  as  at  present. 

N.  B.  Since  this  edition  was  put  into  the  press,  a  History  of  Mexico,  in  two 
volumes  in  quarto,  translated  from  the  Italian  of  the  Abbe"  D.  Francesco  Sa- 
verio  Clavigero,  has  been  published.  From  a  person  who  is  a  native  of  New 
Spain,  who  has  resided  forty  years  in  that  country,  and  who  is  acquainted  with 
the  Mexican  language,  it  was  natural  to  expect  much  new  information.  Upon 
perusing  his  work,  however,  I  find  that  it  contains  hardly  any  addition  to  the 
ancient  History  of  the  Mexican  empire,  as  related  by  Acosta  and  Herrera,  but 
what  is  derived  from  the  improbable  narratives  and  fanciful  conjectures  of  Tor- 
quemada  and  Boturini.  Having  copied  their  splendid  descriptions  of  the  high 
state  of  civilization  in  the  Mexican  empire,  M.  Clavigero,  in  the  abundance  of 
his  zeal  for  the  honour  of  his  native  country,  charges  me  with  having  mistaken 
some  points,  and  with  having  misrepresented  others,  in  the  history  of  it.  When 
an  author  is  conscious  of  having  exerted  industry  in  research,  and  impartiality 
in  decision,  he  may,  without  presumption,  claim  what  praise  is  due  to  these 
qualities,  and  he  cannot  be  insensible  to  any  accusation  that  tends  to  weaken 
the  force  of  his  claim.  A  feeling  of  this  kind  has  induced  me  to  examine  such 
strictures  of  M.  Clavigero  on  my  history  of  America  as  merited  any  attention, 
especially  as  these  are  made  by  one  who  seemed  to  possess  the  means  of  ob 
taining  accurate  information ;  and  to  show  that  the  greater  part  of  them  is  des 
titute  of  any  just  foundation.  This  I  have  done  in  notes  upon  the  passages  in 
my  History  which  gave  rise  to  his  criticisms. 

College  of  Edinburgh,  March  \  178& 

*  Mr  Gibbon 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I. 

PROGRESS  of  Navigation  among 
the  ancients — View  of  their  dis 
coveries  as  preparatory  to  those 
of  the  moderns — Imperfection  of 
ancient  navigation  and  geogra 
phy — Doctrine  of  the  zones — 
Further  discoveries  checked  by 
the  irruption  of  barbarous  na 
tions — Geographical  knowledge 
still  preserved  in  the  East,  and 
among  the  Arabians — Revival 
of  commerce  and  navigation  in 
Europe — favoured  by  the  Croi- 
sades — extended  by  travellers 
into  the  East — promoted  by  the 
invention  of  the  mariner's  com 
pass — First  regular  plan  of  dis 
covery  formed  by  Portugal — 
State  of  that  kingdom-Schemes 
of  Prince  Henry-Early  attempts 
feeble — Progress  along  the  west 
ern  coast  of  Africa — Hopes  of 
discovering  'a  new  route  to  the 
East  Indies — Attempts  to  ac 
complish  this — prospects  of  suc 
cess 

BOOK  H. 

Birth  and  education  of  Columbus 
— acquires  naval  skill  in  the  ser 
vice  of  Portugal — conceives 
hopes  of  reaching  the  East  In 
dies  by  holding  a  westerly  course 
— his  system  founded  on  the 
ideas  of  the  ancients,  and  know 
ledge  of  their  navigation — and 
on  the  discoveries  of  the  Portu 
guese — his  negotiations  with  dif 
ferent  courts — Obstacles  which 
he  had  to  surmount  in  Spain — 
Voyage  of  discovery — difficul 
ties — success — return  to  Spain 
— Astonishment  of  mankind  on 
this  discovery  of  a  new  world 
— Papal  grant  of  it — Second 
voyage — Colony  settled — Fur 
ther  discoveries — War  with  the 
Indians — First  tax  imposed  on 
them — Third  voyage — He  dis 
covers  the  Continent — State  of 


Page  Page 
the  Spanish  colony — Errors  in 
the  first  system  of  colonizing — 
Voyage  of  the  Portuguese  to  the 
East  Indies  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope — Effects  of  this — discove 
ries  made  by  private  adventurers 
in  the  New  World — Name  of 
America  given  to  it — Machina 
tions  against  Columbus — dis 
graced  and  sent  in  chains  to 
Europe — Fourth  voyage  of  Co 
lumbus — His  discoveries — dis 
asters — death 42 

BOOK  III. 

State  of  the  colony  in  Hispaniola 
— New  war  with  the  Indians — 
Cruelty  of  the  Spaniards — Fatal 
regulations  concerning  the  con 
dition  of  the  Indians — Diminu 
tion  of  that  people — Discoveries 
and  settlements — First  colony 
planted  on  the  Continent — Con 
quest  of  Cuba — Discovery  of 
Florida — of  the  South  Sea — 
Great  expectations  raised  by 
this — Causes  of  disappointment 
with  respect  to  these  for  some 
time — Controversy  concerning 
the  treatment  of  the  Indians — 
Contrary  decisions — Zeal  of  the 
ecclesiastics,  particularly  of  Las 
Casas — Singular  proceedings  of 
Ximenes — Negroes  imported  in 
to  America — Las  Casas'  idea  of 
a  new  colony — permitted  to  at 
tempt  it — unsuccessful — Disco 
veries  towards  the  West — Yu 
catan — Campeachy-New  Spain. 
— preparations  for  invading  it  .  '92 


BOOK  IV. 

View  of  America  when  first  dis 
covered,  and  of  thfe  manners 
and  policy  of  its  most  uncivil 
ized  inhabitants — Vast  extent 
of  America — grandeur  of  the 
objects  it  presents  to  view — its 
mountains — rivers — lakes  — its 
form  favourable  to  commerce — 
temperature — predominance  of 
cold — causes  of  this — unculti- 


8 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

vated — unwholesome — its  ani 
mals — soil — Inquiry  how  Ameri 
ca  was  peopled — various  theo 
ries — what  appears  most  proba 
ble — Condition  and  character  of 
the  Americans — All,  the  Mexi 
cans  and  Peruvians  excepted,  in 
the  state  of  savages — Inquiry 
confined  to  the  uncivilized  tribes 
— Difficulty  of  obtaining  infor 
mation — various  causes  of  this 
— Method  observed  in  the  in 
quiry — I.  The  bodily  constitu 
tion  of  the  Americans  considered 
— II.  The  qualities  of  their  minds 
—III.  Their  domestic  state— IV. 
Their  political  state  and  institu 
tions — V.  Their  system  of  war 
and  public  security — VI.  The 
arts  with  which  they  were  ac 
quainted — VII.  Their  religious 
ideas  and  institutions — VIII. 
Such  singular  and  detached  cus 
toms  as  are  not  reducible  to  any 
of  the  former  heads — IX.  Gene 
ral  review  and  estimate  of  their 
virtues  and  defects  ....  122 

BOOK  V. 

History  of  the  conquest  of  New 
Spain  by  Cortes 197 

BOOK  VI. 

History  of  the  conquest  of  Peru 
by  Pizarro— and  of  the  dissen 
sions  and  civil  wars  of  the  Spa 
niards  in  that  country — Origin, 
progress,  and  effects  of  these  .  261 

BOOK  VII. 

View  of  the  institutions  and  man 
ners  of  the  Mexicans  and  Pe 
ruvians — Civilized  states  in  com 
parison  of  other  Americans — 
Recent  origin  of  the  Mexicans 
— Facts  which  prove  their  pro 
gress  in  civilization— Vie  w  of  their 
policy  in  its  various  branches — 
of  their  arts — Facts  which  indi 
cate  a  small  progress  in  civiliza 
tion — What  opinion  should  be 
formed  on  comparing  those  con 
tradictory  facts — Genius  of  their 
religion — Peruvian  monarchy 
more  ancient — its  policy  founded 
on  religion — Singular  effects  of 
this — Peculiar  state  of  property 
among  the  Peruvians — Their 
public  works  and  arts — roads — 
bridges — buildings — Their  un- 


Page 

warlike  spirit — View  of  other 
dominions  of  Spain  in  America 
— Cinaloa  and  Sonora — Califor 
nia — Yucatan  and  Honduras — 
Chili — Tucuman — Kingdom  of 
Tierra  Firme" — New  Kingdom  of 
Granada  313 

BOOK  VIII. 

View  of  the  interior  government, 
commerce,  &c.  of  tho  Spanish 
colonies— Depopulation  of  Ame 
rica — first  effects  of  their  settle 
ments — not  the  consequence  of 
any  system  of  policy — nor  to  be 
imputed  to  religion — Number  of 
Indians  still  remaining — Funda 
mental  maxims  on  which  the 
Spanish  system  of  colonization 
is  founded — Condition  of  differ 
ent  orders  of  men  in  their  colo- 
"  nies~Chapetones~Creoles— Ne 
groes  — Indians — Ecclesiastical 
state  and  policy — Character  of 
secular  and  regular  clergy-Small 
progress  of  Christianity  among 
the  natives — Mines,  chief  object 
of  their  attention — Mode  of 
working  these — their  produce — 
Effects  of  encouraging  this  spe 
cies  of  industry — Other  com 
modities  of  Spanish  America — 
First  effects  of  this  new  com 
merce  with  America  on  Spain — 
Why  the  Spanish  colonies  have 
not  been  as  beneficial  to  the  pa 
rent  state  as  those  of  other  na 
tions —  Errors  in  the  Spanish 
system  of  regulating  this  com 
merce — confined  to  one  port — 
carried  on  by  annual  fleets — 
Contraband  trade — Decline  of 
Spain  both  in  population  and 
wealth — Remedies  proposed — 
View  of  the  wise  regulations  of 
the  Bourbon  princes — A  new  and 
more  liberal  system  introduced 
— beneficial  effects  of  this — pro 
bable  consequences — Trade  be 
tween  New  Spain  and  the  Phi 
lippines—Revenue  of  Spain  from 
America — whence  it  arises — to 
what  it  amounts 34" 

BOQK  IX. 

History  of  Virginia  to  the  year  1688,  389 
BOOK  X. 

History  of  New  England  to  the 
year  1652 426 


CATALOGUE 

OF 

SPANISH  BOOKS  AND  MANUSCRIPTS. 


A  CARETTE  de  Biscay,  Relation  des 
Voyages  dans  la  Riviere  de  la  Plata,  et 
de  la  par  Terre  au  Perou.  Exst.  Recueil 
de  Thevenot.  Part  IV. 

A  Voyage  up  the  River  dc 

la  Plata,  and  thence  by  Land  to  Peru. 
8vo.  London,  1698. 

Acosta  (P.  Jos.  de)  Historia  Natu 
ral  y  Moral  de  las  Indias.  4to.  Ma 
drid,  1590. 

(Joseph  de)  Histoire  Natu- 

relle  et  Morale  des  Indes  tant  Orien- 
tales  qu'  Occidentales.  8vo.  Paris, 
1600. 

Novi  Orbis  Historia  Naturalis 

et  Moralis.  Exst.  in  Collect.  Theod. 
de  Bry.  Pars  IX. 

De  Natura  Novi  Orbis,  Libri 

duo,  et  de  procuranda  Indorum  Salute, 
Libri   sex.     Salmant.     8vo.  1589. 

(Christ.)  Tratado  delas  Dro- 

gas  y  Medecinas,de  las  Indias  Occiden 
tales,  con  sus  Plantas  Dibuxadas  al 
vivo.  4to.  Burgos,  1578. 

Acugna  (P.  Christoph.)  Relation  de 
la  Reviere  des  Amazones.  12mo.  Tom. 
ii.  Paris,  1682. 

Acugna's  Relation  of  the  great  River 
of  the  Amazons  in  South  America. 
8vo.  London,  1698. 

Alarchon  (Fern.)  Navigatione  a 
Scoprere  il  Regno  di  sette  Citta.  Ra- 
musio  iii.  363. 

Albuquerque  Coello  (Duarte"  de) 
Memorial  de  Artes  de  la  Guerra  del 
Brasil.  4to.  Mad.  1634. 

Alcafarado  (Franc.)  An  Historical 
Relation  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Isle  of 
Madeira.  4to.  Lond.  1675. 

Albedo  y  Herrera  (D.  Dionysio  de) 
Aviso  Historico-Politico-  Geografico. 
con  las  Noticias  mas  particulares,  del 
Peru,  Tierra  Firme",  Chili,  y  Nuevo 
Reyno  de  Granada.  4to.  Mad.  1740. 

Alqedo  Compendi  Historico  de  la 
Provincia  y  Puerto  de  Guayaquil.  4to. 
Mad.  1741. 

Memorial    sobre    diferentes 

Puntos  tocantcs  al  estado  de  la  real 
hazienda  y  del  commercio,  &c.  en  las 
Indias.    fol. 

VOL.  I.— 2 


Aldama  y  Guevara  (D.  Jos.  Augus- 
tin  de)  Arde  de  la  Lengua  Mexicana. 
12mo.  Mexico,  1754. 

Alvarado  (Pedro  de)  Dos  Relaciones 
a  Hern.  Cortes  referiendole  sus  Expe- 
diciones  y  Conquistas  en  varias  Pro- 
vincias  de  N.  Espagna.  Exst.  Barcia 
Historiad.  Primit.  torn.  i. 

Lettere  due,  &c.   Exst.  Ra- 

mus.  iii.  296. 

Aparicio  y  Leon  (D.  Lorenzo  de) 
Discurso  Historico-Politico  del  Hospital 
San  Lazaro  de  Lima.  8vo.  Lim.  1761. 

Aranzeles  Reales  de  los  Ministros  de 
la  Real  Audiencia  de  N.  Espagna. 
fol.  Mex.  1727. 

Argensola  (Bartolome  Leonardo  de) 
Conquista  de  las  Islas  Malucas.  fol. 
Mad.  1609. 

Anales  de  Aragon.  fol.  Sara- 

go^a,  1630. 

Arguello  (Eman.)  Sentum  Confes- 
sionis.  12mo.  Mex.  1703. 

Arriago  (P.  Pablo  Jos.  de)  Extirpa- 
cian  de  la  Idolatria  de  Peru.  4to.  Lima, 
1621. 

Avendagno  (Didac.)  Thesaurus  In- 
dicus,  ceu  Generalis  Instructor  pro  Re- 
gimine  Conscientiae,  in  ijs  quae  ad  In 
dias  spectant.  fol.  2  vols.  Antwerp,  1660. 

Aznar  (D.  Bern.  Fran.)  Discurso 
tocante  a  la  real  hazienda  y  adminifi- 
tracion  de  ella.  4to. 

Bandini  (Angelo  Maria)  Vita  6  Let 
tere  di  Armerigo  Vespucci .  4to.  Fircnze. 
1745. 

Barcia  (D.  And.  Gonzal.)  Historia- 
dores  Primitives  de  las  Indias  Occiden 
tales,  fol.  3  vols.  Mad.  1749. 

Barco-Centincra  (D.  Martin  de)  Ar 
gentina  y  Conquista  del  Rio  de  la 
Plata:  Poema.  Exst.  Barcia  Histo- 
riad.  Primit.  iii. 

Barros  (Joao  de)  Decadas  de  Asia, 
fol.  4  vols.  Lisboa,  1682. 

Bellesteros  (D.  Thomas  de)  Orde- 
nanzas  del  Peru.  fol.  2  vols.  Lima,  1685. 

Beltran  (P.  F.  Pedro)  Arte  de  el  Idi- 
oma  Maya  reducido  a  sucintas  reglae, 
y  Semilexicon.  4to.  Mex.  1746. 


10 


A    CATALOGUE    OF 


Benzo  (Hieron.)  Novi  Orbis  Histo- 
riee — De  Bry  America,  Part  IV,  V,  VI. 

Betancurt  y  Figueroa  (Don  Luis) 
Derecho  de  las  Inglesias  Metropolita- 
nas  de  las  Indias.  4to.  Mad.  16.37. 

Blanco  (F.  Matias  Ruiz)  Conversion 
de  Piritu  de  Indies  Cumanagotos  y 
otros.  12mo.  Mad.  1690. 

Boturini  Bcnaduci  (Lorenzo)  Idea  de 
una  nueva  Historia  general  de  la  Ame 
rica  Septentrional,  fundada  sobre  ma 
terial  copiosa  de  Figuras,  Symbolas, 
Caracteres,  Cantares,  y  Manuscritos  de 
Autores  Indies.  4to.  Mad.  1746. 

Botello  de  Moraes  y  Vasconcellos 
(D.  Francisco  de)  El  Nuevo  Mundo : 
Poema  Heroyco.4to.  Barcelona^  1701. 

Botero  Benes  (Juan)  Description  de 
Todas  las  Provincias,  Reynos,  y  Ciu- 
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Leyes  Regias  que  Forao  Expedidos 
y  Publicadas  desde  o  Anno  1741,  sobre 
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Corita  (Dr.  Alonzo)  Breve  y  suma- 
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(Fr.  Vasq.  de)   Relacion 

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Cortes  (Hern.)  Quattro  Cartas  diri- 
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ha  Relacion  de  sus  Conquistas  en  la 
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Cubero  (D.  Pedro)  Peregrinacion 
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Davila  Padilla  (F.  Aug.)  Historia  de 
la  Fundacion  y  Discurso  de  Provincia  de 
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(Gil  Gonzalez)  Teatro 

Ecclesiastico  de  la  Primitiva  Iglesia  de 
los  Indias  Occidentales.  fol.  2  vols.  1649. 

Documentos  tocantes  ala  Persecution, 
que  los  Regulares  de  la  Compagnia  sus- 
citaron  contra  Don  B.  de  Cardenas 
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Echaveri  (D.  Bernardo  Ibagnez  de) 
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tos.  4to.  Mad.  1770. 

Echavey  As.su  (D.Francisco  de)  La 
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sur  tres  Coronas,  fol.  Amberes,  1688. 

Eguiara  El  Egueren  (D.  J.  Jos.)  Bib- 
liotheca  Mexicana,  sive  Eruditorum 
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natorum,  &c.  torn.  prim.  fol.Mex.  1775. 
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work  has  been  published. 

Ercilla  y  Zuniga  (D.  Alonzo  de)  La 
Araucana:  Poema  Eroico.  fol.  Mad. 
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2  vols.  8vo.  Mad.  1777. 

Escalona  (D.  Gaspar  de)  Gazophy- 
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Faria  y  Sousa  (Manuel  de)  Historia 
del  Reyno  de  Portugal,  fol. Amber.  1730. 

Faria  y  Sousa,  History  of  Portugal 
from  the  first  Ages  to  the  Revolution 
under  John  IV.  8vo.  Lond.  1698. 

Fernandez  (Diego)  Prima  y  secunda 
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vill.  1571. 

(P.Juan  Patr.)  Relacion 

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que  claman  Chiquitos.  4to.  Mad.  1726. 

Feyjoo  (Benit.  Gerbn.)  Espagnolos 
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del  Teatro  Critico.  Mad.  1769. 

Solucion   del    gran   Pro- 

blema  Historico  sobre  la  Poblacion  de 
la  America — Discurso  XV.  del   torn, 
v.  de  Teatro  Critico. 

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scriptiva    de  la  Ciudad   y  Provincia 
Truxillo  del  Peru.  fol.  Mad.  1763. 


A    CATALOGUE    OF 


Freyf e  (Ant.)  Piratas  de  la  America. 
4  to. 

Frasso  (D.  Petro)  De  Regio  Patronatu 

Xndiarum.  fol.2  vols.  Matriti,  1775. 

Galvao  (Antonio)  Tratado  dos  Des- 
cobrimentos  Antigos  y  Modernos.  fol. 
Lisboa,  1731. 

Galvano  (Ant.)  the  Discoveries  of 
the  World  from  the  first  Original  unto 
the  Year  1555.  Osborne's  Collect,  ii. 
354. 

Gamboa  (D.  Fran.  Xavier  de)  Co- 
mentarios  a  los  ordinanzas  de  Minas. 
fol.  Mad.  1761. 

Garcia  (Gregorio)  Historia  Ecclesi- 
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Occidental,  y  Predicacion  de  la  Santa 
Evangelia  en  ella.  12mo.  Baeca,  1626. 

— -  (Fr.  Gregorio)  O'rigen  de  los 
Indies  del  Nuevo  Mundo.  fol.  Mad.  1729. 

Gastelu  (Ant.  Velasquez)  Arte  de 
Lengua  Mexicana.  4to.  Puibla  de  los 
Angeles.  1716. 

Gazeta  de  Mexico  por  los  Annos 
1728,  1729,  1730.  4to. 

Girava  (Hieronymo)  Dos  Libros  de 
Cosmographia.  Milan,  1556. 

Godoy  (Diego  de)  Relacion  al  H. 
Cortes,  qua  trata  del  Descubrimiento 
di  diversas  Ciudades,  y  Provincias,  y 
Guerras  que  tuio  con  los  Indies.  Exst. 
Barcia  Hist.  Prim.  torn.  i. 

Lettera  a  Cortese,  &c.  Exst. 

Ramusio  iii.  300. 

Gomara  (Fr.  Lopez  de)  La  Historia 
general  de  las  Indias.  12mo.  Anv.1554. 

Historia  general  de  las  Indias. 

Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim.  torn.  ii. 

(Fr.  Lopez  de)  Chronica  de 

laNuevaEspagnao  Conquistade  Mex 
ico.  Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim.  torn.  ii. 

Guatemala — Razon  puntual  de  los 
Successes  mas  memorabiles,  y  de  los 
Estragos  y  dannos  que  ha  padecido  la 
Ciudad  de  Guatemala,  fol.  1774. 

Gumilla  (P.Jos.)  El  Orinoco  illustra- 
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y  Geographica  de  este  Gran  Rio,  &c. 
4to.2tom.  Mad.  1745. 

— — —  Histoire  Naturelle,  Civile,  et 
G6ographiquede  1'Orenoque.  Traduite 
par  M.  Eidous.  12mo.  torn.  iii.  Avig. 
1758. 

Gusman  (Nugno  de)  Relacion  scritta 
in  Omitlan  Provincia  de  Mechuacan 
della  maggior  Spagna  nell  1530.  Exst. 
Ramusio  iii.  331. 

Henis  (P.  Thadeus)  Ephemerides 
Belli  G  uiaranici,  ab  Anno  1754.  Exst 


Colleccion  general  de   Docum,   torn. 

Hernandes  (Fran.)  Plantarum  Ani- 
malium,  et  Mineralium  Mexicanorum 
Historia.  fol.  Rom.  1651. 

Herrera  (Anton,  de)  Historia  gene 
ral  de  los  Hechos  de  los  Castellanos  on 
las  Islas  y  Tierra  Firma  de  Mar  Ocea- 
no.  fol.  4  vols.  Mad.  1601. 

Historia  General,  &c.  4  vols. 

Mad.  1730. 

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Descriptio  Indise  Occidenta- 

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Huemez  y  Horcasitas  (D.  Juan 
Francisco  de)  Extracto  de  los  Autos 
de  Diligencias  y  reconocimicntos  de  los 
rios,  lagunas,  vertientes,  y  desaguas  de 
Mexico  y  su  valle,  &c.  fol.  Mex.  1748. 

Jesuitas — Colleccion  de  las  applica- 
ciones  que  se  van  haciendo'de  los  Cie- 
nes,  Casas  y  Coligios  que  fueron  de  la 
Compagnia  de  Jesus,  expatriados  do 

os  Reales  dominios.  4to.  2  vola. 
Lima,  1772  y  1773. 

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videncias  hasta  aqui  tomadas  por  el 
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Regulares  de  la  Compagnia  de  Espag- 
na,  Indias,  e  Islas  Filipinas.  4to.  Mad. 
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Retrato  de  los  Jesuitas  for- 

mado  al  natural.  4to.  2  vols.  Mad.  1768. 

Relacion  Abbreviada  da  Re- 

publica  que  os  Religiosos  Jesuitas  esta- 
beleceraon.  12mo. 

Idea  del  Origen,  Gobierno, 

&c.  de  la  Compagnia  de  Jesus.  8vo. 
Mad.  1768. 

Lsevinius  (Apollonius)  Libri  V.  do 
Peruviro  Invention,  et  rebus  in  eadem 
gestis.  12mo.  Ant.  1567. 

Leon  (Fr.  Ruiz  de)  Hernandia,  Poe- 
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4to.  Mad.  1755. 

— >—  (Ant.  de)  Epitome  de  la  Biblio- 
theca  Oriental  y  Occidental,  Nautica 
y  Geografica.  fol.  Mad.  1737. 

Lima :  A  true  Account  of  the  Earth 
quake  which  happened  there  28th  of 
October,  1746.  Translated  from  the 
Spanish.  8vo.  London,  1748. 

Lima  Gozosa,  Description  de  las  fes- 
tibas  Demonstraciones,  con  que  esta 
Ciudad  celebr6  la  real  Proclamacion 
de  el  Nombre  Augusto  del  Catolico 
MonarchoD.  Carlos  III.  Lim.4to.  1760. 


SPANISH    BOOKS    AND    MANUSCRIPTS.         13 


Llano  Zapata  (D.  Jos.  Euseb.)  Pre- 
liminar  al  Tomo  1.  de  las  Memorias 
Historico-Physicas,  Critico-Apologeti- 
cas  de  la  America  Meridional.  8vo. 
Cadiz,  1759. 

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dicion  Real.  fol.  1685. 

(Thorn.)  Atlas  Geographico  de 

la  America  Septentrional  y  Meridional. 
12mo.  Par.  1758. 

Lorenzana  (D.  Fr.  Ant.)  Arzobispo 
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clarecido  Conquistador  Hernan.  Cor 
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y  Notas.  fol.  Mex.  1770. 

Lozano  (P.  Pedro)  Description  Cho- 
rographica,  del  Terretorios,  Arboles, 
Animales  del  Gran  Chaco,  y  de  los  Ri- 
tos  y  Costumbres  de  las  innumerabiles 
Naciones  que  la  habitan.  4to.  Cordov. 
1733. 

Historia  de  la  Compagnia  de 

Jesus  en  la  Provincia  del  Paraguay, 
fol.  2  vols.  Mad.  1753. 

Madriga  (Pedro  de)  Description  du 
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la  Comp.  des  Indes,  torn.  ix.  105. 

Mariana  (P.  Juan  de)  Discurso  de 
les  Enfennedades  de  la  Compagnia  de 
Jesus.  4to.  Mad.  1658. 

Martinez  de  la  Puente  (D.  Jos.' 
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cubrimientos,  Conquistas,  y  Guerras 
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Martyr  ab  Angleria  (Petr.)  De  Re 
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monias,  Ritos,  y  Poblacion  de  los  In 
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Molina  (P.  F.  Anton.)  Vocabulario 
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Monardes  (El  Dottor)  Primera  y  Se- 
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nuestras  Indias  Occidentales,  que  sir- 
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Moncada  (Sancho  de)  Restauracion 
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Morales  (Ambrosio  de)  Coronica 
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Nodal — Relacion  del  Viage  que  hicie- 
ron  los  Capitanes  Barth.  y  Gonz.  de 
Nodal  al  descubrimiento  del  Estrecho 
que  hoy  es  nombrado  de  Maire,  y  re- 
conocimiento  del  de  Magellanes.  4to. 
Mad. 

Noticia  Individual  de  los  derechoa 
segun  lo  reglado  en  ultimo 
1720.    4to.     Barcelona,  1732." 

Neuva  Espagna — Historia  de  los  In- 
dios  de  Nueva  Espagna  dibidida  en  tres 
Partes.  En  la  primera  trata  de  los  Ri- 
tos,  Sacrificios  y  Idolatrias  del  Tiempo 
de  su  Gentilidacl.  En  la  segunda  de  su 
maravillosa  Conversion  a  la  FC",  y  mo- 
do  de  celebrar  las  Fiestas  de  Neustra 
Santa  Iglesia.  En  la  tercera  del  Go- 


14 


A    CATALOGUE    OF 


nio  y  Caracter  de  aquella  Gente  ;  y 
Figuras  con  que  notaban  sus  Aconte- 
cimientos,con  otras  particularidades  ;  y 
Noticias  de  las  principales  Ciudades  an 
aquel  Reyno.  Escrita  en  el  Agno  1541 
por  uno  de  los  doce  Religiosos  Francis- 
cos  que  primero  passaron  a  entender  en 
au  Conversion.  MS.  fol.  pp.  618. 

Ogna  (Pedro  de)  Arauco  Domado. 
Poema.  12mo.  Mad.  1605. 

Ordenanzas  del  Conscjo  real  de  las 
Indias.  fol.  Mad.  1681. 

Ortega  (D.  Casimiro  de)  Refumen 


(D 

del 


Historico  del  primer  Viage  hecho  al 
rededor  del  Mundo.  4to.  Mad.  1769. 

Ossorio  (Jerome)  History  of  the 
Portuguese  during  the  Reign  of  Em 
manuel.  8vo.  2  vols.  Lond.  1752. 

Ossorius  (Hieron.)  De  Rebus  Ema- 
nuelis  Lusitanise  Regis.  8vo.  Col. 
Agr.  1752. 

Ovalle  (Alonso)  Historica  Relacion 
del  Reyno  de  Chili,  fol.  Rom.  1646. 

An  Historical  Relation  of  the 

Kingdom  of  Chili.  Exst.  Churchill's 
Collect,  iii.  1. 

Oviedo  y  Bagnos  (D.  Jos.)  Historia 
de  la  Conquista  y  Publicacion  de  Vene 
zuela,  fol.  Mad.  1723. 

Sommaria,  &c.    Exst.  Ra 
musio  iii.  44. 

(Gonz.  Fern,  de)  Relacion 

Sommaria  de  la  Historia  Natural  de  los 
Indias.  Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim.  torn.  i. 

Historia  Generale  et  Natu- 


rale  dell  Indie  Occidentale.  Exst. 
Ramusio  iii.  74. 

Relatione  della  Navigatione 

per  la  grandissima  Fiume  Maragnon. 
Exst.  Ramus.  iii.  415. 

Palacio  (D.  Raim.  Mig.)  Discurso 
Economico  Politico.  4to.  Mad.  1778. 

Palafox  y  Mendoza  (D.  Juan)  Vir- 
tudes  del  Indios,  o  Naturaliza  y  Cos- 
tumbres  de  los  Indios  de  N.Espagna.  4to. 

Vie  de  Venerable  Dom.  Jean 

Palafox  Ev6que  del'Angelopolis.  12mo. 
Cologne,  1772. 

Pegna  (Juan  Nugnez  de  la)  C  onquista 


Peralta  Barnuevo  (D.  Pedro  de) 
Lima  fundada,  o  Conquista  del  Peru. 
Poema  Eroyco.  4to.  Lima,  1732. 

Calderon  (D.  Mathias  de)  EL 

Apostol  de  las  Indias  y  nueves  gentes 
San  Francisco  Xavier  de  la  Compagnia 
de  Jesus  Epitome  de  sus  Apostolicos 
Hechos.  4to.  Pampl.  1665. 

Pereira  de  Berrido  (Bernard.)  An- 
nales  Historicos  do  Estado  do  Maran- 
chao.  fol.  Lisboa,  1749. 

Peru  —  Relatione     d'un     Capitano 


Spagnuolo  del  Descoprimento  y  Con 
quista  del  Peru.  Exst.  Ramus.  iii.  371. 

— Relatione  d'un  Secretario  de 

Franc.  Pizarro  della  Conquista  del 
Peru.  Exst.  Ramusio  iii.  371. 

Relacion  del  Peru.     MS. 

Pesquisa  de  los  Oydores  de  Panama 
contra  D.  Jayme  Mugnos,  &c.  por  ha- 
verlos  Commerciado  illicitamente  en 
tiempo  de  Guerra.  fol.  1755. 

Philip inas — Carta  que  escribe  un 
Religioso  antiguo  de  Philipinas,  a  un 
Amigo  suyo  en  Espagna,  que  le  pre- 
gunta  el  Naturel  y  Genio  de  los  Indios 
Naturales  de  estas  Islas.  MS.  4to. 

Piedrahita  (Luc.  Fern.)  Historia 
general  de  las  Conquistas  del  Nuevo 
Reyno  dc  Granada,  fol.  Ambres. 

Pinelo  (Ant.  de  Leon)  Epitome  de 
la  Bibliotneca  Oriental  y  Occidental 
en  que  se  continen  los  Escritores  de 
las  Indias  Orientales  y  Occidentals, 
fol.  2  vols.  Mad.  1737. 

Pinzonius  socius  Admirantis  Columbi 
— Navigatio  et  Res  per  eum  repertoe. 
Exst.  Nov.  Orb.  Grynsei,  p.  119. 

Pizarro  y  Orellana  (D.Fern.)  Varonea 
illustres  del  N.  Mundo.  fol.  Mad.  1639. 

Planctus  Judorum  Christianorum  in 
America  Peruntina.  12mo. 

Puente  (D.  Jos.  Martinez  de  la) 
Compendio  de  las  Historias  de  los  Des- 
cubrimientos  de  la  India  Oriental  y  sus 
Islas.  4to.  Mad.  1681. 

Quir  (Ferd  de)  Terra  Australis  in 
cognita  ;  or  a  new  Southern  Discovery, 
containing  a  fifth  part  of  the  World, 
lately  found  out.  4to.    Lond.  1617. 
y  Antiguedades  de  las  Islas  de  Gran 
Canaria.  4to.     Mad.  1676.  Ramusio   (Giov.  Battista)  Racolto 

Pegna  Montenegro  (D.  Alonso  de  la)  |  delle  Navigationi  e  Viaggi.  fol.  3  vols. 


Itinerario  para  Parochos  de  Indios,  en 
que  tratan  les  materias  mas  particu- 
lares,  tocantes  a  ellos  para  se  buen  ad 
ministration.  4to.  Amberes,  1754. 

Penalosa  y  Mondragon  (Fr.  Benito 
de)  Cinco  Excellencias  del  Espagnol 
que  des  peublan  a  Espagna.  4to. 
Pampl.  1629 


Venet.  1588. 

Real  Compagnia  Guipuzcoana  de 
Caracas,  Noticias  historiales  Practicas, 
de  los  Sucesos  y  Adelantamientos  de 
esta  Compagnia  desde  su  Fundacion 
en  1728  hasta  1764.  4to.  1765. 

Recopilacion  de  Leyes  de  los  Reynos 
de  las  Indias.  fol.  4  vols.  Mad.  1756. 


SPANISH    BOOKS    AND    MANUSCRIPTS. 


15 


Reglamento  y  Aranceles  Reales  para 
el  Commercio  de  Espagna  a  Indias. 

Relationo  d'un  Gent5huomo  del  Sig. 
Feni.  Cortese  della  gran  Citta  Temis- 
tatan,  Mexico,  et  della  altre  cose  delle 
Nova  Spagna.  Exst.  Ramus.  iii.  304. 

Remesal(Fr.  Ant.)  Historia  general  de 
las  Indias  Occidentals  y  particular  de 
la  G  overnacion  de  Chiapa  a  Guatimala. 

Ribadeneyra  (De  Diego  Portichuelo) 
de  Relacion  del  Viage  desde  qui  salio 
de  Lima,  hasta  que  Illego  a  Espagna. 

Ribadeneyra  y  Barrientos  (D.  Ant. 
Joach.)  Manuel  Conipcndio  de  el  Rcgio 
Patronato  Indiano.  fol.  Mad.  1755. 

Ribas  (Andr.  Perez  de)  Historia  de 
los  Triumphos  de  Nuestra  Sta  Fe,  entre 
Gentes  la  mas  Barbaras,  en  las  Mis- 
siones  de  Nueva  Espagna.  Mad.  1645. 

Riol  (D.  Santiago)  Representacion 
a  Philipe  V.  sobre  el  Estado  actual  de 
los  Papeles  universales  de  la  Monar- 
chia.  MS. 

Ripia  (Juan  de  la)  Practica  de  la 
Administracion  y  Cobranza  de  las  ren- 
tas  reales.  fol.  Mad.  1768. 

Rocha  Pitta  (Sebastiano  de)  Historia 
de  America  Portougueza  desde  o  Anno 
de  1500  du  su  Descobrimento  ate  o  de 
1724.  fol.  Lisboa,  1730. 

Rodriguez  (Manuel)  Explicacion  de 
la  Bulla  de  la  Santa  Cruzada.  1589. 

(P.  Man.)  El  Maragnon  y 

Amozonas  Historia  de  los  Descubrimi- 
entos,Entradas  yReducion  deNaciones. 

Roman  (Hieron.)  Republicas  del 
Mundo.  fol.  3  vols.  Mad.  1595. 

Roma  y  Rosell  (De  Franc.)  Las  seg- 
nales  de  la  felicidad  de  Espagna  y  me- 
dios  de  hacerlas  efficaces.  Mad.  1768. 

Rosende  (P.  Ant.  Gonz.  de)  Vida  del 
Juan  de  Palafox  Arzobispo  de  Mexico. 

Rubaclava  (Don  Jos.  Gutierrez  de) 
Tratado  Historico-Politico  y  Legal  de 
el  Commercio  de  las  IndiasOccidentales. 

Ruiz  (P.  Ant.)  Conquista  Espiritual 
hecha  por  los  Religiosos  de  la  Com- 
pagnia  de  Jesus,  en  las  Provincias  de  la 
Paraguay,  Uraguay,  Parana  y  Tape. 

Salazar  de  Mendoza  (D.  Pedro)  Mo- 
narquia  de  Espagna,  torn.  i.  ii.  iii. 

y  Olarte  (D.  Ignaci.o)  His 
toria  de  la  Conquista  de  Mexico — 
Segunda  parte.  Cordov.  1743. 

Salazar  de  Mendoza  y  Zevallos  (D. 
Alonz.  Ed.  de)  Constituciones  y  Orde- 
nanzas  antiguas  Agnadidas  y  Modernas 
de  la  Real  Universidad  y  estudio  gene 
ral  ste  San  Marcos  de  la  Ciudad  de  los 
Reyes  del  Peru.  fol.  En  la  Ciudad 
de  los  Reyea,  1735, 


Sanchez  (Ant.  Ribero)  Dissertation 
sur  1'Origine  de  la  Maladie  Venerienne, 
dans  laquelle  on  prouve  qu'elle  n'a 
point  e'te'  porte"e  de  1'Amerique.  1765. 

Sarmiento  de  Gamboa  (Pedro  de) 
Viage  el  EsLrecho  de  Magellanes.  1768. 

Santa  Cruz  (El  Marq.)  Commercio 
Suelto  y  en  Companias  General.  1732. 

Sta.  Domingo,  Puerto  Rico,  y  Marga 
rita,  Real  Compagnia  de  Commercio. 

Schemidel  (Hulderico)  Historia  y 
Discubrimiento  del  Rio  de  la  Plata  y 
Paraguay.  Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim, 
torn.  iii. 

Sebara  da  Sylva  (Jos.  de)  Recueil 
Chronologique  et  Analytique  de  tout 
ce  qu'a  fait  en  Portugal  la  Socie"te"  dite 
de  Je"sus,  depuis  son  Entree  dans  ce 
Royaume  en  1540  jusqu'Si  son  Expul 
sion  1759.  12mo.  3  vols.  Lisb.  1769. 

Segni  (D.  Diego  Raymundo)  Anti- 
quario  Noticiosa  General  de  Espagna 
y  sus  Indios.  12mo.  1769. 

Sepulveda  (Genesius)  Dialogus  de 
justis  Belli  Causis,  preesertim  in  Indos 
Novi  Orbis.  MS. 

(Jo.  Genesius)  Epist.  Lib.VII. 

Sepulveda  de  Regno,  Libri  III.  1570. 

Seyxas  y  Lovero,  (D.  Fr.)  Theatro 
Naval  Hydrographico.  4to.  1648. 

Descripcion  Geographica  y 

Derrotera  de  la  Religion  Austral  Ma- 
gellanica.  4to.  Mad.  1690. 

Simon  (Pedro)  Noticias  Historiales 
de  las  Conquistas  de  Tierra  Firme  en 
las  Indias  Occidentales.  Cuen<ja,  1627. 

Solis  (D.  Ant.  de)  Historias  de  las 
Conquistas  de  Mexico.  Mad.  1684. 

History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mex 

ico. — Translated  by  Townshend.  1724 

Solarzono  y  Pereyrra  (Joan)  Politica 
Indiana,  fol.  2  vols.  Mad.  1776. 

De  Indiarum  Jure,  sive  de  justa 

IndiarumOccidentaliumGubernatione. 

Obras  Varias  posthumas.  1776, 

Soto  y  Marne  (P.  Franc,  de)  Copia  de 
la  Relacion  de  Viage  qui  desde  la  Ciudad 
de  Cadiz  a  la  C0,rtagena  de  Indias  hizo. 

Spilbergen  et  Le  Maire  SpeculumOri- 
entalis  Occidentalisque  Navigationum. 

Suarez  de  Figueroa  (Chris.)  Hechos 
de  D.  Garcia  Hurtado  de  Mendoza. 

Tanco  (Luis  Bezerra)  Felicidad  de 
Mexico  en  la  admirable  Aparicion  deN. 
Signora  di  Guadalupe.  Mad.  1745. 

Tarragones  (Hieron.Gir.)  DosLibros 
de  Cosmographia.  4to.  Milan,  1556. 

Techo  (F.  Nichol.  de),  The  History 
of  the  Provinces  Paraguay,  Tucuman, 
Rio  de  la  Plata,  &c.  Exst.  Churchill's 
Coll.  vi.  3, 


16        A    CATALOGUE    OF    SPANISH    BOOKS,    &c. 


Torquemada  (Juan  de)  Monarquia 
Indiana,  fol.  3  vols.  Mad.  1723. 

Tprres  (Sim.  Per.  de)  Viage  del 
Mundo.  Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim.  iii. 

>•  (Franc.  Caro  de)  Historia  de 

las  Ordenes  Militares  de  Santiago,  Ga 
la  trava  y  Alcantara,  desde  su  Funda- 
cion  hasta  el  Key  D.  Felipe  II.  Ad- 
ministrador  perpetuo  dellas.  1629. 

Torribio  (P.  F.  Jos.)  Aparato  para 
la  Historia  Natural  Espagnala.  fol. 
Mad.  1754. 

Dissertacion  Historico-Politica 

y  en  mucha  parte  Geographica  de  las 
Islas  Philipinas.  12mo.  Mad.  1753. 

Totanes  (F.  Sebastian  de)  Manual 
Tagalog  para  auxilio  de  Provincia  de 
las  Philipinas.  4to.  Samplai  en  las 
Philipinas.  1745. 

Ulloa  (D.  Ant.  de)  Voyage  Historique 
de  1'Amerique  Meridionale.  4to.  2  torn. 
Paris,  1752. 

(D.  Ant.  de)  Noticias  Ameri- 

canas,  Entretenimieatos  Physicos-His- 
toricos,  sobre  la  America  Meridional  y 
la  Septentrional  Oriental.  Mad.  1772. 

(D.  Bern,  de)  Restablecimiento 

de  las  Fabricas,  Trafico,  y  Commercio 
maritime  de  Espagna.  Mad.  1740. 

(Franc.)  Navigatione  per  scop- 

rire  1'Isole  delle  Specierie  fino  all  Mare 
detto  Vermejo  nel  1539.  Exst.  Ramus. 
iii.  339. 

•  (D.  Bernardo)  Retablissement 
des  Manufactures  et  du  Commerce 
d'Espagne.  12mo.  Amst.  1753. 

Uztariz  (D.  Geron.)  Theoria  y  Prac- 
tica  de  Commercio  y  de  Marina,  fol. 
Mad.  1757. 

The  Theory  and  Practice  of 

Commerce,  and  Maritime  Affairs.  8vo. 
2  vols.  Lond.  1751. 

Verages  (D.  Thorn.  Tamaio  de)  Re- 
stauracion  de  la  Ciudad  del  Salvador  y 
Baia  de  Todos  Sanctos  en  la  Provincia 
del  Brasil.  4to.  Mad.  1628. 

Vargas  Machuca  (D.  Bern.  de)Milicia 
y  Descripcion  de  las  Indias.  Mad.  1699. 

Vega  (Garcilasso  de  la)  Histoire  do 
la  Conquete  de  la  Floride.  Traduite 
parRichelet.  12mo.  2tom.  Leyd.1731. 

•  Royal  Commentaries  of  Peru, 
by  Rycaut.  fol.  Lond.  1688. 

Vega  (L'Ynca  Garcilasso  de  la)  His- 
toires  des  Guerres  Civiles  des  Espag- 
noles  dans  les  Indee,  par  Baudoin.  1648. 

Veitia  Linage  (Jos.)  The  Spanish 
Rule  of  Trade  to  the  West  Indies. 

—————  Declamacion  Oratoria  en 
Defensa  de  D.  Jos.  Fern.  Veitia  Linage. 


Veitia  Linage  Norte  de  la  Contra- 
tacion  de  las  Indias  Occidentals.  foL 
Sevill.  1672. 

Venegas  (Miguel),  a  Natural  and 
Civil  History  of  California.  8vo.  2  vols. 
Lond.  1759. 

Verazzano  (Giov.)  Relatione  delle 
Terra  per  lui  scoperta  nel  1524.  Exst. 
Ramusio  iii.  p.  420. 

Vesputius  (Americus)  Duae  Naviga- 
tiones  sub  Auspiciis  Ferduiandi,  &c. 
Exst.  de  Bry  America.  Pars  X. 

Navigatio  prirna,  secunda, 

tertia,  quarta.  Exst.  Nov.  Orb.  Gry- 
nffii,  p.  155. 

Viage  de  Espagna.  12mo.  6  torn. 
Mad.  1776. 

Victoria  (Franc.)  Relationes  Theolo- 
gicee  de  Indis  et  de  Jure  Belli  contra  eos. 

Vieray  Clavijo  (D.  Jos.)  Noticias  de  la 
Historia  general  de  laslslac  de  Canaria. 

Villalobos  (D.  Juan  de)  Manifesto 
sobre  la  introduccion  de  esclavos  Negros 
en  las  Indias  Occidentales.  4to.  1682. 

Villagra  (Gasp,  de)  Historia  de  Nu- 
eva  Mexico,  Poema.  Alcala,  1610. 

Villa  Segnor  y  Sanchez  (D.  Jos.  Ant.) 
Theatro  Americano.  Descripcion  ge 
neral  de  los  Reynos  y  Provincias  de  la 
Nueva  Espagna.  2  torn.  Mex.  1746. 

Res  puesta  sobre  el  precio 

de  Azogue.  4to. 

Vocabulario  Brasiliano  y  Portugues. 
4to.  MS. 

Ward  (D.  Bernardo)  Proyecto  Eco- 
nomico  sobre  la  poblacion  de  Espagna, 
la  agricultura  en  todos  BUS  ramos,  y  de 
mas  establecimientos  de  industria,  co- 
mercio  con  nuestra  marina,  arreglo  de 
nuestra  intereses  en  America,  libertad 
del  comercio  en  Indias,  &c.  MS. 

Xeres  (Franc,  de)  VerdaderaRelacion 
de  la  Conquista  del  Peru  y  Provincia  de 
Cuzco,  Embiada  al  Emperador  Carlos  V. 
Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim.  torn.  iii. 

Relatione,  &c.  &c.  Exat. 

Ramusio  iii.  372. 

Zarate  (Aug.  de)  Historia  del  Des- 
cubrimiento  y  Conquista  de  la  Provin 
cia  del  Peru.  Exst.  Barcia  Hist.  Prim, 
torn.  iii. 

Histoire  de  la  De"couverte  et 

de  la  Conquete  du  Perou.  Paris,  1 742. 

Zavala  y  Augnon  (D.  Miguel  de) 
Representation  al  Rey  N.  Segnor  D. 
Philipe  V.  dirigida  al  mas  seguro  Au- 
monto  del  Real  Erario.  1732. 

Zevallos  (D.  Pedro  Ordognez  de) 
Historia  y  Viage  del  Mundo.  1691. 


THE 


HISTORY    OF   AMERICA. 


BY  WILLIAM  ROBERTSON,  D.D. 

HIINCIPAL   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   EDINBURGH,   ETC.  ETC* 


THE 


HISTORY    OF    AMERICA, 


BOOK  I< 


THE  progress  of  men,  in  discovering  and  peopling  the  various  parts  of  the 
earth,  has  been  extremely  slow.  Several  ages  elapsed  before  they  removed 
far  from  those  mild  and  fertile  regions  in  which  they  were  originally  placed 
by  their  Creator.  The  occasion  of  their  first  general  dispersion  is  known ; 
but  we  are  unacquainted  with  the  course  of  their  migrations,  or  the  time 
when  they  took  possession  of  the  different  countries  which  they  now  inhabit. 
Neither  history  nor  tradition  furnishes  such  information  concerning  these 
remote  events,  as  enables  us  to  trace,  with  any  certainty,  the  operations  of 
the  human  race  in  the  infancy  of  society. 

We  may  conclude,  however,  that  all  the  early  migrations  of  mankind 
were  made  by  land.  The  ocean  which  surrounds  the  habitable  earth,  as 
well  as  the  various  arms  of  the  sea  which  separate  one  region  from  another, 
though  destined  to  facilitate  the  communication  between  distant  countries, 
seem,  at  first  view,  to  be  formed  to  check  the  progress  of  man,  and  to  mark 
the  bounds  of  that  portion  of  the  globe  to  which  nature  had  confined  him. 
It  was  long,  we  may  believe,  before  men  attempted  to  pass  these  formidable 
barriers,  and  became  so  skilful  and  adventurous  as  to  commit  themselves 
to  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and  waves,  or  to  quit  their  native  shores  in  quest 
of  remote  and  unknown  regions. 

Navigation  and  shipbuilding  are  arts  so  nice  and  complicated,  that  they 
require  the  ingenuity,  as  well  as  experience,  of  many  successive  ages  to 
bring  them  to  any  degree  of  perfection.  From  the  raft  or  canoe,  which 
first  served  to  carry  a  savage  over  the  river  that  obstructed  him  in  the  chase, 
to  the  construction  of  a  vessel  capable  of  conveying  a  numerous  crew  with 
safety  to  a  distant  coast,  the  progress  in  improvement  is  immense.  Many 
efforts  would  be  made,  many  experiments  would  be  tried,  and  much  labour 
as  well  as  invention  would  be  employed,  before  men  could  accomplish  this 
arduous  and  important  undertaking.  The  rude  and  imperfect  state  in  which 
navigation  is  still  found  among  all  nations  which  are  not  considerably  civil 
ized,  corresponds  with  this  account  of  its  progress,  and  demonstrates  that 
in  early  times  the  art  was  not  so  far  improved  as  to  enable  men  to  undertake 
distant  voyages,  or  to  attempt  remote  discoveries. 

As  soon,  however,  as  the  art  of  navigation  became  known,  a  new  species 
of  correspondence  among  men  took  place.  It  is  from  this  era  that  we 
must  date  the  commencement  of  such  an  intercourse  between  nations  as 
deserves  the  appellation  of  commerce.  Men  are,  indeed,  far  advanced  in 
improvement  before  commerce  becomes  an  object  of  great  importance  to 
them.  They  must  even  have  made  some  considerable  progress  towards 
civilization,  before  they  acquire  the  idea  of  property,  and  ascertain  it  so 

VOL.  I.— 3  3 


18  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  I. 

perfectly  as  to  be  acquainted  with  the  most  simple  of  all  contracts,  that  of 
exchanging  by  barter  one  rude  commodity  for  another.  But  as  soon  as  this 
important  ri^ht  is  established,  and  every  individual  feels  that  he  has  an 
exclusive  title  to  possess  or  to  alienate  whatever  he  has  acquired  by  his 
own  labour  and  dexterity,  the  wants  and  ingenuity  of  his  nature  suggest 
to  him  a  new  method  of  increasing  his  acquisitions  and  enjoyments,  by 
disposing  of  what  is  superfluous  in  his  own  stores,  in  order  to  procure 
what  is  necessary  or  desirable  in  those  of  other  men.  Thus  a  commercial 
intercourse  begins,  and  is  carried  on  among  the  members  of  the  same  com 
munity.  By  degrees,  they  discover  that  neighbouring  tribes  possess  what 
they  themselves  want,  and  enjoy  comforts  of  which  they  wisn  to  partake. 
In  the  same  mode,  and  upon  the  same  principles,  that  domestic  traffic  is 
carried  on  within  the  society,  an  external  commerce  is  established  with 
other  tribes  or  nations.  Their  mutual  interest  and  mutual  wants  render  this 
intercourse  desirable,  and  imperceptibly  introduce  the  maxims  and  laws 
which  facilitate  its  progress  and  render  it  secure.  But  no  very  extensive 
commerce  can  take  place  between  contiguous  provinces,  whose  soil  and 
climate  being  nearly  the  same  yield  similar  productions.  Remote  countries 
cannot  convey  their  commodities,  by  land,  to  those  places  where  on 
account  of  their  rarity  they  are  desired,  and  become  valuable.  It  is  to  navi 
gation  that  men  are  indebted  for  the  power  of  transporting  the  superfluous 
stock  of  one  part  of  the  earth  to  supply  the  wants  of  another.  The  luxu 
ries  and  blessings  of  a  particular  climate  are  no  longer  confined  to  itself 
alone,  but  the  enjoyment  of  them  is  communicated  to  the  most  distant 
regions. 

In  proportion  as  the  knowledge  of  the  advantages  derived  from  naviga 
tion  and  commerce  continued  to  spread,  the  intercourse  among  nations  ex 
tended.  The  ambition  of  conquest,  or  the  necessity  of  procuring  new  set 
tlements,  were  no  longer  the  sole  motives  of  visiting  distant  lands.  The 
desire  of  gain  became  a  new  incentive  to  activity,  roused  adventurers,  and 
sent  them  forth  upon  lon^  voyages,  in  search  ot  countries  whose  products 
or  wants  might  increase  that  circulation  which  nourishes  and  gives  vigour 
to  commerce.  Trade  proved  a  great  source  of  discovery  :  it  opened  un 
known  seas,  it  penetrated  into  new  regions,  and  contributed  more  than  any 
other  cause  to  bring  men  acquainted  with  the  situation,  the  nature,  and  com 
modities  of  the  different  parts  of  the  globe.  But  even  after  a  regular  com 
merce  was  established  in  the  world,  after  nations  were  considerably  civil 
ized,  and  the  sciences  and  arts  were  cultivated  with  ardour  and  success, 
navigation  continued  to  be  so  imperfect,  that  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
advanced  beyond  the  infancy  of  its  improvement  in  the  ancient  world. 

Among  all  the  nations  of  antiquity,  the  structure  of  their  vessels  was  ex 
tremely  rude,  and  their  method  of  working  them  very  defective.  They 
were  unacquainted  with  several  principles  and  operations  in  navigation, 
which  are  now  considered  as  the  first  elements  on  which  that  science  is 
founded.  Though  that  property  of  the  magnet  by  which  it  attracts  iron 
was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  its  more  important  and  amazing  virtue  of 
pointing  to  the  poles  had  entirely  escaped  their  observation.  Destitute  of 
this  faithful  guide,  which  now  conducts  the  pilot  with  so  much  certainty  in 
the  unbounded  ocean,  during  the  darkness  of  night,  or  when  the  heavens  are 
covered  with  clouds,  the  ancients  had  no  other  method  of  regulating  their 
course  than  by  observing  the  sun  and  stars.  Their  navigation  was  of  con 
sequence  uncertain  and  timid.  They  durst  seldom  quit  sight  of  land,  but 
crept  along  the  coast,  exposed  to  all  the  dangers,  arid  retarded  by  all  the  ob 
structions,  unavoidable  in  holding  such  an  awkward  course.  An  incredible 
length  of  time  was  requisite  for  performing  voyages  which  are  now- 
finished  in  a  short  space.  Even  in  the  mildest  climates,  and  in  seas  the 
least  tempestuous,  it  was  only  during  the  summer  months  that  the  ancients 
ventured  out  of  their  harbours.  The  remainder  of  the  year  was  lost  in  in- 


AMERICA.  19 

activity.  It  would  have  been  deemed  most  inconsiderate  rashness  to  have 
braved  the  fury  of  the  winds  and  waves  during  winter.*  _ 

While  both  the  science  and  practice  of  navigation  continued  to  be  so  de 
fective,  it  was  an  undertaking  of  no  small  difficulty  and  danger  to  visit  any 
remote  region  of  the  earth.  Under  every  disadvantage,  however,  the 
active  spirit  of  commerce  exerted  itself.  The  Egyptians,  soon  after  the 
establishment  of  their  monarchy,  are  said  to  have  opened  a  trade  between  the 
Arabian  Gulf,  or  Red  Sea,  and  the  western  coast  of  the  great  Indian  conti 
nent.  The  commodities  which  they  imported  from  the  East,  were  carried 
by  land  from  the  Arabian  Gulf  to  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  conveyed  down 
that  river  to  the  Mediterranean.  But  if  the  Egyptians  in  early  times  ap 
plied  themselves  to  commerce,  their  attention  to  it  was  of  short  duration. 
The  fertile  soil  and  mild  climate  of  Egypt  produced  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life  with  such  profusion,  as  rendered  its  inhabitants  so  inde 
pendent  of  other  countries,  that  it  became  an  established  maxim  among  that 
people,  whose  ideas  and  institutions  differed  in  almost  every  point  from 
those  of  other  nations,  to  renounce  all  intercourse  with  foreigners.  In  con 
sequence  of  this,  they  never  went  out  of  their  own  country  ;  they  held  all 
seafaring  persons  in  detestation,  as  impious  and  profane ;  and  fortifying 
their  own  harbours,  they  denied  strangers  admittance  into  them.f  It  was  in 
the  decline  of  their  power,  and  when  their  veneration  for  ancient  maxims 
had  greatly  abated,  that  they  again  opened  their  ports,  and  resumed  any 
communication  with  foreigners. 

The  character  and  situation  of  the  Phenicians  were  as  favourable  to  the 
spirit  of  commerce  and  discovery  as  those  of  the  Egyptians  were  adverse 
to  it.  They  had  no  distinguishing  peculiarity  in  their  manners  and  institu 
tions  ;  they  were  not  addicted  to  any  singular  and  unsocial  form  of  super 
stition  ;  they  could  mingle  with  other  nations  without  scruple  or  reluctance. 
The  territory  which  they  possessed  was  neither  large  nor  fertile.  Com 
merce  was  the  only  source  from  which  they  could  derive  opulence  or 
power.  Accordingly,  the  trade  carried  on  by  the  Phenicians  of  Sidon  and 
Tyre,  was  more  extensive  and  enterprising  than  that  of  any  state  in  the  an 
cient  world.  The  genius  of  the  Phenicians,  as  well  as  the  object  of  their 
policy  and  the  spirit  of  their  laws,  were  entirely  commercial.  They  were 
a  people  of  merchants,  who  aimed  at  the  empire  of  the  sea,  and  actually- 
possessed  it.  Their  ships  not  only  frequented  all  the  ports  in  the  Medi 
terranean,  but  they  were  the  first  who  ventured  beyond  the  ancient  boun 
daries  of  navigation,  and,  passing  the  Straits  of  Gad.es,  visited  the  western 
coasts  of  Spain  and  Africa.  In  many  of  the  places  to  which  they  resorted, 
they  planted  colonies,  and  communicated  to  the  rude  inhabitants  some 
knowledge  of  their  arts  and  improvements.  While  they  extended  their  dis 
coveries  towards  the  north  and  the  west,  they  did  not  neglect  to  penetrate 
into  the  more  opulent  and  fertile  regions  of  the  south  and  east.  Having 
rendered  themselves  masters  of  several  commodious  harbours  towards  the 
bottom  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  they,  after  the  example  of  the  Egyptians,  esta 
blished  a  regular  intercourse  with  Arabia  and  the  continent  ot  India  on  the 
one  hand,  and  with  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa  on  the  other.  From  these 
countries  they  imported  many  valuable  commodities  unknown  to  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  during  a  long  period  engrossed  that  lucrative  branch  oi 
commerce  without  a  rival,  [l] 

The  vast  wealth  which  the  Phenicians  acquired  by  monopolizing  the 
trade  earned  on  in  the  Red  Sea,  incited  their  neighbours  the  Jews,  under 
the  prosperous  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon,  to  aim  at  being  admitted  to 
some  shafe  of  it.  This  they  obtained,  partly  by  their  conquest  of  Idumea, 
which  stretches  along  the  Red  Sea,  and  partly  by  their  alliance  with  Hi- 

*  VegitiuB  de  Re  raiHt.  Kb.  iv.  t  Diod.  Sicul.  lib.  i.  p.  78.  ed.  Wesselingii.  Arast.  1756.  Stra- 
to,  lib.  xvu.  p.  1142.  ed.  Amst.  1707. 


20  HISTORY  OF  [Boos  I. 

ram,  king  of  Tyre.  Solomon  fitted  out  fleets,  which,  under  the  direction  of 
Phenician  pilots,  sailed  from  the  Red  Sea  to  Tarshish  and  Ophir.  These, 
it  is  probable,  were  ports  in  India  and  Africa,  which  their  conductors  were 
accustomed  to  frequent,  and  from  them  the  Jewish  ships  returned  with  such 
valuable  cargoes  as  suddenly  diffused  wealth  and  splendour  through  the 
Kingdom  of  Israel.*  But  the  singular  institutions  of  the  Jews,  the  ob 
servance  of  which  was  enjoined  by  their  divine  Legislator,  with  an  inten 
tion  of  preserving  them  a  separate  people,  uninfected  by  idolatry,  formed 
a  national  character,  incapable  of  that  open  and  liberal  intercourse  with 
strangers  which  commerce  requires.  Accordingly,  this  unsocial  genius  of 
the  people,  together  with  the  disasters  which  befell  the  kingdom  of  Israel, 
prevented  the  commercial  spirit  which  their  monarchs  laboured  to  introduce 
and  to  cherish,  from  spreading  among  them.  The  Jews  cannot  be  num 
bered  among  the  nations  whicn  contributed  to  improve  navigation,  or  to  ex 
tend  discovery. 

But  though  the  instructions  and  example  of  the  Phenicians  were  unable 
to  mould  the  manners  and  temper  of  the  Jews,  in  opposition  to  the  tendency 
of  their  laws,  they  transmitted  the  commercial  spirit  with  facility,  and 
in  full  vigour,  to  their  own  descendants  the  Carthaginians.  The  common 
wealth  of  Carthage  applied  to  trade  and  naval  affairs,  with  no  less  ardour, 
ingenuity,  and  success,  than  its  parent  state.  Carthage  early  rivalled  and 
soon  surpassed  Tyre  in  opulence  and  power,  but  seems  not  to  have  aimed 
at  obtaining  any  share  in  the  commerce  with  India.  The  Phenicians  had 
engrossed  this,  and  had  such  a  command  of  the  Red  Sea  as  secured  to  them 
the  exclusive  possession  of  that  lucrative  branch  of  trade.  The  commercial 
activity  of  the  Carthaginians  was  exerted  in  another  direction.  Without 
contending  for  the  trade  of  the  East  with  their  mother  country,  they  extend 
ed  their  navigation  chiefly  towards  the  west  and  north.  Following  the 
course  which  the  Phenicians  had  opened,  they  passed  the  Strarts  of  Gades, 
and  pushing  their  discoveries  far  beyond  those  of  the  parent  state,  visited 
not  only  all  the  coasts  of  Spain,  but  those  of  Gaul,  and  penetrated  at  last 
into  Britain.  At  the  same  time  that  they  acquired  knowledge  of  new  coun 
tries  in  this  part  of  the  globe,  they  gradually  carried  their  researches  towards 
the  south.  They  made  considerable  progress  by  land  into  the  interior  pro 
vinces  of  Africa,  traded  with  some  of  them,  and  subjected  others  to  their 
empire.  They  sailed  along  the  western  coast  of  that  great  continent  almost 
to  the  tropic  oif  Cancer,  and  planted  several  colonies,  in  order  to  civilize  the 
natives  and  accustom  them  to  commerce.  They  discovered  the  Fortunate 
Islands,  now  known  by  the  name  of  the  Canaries,  the  utmost  boundary  of 
ancient  navigation  in  the  western  ocean.f 

Nor  was  the  progress  of  the  Phenicians  and  Carthaginians  in  their 
knowledge  of  the  globe,  owing  entirely  to  the  desire  of  extending  their 
trade  from  one  country  to  another.  Commerce  was  followed  by  its  usual 
effects  among  both  these  people.  It  awakened  curiosity,  enlargea  the  ideas 
and  desires  of  men,  and  incited  them  to  bold  enterprises.  Voyages  were 
undertaken,  the  sole  object  of  which  was  to  discover  new  countries,  and  to 
explore  unknown  seas.  Such,  during  the  prosperous  age  of  the  Cartha 
ginian  republic,  were  the  famous  navigations  of  Hanno  and  Himlico.  Both 
their  fleets  were  equipped  by  authority  of  the  senate,  and  at  public  ex 
pense.  Hanno  was  directed  to  steer  towards  the  south,  along  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  he  seems  to  have  advanced  much  nearer  the  equinoctial  line 
than  any  former  navigator. j  Himlico  had  it  in  charge  to  proceed  towards 
the  north,  and  to  examine  the  western  coasts  of  the  European  continent. § 
Of  the  same  nature  was  the  extraordinary  navigation  of  tho  PJienicians 

*  Memoire  SUT  le  Pays  d'Ophir,  par  M.  d'Anville,  Mem.  de  PAcadem.  des  Inscript.  &c.  torn. 
MX.  83.  f  Plinii  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  37.  edit,  in  usum  Delph.  4to.  A685.  +  Plinii  Mat.  Hist,  lib.v. 
c.  1.  Hannonis  Periplus  ap.  Gcograph.  minores,  edit.  Hudson!,  vol.  i.  p.  1.  §  Plinii  Nat.  Hist.  lib. 
f«  e.  67.  Festus  Avienus  apudUochart.  Geogr.  Sacer.  lib.  i.  c.  CO.  p.  652.  Oper.  vol.  iii.  L.  Bat.  1707' 


AMERICA.  21 

round  Africa.  A  Phemcian  fleet,  we  are  told,  fitted  out  by  Necho  king  of 
Egypt,  took,  its  departure  about  six  hundred  and  four  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  from  a  port  in  the  Red  Sea,  doubled  the  southern  promontory 
of  Africa,  and  after  a  voyage  of  three  years  returned  b^  the  Straits  o"t 
Gades  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kile.*  Eudoxus  of  Cyzicus  is  said  to  have  held 
the  same  course,  and  to  have  accomplished  the  same  arduous  undertaking.! 

These  voyages,  if  performed  in  the  manner  which  I  have  related,  may 
justly  be  reckoned  the  greatest  effort  of  navigation  in  the  ancient  world ; 
and  if  we  attend  to  the  imperfect  state  of  the  art  at  that  time,  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  whether  we  should  most  admire  the  courage  and  sagacity 
with  which  the  design  was  formed,  or  the  conduct  and  good  fortune  with 
which  it  was  executed.  But  unfortunately  all  the  original  and  authentic 
accounts  of  the  Phenician  and  Carthaginian  voyages,  whether  undertaken 
by  public  authority  or  m  prosecution  of  their  private  trade,  have  perished. 
1  he  information  which  we  receive  concerning  them  from  the  Greek  and 
Roman  authors  is  not  only  obscure  and  inaccurate,  but  if  we  except  a  short 
narrative  of  Harmo's  expedition,  is  of  suspicious  authority.  [2]  Whatever 
acquaintance  with  the  remote  regions  of  the  earth  the  Pheniciansor  Cartha 
ginians  may  have  acquired,  was  concealed  from  the  rest  of  mankind  with  a 
mercantile  jealousy.  Every  thing  relative  to  the  course  of  their  navigation 
was  not  only  a  mystery  of  trade,  but  a  secret  of  state.  Extraordinary  facts 
are  related  concerning  their  solicitude  to  prevent  other  nations  from  pene 
trating  into  what  they  wished  should  remain  undivulged.^  Many  of  their 
discoveries  seem,  accordingly,  to  have  been  scarcely  known  beyond  the 
precincts  of  their  own  states.  The  navigation  round  Africa,  in  particular,  is 
recorded  by  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  rather  as  a  strange  amusing  tale, 
which  they  did  not  comprehend  or  did  not  believe,  than  as  a  real  transac 
tion  which  enlarged  their  knowledge  and  influenced  their  opinions. [3]  As 
neither  the  progress  of  the  Phenician  or  Carthaginian  discoveries,  nor  the 
extent  of  their  navigation,  were  communicated  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  all 
memorials  of  their  extraordinary  skill  in  naval  affairs  seem,  in  a  great  mea 
sure,  to  have  perished,  when  the  maritime  power  of  the  former  was  anni 
hilated  by  Alexander's  conquest  of  Tyre,  and  the  empire  of  the  latter  was 
overturned  by  the  Roman  arms. 

Leaving,  then,  the  obscure  and  pompous  accounts  of  the  Phenician  and 
Carthaginian  voyages  to  the  curiosity  and  conjectures  of  antiquaries,  history 
must  rest  satisfied  with  relating  the  progress  of  navigation  and  discovery 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  which,  though  less  splendid,  is  better  as 
certained.  It  is  evident  that  the  Phenicians,  who  instructed  the  Greeks  in 
many  other  useful  sciences  and  arts,  did  not  communicate  to  them  that  ex 
tensive  knowledge  of  navigation  which  they  themselves  possessed ;  nor  did 
the  Romans  imbibe  that  commercial  spirit  and  ardour  for  discovery  which 
distinguished  their  rivals  the  Carthaginians.  Though  Greece  be  almost 
encompassed  by  the  sea,  which  formed  many  spacious  bays  and  commo 
dious  harbours  :  though  it  be  surrounded  by  a  great  number  of  fertile  islands, 
yet,  notwithstanding  such  a  favourable  situation,  which  seemed  to  invite 
that  ingenious  people  to  apply  themselves  to  navigation,  it  was  long  before 
this  art  attained  any  degree  of  perfection  among  them.  Their  early;  voy 
ages,  the  object  of  which  was  piracy  rather  than  commerce,  were  so  incon 
siderable  that  the  expedition  of  the  Argonauts  from  the  coast  of  Thessaly 
to  the  Euxine  Sea,  appeared  such  an  amazing  effort  of  skill  and  courage, 
as  entitled  the  conductors  of  it  to  be  ranked  among  the  demigods,  and  ex- 
alted  the  vessel  in  which  they  sailed  to  a  place  among  the  heavenly  con 
stellations.  Even  at  a  later  period,  when  the  Greeks  engaged  in  the  famous 
enterprise  against  Troy,  their  knowledge  in  naval  affairs  seems  not  to  have 
been  much  improved.  According  to  the  account  of  Homer,  the  only  poet 

*  Herodot.  lib.  iv.  c.  42.    j  Pliuii  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  ii  c.  67.   J  Strab.  Geogr.  lih.  iii.  p.  365.  lib.xviij. 


22  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  L 

to  whom  history  ventures  to  appeal,  and  who,  by  his  scrupulous  accuracy 
in  describing  the  manners  and  arts  of  early  ages,  merits  this  distinction,  the 
science  of  navigation  at  that  time  had  hardly  advanced  beyond  its  rudest 
state.  The  Greeks  in  the  heroic  age  seem  to  have  been  unacquainted  with 
the  use  of  iron,  the  most  serviceable  of  all  the  metals,  without  which  no 
considerable  progress  was  ever  made  in  the  mechanical  arts.  Their  ves-< 
sels  were  of  inconsiderable  burden,  and  mostly  without  decks.  They  had 
only  one  mast,  which  was  erected  or  taken  down  at  pleasure.  They  were 
strangers  to  the  use  of  anchors.  All  their  operations  in  sailing  were  clumsy 
and  unskilful.  They  turned  their  observations  towards  stars,  which  were 
improper  for  regulating  their  course,  and  their  mode  of  observing  them  was 
inaccurate  and  fallacious.  When  they  had  finished  a  voyage  they  drew 
their  paltry  barks  ashore,  as  savages  do  their  canoes,  and  these  remained  on 
dry  land  until  the  season  of  returning  to  sea  approached.  It  is  not  then  in 
the  early  heroic  ages  of  Greece  that  we  can  expect  to  observe  the  science 
of  navigation,  and  the  spirit  of  discovery,  making  any  considerable  progress. 
During  that  period  of  disorder  and  ignorance,  a  thousand  causes  concurred 
in  restraining  curiosity  and  enterprise  within  very  narrow  bounds. 

But  the  Greeks  advanced  with  rapidity  to  a  state  of  greater  civilization 
and  refinement.  Government,  in  its  most  liberal  and  perfect  form,  began  to 
be  established  in  their  different  communities ;  equal  laws  and  regular  po 
lice  were  gradually  introduced ;  the  sciences  and  arts  which  are  useful  or 
ornamental  in  life  were  carried  to  a  high  pitch  of  improvement ;  and  seve 
ral  of  the  Grecian  commonwealths  applied  to  commerce  with  such  ardour 
and  success,  that  they  were  considered,  in  the  ancient  world,  as  maritime 
powers  of  the  first  rank.  Even  then,  however,  the  naval  victories  of  the 
Greeks  must  be  ascribed  rather  to  the  native  spirit  of  the  people,  and  to 
that  courage  which  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  inspires,  than  to  any  extraordi 
nary  progress  in  the  science  of  navigation.  In  the  Persian  war,  those  ex 
ploits,  which  the  genius  of  the  Greek  historians  has  rendered  so  famous,  were 
performed  by  fleets  composed  chiefly  of  small  vessels  without  decks;* 
the  crews  of  which  rushed  forward  with  impetuous  valour,  but  little  art,  to 
board  those  of  the  enemy.  In  the  war  of  Peloponnesus,  their  ships  seem 
still  to  have  been  of  inconsiderable  burden  and  force.  The  extent  of  their 
trade,  how  highly  soever  it  may  have  been  estimated  in  ancient  times,  was 
in  proportion  to  this  low  condition  of  their  marine.  The  maritime  states 
of  Greece  hardly  carried  on  any  commerce  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Medi 
terranean  sea.  Their  chief  intercourse  was  with  the  colonies  of  their  country 
men  planted  in  the  Lesser  Asia,  in  Italy,  and  Sicily.  They  sometimes  vi 
sited  the  ports  of  Egypt,  of  the  southern  provinces  of  Gaul,  and  of  Thrace  ; 
or,  passing  through  the  Hellespont,  they  traded  with  the  countries  situated 
around  the  Euxine  sea.  Amazing  instances  occur  of  their  ignorance,  even 
of  those  countries  which  lay  within  the  narrow  precincts  to  which  their 
navigation  was  confined.  When  the  Greeks  had  assembled  their  combined 
fleet  against  Xerxes  at  Egina,  they  thought  it  unadvisable  to  sail  to  Samos, 
because  they  believed  the  distance  between  that  island  and  Egina  to  be  as 
great  as  the  distance  between  Egina  and  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.j  They 
were  either  utterly  unacquainted  with  all  the  parts  of  the  globe  beyond  the 
Mediterranean  sea,  or  what  knowledge  they  had  of  them  was  founded  on 
conjecture,  or  derived  from  the  information  of  a  few  persons  whom  curiosity 
and  the  love  of  science  had  prompted  to  travel  by  land  into  the  Upper 
Asia,  or  by  sea  into  Egypt,  the  ancient  seats  of  wisuom  and  arts.  After  all 
that  the  Greeks  learned  from  them,  they  appear  to  have  been  ignorant  of 
the  most  important  facts  on  which  an  accurate  and  scientific  knowledge  of 
Jhe  globe  is  founded. 

The  expedition  of  Alexander  the  Great  into  the  East  considerably  en* 

*  Thucyd.  lib.  i-  c.  14.  t  Herodot.  lib  vtti,  c.  13*. 


AMERICA.  23 

forged  the  sphere  of  navigation  and  of  geographical  knowledge  among  the 
Greeks.  That  extraordinary  man,  notwithstanding  the  violent  passions 
which  incited  him  at  some  times  to  the  wildest  actions  and  the  most  extra 
vagant  enterprises,  possessed  talents  which  fitted  him,  not  only  to  conquer, 
but  to  govern  the  world.  He  was  capable  of  framing  those  Bold  and  ori 
ginal  schemes  of  policy,  which  gave  a  new  form  to  human  affairs.  The 
revolution  in  commerce,  brought  about  by  the  force  of  his  genius,  is  hardly 
inferior  to  that  revolution  in  empire  occasioned  by  the  success  of  his  arms. 
It  is  probable  that  the  opposition  and  efforts  of  the  republic  of  Tyre,  which 
checked  him  so  long  in  the  career  of  his  victories,  gave  Alexander  an  op 
portunity  of  observing  the  vast  resources  of  a  maritime  power,  and  convey 
ed  to  him  some  idea  of  the  immense  wealth  which  the  Tynans  derived 
from  their  commerce,  especially  that  with  the  East  Indies.  As  soon  as  he 
had  accomplished  the  destruction  of  Tyre,  and  reduced  Egypt  to  subjection, 
he  formed  the  plan  of  rendering  the  empire  which  he  proposed  to  establish, 
the  centre  of  commerce  as  well  as  the  seat  of  dominion.  With  this  view 
he  founded  a  great  city,  which  he  honoured  with  his  own  name,  near  one 
of  the  mouths  of  the  river  Nile,  that  by  the  Mediterranean  sea,  and  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  it  might  command  the  trade  both  of  the 
East  and  West.*  This  situation  was  chosen  with  such  discernment,  that 
Alexandria  soon  became  the  chief  commercial  city  in  the  world.  Not  only 
during  the  subsistence  of  the  Grecian  empire  in  Egypt  and  in  the  East,  but 
amidst  all  the  successive  revolutions  in  those  countries  from  the  time  of  the 
Ptolemies  to  the  discovery  of  the  navigation  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
commerce,  particularly  that  of  the  East  Indies,  continued  to  flow  in  the 
channel  which  the  sagacity  and  foresight  of  Alexander  had  marked  out 
for  it. 

His  ambition  was  not  satisfied  with  having  opened  to  the  Greeks  a  com 
munication  with  India  by  sea  ;  he  aspired  to  the  sovereignty  of  those  regions 
which  furnished  the  rest  of  mankind  with  so  many  precious  commodities, 
and  conducted  his  army  thither  by  land.  Enterprising,  however,  as  he  was, 
he  may  be  said  rather  to  have  viewed  than  to  have  conquered  that  country. 
He  did  not,  in  his  progress  towards  the  East,  advance  beyond  the  banks  of 
the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Indus,  which  is  now  the  western  boundary  of  the 
vast  continent  of  India.  Amidst  the  wild  exploits  which  distinguish  this 
part  of  his  history,  he  pursued  measures  that  mark  the  superiority  of  his  ge 
nius  as  well  as  the  extent  of  his  views.  He  had  penetrated  as  far  into  Inclia 
as  to  confirm  his  opinion  of  its  commercial  importance,  and  to  perceive  that 
immense  wealth  might  be  derived  from  intercourse  with  a  country  where 
the  arts  of  elegance,  having  been  more  early  cultivated,  were  arrived  at 
greater  perfection  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  earth.j  Full  of  this  idea,  he 
resolved  to  examine  the  course  of  navigation  from  the  mouth  of  the  Indus 
to  the  bottom  of  the  Persian  Gulf;  and,  if  it  should  be  found  practicable,  to 
establish  a  regular  communication  between  them.  In  order  to  effect  this, 
he  proposed  to  remove  the  cataracts,  with  which  the  jealousy  of  the  Per 
sians,  and  their  aversion  to  correspondence  with  foreigners,  had  obstructed 
the  entrance  into  the  Euphrates  ;  J  to  carry  the  commodities  of  the  East  up 
that  river,  and  the  Tigris,  which  unites  with  it,  into  the  interior  parts  of  his 
Asiatic  dominions ;  while,  by  the  way  of  the  Arabian  Gulf  and  the  river 
Nile,  they  might  be  conveyed  to  Alexandria,  and  distributed  to  the  rest  of 
the  world.  Nearchus,  an  officer  of  eminent  abilities,  was  intrusted  with  the 
command  of  the  fleet  fitted  out  for  this  expedition.  He  performed  this 
voyage,  which  was  deemed  an  enterprise  so  arduous  and  important,  that 
Alexander  reckoned  it  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  events  which  distin 
guished  his  reign.  Inconsiderable  as  it  may  now  appear,  it  was  at  that 

*  Strab.  Geogr.  lib.  xvii.  p  1143. 1149.  t  Strab.  Geogr.  lib.  xv.  p.  1036.  Q.  Curtius ,  lib.  xviii. 
c.  9.  J  Strab.  Geogr.  lib.  xvi.  p.  1075. 


24  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  I. 

time  an  undertaking  of  no  little  merit  and  difficulty.  In  the  prosecution  of 
it,  striking  instances  occur  of  the  small  progress  which  the  Greeks  had  made 
in  naval  Knowledge. [4]  Having  never  sailed  beyond  the  bounds  of  the 
Mediterranean,  where  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  sea  are  hardly  perceptible, 
when  they  first  observed  this  phenomenon  at  the  mouth  of  the  Indus,  it  ap 
peared  to  them  a  prodigy,  by  which  the  gods  testified  the  displeasure  of 
heaven  against  their  enterprise .[5]  During  their  whole  course,  they  seem 
never  to  have  lost  sight  of  land,  but  followed  the  bearings  of  the  coast  so 
servilely,  that  they  could  not  avail  themselves  of  those  periodical  winds 
which  facilitate  navigation  in  the  Indian  ocean.  Accordingly  they  spent 
no  less  than  ten  months  in  performing  this  voyage,*  which,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Indus  to  that  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  does  not  exceed  twenty  degrees. 
It  is  probable,  that  amidst  the  convulsions  and  frequent  revolutions  in  the 
East,  occasioned  by  the  contests  among  the  successors  of  Alexander,  the 
navigation  to  India  by  the  course  which  Nearchus  had  opened  was  discon 
tinued.  The  Indian  trade  carried  on  at  Alexandria,  not  only  subsisted,  but 
was  so  much  extended,  under  the  Grecian  mpnarchs  of  Egrypt,  that  it  proved 
a  great  source  of  the  wealth  which  distinguished  their  kingdom. 

The  progress  which  the  Romans  made  in  navigation  and  discovery,  was 
still  more  inconsiderable  than  that  of  the  Greeks.  The  genius  of  the  Ro 
man  people,  their  military  education,  and  the  spirit  of  their  laws,  concurred 
in  estranging  them  from  commerce  and  naval  affairs.  It  was  the  necessity 
of  opposing  a  formidable  rival,  not  the  desire  of  extending  trade,  which 
first  prompted  them  to  aim  at  maritime  power.  Though  they  soon  per 
ceived,  that  in  order  to  acquire  the  universal  dominion  after  which  they  as 
pired,  it  was  necessary  to  render  themselves  masters  of  the  sea,  they  still 
considered  the  naval  service  as  a  subordinate  station,  and  reserved  for  it 
such  citizens  as  were  not  of  a  rank  to  be  admitted  into  the  legions.f  In 
the  history  of  the  Roman  republic,  hardly  one  event  occurs,  that  marks 
attention  to  navigation  any  further  than  it  was  instrumental  towards  conquest. 
When  the  Roman  valour  and  discipline  had  subdued  all  the  maritime  states 
known  in  the  ancient  world ;  when  Carthage,  Greece,  and  Egypt  had  sub 
mitted  to  their  power,  the  Romans  did  not  imbibe  the  commercial  spirit  of 
the  conquered  nations.  Among  that  people  of  soldiers,  to  have  applied  to 
trade  would  have  been  deemed  a  degradation  to  a  Roman  citizen.  They 
abandoned  the  mechanical  arts,  commerce,  and  navigation,  to  slaves,  to 
freedmen,  to  provincials,  and  to  citizens  of  the  lowest  class.  Even  after  the 
subversion  of  liberty,  when  the  severity  and  haughtiness  of  ancient  manners 
began  to  abate,  commerce  did  not  rise  into  high  estimation  among  the 
Romans.  The  trade  of  Greece,  Egypt,  and  the  other  conquered  countries, 
continued  to  be  carried  on  in  its  usual  channels,  after  they  were  reduced 
into  the  form  of  Roman  provinces.  As  Rome  was  the  capital  of  the  world, 
and  the  seat  of  government,  all  the  wealth  and  valuable  productions  of  the 
provinces  flowed  naturally  thither.  The  Romans,  satisfied  with  this,  seem 
to  have  suffered  commerce  to  remain  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
natives  of  the  respective  countries.  The  extent,  however,  of  the  Roman 
power,  which  reached  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  known  world,  the  vigi 
lant  inspection  of  the  Roman  magistrates,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Roman 
government,  no  less  intelligent  than  active,  gave  such  additional  security  to 
commerce  as  animated  it  with  new  vigour.  The  union  among  nations  was 
never  so  entire,  nor  the  intercourse  so  perfect,  as  within  the  bounds  of  this 
vast  empire.  Commerce,  under  the  Roman  dominion,  was  not  obstructed 
by  the  jealousy  of  rival  states,  interrupted  by  frequent  hostilities,  or  limited 
by  partial  restrictions.  One  superintending  power  moved  and  regulated 
the  industry  of  mankind,  and  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  their  joint  efforts. 

Navigation  felt  its  influence,  and  improved  under  it.    As  soon  as  the 

•  .t'tJ.  .4lJ  . 

*  Pirn.  Hist  Nat.  lib.  vi.  c.  23.  t  Polyb.  lib.  v. 


\ 


AMERICA.  23 

Romans  acquired  a  taste  for  the  luxuries  of  the  East,  the  trade  with  India 
through  Egypt  was  pushed  with  new  vigour,  and  carried  on  to  greater 
extent.    By  trequenting  the  Indian  continent,  navigators  became  acquainted 
with  the  periodical  course  of  the  winds,  which,  in  the  ocean  that  separates 
Africa  from  India,  blow  with  little  variation  during  one  half  of  the  year  from 
the  east,  andduring  the  other  half  blow  with  equal  steadiness  from  the  west. 
Encouraged  by  observing  this,  the  pilots  who  sailed  from  Egypt  to  India 
abandoned  their  ancient  slow  and  dangerous  course  along  the  coast,  and,  as 
soon  as  the  western  monsoon  set  in,  took  their  departure  from  Ocelis,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  and  stretched  boldly  across  the  ocean.*  The  uni 
form  direction  of  the  wind,  supplying  the  place  of  the  compass,  and  rendering 
the  guidance  of  the  stars  less  necessary,  conducted  them  to  the  port  of  Musi- 
ris,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Indian  continent.    There  they  took  on  board 
their  cargo,  and,  returning  with  the  eastern  monsoon,  finished  their  voyage 
to  the  Arabian  Gulf  within  the  year.    This  part  of  India,  now  known  b>; 
the  name  of  the  Malabar  coast,  seems  to  have  been  the  utmost  limit  01 
ancient  navigation  in  that  quartfc1  of  the  globe.    What  imperfect  knowledge 
the  ancients  had  of  the  immense  countries  which  stretch  beyond  this  towards 
the  East,  they  received  from  a  few  adventurers  who  had  visited  them  by 
land.    Such  excursions  were j^ither  frequent  nor  extensive,  and  it  is  proba 
ble  that,  while  the  Roman Mtercourse  with  India  subsisted,  no  traveller 
ever  penetrated  further  thanJrthe  banks  of  the  Ganges.|[6j   The  fleets  from 
Egypt  which  traded  at  MiMris  were  loaded  it  is  true,  with  the  spices  and 
other  rich  commodities  of  the  continent  and  islands  of  the  further  India  ;  but 
these  were  brought  to  that  port,  which  became  the  staple  of  the  commerce 
between  the  east  and  west,  by  the  Indians  themselves  in  canoes  hollowed 
out  of  one  tree.J     The  Egyptian  and  Roman  merchants,  satisfied  with 
acquiring  those  commodities  in  this  manner,  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
explore  unknown  seas,  and  venture  upon  a  dangerous  navigation,  in  quest  ot 
the  countries  which  produced  them.  But  though  the  discoveries  of  the  Romans 
in  India  were  so  limited,  their  commerce  there  was  such  as  will  appear 
considerable,  even  to  the  present  age,  in  which  the  Indian  trade  has  been 
extended  iar  beyond  the  practice  or  conception  of  any  preceding  period. 
We  are  informed  by  one  author  of  credit,§  that  the  commerce  with  India 
drained  the  Roman  empire  every  year  of  more  than  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds  ;  and  by  another,  that  one  hundred  and  twenty  ships  sailed  annually 
from  the  Arabian  Gulf  to  that  country.|| 

The  discovery  of  this  new  method  of  sailing  to  India,  is  the  most  con 
siderable  improvement  in  navigation  made  during  the  continuance  of  the 
Roman  power.  But  in  ancient  times,  the  knowledge  of  remote  countries 
was  acquired  more  frequently  by  land  than  by  sea  ;[7]  and  the  Romans,  from 
their  peculiar  disinclination  to  naval  affairs,  may  be  said  to  have  neglected 
totally  the  latter,  though  a  more  easy  and  expeditious  method  of  discovery. 
The  progress,  however,  of  their  victorious  armies  through  a  considerable 
portion  ois  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  contributed  greatly  to  extend  discovery 
by  land,  and  gradually  opened  the  navigation  of  new  and  unknown  seas. 
Previous  to  the  Roman  conquests,  the  civilized  nations  of  antiquity  had 
little  communication  with  those  countries  in  Europe  which  now  form  its 
most  opulent  and  powerful  kingdoms.  The  interior  parts  of  Spain  and 
Gaul  were  imperfectly  known.  Britain,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  had  never  been  visited,  except  by  its  neighbours  the  Gauls,  and  by  a 
few  Carthaginian  merchants.  The  name  of  Germany  had  scarcely  been 
beard  of.  Into  all  these  countries  the  arms  of  the  Romans  penetrated. 
They  entirely  subdued  Spain  and  Gaul ;  they  conquered  the  greatest  and 
most  fertile  part  of  Britain ;  they  advanced  into  Germany,  as  far  as  the 

*  Pirn.  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  23.        f  Slrab.  Geogr.  lib.  xv.  p.  1006—1010.         }  Plin.  Nat.  Hist 
lib.  vi.  c.  -2(5.       §  ibid.       j|  Strab.  Geogr.  lib.  ii.  p.  179. 
VOL.  I.— 4 


26  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  I. 

banks  of  the  river  Elbe.  In  Africa,  they  acquired  a  considerable  know 
ledge  of  the  provinces,  which  stretched  along  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  from 
Egypt  westward  to  the  Straits  of  Gades.  In  Asia,  they  not  only  subjected 
to  their  power  most  of  the  provinces  which  composed  the  Persian  and 
the  Macedonian  empires,  but  after  their  victories  over  Mithridates  and 
Tigranes,  they  seem  to  have  made  a  more  accurate  survey  of  the  countries 
contiguous  to  the  Euxine  and  Caspian  seas,  and  to  have  carried  on  a  more 
extensive  trade  than  that  of  the  Greeks  with  the  opulent  and  commercial 
nations  then  seated  round  the  Euxine  sea. 

From  this  succinct  survey  of  discovery  and  navigation,  which  I  have 
traced  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  historical  knowledge,  to  the  full  esta 
blishment  of  the  Roman  dominion,  the  progress  of  both  appears  to 
have  been  wonderfully  slow.  It  seems  neither  adequate  to  what  we 
might  have  expected  from  the  activity  and  enterprise  of  the  human  mind, 
nor  to  what  might  have  been  performed  by  the  power  of  the  great  empires 
which  successively  governed  the  world.  If  we  reject  accounts  that  are 
fabulous  and  obscure ;  if  we  adhere  steady  to  the  light  and  information 
of  authentic  history,  without  substituting  in  its  place  the  conjectures  of 
fancy  or  the  dreams  of  etymologists,  we  must  conclude,  that  the  knowledge 
which  the  ancients  had  acquired  of  the  habitable  globe  was  extremely 
confined.  In  Europe,  the  extensive  provincM  in  the  eastern  part  of  Ger 
many  were  little  known  to  them.  They  we^^lmost  totally  unacquainted 
with  the  vast  countries  which  are  now  subjecVto  the  kings  of  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Prussia,  Poland,  and  the  Russian  empire.  The  more  barren 
regions  that  stretch  within  the  arctic  circle,  were  quite  unexplored.  In 
Africa,  their  researches  did  not  extend  far  beyond  the  provinces  which 
border  on  the  Mediterranean,  and  those  situated  on  the  western  shore  of 
the  Arabian  Gulf.  In  Asia,  they  were  unacquainted,  as  I  formerly  observed, 
with  all  the  fertile  and  opulent  countries  beyond  the  Ganges,  which  furnish 
the  most  valuable  commodities  that  in  modern  times  have  been  the  great 
object  of  the  European  commerce  with  India  ;  nor  do  they  seem  to  have 
ever  penetrated  into  those  immense  regions  occupied  by  the  wandering- 
tribes,  which  they  called  by  the  general  name  of  Sarmatians  or  Scythians, 
and  which  are  now  possessed  by  Tartars  of  various  denominations,  and  by 
the  Asiatic  subjects  of  Russia. 

But  there  is  one  opinion,  that  universally  prevailed  amon?  the  ancients, 
which  conveys  a  more  striking  idea  of  the  small  progress  they  had  made 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  habitable  globe  than  can  be  derived  from  any 
detail  of  their  discoveries.  They  supposed  the  earth  to  be  divided  into 
five  regions,  which  they  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Zones.  Two  of 
these,  which  were  nearest  the  poles,  they  termed  Frigid  zones,  and  believed 
that  the  extreme  cold  which  reigned  perpetually  there  rendered  them  unin 
habitable.  Another,  seated  under  the  line,  and  extending  on  either  side 
towards  the  tropics,  they  called  the  Torrid  zone,  and  imagined  it  to  be  so 
burned  up  with  unremitting  heat,  as  to  be  equally  destitute  of  inhabitants. 
On  the  two  other  zones,  which  occupied  the  remainder  of  the  earth,  they 
bestowed  the  appellation  of  Temperate,  and  taught  that  these,  being  the 
only  regions  in  which  life  could  subsist,  were  allotted  to  man  for  his  habita 
tion.  This  wild  opinion  was  not  a  conceit  of  the  uninformed  vulgar,  or  a 
fanciful  fiction  of  the  poets,  but  a  system  adopted  by  the  most  enlightened 
philosophers,  the  most  accurate  historians  and  geographers  in  Greece  and 
Rome.  According  to  this  theory,  a  vast  portion  of  the  habitable  earth  was 
pronounced  to  be  unfit  for  sustaining  the  human  species.  Those  fertile  and 
populous  regions  within  the  torrid  zone,  which  are  now  known  not  only  to 
yield  their  own  inhabitants  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  with  most 
luxuriant  profusion,  but  to  communicate  their  superfluous  stores  to  the  rest  of 
the  world,  were  supposed  to  be  the  mansion  of  perpetual  sterility  and 
desolation.  As  all  the  parts  of  the  globe  with  which  the  ancients  were 


AMERICA.  2 

acquainted  lay  within  the  northern  temperate  zone,  their  opinion  that  the 
other  temperate  zone  was  filled  with  inhabitants,  was  founded  on  reasoning 
and  conjecture,  not  on  discover}'.  They  even  believed  that,  by  the  intole 
rable  heat  of  the  torrid  zone  such  an  insuperable  barrier  was  placed 
between  the  two  temperate  regions  of  the  earth  as  would  prevent  for  ever 
any  intercourse  between  their  respective  inhabitants.  Thus,  this  extrava 
gant  theory  not  only  proves  that  the  ancients  were  unacquainted  with  the 
true  state  of  the  globe,  but  it  tended  to  render  their  ignorance  perpetual,  by 
representing  all  attempts  towards  opening  a  communication  with  the  remote 
regions  of  the  earth,  as  utterly  impracticable.  [8] 

But,  however  imperfect  or  inaccurate  the  geographical  knowledge  which 
he  Greeks  and  Romans  had  acquired  may  appear,  in  respect  of  the 
present  improved  state  of  that  science,  their  progress  in  discovery  will  seem 
considerable,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  carried  navigation  ana  commerce 
must  be  reckoned  great,  when  compared  with  the  ignorance  of  early  times. 
As  long  as  the  Roman  Empire  retained  such  vigour  as  to  preserve  its  authority 
over  the  conquered  nations,  and  to  keep  them  united,  it  was  an  object  61 
public  policy,  as  well  as  of  private  curiosity,  to  examine  and  describe  the 
countries  which  composed  this  great  body.  Even  when  the  other  sciences 
began  to  decline,  geography,  enriched  with  new  observations,  and  receiving 
some  accession  from  the  experience  of  every  age,  and  the  reports  of  every 
traveller,  continued  to  improve.  It  attained  to  the  highest  point  of  perfec 
tion  and  accuracy  to  which  it  ever  arrived  in  the  ancient  world,  by  the 
industry  and  genius  of  Ptolemy  'the  philosopher.  He  flourished  in  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  eera,  and  published  a  description  of  the  ter 
restrial  globe,  more  ample  and  exact  than  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors. 

But,  soon  after,  violent  convulsions  began  to  shake  the  Roman  state  ;  the 
fatal  ambition  or  caprice  of  Constantine,  by  changing  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  divided  and  weakened  its  force  ;  the  barbarous  nations,  which  Pro 
vidence  prepared  as  instruments  to  overturn  the  mighty  fabric  of  the 
Roman  power,  began  to  assemble  and  to  muster  their  armies  on  its  frontier  : 
the  empire  tottered  to  its  fall.  During  this  decline  and  old  age  of  the 
Roman  state,  it  was  impossible  that  the  sciences  should  go  on  improving. 
The  efforts  of  genius  were,  at  that  period,  as  languid  and  feeble  as  those  of 
government.  From  the  time  of  Ptolemy,  no  considerable  addition  seems  to 
have  been  made  to  geographical  knowledge,  nor  did  any  important  revo 
lution  happen  in  trade,  excepting  that  Constantinople,  by  its  advantageous 
situation,  and  the  encouragement  of  the  eastern  emperors,  became  a  com 
mercial  city  of  the  first  note. 

At  length,  the  clouds  which  had  been  so  long  gathering  round  the  Roman 
empire  burst  into  a  storm.  Barbarous  nations  rushed  in  from  several  quar 
ters  with  irresistible  impetuosity,  and  in  the  general  wreck,  occasioned  by 
the  inundation  which  overwhelmed  Europe  the  arts,  sciences,  inventions, 
and  discoveries  of  the  Romans  perished  in  a  great  measure,  and  disap 
peared.*  All  the  various  tribes  which  settled  in  the  different  provinces  of 
the  Roman  empire  were  uncivilized,  strangers  to  letters,  destitute  of  arts, 
unacquainted  with  regular  government,  subordination,  or  laws.  The  man 
ners  and  institutions  of  some  of  them  were  so  rude  as  to  be  hardly  compati 
ble  with  a  state  of  social  union.  Europe,  when  occupied  by  such  inhabit 
ants,  may  be  said  to  have  returned  to  a  second  infancy,  and  had  to  begin 
anew  its  career  in  improvement,  science,  and  civility.  The  first  effect  of 
the  settlement  of  those  barbarous  invaders  was  to  dissolve  the  union  by  which 
the  Roman  power  had  cemented  mankind  together.  They  parcelled  out 
Europe  into  many  small  and  independent  states,  differing  from  each  othef 
in  language  and  customs.  No  intercourse  subsisted  between  the  members 
of  those  divided  and  hostile  communities.  Accustomed  to  a  simple  mode 

*  Hisf.  of  Charles  V.  vol.  i. 


28  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  1. 

of  life,  and  averse  to  industry,  they  had  few  wants  to  supply,  and  few  super 
fluities  to  dispose  of.  The  names  of  stranger  and  enemy  became  once 
more  words  of  the  same  import.  Customs  every  where  prevailed,  and 
even  laws  were  established,  which  rendered  it  disagreeable  and  dangerous 
to  visit  any  foreign  country.*  Cities,  in  which  alone  an  extensive  commerce 
can  be  carried  on,  were  few,  inconsiderable,  and  destitute  of  those  immuni 
ties  which  produce  security  or  excite  enterprise.  The  sciences,  on  which 
geography  and  navigation  are  founded,  were  little  cultivated.  The  accounts 
of  ancient  improvements  and  discoveries,  contained  in  the  Greek  and 
Roman  authors,  were  neglected  or  misunderstood.  The  knowledge  of 
remote  regions  was  lost,  their  situation,  their  commodities,  and  almost  their 
names,  were  unknown. 

One  circumstance  prevented  commercial  intercourse  with  distant  nations 
from  ceasing  altogether.  Constantinople,  though  often  threatened  by  the 
fierce  invaders  who  spread  desolation  over  the  rest  of  Europe,  was  so  for 
tunate  as  to  escape  their  destructive  rage.  In  that  city  the  knowledge  of 
ancient  arts  and  discoveries  was  preserved ;  a  taste  for  splendour  and  ele 
gance  subsisted  ;  the  productions  and  luxuries  of  foreign  countries  were  in 
request ;  and  commerce  continued  to  flourish  there  when  it  was  almost 
extinct  in  every  other  part  of  Europe.  The  citizens  of  Constantinople  did 
not  confine  their  trade  to  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  or  to  the  adjacent 
coasts  of  Asia  ;  they  took  a  wider  range,  and,  following  the  course  which 
the  ancients  had  marked  out,  imported  the  commodities  of  the  East  Indies 
from  Alexandria.  When  Egypt  was  torn  from  the  Roman  empire  by  the 
Arabians,  the  industry  of  the  Greeks  discovered  a  new  channel  by  which 
the  productions  of  India  might  be  conveyed  to  Constantinople.  They  were 
carried  up  the  Indus  as  far  as  that  great  river  is  navigable  ;  thence  they 
were  transported  by  land  to  the  banks  of  the  river  Oxus,  and  proceeded 
down  its  stream  to  the  Caspian  sea.  There  they  entered  the  Volga,  and, 
sailing  up  it,  were  carried  by  land  to  the  Tanais,  which  conducted  them 
into  the  Euxine  sea,  where  vessels  from  Constantinople  waited  their  arrival.! 
This  extraordinary  and  tedious  mode  of  conveyance  merits  attention,  not 
only  as  a  proof  of  the  violent  passion  which  the  inhabitants  of  Constantinople 
had.  conceived  for  the  luxuries  of  the  East,  and  as  a  specimen  of  the  ardour 
and  ingenuity  with  which  they  carried  on  commerce  ;  but  because  it 
demonstrates  that,  during  the  ignorance  which  reigned  in  the  rest  of  Europe, 
an  extensive  knowledge  of  remote  countries  was  still  preserved  in  the  capi 
tal  of  the  Greek  empire. 

At  the  same  time  a  gleam  of  light  and  knowledge  broke  in  upon  the 
East.  The  Arabians  having  contracted  some  relish  for  the  sciences  of  the 
people  whose  empire  they  had  contributed  to  overturn,  translated  the 
books  of  several  of  the  Greek  philosophers  into  their  own  language.  One 
of  the  first  was  that  valuable  work  of  Ptolemy  which  I  have  already  men 
tioned.  The  study  of  geography  became,  of  consequence,  an  early  object  of 
attention  to  the  Arabians.  But  that  acute  and  ingenious  people  cultivated 
chiefly  the  speculative  and  scientific  parts  of  geography.  In  order  to  ascer 
tain  the  figure  and  dimensions  of  the  terrestrial  globe,  they  applied  the 
principles  of  geometry,  they  had  recourse  to  astronomical  observations,  they 
employed  experiments  and  operations,  which  Europe  in  more  enlightened 
times  has  been  proud  to  adopt  and  to  imitate.  At  that  period,  however, 
ihe  fame  of  the  improvements  made  by  the  Arabians  did  not  reach  Europe. 
The  knowledge  of  their  discoveries  was  reserved  for  ages  capable  of  com 
prehending  and  of  perfecting  them. 

^  By  degrees  the  calamities  and  desolation  brought  upon  the  western  pro 
vinces  of  the  Roman  empire  by  its  barbarous  conquerors  were  forgotten, 
and  in  some  measure  repaired.  The  rude  tribes  which  settled  there 

*  Hist,  of  Charles  V.  t  Kamusio,  vol.  i.  p.  372.  F. 


AMERICA.  29 

acquiring  insensibly  some  idea  of  regular  government,  and  some  relish  for 
the  functions  and  comforts  of  civil  life,  Europe  began  to  awake  from  its 
torpid  and  inactive  state.    The  first  symptoms  of  revival  were  discerned 
in  Italy.    The  northern  tribes  which  took  possession  of  this  country,  made 
progress  in  improvement  with  greater  rapidity  than  the  people  settled  in 
other  parts  of  Europe.    Various  causes,  which  it  is  not  tne  object  of  this 
work  to  enumerate  or  explain,  concurred  in  restonng  liberty  and  independ 
ence  to  the  cities  of  Italy.*    The  acquisition  of  these  roused  industry,  and 
gave  motion  and  vigour  to  all  the  active  powers  of  the  human  mind. 
Foreign  commerce  revived,  navigation  was  attended  to  and  improved. 
Constantinople  became  the  chief  mart  to  which  the  Italians  resorted.    There 
they  not  only  met  with  a  favourable  reception,  but  obtained  such  mercan 
tile  privileges  as  enabled  them  to  carry  on  trade  with  great  advantage. 
They  were  supplied  both  with  the  precious  commodities  of  the  East,  and 
with  many  curious  manufactures,  the  product  of  ancient  arts  and  ingenuity 
which  still  subsisted  among  the  Greeks.    As  the  labour  and  expense  of  con 
veying  the  productions  of  India  to  Constantinople  by  that  long  and  indirect 
course  .which  I  have  described,  rendered  them  extremely  rare,  and  of  an 
exorbitant  price,  the  industry  of  the  Italians  discovered  other  methods  of 
procuring  them  in  greater  abundance  and  at  an  easier  rate.     They  some 
times  purchased  them  in  Aleppo,  Tripoli,  and  other  ports  on  the  coast  of 
Syria,  to  which  they  were  brought  by  a  route  not  unknown  to  the  ancients. 
They  were  conveyed  from  India  by  sea  up  the  Persian  Gulf,  and,  ascending 
the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  as  far  as  Bagdat,  were  carried  by  land  across  the 
desert  of  Palmyra,  and  from  thence  to  the  towns  on  the  Mediterranean. 
But,  from  the  length  of  the  journey,  and  the  dangers  to  which  the  caravans 
were  exposed,  this  proved  always  a  tedious  and  often  a  precarious  mode  of 
conveyance.    At  length  the  Soldans  of  Egypt,  having  revived  the  commerce 
with  India  in  its  ancient  channel,  by  the  Arabian  Gulf,  the  Italian  merchants, 
notwithstanding  the  violent  antipathy  to  each  other  with  which  Christians 
and  the  followersof  Mahomet  were  then  possessed,  repaired  to  Alexandria,  and 
enduring,  from  the  love  of  gain,  the  insolence  and  exactions  of  the  Mahometans, 
established  a  lucrative  trade  in  that  port.     From  that  period  the  commer 
cial  spirit  of  Italy  became  active  and  enterprising.    Venice,  Genoa,  Pisa, 
rose  from  inconsiderable  towns  to  be  populous  and  wealthy  cities.     Their 
naval  power  increased ;  their  vessels  frequented  not  only  all  the  ports  in  the 
Mediterranean,  but  venturing  sometimes  beyond  the  Straits,  visited  the 
maritime  towns  of  Spain,  France,  the  Low  Countries,  and  England  ;  and, 
by  distributing  their  commodities  over  Europe,  began  to  communicate  to  its 
various  nations  some  taste  for  the  valuable  productions  of  the  East,  as  well 
as  some  ideas  of  manufactures  and  arts,  which  were  then  unknown  beyond 
the  precincts  of  Italy. 

While  the  cities  of  Italy  were  thus  advancing  in  their  career  of  improve 
ment,  an  event  happened,  the  most  extraordinary,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  which,  instead  of  retarding  the  commercial  progress  of  the  Italians, 
rendered  it  more  rapid.  The  martial  spirit  of  the  Europeans,  heightened 
and  inflamed  by  religious  zeal,  prompted  them  to  attempt  the  deliverance 
of  the  Holy  Land  from  the  dominion  of  Infidels.  Vast  armies,  composed  of 
all  the  nations  in  Europe,  marched  towards  Asia  upon  this  wild  enterprise. 
The  Genoese,  the  Pisans,  and  Venetians,  furnished  the  transports  which 
carried  them  thither.  They  supplied  them  with  provisions  and  military 
stores.  Besides  the  immense  sums  which  they  received  on  this  account, 
they  obtained  commercial  privileges  and  establishments  of  great  conse 
quence  in  the  settlements  which  the  Crusaders  made  in  Palestine,  and  in 
other  ^provinces  of  Asia.  From  those  sources  prodigious  wealth  flowed  into 
the  cities  which  I  have  mentioned.  This  was  accompanied  with  a  proper- 

*  Hist,  of  Charles  V. 


30  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  1. 

tional  increase  of  power ;  and,  by  the  end  of  the  Holy  War,  Venice  iri 
particular  became  a  great  maritime  state,  possessing  an  extensive  commerce 
and  ample  territories.*  Italy  was  not  the  only  country  in  which  the  Cru 
sades  contributed  to  revive  and  diffuse  such  a  spirit  as  prepared  Europe  for 
future  discoveries;  By  their  expeditions  into  Asia,  the  other  European 
nations  became  well  acquainted  with  remote  regions,  which  formerly  they 
knew  only  by  name,  or  by  the  reports  of  ignorant  and  credulous  pilgrims. 
They  haa  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  manners,  the  arts,  and  the  accommo 
dations  of  people  more  polished  than  themselves.  This  intercourse  between 
the  East  and  West  subsisted  almost  two  centuries.  The  adventurers  who 
returned  from  Asia  communicated  to  their  countrymen  the  ideas  which  they 
had  acquired,  and  the  habits  of  life  they  had  contracted  by  visiting  more 
refined  nations.  The  Europeans  began  to  be  sensible  of  wants  with  which 
they  were  formerly  unacquainted :  new  desires  were  excited ;  and  such  a 
taste  for  the  commodities  and  arts  of  other  countries  gradually  spread  among 
them,  that  they -not  only  encouraged  the  resort  of  foreigners  to  their  harbours, 
but  began  to  perceive  the  advantage  and  necessity  of  applying  to  commerce 
themselves.t 

This  communication,  which  was  opened  between  Europe  and  the  western 
provinces  of  Asia,  encouraged  several  persons  to  advance  far  beyond  the 
countries  in  which  the  Crusaders  carried  on  their  operations,  and  to  travel  by 
land  into  the  more  remote  and  opulent  regions  of  the  East.  The  wild  fanati 
cism,  which  seems  at  that  period  to  have  mingled  in  all  tJie  schemes  of 
individuals,  no  less  than  in  all  the  counsels  of  nations,  first  incited  men  to 
enter  upon  those  long  and  dangerous  peregrinations.  They  were  artel-wards 
undertaken  from  prospects  oif  commercial  advantage,  or  from  motives  of 
mere  curiosity.  Benjamin,  a  Jew  of  Tudela,  in  the  kingdom  of  Navarre, 
possessed  with  a  superstitious  veneration  for  the  law  of  Moses,  and  solicitous 
to  visit  his  countrymen  in  the  East,  whom  he  hoped  .to  find  in  such  a  state 
of  power  and  opulence  as  might  redound  to  the  honour  of  his  sect,  set  out 
from  Spain,  in  the  year  1160,  and,  travelling  by  land  to  Constantinople,  pro 
ceeded  through  the  countries  to  the  north  of  the  Euxine  and  Caspian  seas, 
as  far  as  Chinese  Tartary.  From  thence  he  took  his  route  towards  the 
south,  and  after  traversing  various  provinces  of  the  further  India,  he  em 
barked  on  the  Indian  Ocean^  visited  several  of  its  islands,  and  returned  at 
the  end  of  thirteen  years,  by  the  way  of  Egypt,  to  Europe,  with  much 
information  concerning  a  large  district  of  the  globe  altogether  unknown  at 
that  time  to  the  western  world.;};  The  zeal  of  the  head  of  the  Christian 
church  co-operated  with  the  superstition  of  Benjamin  the  Jew  in  discovering 
the  interior  and  remote  provinces  of  Asia.  All  Christendom  having  been 
alarmed  with  the  accounts  of  the  rapid  progress  of  the  Tartar  arms  under 
Zengis  Khan  [1246J,  Innocent  IV.,  who  entertained  most  exalted  ideas 
concerning  the  plenitude  of  his  own  power,  and  the  submission  due  to  his 
injunctions,  sent  Father  John  de  Piano  Carpini,  at  the  head  of  a  mission  of 
Franciscan  monks,  and  Father  Ascolino,  at  the  head  of  another  of  Domini 
cans,  to  enjoin  Kayuk  Khan,  the  grandson  of  Zengis,  who  was  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Tartar  empire,  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  desist 
from  desolating  the  earth  by  his  arms.  The  haughty  descendant  of  the 
greatest  conqueror  Asia  had  ever  beheld,  astonished  at  this  strange  mandate 
from  an  Italian  priest,  whose  name  and  jurisdiction  were  alike  unknown  to 
him,  received  it  with  the  contempt  which  it  merited,  though  he  dismissed 
the  mendicants  who  delivered  it  with  impunity.  But,  as  they  had  pene-* 
trated  into  the  country  by  different  routes,  and  followed  for  some  time  the 
Tartar  camps,  which  were  always  in  motion,  they  had  opportunity  of  visit 
ing  a  great  part  of  Asia.  Carpini,  who  proceeded  by  the  way  of  Poland 

*  Essai  de  1'Histoire  du  Commerce  de  Venise,  p.  52,  &c.  t  Hist  of  Charles  V. 

1  Bergeron,  Recueil  des  Voyages,  &c.  torn  i.  p  1. 


AxMERICA.  31 

and  Russia,  travelled  through  its  northern  provinces  as  far  as  the  extremities 
of  Thibet.  Ascolino,  who  seems  to  have  landed  somewhere  in  Syria, 
advanced  through  its  southern  provinces  Into  the  interior  parts  of  Persia.* 

Not  long  after  [1253],  St.  Louis  of  France  contributed  further  towards 
extending  the  knowledge  which  the  Europeans  had  begun  to  acquire  of  those 
distant  regions.  Some  designing  impostor,  who  took  advantage  of  the 
slender  acquaintance  of  Christendom  with  the  state  and  character  of  the  Asiatic 
nations,  having  informed  him  that  a  powerful  Khan  of  the  Tartars  had 
embraced  the  Christian  faith,  the  monarch  listened  to  the  tale  with  pious 
credulity,  and  instantly  resolved  to  send  ambassadors  to  this  illustrious 
convert,  with  a  view  of  enticing  him  to  attack  their  common  enemy  the 
Saracens  in  one  quarter,  while  he  fell  upon  them  in  another.  As  monks 
were  the  only  persons  in  that  age  who  possessed  such  a  degree  of  know 
ledge  as  qualified  them  for  a  service  of  this  kind,  he  employed  in  it 
Father  Andrew,  a  Jacobine,  who  was  followed  by  Father  William  de 
Rubruquis,  a  Franciscan.  With  respect  to  the  progress  of  the  former, 
there  is  no  memorial  extant.  The  journal  of  the  latter  has  been  published 
He  was  admitted  into  the  presence  of  Mangu,  the  third  Khan  in  succession 
from  Zengis,  and  made  a  circuit  through  the  interior  parts  of  Asia,  more 
extensive  than  that  of  any  European  who  had  hitherto  explored  them.t 

To  those  travellers  whom  religious  zeal  sent  forth  to  visit  Asia,  succeeded 
others  who  ventured  into  remote  countries  from  the  prospect  of  commercial 
advantage,  or  from  motives  of  mere  curiosity.  The  first  and  most  eminent 
of  these  was  Marco  Polo,  a  Venetian  of  a  noble  family.  Having  engaged 
early  in  trade  [126 5],  according  to  the  custom  of  his  country,  his  aspiring 
mind  wished  for  a  sphere  of  activity  more  extensive  than  was  afforded  to  it 
by  the  established  traffic  carried  on  in  those  ports  of  Europe  and  Asia  which 
the  Venetians  frequented.  This  prompted  him  to  travel  into  unknown 
countries,  in  expectation  of  opening  a  commercial  intercourse  with  them 
more  suited  to  the  sanguine  ideas  and  hopes  of  a  young  adventurer. 

As  his  father  had  already  carried  some  European  commodities  to  the  court 
of  the  great  Khan  of  the  Tartars,  and  had  disposed  of  them  to  advantage, 
ke  resorted  thither.  Under  the  protection  of  Kublay  Khan,  the  most 
powerful  of  all  the  successors  of  Zengis,  he  continued  his  mercantile  pere 
grinations  in  Asia  upwards  of  twenty-six  years  ;  and  during  that  time  ad 
vanced  towards  the  east,  far  beyond  the  utmost  boundaries  to  which  any 
European  traveller  had  ever  proceeded.  Instead  of  following  the  course 
of  Carpini  and  Rubruquis,  along  the  vast  unpeopled  plains  of  Tartary,  he 
passed  through  the  chief  trading  cities  in  the  more  cultivated  parts  of  Asia, 
and  penetrated  to  Cambalu,or  Peking,  the  capital  of  the  great  kingdom  of 
Cathay,  or  China,  subject  at  that  time  to  the  successors  of  Zengis.  He 
made  more  than  one  voyage  on  the  Indian  ocean ;  he  traded  in  many  of 
the  islands  from  which  Europe  had  long  received  spiceries  and  other  com 
modities  which  it  held  in  high  estimation,  though  unacquainted  with  the 
particular  countries  to  which  it  was  indebted  for  those  precious  productions  : 
and  he  obtained  information  concerning  several  countries  which  he  did  not 
visit  in  person,  particularly  the  island  Zipangri,  probably  the  same  now 
known  by  the  name  of  Japan.!  On  his  return,  he  astonished  his  contempo 
raries  with  his  descriptions  of  vast  regions  whose  names  had  never  been 
heard  of  in  Europe,  and  with  such  pompous  accounts  of  their  fertility,  their 
populousness,  their  opulence,  the  variety  of  their  manufactures,  and  the 
f.xtent  of  their  trade,  as  rose  far  above  the  conception  of  an  uninformed  age 

About  half  a  century  after  Marco  Polo  [1322],  Sir  John  Mandeville,  an 
Englishman,  encouraged  by  his  example,  visited  most  of  the  countries  in 
the  East  which  he  had  described,  and,  like  him,  published  an  account  of 

*  Hakluyt,  i.  21.    Bergeron,  torn.  i.        T  Hakl.  i.  71.  Recueii  des  Voyages  par  Bergeron,  torn.  i. 
J   .  laggi  di  Marco  Polo.    Ramus.  ii.  2.  Bergeron,  torn.  ii. 


32  HISTORY  OF  [BooKl. 

them,*  The  narrations  of  those  early  travellers  abound  with  many  wild 
incoherent  tales,  concerning  giants,  enchanters,  and  monsters.  But  they 
were  not  from  that  circumstance  less  acceptable  to  an  ignorant  age,  which 
delighted  in  what  was  marvellous.  The  wonders  which  they  told,  mostly 
on  hearsay,  filled  the  multitude  with  admiration.  The  facts  which  they 
related  from  their  own  observation  attracted  the  attention  of  the  more  dis 
cerning.  The  former,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  popular  traditions 
and  fables  of  the  countries  through  which  they  had  passed,  were  gradually 
disregarded  as  Europe  advanced  in  knowledge.  The  latter,  however 
incredible  some  of  them  may  have  appeared  in  their  own  time,  have  been 
confirmed  by  the  observations  of  modern  travellers.  By  means  of  both, 
however,  the  curiosity  of  mankind  was  excited  with  respect  to  the  remote 
parts  of  the  earth ;  their  ideas  were  enlarged ;  and  they  were  not  only 
insensibly  disposed  to  attempt  new  discoveries,  but  received  such  informa 
tion  as  directed  to  that  particular  course  in  which  these  were  afterwards 
carried  on. 

While  this  spirit  was  gradually  forming  in  Europe,  a  fortunate  discovery 
was  made,  which  contributed  more  than  all  the  efforts  and  ingenuity  ol 
preceding  ages  to  improve  and  to  extend  navigation.  That  wonderful  pro 
perty  of  the  magnet,  by  which  it  communicates  such  virtue  to  a  needle 
or  slender  rod  of  iron  as  to  point  towards  the  poles  of  the  earth,  was 
observed.  The  use  which  might  be  made  of  this  in  directing  navigation 
was  immediately  perceived.  That  valuable,  but  now  familiar  instrument, 
the  mariner's  compass,  was  constructed.  When  by  means  of  it  navigators 
found  that,  at  all  seasons  and  in  every  place,  they  could  discover  the  north 
and  south  with  so  much  ease  and  accuracy,  it  became  no  longer  necessary 
to  depend  merely  on  the  light  of  the  stars  and  the  observation  of  the  sea- 
coast.  They  gradually  abandoned  their  ancient  timid  and  lingering  course 
along  the  snore,  ventured  boldly  into  the  ocean,  and,  relying  on  this  new 
guide,  could  steer  in  the  darkest  night,  and  under  the  most  cloudy  sky, 
with  a  security  and  precision  hitherto  unknown.  The  compass  may  be 
said  to  have  opened  to  man  the  dominion  of  the  sea,  and  to  have  put  him 
in  fiill  possession  of  the  earth  by  enabling  him  to  visit  every  part  of  it. 
Flavio  Gioia,  a  citizen  of  Amalfi,  a  town  of  considerable  trade  in  the  king 
dom  of  Naples,  was  the  author  of  this  great  discovery,  about  the  year  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  two.  It  hath  been  often  the  fate^of  those  illus 
trious  benefactors  of  mankind  who  have  enriched  science  and  improved 
the  arts  by  their  inventions,  to  derive  more  reputation  than  benefit  from  the 
happy  efforts  of  their  genius.  But  the  lot  of  Gioia  has  been  still  more 
cruel ;  through  the  inattention  or  ignorance  of  contemporary  historians,  he 
has  been  defrauded  even  of  the  fame  to  which  he  had  such  a  just  title. 
We  receive  from  them  no  information  with  respect  to  his  profession,  his 
character,  the  precise  time  when  he  made  this  important  discovery,  or  the 
accidents  and  inquiries  which  led  to  it.  The  knowledge  of  this  event, 
though  productive  of  greater  effects  than  any  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the 
human  race,  is  transmitted  to  us  without  any  of  those  circumstances  which 
can  gratify  the  curiosity  that  it  naturally  awakens.  |  But  though  the  use 
of  the  compass  might  enable  the  Italians  to  perform  the  short  voyages  to 
which  they  were  accustomed  with  greater  security  and  expedition,  its  in 
fluence  was  not  so  sudden  or  extensive  as  immediately  to  render  navigation 
adventurous,  and  to  excite  a  spirit  of  discovery.  Many  causes  combined 
in  preventing  this  beneficial  invention  from  producing  its  full  effect  instanta 
neously.  Men  relinquish  ancient  habits  slowly  and  with  reluctance.  They 
are  averse  to  new  experiments,  and  venture  upon  them  with  timidity.  The 
commercial  jealousy  of  the  Italians,  it  is  probable,  laboured  to  conceal  the 

*  Voyages  and  Travels,  by  Sir  John  Mandeville.  t  Collinas  et  Trombellus  de  Acus  Nauticte 
Inventore,  Instil.  Acad.  Bonon.  torn.  ii.  part  iii.  p.  372. 


AMERICA.  33 

happy  discovery  of  their  countrymen  from  other  nations.  The  art  of 
steering  by  the '  compass  with  such  skill  and  accuracy  as  to  inspire  a  full 
confidence  in  its  direction,  was  acquired  gradually.  Sailors  unaccustomed 
to  quit  the  sight  of  land,  durst  not  launch  out  at  once  and  commit  themselves 
to  unknown  seas.  Accordingly,  near  half  a  century  elapsed  from  the  time 
of  Gioia's  discovery,  before  navigators  ventured  into  any  seas  which  they 
had  not  been  accustomed  to  frequent. 

The  first  appearance  of  a  bolder  spirit  may  be  dated  from  the  voyages 
of  the  Spaniards  to  the  Canary  or  Fortunate  Islands.  By  what  accident 
they  were  led  to  the  discovery  of  those  small  isles,  which  lie  near  five  hun 
dred  miles  from  the  Spanish  coast,  and  above  a  hundred  a^d  fifty  miles 
from  the  coast  of  Africa,  contemporary  writers  have  not  explained.  But, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  people  of  all  the  different 
kingdoms  into  which  Spain  was  then  divided,  were  accustomed  to  make 
piratical  excursions  thither,  in  order  to  plunder  the  inhabitants,  or  to  carry 
them  off  as  slaves.  Clement  VI.  in  virtue  of  the  right  claimed  by  the  Holy 
See  to  dispose  of  all  countries  possessed  by  infidels,  erected  those  isles 
into  a  kingdom  in  the  year  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-four,  and 
conferred  it  on  Lewis  de  la  Cerda  descended  from  the  royal  family  ot 
Castile.  But  that  unfortunate  prince,  destitute  of  power  to  assert  his 
nominal  title,  having  never  visited  the  Canaries,  John  de  Bethencourt,  a 
Norman  baron,  obtained  a  grant  of  them  from  Henry  III.  of  Castile.* 
Bethencourt,  with  the  valour  and  good  fortune  which  distinguished  the 
adventurers  of  his  country,  attempted  and  effected  the  conquest ;  and 
the  possession  of  the  Canaries  remained  for  some  time  in  his  family,  as  a 
fief  held  of  the  crown  of  Castile.  Previous  to  this  expedition  of  Bethen 
court,  his  countrymen  settled  in  Normandy  are  said  to  have  visited  the 
coast  of  Africa,  and  to  have  proceeded  far  to  the  south  of  the  Canary 
Islands  [1365].  But  their  voyages  thither  seern  not  to  have  been  under 
taken  in  consequence  of  any  pumic  or  regular  plan  for  extending  navigation 
and  attempting  new  discoveries.  They  were  either  excursions  suggested 
by  that  roving  piratical  spirit  which  descended  to  the  Normans  from  their 
ancestors,  or  the  commercial  enterprises  of  private  merchants,  which  attracted 
so  little  notice  that  hardly  any  memorial  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  contem 
porary  authors.  In  a  general  survey  of  the  progress  of  discovery,  it  is 
sufficient  to  have  mentioned  this  event ;  and  leaving  it  among  those  of 
dubious  existence,  or  of  small  importance,  we  may  conclude,  that  though 
much  additional  information  concerning  the  remote  regions  of  the  East  had 
been  received  by  travellers  who  visited  them  by  land,  navigation  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  had  not  advanced  beyond  tfie  state  to  which 
it  had  attained  before  the  downfal  of  the  Roman  empire. 

At  length  the  period  arrived,  when  Providence  decreed  that  men  were 
to  pass  the  limits  within  which  they  had  been  so  long  confined,  and  open 
to  themselves  a  more  ample  field  wherein  to  display  their  talents,  their 
enterprise,  and  courage.  The  first  considerable  efforts  towards  this  were 
not  made  by  any  of  the  more  powerful  states  of  Europe,  or  by  those  \vho 
had  applied  to  navigation  with  the  greatest  assiduity  and  success.  The 
glory  of  leading  the  way  in  this  new  career  was  reserved  for  Portugal,  one 
of  the  smallest  and  least  powerful  of  the  European  kingdoms.  As  the 
attempts  of  the  Portuguese  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of  those  parts  of  the 
globe  with  which  mankind  were  then  unacquainted,  not  only  improved  and 
extended  the  art  of  navigation,  but  roused  such  a  spirit  of  curiosity  and 
enterprise  as  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  of  which  I  propose  to 
write  the  history,  it  is  necessary  to  take  a  full  view  of  the  rise,  the  progress, 
and  success  of  their  various  naval  operations.  It  was  in  this  school  that  the 
discoverer  of  America  was  trained  ;  and  unless  we  trace  the  steps  by  which 

*  Viera  y  Clavijo  Notic.  de  la  HiJtor.  de  Canaria,  i.  268,  Sec.    Glas.  Hist.  c.  1. 

VOL.  1.— 5 


34  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  L 

his  instructors  and  guides  advanced,  it  will  be  impossible  to  comprehend 
the  circumstances  which  suggested  the  idea,  or  facilitated  the  execution,  of 
his  great  design. 

Various  circumstances  prompted  the  Portuguese  to  exert  their  activity  ir* 
this  new  direction,  and  enabled  them  to  accomplish  undertakings  apparently 
superior  to  the  natural  force  of  their  monarchy.  The  kings  of  Portugal, 
having  driven  the  Moors  out  of  their  dominions,  had  acquired  power  as 
well  as  glory,  by  the  success  of  their  amis  against  the  infidels.  By  their 
victories  over  them,  they  had  extended  the  royal  authority  beyond  the  nar 
row  limits  within  which  it  was  originally  circumscribed  in  Portugal,  as  weU 
as  in  other  feudal  kingdoms.  They  had  the  command  of  the  national  force, 
could  rouse  it  to  act  with  united  vigour,  and,  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Moors,  could  employ  it  without  dread  of  interruption  from  any  domestic 
enemy.  By  the  perpetual  hostilities  carried  on  for  several  centuries  against 
the  Mahometans,  the  martial  and  adventurous  spirit  which  distinguished  all 
the  European  nations  during  the  middle  ages,  was  improved  and  heightened 
among  the  Portuguese.  A  fierce  civil  war  towards  the  close  of  the  four 
teenth  century,  occasioned  by  a  disputed  succession,  augmented  the  military 
ardour  of  the  nation,  and  formed  or  called  forth  men  of  such  active  and 
daring  genius  as  are  fit  for  bold  undertakings.  The  situation  of  the 
kingdom,  bounded  on  every  side  by  the  dominions  of  a  more  powerful 
neighbour,  did  not  afford  free  scope  to  the  activity  of  the  Portuguese  by 
land,  as  the  strength  of  their  monarchy  was  no  match  for  that  of  Castile. 
But  Portugal  was  a  maritime  state,  in  which  there  were  many  commodious 
harbours  ;  the  people  had  begun  to  make  some  progress  in  the  knowledge 
and  practice  of  navigation,  and  the  sea  was  open  to  them,  presenting  the 
only  field  of  enterprise  in  which  they  could  distinguish  themselves. 

Such  was  the  state  of  Portugal,  and  such  the  disposition  of  the  people, 
when  John  I.  surnamed  the  Bastard,  obtained  secure  possession  of  the 
crown  by  the  peace  concluded  with  Castile,  in  the  year  one  thousand  four  hun 
dred  and  eleven.  He  was  a  prince  of  great  merit,  who,  by  superior  courage 
and  abilities,  had  opened  his  way  to  a  throne  which  of  right  did  not  belong 
to  him.  He  instantly  perceived  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  preserve 
public  order,  or  domestic  tranquillity,  without  finding  some  employment  for 
the  restless  spirit  of  his  subjects.  With  this  view  he  assembled  a  numerous 
fleet  at  Lisbon,  composed  of  all  the  ships  which  he  could  fit  out  in  his  own 
kingdom,  and  of  many  hired  from  foreigners.  This  great  armament  was 
destined  to  attack  the  Moors  settled  on  the  coast  of  Barbary  [1412.]  While 
it  was  equipping,  a  few  vessels  were  appointed  to  sail  along  the  western 
shore  of  Africa  bounded  by  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  to  discover  the  unknown 
countries  situated  there.  From  this  inconsiderable  attempt,  we  may  date 
the  commencement  of  that  spirit  of  discovery  which  opened  the  barriers 
that  had  so  long  shut  out  mankind  from  the  knowledge  of  one  half  of  the 
terrestrial  globe. 

At  the  time  when  John  sent  forth  these  ships  on  this  new  voyage,  the  art 
of  navigation  was  still  very  imperfect.  Though  Africa  lay  so  near  to  Por 
tugal,  and  the  fertility  of'  the  countries,  already  known  on  that  continent 
invited  men  to  explore  it  more  fully,  the  Portuguese  had  never  ventured  to 
sail  beyond  Cape  JVbw.  That  promontory,  as  its  name  imports,,  was 
hitherto  considered  as  a  boundary  which  could  not  be  passed.  But  the  nations 
of  Europe  had  now  acquired  as  much  knowledge  as  emboldened  them  to 
disregard  the  prejudices  and  to  correct  the  errors  of  their  ancestors.  The 
long  reign  of  ignorance,  the  constant  enemy  of  every  curious  inquiry  and 
of  every  new  undertaking,  was  approaching  to  its  period.  The  light  ot 
science  began  to  dawn.  The  works  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans, 
began  to  be  read  with  admiration  and  profit.  The  sciences  cultivated  by 
the  Arabians  were  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Moors  settled  in  Spain 
and  Portugal,  and  by  the  Jews,  who  were  very  numerous  in  both  these 


AMERICA.  35 

Kingdoms.  Geometry,  astronomy,  and  geography,  the  sciences  on  which 
the  art  of  navigation  is  founded,  became  objects  of  studious  attention. 
The  memory  of  the  discoveries  made  by  the  ancients  was  revived,  and  the 
progress  of  their  navigation  and  commerce  began  to  be  traced.  Some  of 
the  causes  which  have  obstructed  the  cultivation  of  science  in  Portugal, 
during  this  century  and  the  last,  did  not  exist,  or  did  not  operate  in  the  same 
manner,  in  the  fifteenth  century ;  [9]  and  the  Portuguese  at  that  period 
seem  to  have  kept  pace  with  other  nations  on  this  side  of  the  Alps  in  lite 
rary  pursuits. 

As  the  genius  of  the  age  favoured  the  execution  of  that  new  undertaking, 
to  which  the  peculiar  state  of  the  country  invited  the  Portuguese  ;  it  proved 
successful.  The  vessels  sent  on  the  discovery  doubled  that  formidable 
Cape,  which  had  terminated  the  progress  of  former  navigators,  and  pro 
ceeded  a  hundred  and  sixty  miles  beyond  it,  to  Cape  Bojador.  As  its 
rocky  clifts.  which  stretched  a  considerable  way  into  the  Atlantic,  appeared 
nrore  dreadful  than  the  promontory  which  they  had  passed,  the  Portuguese 
commanders  durst  not  attempt  to  sail  round  it,  but  returned  to  Lisbon,  more 
satisfied  with  having  advanced  so  far,  than  ashamed  of  having  ventured  no 
further. 

Inconsiderable  as  this  voyage  was,  it  increased  the  passion  for  discovery 
which  began  to  arise  in  Portugal.  The  fortunate  issue  of  the  king's  expe 
dition  against  the  Moors  of  Barbary  added  strength  to  that  spirit  in  the 
nation,  and  pushed  it  on  to  new  undertakings.  In  order  to  render  these  suc 
cessful,  it  v/as  necessary  that  they  should  be  conducted  by  a  person  who 
possessed  abilities  capable  of  discerning  what  was  attainable,  who  enjoyed 
leisure  to  form  a  regular  system  for  prosecuting  discovery,  and  who  was 
animated  with  ardour  that  would  persevere  in  spite  of  obstacles  and  re 
pulses.  Happily  for  Portugal,  she  found  all  those  qualities  in  Henry  Duke 
of  Viseo,  the  fourth  son  of  King  John,  by  Philippa  of  Lancaster,  sister  of 
Henry  IV.  king  of  England.  That  prince,  in  his  early  youth,  having  ac 
companied  his  father  in  his  expedition  to  Barbary,  distinguished  himself 
by  many  deeds  of  valour.  To  the  martial  spirit,  which  was  the  charac 
teristic  of  every  man  of  noble  birth  at  that  time,  he  added  all  the  accom 
plishments  of  a  more  enlightened  and  polished  age.  He  cultivated  the 
arts  and  sciences,  which  were  then  unknown  and  despised  by  persons  of 
his  rank.  He  applied  with  peculiar  fondness  to  the  study  of  geography  ; 
and  by  the  instruction  of  able  masters,  as  well  as  by  the  accounts  of  tra 
vellers,  he  early  acquired  such  knowledge  of  the  habitable  globe,  as  dis 
covered  the  great  probability  of  finding  new  arid  opulent  countries,  by  sail 
ing  along  the  coast  of  Africa.  Such  an  object  was  formed  to  awaken  the 
enthusiasm  and  ardour  of  a  youthful  mind,  and  he  espoused  with  the  utmost 
zeal  the  patronage  of  a  design  which  might  prove  as  beneficial  as  it  ap 
peared  to  be  splendid  and  honourable.  In  order  that  he  might  pursue  this 


great  scheme  without  interruption,  he  retired  from  court  immediately  after 
his  return  from  Africa,  and  fixed  his  residence  at  Sagres,  near  Cape  St.  Vin- 


>y 

country,  who  aided  him  in  his  researches.  He  applied  for  information  to 
the  Aloors  of  Barbarj,  who  were  accustomed  to  travel  by  land  into  the 
interior  provinces  of  Africa  in  quest  of  ivory,  gold  dust,  and  other  rich 
commodities.  He  consulted  the  Jews  settled  in  Portugal.  By  promises, 
rewards,  and  marks  of  respect,  he  allured  into  his  service  several  persons, 
foreigners  as  well  as  Portuguese,  who  were  eminent  for  their  skill  in  navi 
gation.  In  taking  those  preparatory  steps,  the  great  abilities  of  the  prince 
were  seconded  by  his  private  virtues.  His  integrity,  his  affability,  his 
respect  for  religion,  his  zeal  for  the  honour  of  his  country,  engaged  persons 
of  all  ranks  to  applaud  his  design,  and  to  favour  the  execution  of  it.  His 


36  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  I 

schemes  were  allowed,  by  the  greater  part  of  his  countrymen,  to  proceed 
neither  from  ambition  nor  the  desire  of  wealth,  but  to  flow  irom  the  warm  be- 
nevolenoe  of  a  heart  eager  to  promote  the  happiness  of  mankind,  and  which 
justly  entitled  him  to  assume  a  motto  for  his  device,  that  described  the 
quality  by  which  he  wished  to  be  distinguished,  the  talent  of  doing  good. 

His  first  effort,  as  is  usual  at  the  commencement  of  any  new  undertaking, 
was  extremely  inconsiderable.  He  fitted  out  a  single  ship  [1418],  and 
giving  the  command  of  it  to  John  Gonzales  Zarco  and  Tristan  Vaz,  two 
gentlemen  of  his  household,  who  voluntarily  offered  to  conduct  the  enter 
prise,  he  instructed  them  to  use  their  utmost  efforts  to  double  Cape  Bojador,, 
and  thence  to  steer  towards  the  south.  They,  according  to  the  mode  oi 
navigation  which  still  prevailed,  held  their  course  along  the  shore  ;  and  by 
following  that  direction,  they  must  have  encountered  almost  insuperable 
difficulties  in  attempting  to  pass  Cape  Bojador.  But  fortune  came  in  aid 
to  their  want  of  skill,  and  prevented  the  voyage  from  being  altogether 
fruitless.  A  sudden  squall  of  wind  arose,  drove  them  out  to  sea,  and  when 
they  expected  every  moment  to  perish,  landed  them  on  an  unknown  island, 
which  from  their  happy  escape  they  named  Porto  Santo.  In  the  infancy 
of  navigation,  the  discovery  of  this  small  island  appeared  a  matter  of  such 
moment,  that  they  instantly  returned  to  Portugal  with  the  good  tidings,  and 
were  received  by  Henry  with  the  applause  and  honour  due  to  fortunate 
adventurers.  This  faint  dawn  of  success  filled  a  mind  ardent  in  the  pursuit 
of  a  favourite  object,  with  such  sanguine  hopes  as  were  sufficient  incite 
ments  to  proceed.  Next  year  [1419]  Henry  sent  out  three  ships  under  the 
same  commanders,  to  whom  he  joined  Bartholomew  Perestrellow,  in  order 
to  take  possession  of  the  island  which  they  had  discovered.  When  they 
began  to  settle  in  Porto  Santo,  they  observed  towards  the  south  a  fixed 
spot  in  the  horizon  like  a  small  black  cloud.  By  degrees,  they  were  led 
to  conjecture  that  it  might  be  land ;  and  steering  towards  it,  they  arrived 
at  a  considerable  island,  uninhabited  and  covered  with  wood,  which  on 
that  account  they  called  Madeira.*  As  it  was  Henry's  chief  object  to 
render  his  discoveries  useful  to  his  country,  he  immediately  equipped  a  fleet 
to  carry  a  colony  of  Portuguese  to  these  islands  [1420].  By  his  provident 
care,  they  were  furnished  not  only  with  the  seeds,  plants,  and  domestic 
animals  common  in  Europe ;  but,  as  he  foresaw  that  the  warmth  of  the 
climate  and  fertility  of  the  soil  would  prove  favourable  to  the  rearing  of 
other  productions,  he  procured  slips  of  the  vine  from  the  island  of  Cyprus, 
the  rich  wines  of  which  were  then  in  great  request,  and  plants  of  the  sugar 
cane  from, Sicily,  into  which  it  had  been  lately  introduced.  These  throve 
so  prosperously  in  this  new  country,  that  the  benefit  of  cultivating  them  was 
immediately  perceived,  and  the  sugar  and  wine  of  Madeira  quickly  became 
articles  of  some  consequence  in  the  commerce  of  Portugal.! 

As  soon  as  the  advantages  derived  from  this  first  settlement  to  the  west 
of  the  European  continent  began  to  be  felt,  the  spirit  of  discovery  appeared 
less  chimerical,  and  became  more  adventurous.  By  their  voyages  to  Ma 
deira,  the  Portuguese  were  gradually  accustomed  to  a  bolder  navigation, 
and,  instead  of  creeping  servilely  along  the  coast,  ventured  into  the  open 
sea.  In  consequence  of  taking  this  course,  Giliariez,  who  commanded  one 
of  prince'  Henry's  ships,  doubled  Cape  Bojador  [1433],  the  boundary  of 
the  Portuguese  navigation  upwards  of  twenty  years,  and  which  had  hitherto 
been  deemed  unpassable.  This  successful  voyage,  which  the  igno 
rance  of  the  age  placed  on  a  level  with  the  most  famous  exploits  recorded 
in  history,  opened  a  new  sphere  to  navigation,  as  it  discovered  the  vast 
continent  of  Africa,  still  washed  by  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  stretching  to 
wards  the  south.  Part  of  this  was  soon  explored;  the  Portuguese  ad- 

*  Historical  Relation  of  the  first  Discovery  of  Madeira,  translated  from  the  Portuguese  of  Fran. 
Alcafarano,  p.  15,  &c.  t  J-ud.  Guicciardini  Descritt.  de  Paesi  Bassi,  p.  180, 181. 


AMERICA.  37 

Danced  within  the  tropics,  and  in  the  space  of  a  few  years  they  discovered 
the  river  Senegal,  and  all  the  coast  extending  fiom  Cape  Blanco  to  Cape 
de  Verd. 

Hitherto  the  Portuguese  had  been  guided  in  their  discoveries,  or  en 
couraged  to  attempt  them,  by  the  light  and  information  which  they  received 
from  the  works  of  the  ancient  mathematicians  and  geographers.  But  when 
they  began  to  enter  the  torrid  zone,  the  notion  which  prevailed  among  the 
ancients,  that  the  heat  which  reigned  perpetually  there  was  so  excessive  as 
to  render  it  uninhabitable,  deterred  them,  for  some  time,  from  proceeding. 
Their  own  observations,  when  they  first  ventured  into  this  unknown  and 
formidable  region,  tended  to  confirm  the  opinion  of  antiquity  concerning  the 
violent  operation  of  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  As  far  as  the  river  Senegal, 
the  Portuguese  had  found  the  coast  of  Africa  inhabited  by  people  nearly 
resembling  the  Moors  of  Barbary.  When  they  advanced  to  the  south  of 
that  river,  the  human  form  seemed  to  put  on  a  new  appearance.  They 
beheld  men  with  skins  black  as  ebony,  with  short  curled  hair,  flat  noses,  thick 
lips,  and  all  the  peculiar  features  which  are  now  known  to  distinguish  the 
race  of  negroes.  This  surprising  alteration  they  naturally  attributed  to  the 
influence  of  heat,  and  if  they  should  advance  nearer  to  the  line,  they  began 
to  dread  that  its  effects  would  be  still  more  violent.  Those  dangers  were 
exaggerated;  and  many  other  objections  against  attempting  further  disco 
veries  were  proposed  by  some  of  the  grandees,  who,  from  ignorance,  from 
envy,  or  from  that  cold  timid  prudence  which  rejects  whatever  has  the  air 
of  novelty  or  enterprise,  had  hitherto  condemned  all  prince  Henry's  schemes. 
They  represented,  that  it  was  altogether  chimerical  to  expect  any  advantage 
from  countries  situated  in  that  region  which  the  wisdom  and  experience  of 
antiquity  had  pronounced  to  be  unfit  for  the  habitation  of  men ;  that  their 
forefathers,  satisfied  with  cultivating  the  territory  which  Providence  had 
allotted  them,  did  not  waste  the  strength  of  the  kingdom  by  fruitless  pro 
jects  in  quest  of  new  settlements  ;  that  Portugal  was  already  exhausted  by 
the  expense  of  attempts  to  discover  lands  which  either  did  not  exist,  or 
which  nature  destined  to  remain  unknown  ;  and  was  drained  of  men,  who 
might  have  been  employed  in  undertakings  attended  with  more  certain  suc 
cess,  and  productive  of  greater  benefit.  But  neither  their  appeal  to  the 
authority  of  the  ancients,  nor  their  reasonings  concerning  the  interests  of 
Portugal,  made  any  impression  upon  the  determined  philosophic  mind  of 
prince  Henry.  The  discoveries  which  he  had  already  made,  convinced  him 
that  the  ancients  had  little  more  than  a  conjectural  knowledge  of  the  torrid 
zone.  He  was  no  less  satisfied  that  the  political  arguments  of  his  opponents, 
with  respect  to  the  interest  of  Portugal,  were  malevolent  and  ill  founded. 
In  those  sentiments  he  was  strenuously  supported  by  his  brother  Pedro, 
who  governed  the  kingdom  as  guardian  of  their  nephew  Alphonsp  V.  who 
had  succeeded  to  the  throne  during  his  minority  [1438] ;  and,  instead  of 
slackening  his  efforts,  Henry  continued  to  pursue  his  discoveries  with  fresh 
ardour. 

But  in  order  to  silence  all  the  murmurs  of  opposition,  he  endeavoured  to 
obtain  the  sanction  of  the  highest  authority  in  favour  of  his  operations. 
With  this  view  he  applied  to  the  Pope,  and  represented,  in  pompous  terms, 
the  pious  and  unwearied  zeal  with  which  he  had  exerted  himself  during 
twenty  years,  in  discovering  unknown  countries,  the  wretched  inhabitants 
of  which  were  utter  strangers  to  true  religion,  wandering  in  heathen  dark 
ness,  or  led  astray  by  the  delusions  of  Mahomet.  He  besought  the  holy 
father,  to  whom,  as  the  vicar  of  Christ,  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  were 
subject,  to  confer  on  the  crown  of  Portugal  a  right  to  all  the  countries  pos 
sessed  by  infidels,  which  should  be  discovered  by  the  industry  of  its  sub 
jects,  and  subdued  by  the  force  of  its  arms.  He  entreated  him  to  enjoin 
all  Christian  powers,  under  the  highest  penalties,  not  to  molest  Portugal 
while  engaged  in  this  laudable  enterprise,  and  to  prohibit  them  from  settling 


38  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  I, 

in  any  of  the  countries  which  the  Portuguese  should  discover.  He  pro 
mised  that,  in  all  their  expeditions,  it  should  be  the  chief  object  of  his 
countrymen  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion,  to  establish 
the  authority  of  the  Holy  See,  and  to  increase  the  flock  of  the  universal 
pastor.  As  it  was  by  improving  with  dexterity  every  favourable  conjunc 
ture  for  acquiring  new  powers,  that  the  court  of  Kome  had  gradually 
extended  its  usurpations,  Eugene  IV.,  the  Pontiff  to  whom  this  application 
was  made,  eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  which  now  presented  itself.  He 
instantly  perceived  that,  by  complying  with  prince  Henry's  request,  he 
might  exercise  a  prerogative  no  less  flattering  in  its  own  nature  than  likely 
to  Drove  beneficial  in  its  consequences.  A  bull  was  accordingly  issued,  in 
which,  after  applauding  in  the  strongest  terms  the  past  efforts  bt  the  Portu 
guese,  and  exhorting  them  to  proceed  in  that  laudable  career  on  which  they 
had  entered,  he  granted  them  an  exclusive  right  to  all  the  countries  which 
they  should  discover,  from  Cape  Non  to  the  continent  of  India. 

Extravagant  as  this  donation,  comprehending  such  a  large  portion  of  the 
habitable  globe,  would  now  appear,  even  in  Catholic  countries,  no  person  in 
the  fifteenth  century  doubted  that  the  Pope  in  the  plentitude  of  his  apos 
tolic  power,  had  a  right  to  confer  it.  Prince  Henry  was  soon  sensible  of 
the  advantages  which  he  derived  from  this  transaction.  His  schemes  were 
authorized  and  sanctified  by  the  bull  approving  of  them.  The  spirit  of 
discovery  was  connected  with  zeal  for  religion,  which  in  that  age  was  a 
principle  of  such  activity  and  vigour  as  to  influence  the  conduct  ot  nations. 
All  Christian  princes  were  deterred  from  intruding  into  those  countries 
which  the  Portuguese  had  discovered,  or  from  interrupting  the  progress  of 
their  navigation  and  conquests.  [10] 

The  fame  of  the  Portuguese  voyages  soon  spread  over  Europe.  Men 
long  accustomed  to  circumscribe  the  activity  and  knowledge  of  the  human 
mind  within  the  limits  to  which  they  had  been  hitherto  confined,  were 
astonished  to  behold  the  sphere  of  navigation  so  suddenly  enlarged,  and  a 
prospect  opened  of  visiting  regions  of  the  globe  the  existence  of  which 
was  unknown  in  former  times.  The  learned  and  speculative  reasoned  and 
formed  theories  concerning  those  unexpected  discoveries.  The  vulgar 
inquired  and  wondered  ;  while  enterprising  adventurers  crowded  from  every 
part  of  Europe,  .soliciting  prince  Henry  to  employ  them  in  this  honourable 
service.  Many  Venetians  and  Genoese,  in  particular,  who  were  at  that 
time  superior  to  all  other  nations  in  the  science  of  naval  affairs,  entered 
aboard  the  Portuguese  ships,  and  acquired  a  more  perfect  and  extensive 
knowledge  of  their  profession  in  that  new  school  of  navigation.  In  emu 
lation  of  these  foreigners,  the  Portuguese  exerted  their  own  talents.  The 
nation  seconded  the  designs  of  the  prince.  Private  merchants  formed  com 
panies  [1446],  with  a  view  to  search  for  unknown  countries.  The  Cape 
de  Verd  Islands,  which  lie  off  the  promontory  of  that  name,  were  discovered 
[1449],  and  soon  after  the  isles  called  Azores.  As  the  former  of  these  are 
above  three  hundred  miles  from  the  African  coast,  and  the  latter  nine  hundred 
miles  from  any  continent,  it  is  evident  by  their  venturing  so  boldly  into  the 
open  seas,  that  the  Portuguese  had  by  this  time  improved  greatly  in  the  art 
of  navigation. 

While  the  passion  for  engaging  in  new  undertakings  was  thus  warm  and 
active,  it  received  an  unfortunate  check  by  the  death  of  prince  Henry 
[1463],  whose  superior  knowledge  had  hitherto  directed  all  the  operations 
of  the  discoverers,  and  whose  patronage  had  encouraged  and  protected 
them.  But  notwithstanding  all  the  advantages  which  they  derived  from 
these,  the  Portuguese  during  his  life  did  not  advance  in  their  utmost  progress 
towards  the  south,  within  five  degrees  of  the  equinoctial  line  ;  and  after 
their  continued  exertions  for  half  a  century  [from  1412  to  1463],  hardly 
fifteen  hundred  .miles  of  the  coast  of  Africa  were  discovered.  To  an  age 
Acquainted  with  the  efforts  of  navigation  in  its  state  of  maturity  and  in> 


AMERICA.  39 

provement,  those  essays  of  its  early  years  must  necessarily  appear  feeble 
and  unskilful.  But  inconsiderable  as  they  may  be  deemed,  they  were  suffi 
cient  to  turn  the  curiosity  of  the  European  nations  into  a  new  channel,  to 
excite  an  enterprising  spirit,  and  to  point  the  way  to  future  discoveries. 

Alphonso,  who  possessed  the  throne  of  Portugal  at  the  time  of  prince 
Henry's  death,  was  so  much  engaged  in  supporting  his  own  pretensions  to  the 
crown  of  Castile,  or  in  carrying  on  his  expeditions  against  the  Moors  in 
Barbary,  that,  the  force  of  his  kingdom  being  exerted  in  other  operations, 
he  could  not  prosecute  the  discoveries  in  Africa  with  ardour.  He  committed 
the  conduct  of  them  to  Fernando  Gomez,  a  merchant  in  Lisbon,  to  whom 
he  granted  an  exclusive  right  of  commerce  with  all  the  countries  of  which 
prince  Henry  had  taken  possession.  Under  the  restraint  and  oppression  of 
a  monopoly,  the  spirit  of  discovery  languished.  It  ceased  to  be  a  national 
object,  and  became  the  concern  of  a  private  man  more  attentive  to  his  own 
gain  than  to  the  glory  of  his  country.  Some  progress,  however,  was  made 
The  Portuguese  ventured  at  length  [1471],  to  cross  the  line,  and,  to  their 
astonishment,  found  that  region  of  the  torrid  zone,  which  was  supposed  to 
be  scorched  with  intolerable  heat,  to  be  not  only  habitable,  but  populous 
and  fertile. 

John  II.  who  succeeded  his  father  Alphonso  [1481],  possessed  talents 


capable  both  of  forming  and  executing  great  designs.  As  part  of  his  reve 
nues,  while  prince,  had  arisen  from  duties  on  the  trade  with  the  newly 
discovered  countries,  this  naturally  turned  his  attention  towards  them,  and 
satisfied  him  with  respect  to  their  utility  and  importance.  In  proportion  as 
his  knowledge  of  these  countries  extended,  the  possession  of  them  appeared 
to  be  of  greater  consequence.  While  the  Portuguese  proceeded  along  the 
coast  of  Africa,  from  Cape  Non  to  the  river  of  Senegal,  they  found  all  that 
extensive  tract  to  be  sandy,  barren,  and  thinly  inhabited  by  a  wretched 
people  professing  the  Mahometan  religion,  and  subject  to  the  vast  empire 
of  Morocco.  But  to  the  south  of  that  river,  the  power  and  religion  of  the 
Mahometans  were  unknown.  The  country  was  divided  into  small  inde 
pendent  principalities,  the  population  was  considerable,  the  soil  fertile,*  and 
the  Portuguese  soon  discovered  that  it  produced  ivory,  rich  gums,  gold,  and 
other  valuable  commodities.  By  the  acquisition  of  these,  commerce  was 
enlarged,  and  became  more  adventurous.  Men,  animated  and  rendered 
active  by  the  certain  prospect  of  gain,  pursued  discovery  with  greater 
eagerness  than  when  they  were  excited  only  by  curiosity  and  hope. 

This  spirit  derived  no  small  reinforcement  of  vigour  from  the  countenance 
of  such  a  monarch  as  John.  Declaring  himself  the  patron  of  every  attempt 
towards  discovery,  he  promoted  it  with  all  the  ardour  of  his  grand-uncle 
prince  Henry,  and  with  superior  power.  The  effects  of  this  were  imme 
diately  felt.  A  powerful  fleet  was  fitted  out  [1484],  which  after  discovering 
the  kingdoms  oi  Benin  and  Congo,  advanced  above  fifteen  hundred  miles 
beyond  the  line,  and  the  Portuguese,  for  the  first  time,  beheld  a  new  heaven, 
and  observed  the  stars  of  another  hemisphere,  John  was  not  only  solicitous 
to  discover,  but  attentive  to  secure  the  possession  of  those  countries.  He 
built  forts  on  the  coast  of  Guinea  ;  he  sent  out  colonies  to  settle  there  ;  he 
established  a  commercial  intercourse  with  the  more  powerful  kingdoms ; 
he  endeavoured  to  tender  such  as  were  feeble  or  divided  tributary  to  the 
crown  of  Portugal.  Some  of  the  petty  princes  voluntarily  acknowledged 
themselves  his  vassals.  Others  were  compelled  to  do  so  by  force  of  arms 
A  regular  and  well  digested  system  was  formed  with  respect  to  this  new 
object  of  policy,  and,  by  firmly  adhering  to  it,  the  Portuguese  power  and 
commerce  in  Africa  were  established  upon  a  solid  foundation. 

By  their  constant  intercourse  with  the  people  of  Africa,  the  Portuguese 
gradually  acquired  some  knowledge  of  those  parts  of  that  country  which 

*  Navigatio  Aloysii  Cadamusti  apud  Novum  Orbem  Grynsci,  p.  -2.  18.  Navigat.  all  Isola  di  San 
Tome  per  un  Pilotto  Ponug.  Ramusio,  i.  H5 


40  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  1. 

they  had  not  visited.  The  information  which  they  received  from  the  natives, 
added  to  what  they  had  observed  in  their  own  voyages,  began  to  opeo 
prospects  more  extensive,  and  to  suggest  the  idea  of  schemes  more  impor 
tant  than  those  which  had  hitherto  allured  and  occupied  them.  They  had 
detected  the  error  of  the  ancients  concerning  the  nature  of  the  torrid  zone. 
They  found  as  ;  they  proceeded  southwards,  that  the  continent  of  Africa, 
instead  of  extending  in  breadth,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Ptolemy,*  at 
that  time  the  oracle  and  guide  of  the  learned  in  the  science  of  geography, 
appeared  sensibly  to  contract  itself,  and  to  bend  towards  the  east.  This 
induced  them  to  give  credit  to  the  accounts  of  the  ancient  Phenician  voyages 
round  Africa,  which  had  long  been  deemed  fabulous,  and  led  them  to 
conceive  hopes  that,  by  following  the  same  route,  they  might  arrive  at  the 
East  Indies,  and  engross  that  commerce  which  has  been  the  source  of  wealth 
and  power  to  every  nation  possessed  of  it.  The  comprehensive  genius  of 
prince  Henry,  as  we  may  conjecture  from  the  words  of  the  Pope's  bull,  had 
early  formed  some  idea  of  this  navigation.  But  though  his  countrymen,  at 
that  period,  were  incapable  of  conceiving  the  extent  of  his  views  and 
schemes,  all  the  Portuguese  mathematicians  and  pilots  now  concurred  in 
representing  them  as  well  founded  and  practicable.  The  king  entered 
with  warmth  into  their  sentiments,  and  began  to  concert  measures  for  this 
arduous  and  important  voyage. 

Before  his  preparations  for  this  expedition  were  finished,  accounts  were 
transmitted  from  Africa,  that  various  nations  along  the  coast  had  mentioned 
a  mighty  kingdom  situated  on  their  continent,  at  a  great  distance  towards 
the  east,  the  king  of  which,  according  to  their  description,  professed  the 
Christian  religion.  The  Portuguese  monarch  immediately  concluded,  that 
this  must  be  the  emperor  of  Abyssinia,  to  whom  the  Europeans,  seduced  by 
a  mistake  of  Rubruquis,  Marco  Polo,  and  other  travellers  to  the  East, 
absurdly  gave  the  name  of  Prester  or  Presbyter  John  ;  and,  as  he  hoped  to 
receive  information  and  assistance  from  a  Christian  prince,  in  prosecuting  a 
scheme  that  tended  to  propagate  their  common  faith,  he  resolved  to  open, 
if  possible,  some  intercourse  with  his  court.  With  this  view,  he  made 
choice  of  Pedro  de  Covillam  and  Alphonso  de  Pay  va,  who  were  periect 
masters  of  the  Arabic  language,  and  sent  them  into  the  East  to  search  for 
the  residence  of  this  unknown  potentate,  and  to  make  him  proffers  of 
friendship.  They  had  in  charge  likewise  to  procure  whatever  intelligence 
the  nations  which  they  visited  could  supply,  with  respect  to  the  trade  of 
India,  and  the  course  of  navigation  to  that  continent.! 

While  John  made  this  new  attempt  by  land,  to  obtain  some  knowledge 
of  the  country  which  he  wished  so  ardently  to  discover,  he  did  not  neglect 
the  prosecution  of  this  great  design  by  sea.  The  conduct  of  a  voyage  for 
this  purpose,  the  most  arduous  and  important  which  the  Portuguese  had 
ever  projected,  was  committed  to  Bartholomew  Diaz  [i486],  an  officer 
whose  sagacity,  experience,  and  fortitude  rendered  him  equal  to  the  under 
taking.  He  stretched  boldly  towards  the  south,  and  proceeding  beyond  the 
utmost  limits  to  which  his  countrymen  had  hitherto  advanced,  discovered 
near  a  thousand  miles  of  new  country.  Neither  the  danger  to  which  he 
was  exoosed,  by  a  succession  of  violent  tempests  in  unknown  seas,  and  by 
the  frequent  mutinies  of  his  ,  crew,  nor  the  calamities  of  famine  which  he 
suffered  from  losing  his  storeship,  could  deter  him  from  prosecuting  his 
enterprise.  In  recompense  of  his  labours-  and  perseverance,  he  at  last 
descried  that  lofty  promontory  which  bounds  Africa  to  the  south.  But  to 
descry  it  was  all  that  he  had  in  his  power  to  accomplish.  The  violence  of 
the  winds,  the  shattered  condition  of  his  ships,  and  the  turbulent  spirit  ojf 
the  sailors,  compelled  him  to  return  after  a  voyage  of  sixteen  months,  in 
which  he  discovered  a  far  greater  extent  of  countrythan  any  former  navigator. 
Diaz  had  called  the  promontory  which  terminated  his  voyage  Cabo  Tor* 


*  Vide  Nov.  Orbis  Tabul.  Geograph.  secund.  Ptolem.  Auist.  1730.  |  Fai'ia  Y  Sousa  Pon. 

Asia  vol.  i.  p.  26.    Lafitau  Decouv.  de  Port.  i.  46. 


AMERICA.  41 

nuiitoso,  or  the  Stormy  Cape  ;  but  the  king,  his  master,  as  he  now  entertained 
no  doubt  of  having  found  the  long-desired  route  tc  India,  gave  it  a  name 
more  inviting,  and  of  better  omen,  The  Cape  of  Good  Hope* 

Those  sanguine  expectations  of  success  were  confirmed  by  the  intelli 
gence  which  John  received  over  land,  in  consequence  of  his  embassy  to 
Abyssinia.  Covillam  and  Pay  va,  in  obedience  to  their  master's  instructions, 
had  repaired  to  Grand  Cairo.  From  that  city  they  travelled  along  with  a 
caravan  of  Egyptian  merchants,  and,  embarking  on  the  Red  Sea,  arrived  at 
Aden,  in  Arabia.  There  they  separated :  Payva  sailed  directly  towards 
Abyssinia ;  Covillam  embarked  for  the  East  Indies,  and,  having  visited 
Calecut,  Goa,  and  other  cities  on  the  Malabar  coast,  returned  to  Sofala,  on 
the  east  side  of  Africa,  and  thence  to  Grand  Cairo,  which  Payva  and  he 
had  fixed  upon  as  their  place  of  rendezvous.  Unfortunately  the  former  was 
cruelly  murdered  in  Abyssinia  ;  but  Covillam  found  at  Cairo  two  Portuguese 
Jews,  whom  John,  whose  provident  sagacity  attended  to  every  circumstance 
that  could  facilitate  the  execution  of  his  schemes,  had  despatched  after 
them,  in  order  to  receive  a  detail  of  their  proceedings,  and  to  communicate 
to  them  new;  instructions.  By  one  of  these  Jews,  Covillam  transmitted  to 
Portugal  a  journal  of  his  travels  by  sea  and  land,  his  remarks  upon  the 
trade  of  India,  together  with  exact  maps  of  the  coasts  on  which  he  had 
touched  ;  and  from  what  he  himself  had  observed,  as  well  as  irom  the  infor 
mation  of  skilful  seamen  in  different  countries,  he  concluded,  that,  by  sailing 
round  Africa,  a  passage  might  be  found  to  the  East  Indies.! 

The  happy  coincidence  of  Covillam's  opinion  and  report  with  the  disco 
veries  which  Diaz  had  lately  made,  left  hardly  any  shadow  of  doubt  with 
respect  to  the  possibility  of  sailing  from  Europe  to  India.  But  the  vast 
length  of  the  voyage,  and  the  furious  storms  which  Diaz  had  encountered 
near  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  alarmed  and  intimidated  the  Portuguese  to 
such  a  degree,  although  by  long  experience  they  were  now  become  adven 
turous  and  skilful  mariners,  that  some  time  was  requisite  to  prepare  their 
minds  for  this  dangerous  and  extraordinary  voyage.  The  courage,  how 
ever,  and  authority  of  the  monarch  gradually  dispelled  the  vain  fears  of 
his  subjects,  or  made  it  necessary  to  conceal  them.  As  John  thought  himself 
now  upon  the  eve  of  accomplishing  that  great  design  which  had  been  the 
principal  object  of  his  reign,  his  earnestness  in  prosecuting  it  became  so 
vehement,  that  it  occupied  his  thoughts  by  day,  and  bereaved  him  of  sleep 
through  the  night.  While  he  was  taking  every  precaution  that  his  wisdom 
and  experience  could  suggest,  in  order  to  ensure  the  success  of  the  expedition, 
which  was  to  decide  concerning  the  fate  of  his  favourite  project,  the  fame 
of  the  vast  discoveries  which  the  Portuguese  had  already  made,  the  reports 
concerning  the  extraordinary  intelligence  which  they  had  received  from  the 
East,  and  the  prospect  of  the  voyage  which  they  now  meditated,  drew  the 
attention  of  all  the  European  nations,  and  held  them  in  suspense  and 
expectation.  By  some,  the  maritime  skill  and  navigations  of  the  Portuguese 
were  compared  with  those  of  the  Phenicians  and  Carthaginians,  and  exalted 
above  them.  Others  formed  conjectures  concerning  the  revolutions  which 
the  success  of  the  Portuguese  schemes  might  occasion  in  the  course  of  trade, 
and  the  political  state  of  Europe.  The  Venetians  began  to  be  disquieted 
with  the  apprehension  of  losing  their  Indian  commerce,  the  monopoly  of 
which  was  the  chief  source  of  their  power  as  well  as  opulence,  and  the 
Portuguese  already  enjoyed  in  fancy  the  wealth  of  the  East.  But  during 
this  interval,  which  gave  such  scope  to  the  various  workings  of  curiosity,  oi 
hope,  and  of  fear,  an  account  was  brought  to  Europe  of  an  event  no  less 
extraordinary  than  unexpected,  the  discovery  of  a  [New  World  situated  on 
the  West ;  and  the  eyes  and  admiration  of  mankind  turned  immediately 
towards  that  great  object. 

*  Faria  y  Sousa  Port.  Asia  vol.  i.  p.  20.  t  Ibid-  P-  27.    Lafitau  Decouv.  i.  p.  48. 

VOL.  I.— 6  A 


42  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 


BOOK   II. 

AMONG  the  foreigners  whom  the  fame  of  the  discoveries  made  by  the 
Portuguese  had  allured  into  their  service,  was  Christopher  Colon,  or 
Columbus,  a  subject  of  the  republic  of  Genoa.  Neither  the  time  nor  place 
of  his  birth  is  known  with  certainty  [ll]  ;  but  he  was  descended  of  an 
honourable  family,  though  reduced 'to  indigence  by  various  misfortunes. 
His  ancestors  having  betaken  themselves  for  subsistence  to  a  seafaring  life, 
Columbus  discovered  in  his  early  youth  the  peculiar  character  and  talents 
which  mark  out  a  man  for  that  profession.  His  parents,  instead  of  thwarting 
this  original  propensity  of  his  mind,  seem  to  have  encouraged  and  confirmed 
it  by  the  education  which  they  gave  him.  After  acquiring  some  knowledge 
of  the  Latin  tongue,  the  only  language  in  which  science  was  taught  at  that 
time,  he  was  instructed  in  geometry,  cosmography,  astronomy,  and  the  art 
of  drawing.  To  these  he  applied  with  such  arcfour  and  predilection,  on 
account  of  their  connexion  with  navigation,  his  favourite  object,  that  he 
advanced  with  rapid  proficiency  in  the  study  of  them.  Thus  qualified,  he 
went  to  sea  at  the  age  of  fourteen  [1461],  and  began  his  career  on  that 
element  which  conducted  him  to  so  much  glory.  His  early  voyages  were 
to  those  ports  in  the  Mediterranean  which  his  countrymen  the  Genoese 
frequented.  This  being  a  sphere  too  narrow  for  his  active  mind,  he  made 
an  excursion  to  the  northern  seas  [1467],  and  visited  the  coast  of  Iceland, 
to  which  the  English  and  other  nations  had  begun  to  resort  on  account  of 
its  fishery.  As  navigation,  in  every  direction,  was  now  become  enterprising, 
he  proceeded  beyond  that  island,  the  Thule  of  the  ancients,  and  advanced 
several  degrees  within  the  polar  circle.  Having  satisfied  his  curiosity,  by  a 
voyage  which  tended  more  to  enlarge  his  knowledge  of  naval  affairs  than 
to  improve  his  fortune,  he  entered  into  the  service  of  a  famous  sea-captain 
of  his  own  name  and  family.  This  man  commanded  a  small  squadron 
fitted  out  at  his  own  expense,  and  by  cruising  sometimes  against  the 
Mahometans,  sometimes  against  the  Venetians,  the  rivals  of  his  country  in 
trade,  had  acquired  both  wealth  and  reputation.  With  him  Columbus 
continued  for  several  years,  no  less  distinguished  for  his  courage  than  for 
his  experience  as  a  sailor.  At  length,  in  an  obstinate  engagement  off  the 
coast  of  Portugal,  with  some  Venetian  carayals  returning  richly  laden  from 
the  Low  Countries,  the  vessel  on  board  which  he  served  took  fire,  together 
with  dne  of  the  enemy's  ships  to  which  it  was  fast  grappled.  In  this 
dreadful  extremity  his  intrepidity  and  presence  of  mind  did  not  forsake  him. 
He  threw  himself  into  the  sea,  laid  hold  of  a  floating  oar ;  and  by  the  support 
of  it,  and  his  dexterity  in  swimming,  he  reached  the  shore,  though  above 
two  leagues  distant,  and  saved  a  life  reserved  for  great  undertakings.* 

As  soon  as  he  recovered  strength  for  the  journey,  he  repaired  to  Lisbon, 
where  many  of  his  countrymen  were  settled.  They  soon  conceived  such  a 
favourable  opinion  of  his  merit,  as  well  as  talents,  that  they  warmly  solicited 
him  to  remain  in  that  kingdom,  where  his  naval  skill  and  experience  could 
not  fail  of  rendering  him  conspicuous.  To  every  adventurer  animated  either 
with  curiosity  to  visit  new  countries,  or  with  ambition  to  distinguish  himseK, 
the  Portuguese  service  was  at  that  time  extremely  inviting.  Columbus 
listened  with  a  favourable  ear  to  the  advice  of  his  friends,  and,  having  gained 
the  esteem  of  a  Portuguese  lady,  whom  he  married,  fixed  his  residence  in 
Lisbon.  This  alliance,  instead  of  detaching  him  from  a  seafaring  life, 
•contributed  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  his  naval  knowledge,  and  to  excite  a 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  v. 

-     *~~  =  t     . 


AMERICA.  43 

desire  of  extending  it  still  further.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Bartholomew 
Perestrello,  one  of  the  captains  employed  by  prince  Henry  in  his  early 
navigations,  and  who,  under  his  protection,  had  discovered  and  planted  the 
islands  of  Porto  Santo  and  Madeira.  Columbus  got  possession  of  the  journals 
and  charts  of  this  experienced  navigator ;  and  from  them  he  learned  the  course 
which  the  Portuguese  had  held  in  making  their  discoveries,  as  well  as  the 
various  circumstances  which  guided  or  encouraged  them  in  their  attempts. 
The  study  of  these  soothed  and  inflamed  his  favourite  passion  ;  and  while  he 
contemplated  the  maps,  and  read  the  descriptions  of  the  new  countries 
which  Perestrello  had  seen,  his  impatience  to  visit  them  became  irresistible. 
In  order  to  indulge  it,  he  made  a  voyage  to  Madeira,  and  continued  during 
several  years  to  trade  with  that  island,  with  the  Canaries,  the  Azores,  the 
settlements  in  Guinea,  and  all  the  other  places  which  the  Portuguese  had 
discovered  on  the  continent  of  Africa.* 

By  the  experience  which  Columbus  acquired,  during  such  a  variety  of 
voyages  to  almost  every  part  of  the  globe  with  which  at  that  time  any 
intercourse  was  carried  on  by  sea,  he  was  now  become  one  of  the  most 
skilful  navigators  in  Europe.  But,  not  satisfied  with  that  praise,  his  ambition 
aimed  at  something  more.  The  successful  progress  of  the  Portuguese 
navigators  had  awakened  a  spirit  of  curiosity  and  emulation,  which  set  every 
man  of  science  upon  examining  all  the  circumstances  that  led  to  the 
discoveries  which  they  had  made,  or  that  afforded  a  prospect  of  succeeding 
in  anv  new  and  bolder  undertaking.  The  mind  of  Columbus,  naturally- 
inquisitive,  capable  of  deep  reflection,  and  turned  to  speculations  of  this 
kind,  was  so  often  employed  in  revolving  the  principles  upon  which  the 
Portuguese  had  founded  their  schemes  of  discovery,  and  the  mode  on  which 
they  had  carried  them  on,  that  he  gradually  began  to  form  an  idea  of 
improving  upon  their  plan,  and  of  accomplishing  discoveries  which  hitherto 
they  had  attempted  in  vain. 

To  find  out  a  passage  by  sea  to  the  East  Indies,  was  the  important 
object  in  view  at  that  period.  From  the  time  that  the  Portuguese  doubled 
Cape  de  Verd,  this  was  the  point  at  which  they  aimed  in  all  their  navigations, 
and  in  comparison  with  it  all  their  discoveries  in  Africa  appeared  incon 
siderable.  The  fertility  and  riches  of  India  had  been  known  for  many  ages  : 
its  spices  and  other  valuable  commodities  were  in  high  request  throughout 
Europe,  and  the  vast  wealth  of  the  Venetians,  arising  from  their  having 
engrossed  this  trade,  had  raised  the  envy  of  all  nations.  But  how  intent 
soever  the  Portuguese  were  upon  discovering  a  new  route  to  those  desirable 
regions,  they  searched  for  it  only  by  steering  towards  the  south,  in  hopes  of 
arriving  at  India  by  turning  to  the  east  after  they  had  sailed  round  the  further 
extremity  of  Africa.  This  course  was  still  unknown,  and  even  if  discovered, 
was  of  such  immense  length,  that  a  voyage  from  Europe  to  India  must  have 
appeared  at  that  period  an  undertaking  extremely  arduous,  and  of  very 
uncertain  issue.  More  than  half  a  century  had  been  employed  in  advancing 
from  Cape  Non  to  the  equator  ;  a  much  longer  space  of  time  might  elapse 
before  the  more  extensive  navigation  from  that  to  India  could  be  accomplished. 
These  reflections  upon  the  uncertainty,  the  danger,  and  tediousness  of  the 
course  which  the  Portuguese  were  pursuing,  naturally  led  Columbus  to 
consider  whether  a  shorter  and  more  direct  passage  to  the  East  Indies  might 
not  be  found  out.  After  revolving  long  and  seriously  every  circumstance 
suggested  by  his  superior  knowledge  in  the  theory  as  well  as  the  practice 
of  navigation  ;  after  comparing  attentively  the  observations  of  modern  pilots 
with  the  hints  and  conjectures  of  ancient  authors,  he  at  last  concluded,  thai 
by  sailing  directly  towards  the  west,  across  the  Atlantic  ocean,  new  countries, 
which  probably  formed  a  part  of  the  great  continent  of  India,  must  infallibly 
be  discovered. 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  iv.  v. 


44  HISTORY   OF  (BOOK  II. 

Principles  and  arguments  of  various  kinds,  and  derived  from  different 
sources,  induced  him  to  adopt  this  opinion,  seemingly  as  chimerical  as  it 
was  new  and  extraordinary.  The  spherical  figure  of  the  earth  was  known, 
and  its  magnitude  ascertained  with  some  degree  of  accuracy.  From  this 
it  was  evident,  that  the  continents  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Atrica,  as  far  as 
they  were  known  at  that  time,  formed  but  a  small  portion  of  the  terraqueous 
globe.  It  was  suitable  to  our  ideas  concerning  the  wisdom  and  beneficence 
of  the  Author  of  Nature,  to  believe  that  the  vast  space  still  unexplored  was  not 
covered  entirely  by  a  waste  unprofitable  ocean,  but  occupied  by  countries 
fit  for  the  habitation  of  man.  It  appeared  likewise  extremely  provable  that 
the  continent  on  this  side  of  the  globe  was  balanced  by  a  proportional  quantity 
of  land  in  the  other  hemisphere.  These  conclusions  concerning  the  existence 
of  another  continent,  drawn  from  the  figure  and  structure  of  the  globe,  were 
confirmed  by  the  observations  and  conjectures  of  modern  navigators.  A 
Portuguese  pilot,  having  stretched  further  to  the  west  than  was  usual  at  that 
time,  took  up  a  piece  of  timber  artificially  carved  floating  upon  the  sea ; 
and  PS  it  was  driven  towards  him  by  a  westerly  wind,  he  concluded  that  it 
came  from  some  unknown  land  situated  in  that  quarter.  Columbus's  brother- 
in-law  had  found  to  the  west  of  the  Madeira  isles,  a  piece  of  timber  fashioned 
in  the  same  manner,  and  brought  by  the  same  wind  ;  and  had  seen  likewise 
canes  of  an  enormous  size  floating  upon  the  waves,  which  resembled  those 
described  by  Ptolemy  as  productions  peculiar  to  the  East  Indies.*  After 
a  course  of  westerly  winds,  trees  torn  up  by  the  roots  were  often  driven  upon 
the  coasts  of  the  Azores ;  and  at  one  time,  the  dead  bodies  of  two  men 
with  singular  features,  resembling  neither  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  nor  of 
Africa,  were  cast  ashore  there. 

As  the  force  of  this  united  evidence,  arising  from  theoretical  principles 
and  practical  observations,  led  Columbus  to  expect  the  discovery  of  new 
countries  in  the  western  ocean,  other  reasons  induced  him  to  believe  that 
these  must  be  connected  with  the  continent  of  India.  Though  the  ancients 
had  hardly  ever  penetrated  into  India  further  than  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
yet  some  Greek  authors  had  ventured  to  describe  the  provinces  beyond  that 
river.  As  men  are  prone,  and  at  liberty,  to  magnify  what  is  remote  or 
unknown,  they  represented  them  as  regions  of  an  immense  extent.  Ctesias 
affirmed  that  India  was  as  large  as  all  the  rest  of  Asia.  Onesicritus,  whom 
Pliny  the  naturalist  follows,!  contended  that  it  was  equal  to  a  third  part 
of  the  habitable  earth.  Nearchus  asserted,  that  it  would  take  four  months 
to  march  in  a  straight  line  from  one  extremity  of  India  to  the  other.  J  The 
journal  of  Marco  Polo,  who  had  proceeded  towards  the  East  far  beyond  the 
limits  to  which  any  European  had  ever  advanced,  seemed  to  confirm  these 
exaggerated  accounts  of  the  ancients.  By  his  magnificent  descriptions  of 
the  kingdoms  of  Cathay  and  Cipango,  and  of  many  other  countries  the 
names  of  which  were  unknown  in  Europe,  India  appeared  to  be  a  region 
of  vast  extent.  From  these  accounts,  which,  however  defective,  were  the 
most  accurate  that  the  people  of  Europe  had  received  at  that  period  with 
respect  to  the  remote  parts  of  the  East,  Columbus  drew  a  just  conclusion. 
He  contended  that,  in  proportion  as  the  continent  of*  India  stretched  out 
towards  the  East,  it  must,  in  consequence  of  the  spherical  figure  of  the  earth, 
approach  near  to  the  islands  which  had  lately  been  discovered  to  the  west 
of  Africa ;  that  the  distance  from  the  one  to  the  other  was  probably  not 
very  considerable  ;  and  that  the  most  direct  as  well  as  shortest  course  to  the 
remote  regions  of  the  East  was  to  be  found  by  sailing  due  west.  [12]  This 
notion  concerning  the  vicinity  of  India  to  the  western  parts  of  our  continent, 
was  countenanced  by  some  eminent  writers  among  the  ancients,  the  sanction 
of  whose  authority  Was  necessary,  in  that  age,  to  procure  a  favourable 
reception  to  any  tenet.  Aristotle  thought  it  probable  that  the  Columns  ot 

*  Lib.  i.  c.  17.  j  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  17.  J  Stiab.  Geogr.  lib.  xv.  p.  1011. 


AMERICA.  45 

1  f  ercules,  or  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  were  not  far  removed  from  the  East  Indies, 
and  that  there  might  be  a  communication  by  sea  between  them.*  Seneca, 
tn  terms  still  more  explicit,  affirms,  that  with  a  fair  wind  one  might  sail 
from  Spain  to  India  in  a  few  days.t  The  famous  Atlantic  island  described 
by  Plato,  and  supposed  by  many  to  be  a  real  country,  beyond  which  an 
unknown  continent  was  situated,  is  represented  by  him  as  lying  at  no  great 
distance  from  Spain.  After  weighing  all  these  particulars,  Columbus,  in 
whose  character  the  modesty  and  diffidence  of  true  genius  were  united  with 
the  ardent  enthusiasm  of  a  projector,  did  not  rest  with  such  absolute 
assurance  either  upon  his  own  arguments,  or  upon  the  authority  of  the 
ancients,  as  not  to  consult  such  of  his  contemporaries  as  were  capable  of 
comprehending  the  nature  of  the  evidence  which  he  produced  in  support 
of  his  opinion.  As  early  as  the  year  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
four,  he  communicated  his  ideas  concerning  the  probability  of  discovering  new 
countries,  by  sailing  westward,  to  Paul,  a  physician  of  Florence,  eminent 
for  his  knowledge  of  cosmography,  and  who,  from  the  learning,  as  well  as 
candour  which  he  discovers  in  his  reply,  appears  to  have  been  well  entitled 
to  the  confidence  which  Columbus  placed  in  him.  He  warmly  approved 
of  the  plan,  suggested  several  facts  in  confirmation  of  it,  and  encouraged 
Columbus  to  persevere  in  an  undertaking  so  laudable,  and  which  must 
redound  so  much  to  the  honour  of  his  country  and  the  benefit  of  Europe.J; 

To  a  mind  less  capable  of  forming  and  of  executing  great  designs  than 
that  of  Columbus,  all  those  reasonings  and  observations  and  authorities 
would  have  served  only  as  the  foundation  of  some  plausible  and  fruitless 
theory,  which  might  have  furnished  matter  for  ingenious  discourse  or  fanciful 
conjecture.  But  with  his  sanguine  and  enterprising  temper  speculation  led 
directly  to  action.  Fully  satisfied  himself  with  respect  to  the  truth  of  his 
system,  he  was  impatient  to  bring  it  to  the  test  of  experiment,  and  to  set  out 
upon  a  voyage  of  discovery.  The  first  step  towards  this  was  to  secure  the 
patronage  ot  some  of  the  considerable  powers  in  Europe  capable  of  under 
taking  such  an  enterprise.  As  long  absence  had  not  extinguished  the  affection 
which  he  bore  to  his  native  country,  he  wished  that  it  should  reap  the  fruits 
of  his  labours  and  invention.  With  this  view,  he  laid  his  scheme  before  the 
senate  of  Genoa,  and,  making  his  country  the  first  tender  of  his  service, 
offered  to  sail  under  the  banners  of  the  republic  in  quest  of  the  new  regions 
which  he  expected  to  discover.  But  Columbus  had  resided  for  so  many 
years  in  foreign  parts,  that  his  countrymen  were  unacquainted  with  his 
abilities  and  character  ;  and,  though  a  maritime  people,  were  so  little  accus 
tomed  to  distant  voyages,  that  they  could  form  no  just  idea  of  the  principles 
on  which  he  founded  his  hopes  of  success.  They  inconsiderately  rejected 
his  proposal,  as  the  dream  of  a  chimerical  projector,  and  lost  for  ever  the 
opportunity  of  restoring  their  commonwealth  to  its  ancient  splendour.§ 

Having  performed  what  was  due  to  his  country,  Columbus  was  so  little 
discouraged  by  the  repulse  which  he  had  received,  that  instead  of  relin 
quishing  his  undertaking  he  pursued  it  with  fresh  ardour.  He  made  his 
next  overture  to  John  II.  king  of  Portugal,  in  whose  dominions  he  had  been 
long  established,  and  whom  he  considered  on  that  account,  as  having  the 
second  claim  to  his  service.  Here  every  circumstance  seemed  to  promise 
him  a  more  favourable  reception  :  he  applied  to  a  monarch  of  an  enterprising 
genius,  no  incompetent  judge  in  naval  affairs,  and  proud  of  patronising  every 
attempt  to  discover  new  countries.  His  subjects  were  the  most  experienced 
navigators  in  Europe,  and  the  least  apt  to  be  intimidated  either  by  the 
novelty  or  boldness  of  any  maritime  expedition.  In  Portugal,  the  professional 
skill  of  Columbus,  as  well  as  his  personal  good  qualities,  were  thoroughly 
known :  and  as  the  former  rendered  it  probable  that  his  scheme  was  not 

*  Aristot.  de  Coelo,  lib.  ii.  c.  14.  edit.  Du  Val.  Par.  1629.  vol.  i,  p.  472.  t  Scncc.  duiEst.  Natur. 
lib.  i.  in  proem.  {  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  viii.  $  Herrera  Hiet.  de  las  Indias  Occid.  dec.  i. 

Jib.  i.  c.  vii. 


46  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  it 

altogether  visionary,  the  latter  exempted  him  from  the  suspicion  of  any 
sinister  intention  in  proposing  it.  Accordingly,  the  king  listened  to  him  in 
the  most  gracious  manner,  and  referred  the  consideration  of  his  plan  to 
Diego  Ortiz,  bishop  of  Ceuta,  and  two  Jewish  physicians,  eminent  cos- 
mo^raphers,  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  consult  in  matters  of  this  kind. 
As  in  Genoa,  ignorance  had  opposed  and  disappointed  Columbus  ;  in  Lisbon, 
he  had  to  combat  with  prejudice,  an  enemy  no  less  formidable.  The  persons 
according  to  whose  decision  his  scheme  was  to  be  adopted,  or  rejected,  had 
been  the  chief  directors  of  the  Portuguese  navigations,  and  had  advised  to 
search  for  a  passage  to  India  by  steering  a  course  directly  opposite  to  that 
which  Columbus  recommended  as  shorter  and  more  certain.  They  could 
not,  therefore,  approve  of  his  proposal  without  submitting  to  the  double 
mortification  of  condemning  their  own  theory,  and  acknowledging  his 
superior  sagacity.  After  teasing  him  with  captious  questions,  and  starting 
innumerable  objections,  with  a  view  of  betraying  him  into  such  a  particular 
explanation  of  his  system  as  might  draw  from  him  a  full  discovery  of  its 
nature,  they  deferred  passing  a  final  judgment  with  respect  to  it.  In  the 
mean  time  they  conspired  to  rob  him  of  the  honour  and  advantages  which 
he  expected  from  the  success  of  his  scheme,  advising  the  king  to  despatch 
a  vessel  secretly,  in  order  to  attempt  the  proposed  discovery  by  following 
exactly  the  course  which  Columbus  seemed  to  point  out.  John,  forgetting 
on  this  occasion  the  sentiments  becoming  a  monarch,  meanly  adopted  this 
perfidious  counsel.  But  the  pilot  chosen  to  execute  Columbus's  plan  had 
neither  the  genius  nor  the  fortitude  of  its  author.  Contrary  winds  arose, 
no  sight  of  approaching  land  appeared,  his  courage  failed,  and  he  returned 
to  Lisbon,  execrating  the  project  as  equally  extravagant  and  dangerous.* 

Upon  discovering  this  dishonourable  transaction,  Columbus  felt  the 
indignation  natural  to  an  ingenuous  mind,  and  in  the  warmth  of  his  resent 
ment  determined  to  break  off  all  intercourse  with  a  nation  capable  of  such 
flagrant  treachery.  He  instantly  quitted  the  kingdom,  and  landed  in  Spain 
towards  the  close  of  the  year  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-four. 
As  he  was  now  at  liberty  to  court  the  protection  of  any  patron  whom  he 
could  engage  to  approve  of  his  plan,  and  to  carry  it  into  execution,  he 
resolved  to  propose  it  in  person  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  who  at  that  time 
governed  the  united  kingdoms  of  Castile  and  Aragon.  But  as  he  had 
already  experienced  the  uncertain  issue  of  application  to  kings  and  ministers, 
he  took  the  precaution  of  sending  into  England  his  brother  Bartholomew, 
to  whom  he  had  fully  communicated  his  ideas,  in  order  that  he  might 
negociate  at  the  same  time  with  Henry  VII.,  who  was  reputed  one  of  the 
most  sagacious  as  well  as  opulent  princes  in  Europe. 

It  was  not  without  reason  that  Columbus  entertained  doubts  and  fears 
with  respect  to  the  reception  of  his  proposals  in  the  Spanish  court.  Spain 
was  at  that  juncture  engaged  in  a  dangerous  war  with  Granada,  the  last  of 
the  Moorish  kingdoms  in  that  country.  The  wary  and  suspicious  temper 
of  Ferdinand  was  not  formed  to  relish  bold  or  uncommon  designs.  Isabella, 
though  more  generous  and  enterprising,  was  under  the  influence  of  her 
husband  in  all  her  actions.  The  Spaniards  had  hitherto  made  no  efforts  to 
extend  navigation  beyond  its  ancient  limits,  and  had  beheld  the  amazing 
progress  of  discovery  among  their  neighbours  the  Portuguese  without  one 
attempt  to  imitate  or  to  rival  them.  The  war  with  the  Infidels  afforded  an 
ample  field  to  the  national  activity  and  love  of  glory.  Under  circumstances 
so  unfavourable,  it  was  impossible  for  Columbus  to  make  rapid  progress  with 
a  nation  naturally  slow  and  dilatory  in  forming  all  its  resolutions.  His 
character,  however,  was  admirably  adapted  to  that  of  the  people  whose 
confidence  and  protection  he  solicited.  He  was  grave,  though  courteous  in 
tis  deportment ;  circumspect  in  his  words  and  actions,  irreproachable  in  his 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  xi.    Herrera,  dec.  i.  lib.  i.  c.  7. 


AMERICA.  47 

morals,  and  exemplary  in  his  attention  to  all  the  duties  and  functions  of 
religion.  By  qualities  so  respectable,  he  not  only  gained  many  private 
friends,  but  acquired  such  general  esteem,  that,  notwithstanding  the  plainness 
of  his  appearance,  suitable  to  the  mediocrity  of  his  fortune,  he  was  not 
considered  as  a  mere  adventurer,  to  whom  indigence  had  suggested  a 
visionary  project,  but  was  received  as  a  person  to  whose  propositions  serious 
attention  was  due. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  though  fully  occupied  by  their  operations  against 
the  Moors,  paid  so  much  regard  to  Columbus,  as  to  remit  the  consideration 
of  his  plan  to  the  queen's  confessor,  Ferdinand  de  Talavera.  He  consulted 
such  of  his  countrymen  as  were  supposed  best  qualified  to  decide  with  respect 
to  a  subject  of  this  kind.  But  true  science  had  hitherto  made  so  little 
progress  in  Spain,  that  the  pretended  philosophers,  selected  to  judge  in  a 
matter  of  such  moment,  did  not  comprehend  the  first  principles  upon  which 
Columbus  founded  his  conjectures  and  hopes.  Some  of  them,  from  mistaken 
notions  concerning  the  dimensions  of  the  globe,  contended  that  a  voyage  to 
those  remote  parts  of  the  east  which  Columbus  expected  to  discover,  could 
not  be  performed  in  less  than  three  years.  Others  concluded,  that  either  he 
would  find  the  ocean  to  be  of  infinite  extent,  according  to  the  opinion  of 
some  ancient  philosophers ;  or,  if  he  should  persist  in  steering  towards  the 
west  beyond  a  certain  point,  that  the  convex  figure  of  the  globe  would 
prevent  his  return,  and  that  he  must  inevitably  perish  in  the  vain  attempt  to 
open  a  communication  between  the  two  opposite  hemispheres  which  nature 
had  for  ever  disjoined.  Even  without  deigning  to  enter  into  any  particular 
discussion,  many  rejected  the  scheme  in  general,  upon  the  credit  of  a  maxim, 
under  which  the  ignorant  and  unenterprising  shelter  themselves  in  every 
age,  "  That  it  is  presumptuous  in  any  person,  to  suppose  that  he  alone 
possesses  knowledge  superior  to  all  the  rest  of  mankind  united."  They 
maintained,  that  if  there  were  really  any  such  -countries  as  Columbus  pre 
tended,  they  could  not  have  remained  so  long  concealed,  nor  would  the 
wisdom  and  sagacity  of  former  ages  have  left  the  glory  of  this  invention  to 
an  obscure  Genoese  pilot. 

It  required  all  Columbus's  patience  and  address  to  negotiate  with  men 
capable  of  advancing  such  strange  propositions.  He  had  to  contend  not 
only  with  the  obstinacy  of  ignorance,  but  with  what  is  still  more  intractable, 
the  pride  of  false  knowledge.  After  innumerable  conferences,  and  wasting 
five  years  in  fruitless  endeavours  to  inform  and  to  satisfy  judges  so  little 
capable  of  deciding  with  propriety,  Talavera  at  last  made  such  an  unfa 
vourable  report  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  as  induced  them  to  acquaint 
Columbus,  that  until  the  war  with  the  Moors  should  be  brought  to  a  period 
it  would  be  imprudent  to  engage  in  any  new  and  extensive  enterprise. 

Whatever  care  was  taken  to  soften  the  harshness  of  this  declaration, 
Columbus  considered  it  as  a  final  rejection  of  his  proposals.  But,  happily 
for  mankind,  that  superiority  of  genius,  which  is  capable  of  forming  great 
and  uncommon  designs,  is  usually  accompanied  with  an  ardent  enthusiasm, 
which  can  neither  be  cooled  by  delays  nor  damped  by  disappointment. 
Columbus  was  of  this  sanguine  temper.  Though  he  felt  deeply  the  cruel 
blow  given  to  his  hopes,  and  retired  immediately  from  a  court  where  he 
had  been  amused  so  long  with  vain  expectations,  his  confidence  in  the  just 
ness  of  his  own  system  did  not  diminish,  and  his  impatience  to  demonstrate 
the  truth  of  it  by  an  actual  experiment  became  greater  than  ever.  Having 
courted  the  protection  of  sovereign  states  without  success,  he  applied  next 
to  persons  of  inferior  rank,  and  addressed  successively  the  Dukes  of  Medina 
Sidonia  and  Medina  Celi,  who,  though  subjects,  were  possessed  of  power 
and  opulence  more  than  equal  to  the  enterprise  which  he  projected.  His 
negotiations  with  them  proved  as  fruitless  as  those  in  which  he  had  been 
hitherto  engaged ;  for  these  noblemen  were  either  as  little  convinced  by  Colum 
bus's  arguments  as  their  superiors,  or  they  were  afraid  of  alarming  the  jealousy 


48  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

and  offending'  the  pride  of  Ferdinand,  by  countenancing  a  scheme  which  he 
had  rejected.* 

Amid  the  painful  sensations  occasioned  by  such  a  succession  of  disap 
pointments,  Columbus  had  to  sustain  the  additional  distress  of  having 
received  no  accounts  of  his  brother  whom  he  had  sent  to  the  court  of  England* 
In  his  voyage  to  that  country,  Bartholomew  had  been  so  unfortunate  as  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  pirates,  who  having  stripped  him  of  every  thing 
detained  him  a  prisoner  for  several  years.  At  length  he  made  his  escape, 
and  arrived  in  London,  but  in  such  extreme  indigence,  that  he  was  obliged 
to  employ  himself,  during  a  considerable  time  in  drawing  and  selling  maps, 
in  order  to  pick  up  as  much  money  as  would  purchase  a  decent  dress  in 
which  he  might  venture  to  appear  at  court.  He  then  laid  before  the  king 
the  proposals  with  which  he  had  been  intrusted  by  his  brother;  and  not 
withstanding  Henry's  excessive  caution  and  parsimony,  which  rendered 
him  averse  to  new  or  extensive  undertakings,  he  received  Columbus's 
overtures  with  more  approbation  than  any  monarch  to  whom  they  had 
hitherto  been  presented. 

Meanwhile,  Columbus  being  unacquainted  with  his  brother's  fate,  and 
having  now  no  prospect  of  encouragement  in  Spain,  resolved  to  visit  the 
court  of  England  in  person,  in  hopes  of  meeting,  with  a  more  favourable 
reception  there.  He  had  already  made  preparations  for  this  purpose,  and 
taken  measures  for  the  disposal  of  his  children  during  his  absence,  when 
Juan  Perez,  the  guardian  of  the  monastery  of  Rabida,  near  Palos,  in  which 
they  had  been  educated,  earnestly  solicited  him  to  defer  his  journey  for  a 
short  time.  Perez  was  a  man  of  considerable  learning,  and  of  some  credit 
with  queen  Isabella,  to  whom  he  was  known  personally.  He  was  warmly 
attached  to  Columbus,  with  whose  abilities  as  well  as  integrity  he  had 
many  opportunities  of  being  acquainted.  Prompted  by  curiosity  or 
by  friendship,  he  entered  upon  an  accurate  examination  of  his  system,  in 
conjunction  with  a  physician  settled  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  was  a  con 
siderable  proficient  in  mathematical  knowledge.  This  investigation  satisfied 
them  so  thoroughly,  with  respect  to  the  solidity  of  the  principles  on  which 
Columbus  founded  his  opinion,  and  the  probability  of  success  in  executing 
the  plan  which  he  proposed,  that  Perez,  in  order  to  prevent  his  countiy 
from  being  deprived  of  the  glory  and  benefit  which  must  accrue  to  the 
patrons  of  such  a  grand  enterprise,  ventured  to  write  to  Isabella,  conjuring 
ner  to  consider  the  matter  anew  with  the  attention  which  it  merited. 

Moved  by  the  representations  of  a  person  whom  she  respected,  Isabella 
desired  Perez  to  repair  immediately  to  the  village  of  Santa  Fe,  in  which, 
on  account  of  the  siege  of  Granada,  the  court  resided  at  that  time,  that  she 
might  confer  with  him  upon  this  important  subject.  The  first  effect  of 
their  interview  was  a  gracious  invitation  of  Columbus  back  to  court,  accom 
panied  with  the  present  of  a  small  sum  to  equip  him  for  the  journey.  As 
there  was  now  a  certain  prospect  that  the  war  with  the  Moors  would 
speedily  be  brought  to  a  happy  issue  by  the  reduction  of  Granada,  which 
would  leave  the  nation  at  liberty  to  engage  in  new  undertakings  ;  this,  as 
well  as  the  mark  of  royal  favour,  with  which  Columbus  had  been  lately 
honoured,  encouraged  his  friends  to  appear  with  greater  confidence  than 
formerly  in  support  of  his  scheme.  The  chief  of  these,  Alonso  de  Quinta- 
nilla,  comptroller  of  the  finances  in  Castile,  and  Luis  de  Santangel,  receiver 
of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  in  Aragon,  whose  meritorious  zeal  in  promoting1 
this  great  design  entitles  their  names  to  an  honourable  place  in  histoiy, 
introduced  Columbus  to  many  persons  of  high  rank,  and  interested  them 
warmly  in  his  behalf. 

But  it  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  inspire  Ferdinand  with  favourable  sen 
timents.  He  still  regarded  Columbus's  project  as  extravagant  and  chime- 

*  Life  of  Colurab.  c.  13     Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  7. 


AMERICA.  49 

rical ;  and  in  order  to  render  the  efforts  of  his  partisans  ineffectual,  he  had 
the  address  to  employ,  in  this  new  negotiation  with  him,  some  of  the  persons 
who  had  formerly  pronounced  his  scheme  to  be  impracticable.  To  their 
astonishment,  Columbus  appeared  before  them  with  the  same  confident 
hopes  of  success  as  formerly,  and  insisted  upon  the  same  high  recompense. 
He  proposed  that  a  small  fleet  should  be  fitted  out,  under  his  command,  to 
attempt  the  discovery,  and  demanded  to  be  appointed  hereditary  admiral 
and  viceroy  of  all  the  seas  and  lands  which  he  should  discover,  and  to  have 
the  tenths  of  the  profits  arising  from  them  settled  irrevocably  upon  himself 
and  his  descendants.  At  the  same  time,  he  offered  to  advance  the  eighth 
part  of  the  sum  necessary  for  accomplishing  his  design,  on  condition  that  he 
should  be  entitled  to  a  proportional  share  of  benefit  from  the  adventure. 
If  the  enterprise  should  totally  miscarry,  he  made  no  stipulation  for  any  re 
ward  or  emolument  whatever.  Instead  of  viewing  this  conduct  as  the 
clearest  evidence  of  his  full  persuasion  with  respect  to  the  truth  of  his  own 
system,  or  being  struck  with  that  magnanimity  which,  after  so  many  delays 
and  repulses,  would  stoop  to  nothing  inferior  to  its  original  claims,  the  per 
sons  with  whom  Columbus  treated  began  meanly  to  calculate  the  expense 
of  the  expedition,  and  the  value  of  the  reward  which  he  demanded.  The 
expense,  moderate  as  it  was,  they  represented  to  be  too  great  for  Spain  in 
the  present  exhausted  state  of  its  finances.  They  contended  that  the  honours 
and  emoluments  claimed  by  Columbus  were  exorbitant,  even  if  he  should 
perform  the  utmost  of  what  he  had  promised ;  and  if  all  his  sanguine  hopes 
should  prove  illusive,  such  vast  concessions  to  an  adventurer  would  be 
deemed  not  only  inconsiderate,  but  ridiculous.  In  this  imposing  garb  of 
caution  and  prudence,  their  opinion  appeared  so  plausible,  and  was  so 
warmly  supported  by  Ferdinand,  that  Isabella  declined  giving  any  coun 
tenance  to  Columbus,  and  abruptly  broke  off  the  negotiation  with  him  which 
she  had  begun. 

This  was  more  mortifying  to  Columbus  than  all  the  disappointments 
which  he  had  hitherto  met  with.  The  invitation  to  court  from  Isabella,  like 
an  unexpected  ray  of  light,  had  opened  such  prospects  of  success  as  en 
couraged  him  to  hope  that  his  labours  were  at  an  end ;  but  now  darkness 
and  uncertainty  returned,  and  his  mind,  firm  as  it  was,  could  hardly  support 
the  shock  of  such  an  unforeseen  reverse.  He  withdrew  in  deep  anguish 
from  court,  with  an  intention  of  prosecuting  his  voyage  to  England  as  his 
last  resource. 

About  that  time  Granada  surrendered,  and  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  in 
triumphal  pomp,  took  possession  of  a  city  [Jan.  2,  1492],  the  reduction  of 
which  extirpated  a  foreign  power  from  the  heart  of  their  dominions,  and 
rendered  them  masters  of  all  the  provinces  extending  from  the  bottom  of 
the  Pyrenees  to  the  frontiers  of  Portugal.  As  the  flow  of  spirits  which  ac 
companies  success  elevates  the  mind,  and  renders  it  enterprising,  Quintanilla 
and  Santangel,  the  vigilant  and  discerning  patrons  of  Columbus,  took  ad 
vantage  of  this  favourable  situation,  in  order  to  make  one  effort  more  in 
behali"  of  their  friend.  They  addressed  themselves  to  Isabella  ;  and  after 
expressing  some  surprise,  that  she,  who  had  always  been  the  munificent  pa 
troness  of  generous  undertakings,  should  hesitate  so  long  to  countenance  the 
most  splendid  scheme  that  had  ever  been  proposed  to  any  monarch ;  they 
represented  to  her,  that  Columbus  was  a  man  of  a  sound  understanding  and 
virtuous  character,  well  qualified,  by  his  experience  in  navigation,  as  well 
as  his  knowledge  of  geometry,  to  form  just  ideas  with  respect  to  the  struc 
ture  of  the  globe  and  the  situation  of  its  various  regions  ;  that,  by  offering 
to  risk  his  own  life  and  fortune  in  the  execution  of  his  scheme,  he  gave  the 
most  satisfying  evidence  both  of  his  integrity  and  hope  of  success  ;  that  the 
sum  requisite  for  equipping  such  an  armament  as  he  demanded  was  incon 
siderable,  and  the  advantages  which  might  accrue  from  his  undertaking  were 
immense ;  that  he  demanded  no  recompense  for  his  invention  and  labour, 

VOL.  I. — 7 


50  HISTORY  OF  [Boox  1L 

but  what  was  to  arise  from  the  countries  which  he  should  discover ;  thai, 
as  it  was  worthy  of  her  magnanimity  to  make  this  noble  attempt  to  extend 
the  sphere  of  human  knowledge,  and  to  open  an  intercourse  with  regions 
hitherto  unknown,  so  it  would  afford  the  highest  satisfaction  to  her  piety 
and  zeal,  after  re-establishing  the  Christian  feith  in  those  provinces  of  Spain 
from  which  it  had  been  long  banished,  to  discover  a  new  world,  to  which 
she  might  communicate  the  light  and  blessings  of  divine  truth  ;  that  if  now 
she  did  not  decide  instantly,  the  opportunity  would  be  irretrievably  lost , 
that  Columbus  was  on  his  way  to  foreign  countries,  where  some  prince, 
more  fortunate  or  adventurous,  would  close  with  his  proposals,  and  Spain 
would  for  ever  bewail  that  fatal  timidity  which  had  excluded  her  from  the 
glory  and  advantages  that  she  had  once  in  her  power  to  have  enjoyed. 

These  forcible  arguments,  urged  by  persons  of  such  authority,  and  at  a 
juncture  so  well  chosen,  produced  the  desired  effect.  They  dispelled  all 
Isabella's  doubts  and  fears ;  she  ordered  Columbus  to  be  instantly  recalled, 
declared  her  resolution1  of  employing  him  on  his  own  terms,  and,  regretting 
the  low  estate  of  her  finances,  generously  offered  to  pledge  her  own  jewels 
in  order  to  raise  as  much  money  as  might  be  needed  in  making  preparations 
for  the  voyage.  Santangel,  in  a  transport  of  gratitude,  kissed  the  Queen's 
hand,  and,  in  order  to  save  her  from  having  recourse  to  such  a  mortifying 
expedient  for  procuring  money,  engaged  to  advance  immediately  the  sum 
that  was  requisite.* 

Columbus  had  proceeded  some  leagues  on  his  journey,  when  the  messenger 
from  Isabella  overtook  him.  Upon  receiving  an  account  of  the  unexpected 
resolution  in  his  favour,  he  returned  directly  to  Santa  Fe,  though  some 

•       t  /•     iMY"  j _x'll    Z v-1  _  J    -A-.-^1i*    ,,-!*!.    "L^     1  «_„  ID..*.     AU  — JI_1 


thoughts  and  wishes,  soon  effaced  the  remembrance  of  all  that  he  had  sul- 
fered  in  Spain  during  ei^ht  tedious  years  of  solicitation  and  suspense.  The 
negotiation  now  went  forward  with  facility  and  despatch,  and  a  treaty  or 
capitulation  with  Columbus  was  signed  on  the  seventeenth  of  April,  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-two.  The  chief  articles  of  it  were  : — 

1.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  as  sovereigns  of  the  oce?n,  constituted  Columbus 
their  high  admiral  in  all  the  seas,  islands,  and  continents,  which  should  be 
discovered  by  his  industry ;  and  stipulated  that  he  and  his  heirs  for  ever 
should  enjoy  this  office,  with  the  same  powers  and  prerogatives  which 
belonged  to  the  high  admiral  of  Castile  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction 

2.  They  appointed  Columbus  their  viceroy  ip  all  the  islands  and  continents 
which  he  should  discover ;  but  if,  for  the  better  administration  of  affairs,  it 
should  hereafter  be  necessary  to  establish  a  separate  governor  in  any  of 
those  countries,  they  authorized  Columbus  to  name  three  persons  of  whom 
they  would  choose  one  for  that  office  ;  and  the  dignity  of  viceroy,  with  all 
its  immunities,  was  likewise  to  be  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Columbus. 

3.  They  granted  to  Columbus  and  his  heirs  for  ever,  the  tenth  of  the  free 
profits  accruing  from  the  productions  and  commerce  of  the  countries  which 
he  should  discover.    4.  They  declared,  that  if  any  controversy  or  lawsuit 
shall  arise  with  respect  to  any  mercantile  transaction  in  the  countries  which 
should  be  discovered,  it  should  be  determined  by  the  sole  authority  of 
Columbus,  or  of  judges  to  be   appointed  by  him.     5.  They  permitted 
Columbus  to  advance  one-eighth  part  of  what  should  be  expended  in 
preparing  for  the  expedition,  and  in  carrying  on  commerce  with  the  countries 
which  he  should  discover,  and  entitled  him,  in  return,  to  an  eighth  part  of 
the  profit.! 

Though  the  name  of  Ferdinand  appears  conjoined  with  that  of  Isabella 
in  this  transaction,  his  distrust  of  Columbus  was  still  so  violent  that  he 

'!•*'•>"•!    &K:*   '  4.  .     ...:•••,        f    -I     ''    '    ('• 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  8.          T  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  15.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  9. 


AMERICA.  51 

refused  to  take  any  part  in  the  enterprise  as  king  of  Aragon.  As  the  whole 
expense  of  the  expedition  was  to  be  defrayed  by  the  crown  of  Castile, 
Isabella  reserved  for  her  subjects  of  that  kingdom  an  exclusive  right  to  all 
the  benefits  which  might  redound  from  its  success. 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  was  signed,  Isabella,  by  her  attention  and  activity 
in  forwarding  the  preparations  for  the  voyage,  endeavoured  to  make  some 
reparation  to  Columbus  for  the  time  which  he  had  lost  in  fruitless  solicitation. 
By  the  twelfth  of  May,  all  that  depended  upon  her  was  adjusted ;  and 
Columbus  waited  on  the  king  and  queen  in  order  to  receive  their  final 
instructions.  Every  thing  respecting  the  destination  and  conduct  of  the 
voyage  they  committed  implicitly  to  the  disposal  of  his  prudence.  But 
that  they  might  avoid  giving  any  just  cause  of  offence  to  the  king  of  Portugal, 
they  strictly  enjoined  him  not  to  approach  near  to  the  Portuguese  settlements 
on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  or  in  any  of  the  other  countries  to  which  the 
Portuguese  claimed  right  as  discoverers.  Isabella  had  ordered  the  ships 
of  which  Columbus  was  to  take  the  command  to  be  fitted  out  in  the  port  of 
Palos,a  small  maritime  town  in  the  province  of  Andalusia.  As  the  guardian 
Juan  Perez,  to  whom  Columbus  had  already  been  so  much  indebted; 
resided  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  place,  he,  by  the  influence  of  that 
good  ecclesiastic,  as  well  as  by  his  own  connection  with  the  inhabitants,  not 
only  raised  among  them  what  he  wanted  of  the  sum  that  he  was  bound  by 
treaty  to  advance,  but  engaged  several  of  them  to  accompany  him  in  the 
voyage.  The  chief  of  these  associates  were  three  brothers  of  the  name 
of  Pinzon,  of  considerable  wealth,  arid  of  great  experience  in  naval  affairs, 
who  were  willing  to  hazard  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  expedition. 

But  after  all  the  efforts  of  Isabella  and  Columbus,  the  armament  was  not 
suitable  either  to  the  dignity  of  the  nation  by  which  it  was  equipped,  or 
to  the  importance  of  the  service  for  which  it  was  destined.  It  consisted  of 
three  vessels.  The  largest,  a  ship  of  no  considerable  burden,  was  com 
manded  by  Columbus,  as  admiral,  who  gave  it  the  name  of  Santa  Maria, 
out  of  respect  for  the  Blessed  Virgin,  whom  he  honoured  with  singular 
devotion.  Of  the  second,  called  the  Pinta,  Marton  Pinzon  was  captain,  and 
his  brother  Francis  pilot.  The  third,  named  the  Nigna,  was  under  the 
command  of  Vincent  Yanez  Pinzon.  These  two  were  light  vessels  hardly 
superior  in  burden  or  force  to  large  boats.  The  squadron,  if  it  merits  that 
name,  was  victualled  for  twelve  months,  and  had  on  board  ninety  men, 
mostly  sailors,  together  with  a  few  adventurers  who  followed  the  fortune  of 
Columbus,  and  some  gentlemen  of  Isabella's  court,  whom  she  appointed  to 
accompany  him.  Though  th£  expense  of  the  undertaking  was  one  of  the 
circumstances  which  chiefly  alarmed  the  court  of  Spain,  and  retarded  so 
long  the  negotiation  with  Columbus,  the  sum  employed  in  fitting  out  this 
squadron  did  not  exceed  four  thousand  pounds. 

As  the  art  of  ship-building  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  extremely  rude, 
and  the  bulk  of  vessels  was  accommodated  to  the  short  and  easy  voyages 
along  the  coast  which  they  were  accustomed  to  perform,  it  is  a  proof  of 
the  courage,  as  well  as  enterprising  genius  of  Columbus,  that  he  ventured, 
with  a  fleet  so  unfit  for  a  distant  navigation,  to  explore  unknown  seas,  where 
he  had  no  chart  to  guide  him,  no  knowledge  of  the  tides  and  currents,  and 
no  experience  of  the  dangers  to  which  he  might  be  exposed.  His  eagerness 
to  accomplish  the  great  design  which  had  so  long  engrossed  his  thoughts, 
made  him  overlook  or  disregard  every  circumstance  that  would  have 
intimidated  a  mind  less  adventurous.  He  pushed  forward  the  preparations 
with  such  ardour,  and  was  seconded  so  effectually  by;  the  persons  to  whom 
Isabella  committed  the  superintendence  of  this  business,  that  every  thing 
was  soon  in  readiness  for  the  voyage.  But  as  Columbus  was  deeply 
impressed  with  sentiments  of  religion,  he  would  not  set  out  upon  an  expe 
dition  so  arduous,  and  of  which  one  great  object  was  to  extend  the  know 
ledge  of  the  Christian  faith,  without  imploring  publicly  the  guidance  and 


tit,  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  IL 

protection  of  Heaven.  With  this  view,  he,  together  with  all  the  persona 
under  his  command,  marched  in  solemn  procession  to  the  monastery  of 
Rabida.  After  confessing  their  sins,  and  obtaining  absolution,  they  received 
the  holy  sacrament  from  the  hands  of  the  guardian,  who  joined  his 
prayers  to  theirs  for  the  success  of  an  enterprise  which  he  had  so  zealously 
patronized. 

Next  morning,  being  Friday  the  third  day  of  August,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-two,  Columbus  set  sab\  a  little  before 
sunrise,  in  presence  of  a  vast  crowd  of  spectators,  who  sent  up  their  sup 
plications  to  Heaven  for  the  prosperous  issue  of  the  voyage,  which  they 
wished  rather  than  expected.  Columbus  steered  directly  for  the  Canaiy 
Islands,  and  arrived  there  [Aug.  13]  without  any  occurrence  that  would 
have  deserved  notice  on  any  other  occasion.  I3ut,  in  a  voyage  of  such 
expectation  and  importance,  every  circumstance  was  the  object  of  attention. 
The  rudder  of  the  Pinta  broke  loose  the  day  after  she  left  the  harbour  ;  and 
that  accident  alarmed  the  crew,  no  less  superstitious  than  unskilful,  as  a 
certain  omen  of  the  unfortunate  destiny  of  the  expedition.  Even  in  the 
short  run  to  the  Canaries,  the  ships  were  found  to  be  so  crazy  and  ill 
appointed,  as  to  be  very  improper  for  a  navigation  which  was  expected  tp 
be  both  long  and  dangerous.  Columbus  refitted  them,  however,  to  the 
best  of  his  power ;  and  having  supplied  himself  with  fresh  provisions,  he 
took  his  departure  from  Gomera,  one  of  the  most  westerly  of  the  Canary 
Islands,  on  the  sixth  day  of  September. 

Here  the  voyage  of  discovery  may  properly  be  said  to  begin ;  for 
Columbus,  holding  his  course  due  west,  left  immediately  the  usual  track  of 
navigation,  and  stretched  into  unfrequented  and  unknown  seas.  The  first 
day,  as  it  was  very  calm,  he  made  but  little  way  ;  but  on  the  second  he 
lost  sight  of  the  Canaries ;  and  many  of  the  sailors,  dejected  already,  and 
dismayed,  when  they  contemplated  the  boldness  of  the  undertaking,  began 
to  beat  their  breasts,  and  to  shed  tears,  as  if  they  were  never  more  to 
behold  land.  Columbus  comforted  them  with  assurances  of  success,  and 
the  prospect  of  vast  wealth  in  those  opulent  regions  whither  he  was  con 
ducting  them.  This  early  discovery  of  the  spirit  of  his  followers  taught 
Columbus  that  he  must  prepare  to  struggle  not  only  with  the  unavoidable 
difficulties  which  might  be  expected  from  the  nature  of  his  undertaking, 
but  with  such  as  were  likely  to  arise  from  the  ignorance  and  timidity  of 
the  people  under  his  command ;  and  he  perceived  that  the  art  of 
governing  the  minds  of  men  would  be  no  less  requisite  for  accomplishing 
the  discoveries  which  he  had  in  view,  than  naval  skill  and  undaunted 
courage.  Happily  for  himself,  and  for  the  country  by  which  he  was 
employed,  he  joined  to  the  ardent  temper  and  inventive  genius  of  a  pro 
jector,  virtues  of  another  species,  which  are  rarely  united  with  them.  He 
possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  mankind,  an  insinuating  address,  a 
patient  perseverance  in  executing  any  plan,  the  perfect  government  of  his 
own  passions,  and  the  talent  of  acquiring  an  ascendant  over  those  of  other 
men.  All  these  qualities,  which  formed  him  for  command,  were  accom 
panied  with  that  superior  knowledge  of  his  profession,  which  begets 
confidence  in  times  of  difficulty  and  danger.  To  unskilful  Spanish 
sailors,  accustomed  only  to  coasting  voyages  in  the  Mediterranean,  the 
maritime  science  of  Columbus,  the  fruit  of  thirty  years'  experience,  im 
proved  by  an  acquaintance  with  all  the  inventions  of  the  Portuguese, 
appeared  immense.  As  soon  as  they  put  to  sea,  he  regulated  every  thing 
by  his  sole  authority ;  he  superintended  the  execution  of  every  order  ;  ana 
allowing  himself  only  a  few  hours  for  sleep,  he  was  at  all  other  times 
upon  deck.  As  his  course  lay  through  seas  which  had  not  formerly  been 
visited,  the  sounding  line,  or  instruments  for  observation,  were  continually 
in  his  hands.  After  the  example  of  the  Portuguese  discoverers,  he  attended 
to  the  motion  of  tides  and  currents,  watched  the  flight  of  birds,  the 


A  M  E  R  I C  A.  53 

snce  of  fishes,  of  seaweeds,  and  of  every  thing  that  floated  on  the  waves,  and 
entered  every  occurrence,  with  a  minute  exactness,  in  the  journal  which  he 
kept.  As  the  length  of  the  voyage  could  not  fail  of  alarming  sailors  habitu 
ated  only  to  short  excursions,  Columbus  endeavoured  to  conceal  from  them 
the  real  progress  which  they  made.  With  this  view,  though  they  run 
eighteen  leagues  on  the  second  day  after  they  left  Gomera,  he  gave  out  that 
they  had  advanced  only  fifteen,  and  he  uniformly  employed  the  same  artifice 
of  reckoning  short  during  the  whole  voyage.  By  the  fourteenth  of  Septem 
ber  the  fleet  was  above  two  hundred  leagues  to  the  west  of  the  Canary  Isles, 
at  a  greater  distance  from  land  than  any  Spaniard  had  been  before  that  time. 
There  they  were  struck  with  an  appearance  no  less  astonishing  than  new 
They  observed  that  the  magnetic  needle,  in  their  compasses,  did  not  point 
exactly  to  the  polar  star,  but  varied  towards  the  west ;  and  as  they  proceeded, 
this  variation  increased.  This  appearance,  which  is  now  familiar,  though 
it  still  remains  one  of  the  mysteries  of  nature,  into  the  cause  of  which  the 
sagacity  of  man  hath  not  been  able  to  penetrate,  filled  the  companions  of 
Columbus  with  terror.  They  were  now  in  a  boundless  and  unknown  ocean, 
far  from  the  usual  course  of  navigation  ;  nature  itself  seemed  to  be  altered, 
and  the  only  guide  which  they  had  left  was  about  to  fail  them.  Columbus, 
with  no  less  quickness  than  ingenuity,  invented  a  reason  for  this  appearance, 
which,  though  it  did  not  satisfy  himself,  seemed  so  plausible  to  them,  that 
it  dispelled  their  fears,  or  silenced  their  murmurs. 

He  still  continued  to  steer  due  west,  nearly  in  the  same  latitude  with  the 
Canary  Islands.  In  this  course  he  came  within  the  sphere  of  the  trade 
wind,  which  blows  invariably  from  east  to  west,  between  the  tropics  and  a 
few  degrees  beyond  them.  He  advanced  before  this  steady  gale  with  such 
uniform  rapidity  that  it  was  seldom  necessary  to  shift  a  sail.  When  about 
four  hundred  leagues  to  the  west  of  the  Canaries,  he  found  the  sea  so 
covered  with  weeds,  that  it  resembled  a  meadow  of  vast  extent,  and  in 
some  places  they  were  so  thick  as  to  retard  the  motion  of  the  vessels.  This 
strange  appearance  occasioned  new  alarm  and  disquiet.  The  sailors  ima 
gined  that  they  were  now  arrived  at  the  utmost  boundary  of  the  navigable 
ocean ;  that  these  floating  weeds  would  obstruct  their  further  progress, 
and  concealed  dangerous  rocks,  or  some  large  track  of  land,  which  had 
sunk,  they  knew  not  how,  in  that  place.  Columbus  endeavoured  to  per 
suade  them,  that  what  had  alarmed  ought  rather  to  have  encouraged  them, 
and  was  to  be  considered  as  a  sign  of  approaching  land.  At  the  same  time, 
a  brisk  gale  arose,  and  carried  them  forward.  Several  birds  were  seen 
hovering  about  the  ship  [13],  and  directing  their  flight  towards  the  west. 
The  desponding  crew  resumed  some  degree  of  spirit,  and  began  to  entertain 
fresh  hopes. 

Upon  the  first  of  October  they  were,  according  to  the  admiral's  reckon 
ing,  seven  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  to  the  west  of  the  Canaries  ;  but 
lest  his  men  should  be  intimidated  by  the  prodigious  length  of  the  naviga 
tion,  he  gave  out  that  they  had  proceeded  only  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  leagues,  and  fortunately,  for  Columbus,  neither  his  own  pilot,  nor  those 
of  the  other  ships,  had  skill  sufficient  to  correct  this  error,  and  discover  the 
deceit.  They  had  now  been  above  three  weeks  at  sea ;  they  had  pro 
ceeded  far  beyond  what  former  navigators  had  attempted  or  deemed  possi 
ble  ;  all  their  prognostics  of  discovery,  drawn  from  the  flight  of  birds  and 
other  circumstances,  had  proved  fallacious  ;  the  appearances  of  land,  with 
which  their  own  credulity  or  the  artifice  of  their  commander  had  from  time  to 
time  flattered  and  amused  them,  had  been  altogether  illusive,  and  their  prospect 
of  success  seemed  now  to  be  as  distant  as  ever.  These  reflections  occurred 
often  to  men  who  had  no  other  object  or  occupation  than  to  reason  and 
discourse  concerning  the  intention  and  circumstances  of  their  expedition 
They  made  impression  at  first  upon  the  ignorant  and  timid,  and,  extending 
by  degrees  to  such  as  were  better  informed  or  more  resolute,  the  contagion 


54  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  II, 

spread  at  length  from  ship  to  ship.  From  secret  whispers  or  murmuring*, 
they  proceeded  to  open  cabals  and  public  complaints.  They  taxed  their 
sovereign  with  inconsiderate  credulity,  in  paying  such  regard  to  the  vain 
promises  and  rash  conjectures  of  an  indigent  foreigner,  as  to  hazard  the 
lives  of  so  many  of  her  own  subjects  in  prosecuting  a  chimerical  scheme 
They  affirmed  that  they  had  fully  performed  their  duty,  by  venturing  so  far 
in  an  unknown  and  hopeless  course,  and  could  incur  no  blame  for  refusing 
to  follow  any  longer  a  desperate  adventurer  to  certain  destruction.  They 
contended,  that  it  was  necessary  to  think  of  returning  to  Spain,  while 
their  crazy  vessels  were  still  in  a  condition  to  keep  the  sea,  but  expressed 
their  fears  that  ,  the  attempt  would  prove  vain,  as  the  wind,  which  had 
hitherto  been  so  favourable  to  their  course,  must  render  it  impossible  to  sail 
in  an  opposite  direction.  All  agreed  that  Columbus  should  be  compelled  by 
force  to  adopt  a  measure  on  which  their  common  safety  depended.  Some 
of  the  more  audacious  proposed,  as  the  most  expeditious  and  certain  method 
of  getting  rid  at  once  of  his  remonstrances,  to  throw  him  into  the  sea,  being 
persuaded  that,  upon  their  return  to  Spain,  the  death  of  an  unsuccessful 
projector  would  excite  little  concern,  and  be  inquired  into  with  no  curiosity. 

Columbus  was  fully  sensible  of  his  perilous  situation.  He  had  observed, 
withgreat  uneasiness,  the  fatal  operation  of  ignorance  and  of  fear  in  producing 
disaffection  among  his  crew,  and  saw  that  it  was  now  ready  to  burst  out 
into  open  mutiny.  He  retained,  however,  perfect  presence  of  mind.  He 
affected  to  seem  ignorant  of  their  machinations.  Notwithstanding  the 
agitation  and  solicitude  of  his  own  mind,  he  appeared  with  a  cheerful 
countenance,  like  a  man  satisfied  with  the  progress  he  had  made,  and 
confident  of  success.  Sometimes  he  employed  all  the  arts  of  insinuation 
to  soothe  his  men.  Sometimes  he  endeavoured  to  work  upon  their  ambition 
or  avarice,  by  magnificent  descriptions  of  the  fame  and  wealth  which  they 
were  about  to  acquire.  On  other  occasions  he  assumed  a  tone  of  authority, 
and  threatened  them  with  vengeance  from  their  sovereign,  if,  by  their 
dastardly  behaviour,  they  should  defeat  this  noble  effort  to  promote  the 
glory  of  God,  and  to  exalt  the  Spanish  name  above  that  of  every  other 
nation.  Even  with  seditious  sailors,  the  words  of  a  man  whom  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  reverence,  were  weighty  and  persuasive,  and  not  only 
restrained  them  from  those  violent  excesses  which  they  meditated,  but 
prevailed  with  them  to  accompany  their  admiral  for  some  time  longer. 

As  they  proceeded,  the  indications  of  approaching  land  seemed  to  be 
more  certain,  and  excited  hope  in  proportion.  The  birds  begjan  to  appear 
in  flocks,  making  towards  the  southwest.  Columbus,  in  imitation  of  the 
Portuguese  navigators,  who  had  been  guided,  in  several  of  their  discoveries, 
by  the  motion  of  birds,  altered  his  course  from  due  west  towards  that  quarter 
whither  they  pointed  their  flight.  But,  after  holding  on  for  several  days  in 
this  new  direction,  without  any  better  success  than  formerly,  having  seen 
no  object,  during  thirty  days,  but  the  sea  and  the  sky,  the  hopes  of  his 
companions  subsided  faster'  than  they  had  risen ;  their  fears  revived  with 
additional  force  ;  impatience,  rage,  and  despair,  appeared  in  every  counte 
nance.  All  sense  of  subordination  was  lost :  the  officers,  who  had  hitherto 
concurred  with  Columbus  in  opinion,  and  supported  his  authority,  now 
took  part  with  the  private  men  ;  they  assembled  tumultuously  on  the  deck, 
expostulated  with  their  commander,  mingled  threats  with  their  expostulations, 
and  required  him  instantly  to  tack  about  and  to  return  to  Europe.  Columbus 
perceived  that  it  would  be  of  no  avail  to  have  recourse  to  any  of  his  former 
arts,  which,  having  been  tried  so  often,  had  lost  their  effect ;  and  that  it  was 
impossible  to  rekindle  any  zeal  for  the  success  of  the  expedition  among 
men  in  whose  breasts  fear  had  extinguished  every  generous  sentiment.  He 
saw  that  it  was  no  less  vain  to  think  of  employing  either  gentle  or  severe 
measures  to  quell  a  mutiny  so  general  and  so  violent.  It  was  ^necessary,  on 
all  these  accounts,  to  soothe  passions  which  he  could  no  longer  command, 


AMERICA.  55 

fcttd.  to  give  way  to  a  torrent  too  impetuous  to  be  checked.  He  promised 
solemnly  to  his  men  that  he  would  comply  with  their  request,  provided  they 
would  accompany  him,  and  obey  his  command  for  three  days  longer,  and 
if,  during  that  time,  land  were  not  discovered,  he  would  then  abandon  the 
enterprise,  and  direct  his  course  towards  Spain.* 

Enraged  as  the  sailors  were,  and  impatient  to  turn  their  faces  again  towards 
their  native  country,  this  proposition  did  not  appear  to  them  unreasonable. 
Nor  did  Columbus  hazard  much  in  confining  himself  to  a  term  so  short. 
The  presages  of  discovering  land  were  now  so  numerous  and  promising, 
that  he  deemed  them  infallible.  For  some  days  the  sounding  line  reached 
the  bottom,  and  the  soil  which  it  brought  up  indicated  land  to  be  at  no 
great  distance.  The  flocks  of  birds  increased,  and  were  composed  not  only 
of  seafowl,  but  of  such  land  birds  as  could  not  be  supposed  to  fly  far  from 
the  shore.  The  crew  of  the  Pinta  observed  a  cane  floating,  which  seemed  to 
have  been  newly  cut,  and  likewise  a  piece  of  timber  artificially  carved.  The 
sailors  aboard  the  Nigna  took  up  the  branch  of  a  tree  with  red  berries, 
perfectly  fresh.  The  clouds  around  the  setting  sun  assumed  a  new  appear 
ance  ;  the  air  was  more  mild  and  warm,  and  during  the  night  the  wind 
became  unequal  and  variable.  From  all  these  symptoms,  Columbus  was 
so  confident  of  being  near  land,  that  on  the  evening  of  the  eleventh  of 
October,  after  public  prayers  for  success,  he  ordered  the  sails  to  be  furled, 
and  the  ships  to  lie  to,  keeping  strict  watch,  lest  they  should  be  driven  ashore 
in  the  night.  During  this  interval  of  suspense  and  expectation,  no  man  shut 
his  eyes,  all  kept  upon  deck,  gazing  intently  towards  that  quarter  where 
they  expected  to  discover  the  land,  which  had  been  so  long  the  object  of 
their  wishes. 

About  two  hours  before  midnight,  Columbus,  standing  on  the  forecastle, 
observed  a  light  at  a  distance,  and  privately  pointed  it  out  to  Pedro  Guttierez, 
a  page  of  the  Queen's  wardrobe.  Guttierez  perceived  it,  and  calling  to 
Salcedo,  comptroller  of  the  fleet,  all  three  saw  it  in  motion,  as  if  it  were 
carried  from  place  to  place.  A  little  after  midnight  the  joyful  sound  of 
land !  land !  was  heard  from  the  Pinta,  which  kept  always  a  head  of  the 
other  ships.  But,  having  been  so  often  deceived  by  fallacious  appearances, 
every  man  was  now  become  slow  of  belief,  and  waited  in  all  the  anguish  of 
uncertainty  and  impatience  for  the  return  of  day.  As  soon  as  morning  dawned 
[Oct.  12],  all  doubts  and  fears  were  dispelled.  From  every  ship  an  island  was 
seen  about  two  leagues  to  the  north,  whose  flat  and  verdant  fields,  well  stored 
with  wood,  and  watered  with  many  rivulets,  presented  the  aspect  of  a 
delightful  country.  The  crew  of  the  Pinta  instantly  began  the  Te  Deum, 
as  a^hymn  of  thanksgiving  to  God,  and  were  joined  by  those  of  the  other 
ships,  with  tears  of  joy  and  transports  of  congratulation.  This  office  of 
gratitude  to  Heaven  was  followed  by  an  act  of  justice  to  their  commander. 
They  threw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  Columbus,  with  feelings  of  self- 
condemnation  mingled  with  reverence.  They  implored  him  to  pardon 
their  ignorance,  incredulity,  and  insolence,  which  had  created  him  so  much 
unnecessary  disquiet,  and  had  so  often  obstructed  the  prosecution  of  his 
well-concerted  plan  j  and  passing,  in  the  warmth  of  their  admiration,  from 
one  extreme  to  another,  they  now  pronounced  the  man,  whom  they  had  so 
lately  reviled  and  threatened,  to  be  a  person  inspired  by  Heaven  with 
sagacity  and  fortitude  more  than  human,  in  order  to  accomplish  a  design 
so  far  beyond  the  ideas  and  conception  of  all  former  ages. 

As  soon  as  the  sun  arose,  all  their  boats  were  manned  and  armed.  They 
rowed  towards  the  island  with  their  colours  displayed,  with  warlike  music, 
and  other  martial  pomp.  As  they  approached  the  coast,  they  saw  it  covered 
with  a  multitude  of  people,  whom  the  novelty  of  the  spectacle  had  drawn 
together,  whose  attitudes  and  gestures  expressed  wonder  and  astonishment 

*  Oviedo,  Hist.  ap.  Ramus,  vol.  iii.  p.  81.    E. 


56  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II 

at  the  strange  objects  which  presented  themselves  to  their  view.  Columbns 
was  the  first  European  who  set  foot  in  the  New  World  which  he  had  dis 
covered.  He  landed  in  a  rich  dress,  and  with  a  naked  sword  in  his  hand. 
His  men  followed,  and  kneeling  down,  they  all  kissed  the  ground  which 
they  had  so  long  desired  to  see.  They  next  erected  a  crucifix,  and 
prostrating  themselves  before  it,  .returned  thanks  to  God  for  conducting 
their  voyage  to  such  a  happy  issue:  They  then  took  solemn  possession  of 
the  country,  for  the  crown  of  Castile  and  Leon,  with  all  the  formalities 
which  the  Portuguese  were  accustomed  to  observe  in  acts  of  this  kind,  in 
their  new  discoveries.* 

The  Spaniards,  while  thus  employed,  were  surrounded  by  many  of  the 
natives,  who  gazed  in  silent  admiration  upon  actions  which  they  could  not 
comprehend,  and  of  which  they  did  not  foresee  the  consequences.  The 
dress  of  the  Spaniards,  the  whiteness  of  their  skins,  their  beards,  their 
arms,  appeared  strange  and  surprising.  The  vast  machines  in  which  they 
had  traversed  the  ocean,  that  seemed  to  move  upon  the  waters  with  wings, 
and  uttered  a  dreadful  sound  resembling  thunder,  accompanied  with  lightning 
and  smoke,  struck  them  with  such  terror,  that  they  began  to  respect  their 
new  guests  as  a  superior  order  of  beings,  and  concluded  that  they  were 
children  of  the  Sun,  who  had  descended  to  visit  the  earth. 

The  Europeans  were  hardly  less  amazed  at  the  scene  now  before  them. 
Every  herb,  and  shrub,  and  tree,  was  different  from  those  which  flourished  in 
Europe.  The  soil  seemed  to  be  rich,  but  bore  few  marks  of  cultivation. 
The  climate,  even  to  the  Spaniards,  felt  warm,  though  extremely  delightful. 
The  inhabitants  appeared  in  the  simple  innocence  of  nature,  entirely  naked. 
Their  black  hair,  long  and  uncurled,  floated  upon  their  shoulders,  or  was 
bound  in  tresses  around  their  heads.  They  had  no  beards,  and  every  part 
of  their  bodies  was  perfectly  smooth.  Their  complexion  was  of  a  dusky- 
copper  colour,  their  features  singular,  rather  than  disagreeable,  their  aspect 
gentle  and  timid.  Though  not  tall,  they  were  well  shaped  and  active. 
Their  faces,  and  several  parts  of  their  body,  were  fantastically  painted  with 
glaring  colours.  They  were  shy  at  first  through  fear,  but  soon  became 
familiar  with  the  Spaniards,  and  with  transports  of  joy  received  from  them 
hawksbells,  glass  beads,  or  other  baubles,  in  return  for  which  they  gave 
such  provisions  as  they  had,  and  some  cotton  yarn,  the  only  commodity  of 
value  that  they  could  produce.  Towards  evening,  Columbus  returned  to 
his  ship,  accompanied  by  many  of  the  islanders  in  their  boats,  which  they 
called  canoes,  and  though  rudely  formed  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  single  tree, 
they  rowed  them  with  surprising  dexterity.  Thus,  in  the  first  interview 
between  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  and  new  worlds,  every  thing  was  con 
ducted,  amicably,  and  to  their  mutual  satisfaction.  The  former,  enlightened 
and  ambitious,  formed  already  vast  ideas  with  respect  to  the  advantages 
which  they  might  derive  from  the  regions  that  began  to  open  to  their  view. 
The  latter,  simple  and  undiscerning,  had  no  foresight  of  the  calamities  and 
desolation  which  were  approaching  their  country. 

f  Columbus,  who  now  assumed  the  title  and  authority  of  admiral  and 
viceroy,  called  the  island  which  he  had  discovered  San  Salvador.  It  is 
oetter  known  by  the  name  of  Guanahani,  which  the  natives  gave  to  it,  and 
is  one  of  that  large  cluster  of  islands  called  the  Lucaya  or  Bahama  isles 
It  is  situated  above  three  thousand  miles  to  the  west  of  Gomera ;  from 
which  the  squadron  took  its  departure,  and  only  four  degrees  to  the  south 
of  it ;  so  little  had  Columbus  deviated  from  the  westerly  course,  which  he 
had  chosen  as  the  most  proper. 

Columbus  employed  the  next  day  in  visiting  the  coasts  of  the  island  ;  and 
from  the  universal  poverty  of  the  inhabitants,  he  perceived  that  this  was 
not  the  rich  country  for  which  he  sought.  But,  conformably  to  his  theory 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  22,  23.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  23. 


AMERICA.  57 

f  oncoming  the  discovery  of  those  regions  of  Asia  which  stretched  towards 
the  east,  he  concluded  that  San  Salvador  was  one  of  the  isles  which 
geographers  described  as  situated  in  the  great  ocean  adjacent  to  India.* 
Having  observed  that  most  of  the  people  whom  he  had  seen  wore  small 
plates  of  gold,  by  way  of  ornament,  in  their  nostrils,  he  eagerly  inquired 
where  they  got  that  precious  metal.  They  pointed  towards  the  south,  and 
made  him  comprehend  by  signs,  that  gold  abounded  in  countries  situated  in 
that  quarter.  Thither  he  immediately  determined  to  direct  his  course,  in 
full  confidence  of  rinding  there  those  opulent  regions  which  had  been  the 
object  of  his  voyage,  and  would  be  a  recompense  for  all  his  toils  and 
dangers.  He  took  along  with  him  seven  of  the  natives  of  San  Salvador, 
that,  by  acquiring  the  Spanish  language,  they  might  serve  as  guides  and 
interpreters  ;  and  those  innocent  people  considered  it  as  a  mark  of  distinction 
when  they  were  selected  to  accompany  him. 

He  saw  several  islands,  and  touched  at  three  of  the  largest,  on  which 
he  bestowed  the  names  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Conception,  Fernandina,  and 
Isabella.  But,  as  their  soil,  productions,  and  inhabitants  nearly  resembled 
those  of  San  Salvador,  he  made  no  stay  in  any  of  them.  He  inquired  every 
where  for  gold,  and  the  signs  that  were  uniformly  made  by  way  of  answer, 
confirmed  him  in  the  opinion  that  it  was  brought  from  the  south.  He 
followed  that  course,  and  soon  discovered  a  country  which  appeared  very 
extensive,  not  perfectly  level,  like  those  which  he  nad  already  visited,  but 
so  diversified  with  rising  grounds,  hills,  rivers,  woods,  and  plains,  that  he 
was  uncertain  whether  it  might  prove  an  island,  or  part  of  the  continent. 
The  natives  of  San  Salvador,  whom  he  had  on  board,  called  it  Cuba ; 
Columbus  gave  it  the  name  of  Juana.  He  entered  the  mouth  of  a  large 
river  with  his  squadron,  and  all  the  inhabitants  fled  to  the  mountains  as  he 
approached  the  shore.  But  as  he  resolved  to  careen  the  ships  in  that  place, 
he  sent  some  Spaniards,  together  with  one  of  the  people  of  San  Salvador, 
to  view  the  interior  part  of  the  country.  They,  having  advanced  above 
sixty  miles  from  the  shore,  reported,  upon  their  return,  that  the  soil  was 
richer  and  more  cultivated  than  any  they  had  hitherto  discovered  ;  that, 
besides  many  scattered  cottages,  they  had  found  one  village,  containing 
above  a  thousand  inhabitants ;  that  the  people,  though  naked,  seemed  to 
be  more  intelligent  than  those  of  San  Salvador,  but  had  treated  them  with 
the  same  respectful  attention,  kissing  their  feet,  and  honouring  them  as  sacred 
beings  allied  to  heaven  ;  that  they  had  given  them  to  eat  a  certain  root,  the 
taste  of  which  resembled  roasted  chestnuts,  and  likewise  a  singular  species 
of  corn  called  maize,  which,  either  when  roasted  whole  or  ground  into  meal, 
was  abundantly  palatable  ;  that  there  seemed  to  be  no  four-footed  animals 
in  the  country,  but  a  species  of  dogs,  which  could  not  bark,  and  a  creature 
resembling  a  rabbit,  but  of  a  much  smaller  size  ;  that  they  had  observed 
some  ornaments  of  gold  among  the  people,  but  of  no  great  value. t 

These  messengers  had  prevailed  with  some  of  the  natives  to  accompany 
them,  who  informed  Columbus,  that  the  gold  of  which  they  made  their 
ornaments  was  found  in  Cubanacan.  By  this  word  they  meant  the  middle 
or  inland  part  of  Cuba ;  but  Columbus,  being  ignorant  of  their  language, 
as  well  as  unaccustomed  to  their  pronunciation,  and  his  thoughts  running 
continually  upon  his  own  theory  concerning  the  discovery  of  the  East  Indies, 
he  was  led,  by  the  resemblance  of  sound,  to  suppose  that  they  spoke  of 
the  great  Khan,  and  imagined  that  the  opulent  kingdom  of  Cathay,  described 
by  Marto  Polo,  was  not  very  remote.  This  induced  him  to  employ  some 
time  in  viewing  the  country.  He  visited  almost  every  harbour,  from  Porto 
del  Principe,  on  the  north  coast  of  Cuba,  to  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
island  :  but,  though  delighted  with  the  beauty  of  the  scenes  which  every 
where  presented  themselves,  and  amazed  at  the  luxuriant  fertility  of  the 

*  Pet.  MsrL  epifit.  135.  t  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  34—28.    Herrcrn,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  14. 

VOL    L— 8 


««  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

soi^  both  which,  from  their  novelty,  made  a  more  lively  impression  upon 
his  imagination  [14],  he  did  not  find  gold  in  such  quantity  as  was  sufficient 
to  satisfy  either  the  avarice  of  his  followers,  or  the  expectations  of  the  court 
to  which  he  was  to  return.  The  people  of  the  country,  as  much  astonished 
at  his  eagerness  in  quest  of  gold  as  the  Europeans  were  at  their  ignorance 
and  simplicity,  pointed  towards  the  east,  where  an  island  which  they  called 
Hayti  was  situated,  in  which  that  metal  was  more  abundant  than  among 
them.  Columbus  ordered  his  squadron  to  bend  its  course  thither  j  but 
Marton  Alonso  Pinzon,  impatient  to  be  the  first  who  should  take  possession 
of  the  treasures  which  this  country  was  supposed  to  contain,  quitted  his 
companions,  regardless  of  all  the  admiral's  signals  to  slacken  sail  until  they 
should  come  up  with  him. 

Columbus,  retarded  by  contrary  winds,  did  not  reach  Hayti  till  the  sixth 
of  December.  He  called  the  port  where  he  first  touched  St.  Nicholas,  and 
the  island  itself  Espagnola,  in  honour  of  the  kingdom  by  which  he  was 
employed  ;  and  it  is  the  only  country,  of  those  he  had  yet  discovered,  which 
has  retained  the  name  that  he  gave  it.  As  he  could  neither  meet  with  the 
Pinta,  nor  have  any  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants,  who  fled  in  great 
consternation  towards  "the  woods,  he  soon  quitted  St.  Nicholas,  and,  sailing 
along  the  northern  coast  of  the  island,  he  entered  another  harbour,  which  he 
called  Conception.  Here  he  was  more  fortunate  ;  his  people  overtook  a 
woman  who  was  flying  from  them,  and  after  treating  her  with  great  gentle 
ness,  dismissed  her  with  a  present  of  such  toys  as  they  knew  were  most 
valued  in  those  regions.  The  description  which  she  gave  to  her  countrymen 
of  the  humanity  and  wonderful  qualities  of  the  strangers ;  their  admiration 
of  the  trinkets,  which  she  showed  with  exultation  ;  and  their  eagerness  to 
participate  of  the  same  favours  ;  removed  all  their  fears,  and  induced  many 
of  them  to  repair  to  the  harbour.  The  strange  objects  which  they  beheld, 
and  the  baubles  which  Columbus  bestowed  upon  them,  amply  gratified  their 
curiosity  and  their  wishes.  They  nearly  resembled  the  people  of 
Guanahani  and  Cuba.  They  were  naked  like  them,  ignorant  and  simple  ; 
and  seemed  to  be  equally  unacquainted  with  all  the  arts  which  appear  most 
necessary  in  polished  societies  ;  but  they  were  gentle,  credulous,  and  timid, 
to  a  degree  which  rendered  it  easy  to  acquire  the  ascendant  over  them,  espe 
cially  as  their  excessive  admiration  led  them  into  the  same  error  with  the 
people  of  the  other  islands,  in  believing  the  Spaniards  to  be  more  than  mortals, 
and  descended  immediately  from  heaven.  They  possessed  gold  in  greater 
abundance  than  their  neighbours,  which  they  readily  exchanged  for  bells, 
beads,  or  pins ;  and  in  this  unequal  traffic  both  parties  were  highly  pleased, 
each  considering  themselves  as  gainers  by  the  transaction.  Here  Columbus 
was  visited  by  a  prince  or  cazique  of  the  country.  He  appeared  with  all 
the  pomp  known  among  a  simple  people,  being  carried  in  a  sort  of  palanquin 
upon  the  shoulders  of  four  men,  and  attended  by  many  of  his  subjects,  who 
served  him  with  great  respect.  His  deportment  was  grave  and  stately, 
very  reserved  towards  his  own  people,  but  with  Columbus  and  the  Spaniards 
extremely  courteous.  He  gave  the  admiral  some  thin  plates  of  gold,  and  a 
girdle  of  curious  workmanship,  receiving  in  return  presents  of  small  value, 
but  highly  acceptable  to  him.* 

Columbus,  still  intent  on  discovering  the  mines  which  yielded  gold, 
continued  to  interrogate  all  the  natives  with  whom  he  had  any  intercourse, 
concerning  their  situation.  They  concurred  in  pointing  out  a  mountainous 
country,  which  they  called  Cibao,  at  some  distance  from  the  sea,  and  further 
towards  the  east.  Struck  with  this  sound,  which  appeared  to  him  the  same 
with  Cipango,  the  name  by  which  Marco  Polo,  and  other  travellers  to  the 
east,  distinguished  the  island  of  Japan,  he  no  longer  doubted  with  respect 
to  the  vicinity  of  the  countries  which  he  had  discovered  to  the  remote  parts 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  32.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  15,  &c. 


AMERICA.  59 


Vsla  ;  and,  in  full  expectation  of  reaching  soon  those  regions  which  had 
n  the  object  of  his  voyage,  he  directed  his  course  towards  the  east.    He 


of  Asia 

been tht ^ .      _.0_, 

put  into  a  commodious  harbour,  which  he  called  St.  Thomas,  and  found 
that  district  to  be  under  the  government  of  a  powerful  cazique,  named 
Guacanahari,  who,  as  he  afterwards  learned,  was  one  of  the  five  sovereigns 
among  whom  the  whole  island  was  divided.  He  immediately  sent  messen 
gers  to  Columbus,  who  in  his  name  delivered  to  him  the  present  of  a  mask 
curiously  fashioned  with  the  ears,  nose,  and  mouth  of  beaten  gold,  and 
invited  him  to  the  place  of  his  residence,  near  the  harbour  now  called  Cape 
Francois,  some  leagues  towards  the  east.  Columbus  despatched  some  of 
his  officers  to  visit  this  prince,  who,  as  he  behaved  himself  with  greater 
dignity,  seemed  to  claim  more  attention.  They  returned  with  such  favour 
able  accounts  both  of  the  country  and  of  the  people,  as  made  Columbus 
impatient  for  that  interview  with  Guacanabari  to  which  he  had  been  invited. 

He  sailed  for  this  purpose  from  St.  Thomas,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
December,  with  a  fair  wind,  and  the  sea  perfectly  calm  ;  and  as,  amidst  the 
multiplicity  of  his  occupations,  he  had  not  shut  his  eyes  for  two  days,  he 
retired  at  midnight  in  order  to  take  some  repose,  having  committed  the 
helm  to  the  pilot,  with  strict  injunctions  not  to  quit  it  for  a  moment.  The 
pilot,  dreading  no  danger,  carelessly  left  the  helm  to  an  unexperienced 
cabin  boy,  and  the  ship,  carried  away  by  a  current,  was  dashed  against  a 
rock.  The  violence  of  the  shock  awakened  Columbus.  'He  ran  up  to  the 
deck.  There  all  was  confusion  and  despair.  He  alone  retained  presence 
of  mind.  He  ordered  some  of  the  sailors  to  take  a  boat,  and  carry  out  an 
anchor  astern ;  but,  instead  of  obeying,  they  made  off  towards  the  Nigna, 
which  was  about  half  a  league  distant.  He  then  commanded  the  masts  to 
be  cut  down,  in  order  to  lighten  the  ship ;  but  all  his  endeavours  were  too 
late ;  the  vessel  opened  near  the  keel,  and  filled  so  fast  with  water  that  its 
loss  was  inevitable.  The  smoothness  of  the  sea,  and  the  timely  assistance 
of  boats  from  the  Nigna,  enabled  the  crew  to  save  their  lives.  As  soon  as 
the  islanders  heard  of  this  disaster,  they  crowded  to  the  shore,  with  their 
prince  Guacanahari  at  their  head.  Instead  of  taking  advantage  of  the 
distress  in  which  they  beheld  the  Spaniards,  to  attempt  any  thing  to  their 
detriment,  they  lamented  their  misfortune  with  tears  of  sincere  condolence. 
Not  satisfied  with  this  unavailing  expression  of  their  sympathy,  they  put  tc 
sea  a  number  of  canoes,  and,  under  the  direction  of  the  Spaniards,  assisted 
in  saving  whatever  could  be  got  out  of  the  wreck  ;  and,  by  the  united 
labour  of  so  many  hands,  almost  every  thing  of  value  was  carried  ashore. 
As  fast  as  the  goods  were  landed,  Guacanahari  in  person  took  charge  of 
them.  By  his  orders  they  were  all  deposited  in  one  place,  and  armed 
sentinels  were  posted,  who  kept  the  multitude  at  a  distance,  in  order  to 
prevent  them  not  only  from  embezzling,  but  from  inspecting  too  curiously 
what  belonged  to  their  guests.  [15]  Next  morning  this  prince  visited 
Columbus,  who  was  now  on  board  the  Nigna,  and  endeavoured  to  console 
him  for  his  loss,  by  offering  all  that  he  possessed  to  repair  it.* 

The  condition  of  Columbus  was  such  that  he  stood  in  need  of  consolation. 
He  had  hitherto  procured  no  intelligence  of  the  Pinta,  and  no  longer  doubted 
but  that  his  treacherous  associate  had  set  sail  for  Europe,  in  order  to  have 
the  merit  of  carrying  the  first  tidings  of  the  extraordinary  discoveries  which 
had  been  made,  and  to  preoccupy  so  far  the  ear  of  their  sovereign,  as  to 
rob  him  of  the  glory  and  reward  to  which  he  was  justly  entitled.  There 
remained  but  one  vessel,  and  that  the  smallest  and  most  crazy  of  the  squadron, 
to  traverse  such  a  vast  ocean,  and  carry  so  many  men  back  to  Europe. 
Each  of  those  circumstances  was  alarming,  and  filled  the  mind  of  Columbus 
with  the  utmost  solicitude.  The  desire  of  overtaking  Pinzon,  and  of  effacing 
the  unfavourable  impressions  which  his  misrepresentations  might  make  in 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  18. 


60  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

Spain,  made  it  necessary  to  return  thither  without  delay.  The  difficulty 
of  taking  such  a  number  of  persons  on  board  the  Nigna  confirmed  him  in 
an  opinion  which  the  fertility  of  the  country,  and  the  gentle  temper  of  the 
people,  had  already  induced  him  to  form.  He  resolved  to  leave  a  part  of 
his  crew  in  the  island,  that  by  residing  there,  they  might  learn  the  language 
of  the  natives,  study  their  disposition,  examine  the  nature  of  the  country, 
search  for  mines,  prepare  for  the  commodious  settlement  of  the  colony  with 
which  he  purposed  to  return,  and  thus  secure  and  facilitate  the  acquisition 
of  those  advantages  which  he  expected  from  his  discoveries.  When  he 
mentioned  this  to  his  men,  all  approved  of  the  design  ;  and  from  impatience 
under  the  fatigue  of  a  long  voyage,  from  the  levity,  natural  to  sailors,  or 
from  the  hopes  of  amassing  wealth  in  a  country  which  afforded  such  promising 
specimens  of  its  riches,  many  offered  voluntarily  to  be.  among  the  number 
of  those  who  should  remain. 

Nothing  was  now  wanting  towards  the  execution  of  this  scheme,  but  to 
obtain  the  consent  of  Guacanahari;  and  nis  unsuspicious  simplicity  soon 
presented  to  the  admiral  a  favourable  opportunity  of  proposing  it.  Columbus 
having,  in  the  best  manner  he  could,  by  broken  words  and  signs,  expressed 
some  curiosity  to  know  the  cause  which  had  moved  the  islanders  to  fly 
with  such  precipitation  upon  the  approach  of  his  ships,  the  cazique  informed 
him  that  the  country  was  much  infested  by  the  incursions  of  certain  people, 
whom  he  called  Carribeans,  who  inhabited  several  islands  to  the  south-east. 
These  he  described  as  a  fierce  and  warlike  race  of  men,  who  delighted  in 
blood,  and  devoured  the  flesh  of  the  prisoners  who  were  so  unhappy  as  to 
fall  into  their  hands ;  and  as  the  Spaniards  at  their  first  appearance  were 
supposed  to  be  Carribeans,  whom  the  natives,  however  numerous,  durst  not 
face  in  battle,  they  had  recourse  to  their  usual  method  of  securing  their 
safety,  by  flying  into  the  thickest  and  most  impenetrable  woods.  Guacanahari, 
while  speaking. of  those  dreadful  invaders,  discovered  such  symptoms  of 
terror,  as  well  as  such  consciousness  of  the  inability  of  his  own  people  to 
resist  them,  as  led  Columbus  to  conclude  that  he  would  not  be  alarmed  at 
the  proposition  of  any  scheme  which  afforded  him  the  prospect  of  an  addi 
tional  security  against  their  attacks.  He  instantly  .offered  him  the  assistance 
of  the  Spaniards  to  repel  his  enemies :  he  engaged  to  take  him  and  his 
people  under,  the  protection  of  the  powerful  monarch  whom  he  served,  and 
offered  to  leave  in  the  island  such  a  number  of  his  men  as  should  be  suffi 
cient,  not  only  to  defend  the  inhabitants  from  future  incursions,  but  to 
avenge  their  past  wrongs. 

The  credulous  prince  closed  eagerly  with  the  proposal,  and  thought 
himself  already  safe  under  the  patronage  of  beings  sprung  from  heaven, 
and  superior  in  power  to  mortal  men.  The  ground  was  marked  out  for  a 
small  fort,  which  Columbus  called  Navidad,  ^because  he  had  landed  there 
on  Christmas  day.  A  deep  ditch  was  drawn  around  it.  The  ramparts  were 
fortified  with  pallisades,  and  the  great  guns,  saved  out  of  the  admiral's  ship, 
were  planted  upon  them.  In  ten  days  the  work  was  finished ;  that  simple 
race  of  men  labouring  with  inconsiderate  assiduity  in  erecting  this  first 
monument  of  their  own  servitude.  During  this  time,  Columbus,  by  his 
caresses  and  liberality,  laboured  to  increase  the  high  opinion  which  the 
natives  entertained  of  the  Spaniards.  But  while  he  endeavoured  to  inspire 
them  with  confidence  in  their  disposition  to  do  good,  he  wished  likewise 
to  give  them  some  striking  idea  of  their  power  to  punish  and  destroy  such 
as  were  the  objects  of  their  indignation.  With  this  view,  in  presence  of  a 
vast  assembly,  he  drew  up  his  men  in  order  of  battle,  and  made  an  ostenta 
tious  but  innocent  display  of  the  sharpness  of  the  Spanish  swords,  of  the  force 
of  their  spears,  and  the  operation  of  their  cross-bows.  These  rude  people, 
strangers  to  the  use  of  iron,  and  unacquainted  with  any  hostile  weapons  but 
arrows  of  reed  pointed  with  the  bones  of  fishes,  wooden  swords,  andjavelins 
hardened  in  the  fire,  wondered  and  trembled.  Before  this  surprise  or  fear 


AMERICA.  61 

had  time  to  abate,  he  ordered  the  great  guns  to  be  fired.  The  sudden 
explosion  struck  them  with  such  terror  that  they  fell  flat  to  the  ground, 
covering  their  faces  with  their  hands  ;  and  when  they  beheld  the  astonishing 
effect  o?  the  bullets  among  the  trees,  towards  which  the  cannon  had  been 
pointed,  they  concluded  that  it  was  impossible  to  resist  men,  who  had  the 
command  of  such  destructive  instruments,  and  who  came  armed  with 
thunder  and  lightning  against  their  enemies. 

After  giving  such  impressions  both  of  the  beneficence  and  power  of  the 
Spaniards,  as  might  have  rendered  it  easy  to  preserve  an  ascendant  over 
the  minds  of  the  natives,  Columbus  appointed  thirty-eight  of  his  people  to 
remain  in  the  island.  He  intrusted  the  command  of  these  to  Diego  de 
Arado,  a  gentleman  of  Cordova,  investing  him  with  the  same  powers  which 
he  himself  had  received  from  Ferdinand  and  Isabella ;  and  furnished  him 
with  every  thing  requisite  for  the  subsistence  or  defence  of  this  infant 
colony.  He  strictly  enjoined  them  to  maintain  concord  among  themselves, 
to  yield  an  unreserved  obedience  to  their  commander,  to  avoid  giving  offence 
to  the  natives  by  any  violence  or  exaction,  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of 
Guacanahari,  but  not  to  put  themselves  in  his  power  by  straggling  in  small 
parties,  or  marching  too  far  from  the  fort.  He  promised  to  visit  them  soon 
with  such  a  reinforcement  of  strength  as  might  enable  them  to  take  full 
possession  of  the  country,  and  to  reap  all  the  fruits  of  their  discoveries.  In  the 
mean  time  he  engaged  to  mention  their  names  to  the  king  and  queen,  and 
to  place  their  merit  and  services  in  the  most  advantageous  light.* 

Having  thus  taken  every  precaution  for  the  security  of  the  colony,  he 
left  Navidad  on  the  fourth  of  January,  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
ninety-three,  and  steering  towards  the  east,  discovered  and  gave  names  to 
most  of  the  harbours  on  the  northern  coast  of  the  island.  On  the  sixth  he 
descried  the  Pinta,  and  soon  came  up  with  her,  after  a  separation  of  more 
than  six  weeks.  Pinzon  endeavoured  to  justify  his  conduct  by  pretending 
that  he  had  been  driven  from  his  course  by  stress. of  weather,  and  prevented 
from  returning  by  contrary  winds.  The  admiral,  though  he  still  suspected 
his  perfidious  intentions,  and  knew  well  what  he  urged  in  his  own  defence 
to  be  frivolous  as  well  as  false,  was  so  sensible  that  this  was  not  a  proper 
time  for  venturing  upon  any  high  strain  of  authority,  and  felt  such  satisfaction 
in  this  junction  with  his  consort,  which  delivered  him  from  many  disquieting 
apprehensions,  that,  lame  as  Pinzon's  apology  was,  he  admitted  of  it  without 
difficulty,  and  restored  him  to  favour.  During  his  absence  from  the 
admiral,  Pinzon  had  visited  several  harbours  in  the  island,  had  acquired 
some  gold  by  trafficking  with  the  natives,  but  had  made  no  discovery  of 
any  importance. 

From  the  condition  of  his  ships,  as  well  as  the  temper  of  his  men, 
Columbus  now  found  it  necessary  to  hasten  his  return  to  Europe.  The 
former  having  suffered  much  during  a  voyage  of  such  an  unusual  length, 
were  extremely  leaky.  The  latter  expressed  the  utmost  impatience  to 
revisit  their  native  country,  from  which  they  had  been  so  long  absent,  and 
where  they  had  things  so  wonderful  and  unheard-of  to  relate.  Accordingly, 
on  the  sixteenth  of  January,  he  directed  his  course  towards  the  north-east,  and 
soon  lost  sight  of  land.  He  had  on  board  some  of  the  natives,  whom  he  had 
taken  from  the  different  islands  which  he  discovered  ;  and  besides  the  gold, 
which  was  the  chief  object  of  research,  he  had  collected  specimens  of  all 
the  productions  which  were  likely  to  become  subjects  of  commerce  in  the 
several  countries,  as  well  as  many  unknown  birds,  and  other  natural 
curiosities,  which  might  attract  the  attention  of  the  learned,  or  excite  the 
wonder  of  the  people.  The  voyage  was  prosperous  to  the  fourteenth  of 
February,  and  he  had  advanced  near  five  hundred  leagues  across  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  when  the  wind  began  to  rise,  and  continued  to  blow  with  increasing 

*  Oviedo  ap.  Ramusio,  iii  p.  82.     E.     Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  20.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  34. 


HISTORY  OF  fBooK  11. 

j,  which  terminated  in  a  furious  hurricane.  Every  thing  that  the  naval 
[  and  experience  of  Columbus  could  devise  was  employed  in  order  to 
save  the  ships.  But  it  was  impossible  to  withstand  the  violence  of  the 
storm,  and,  as  they  were  still  far  from  any  land,  destruction  seemed  inevitable. 
The  sailors  had  recourse  to  prayers  to  Almighty  God,  to  the  invocation 
of  saints,  to  vows,  and  charms,  to  every  thing  that  religion  dictates,  or 
superstition  suggests  to  the  affrighted  mind  of  man.  No  prospect  of 
deliverance  appearing,  they  abandoned  themselves  to  despair,  and  expected 
every  moment  to  be  swallowed  up  in  the  waves.  Besides  the  passions 
which  naturally  agitate  and  alarm  the  human  mind  in  such  awful  situations, 
when  certain  aeath,  in  one  of  his  most  terrible  forms,  is  before  it,  Columbus 
had  to  endure  feelings  of  distress  peculiar  to  himself.  He  dreaded  that 
all  knowledge  of  the  amazing  discoveries  whkh  he  had  made  was  now 
to  perish  ;  mankind  were  to  be  deprived  of  every  benefit  that  might  have 
been  derived  from  the  happy  success  of  his  schemes,  and  his  own  name 
would  descend  to  posterity  as  that  of  a  rash  deluded  adventurer,  instead  ot 
being  transmitted  with  the  honour  due  to  the  author  and  conductor  of  the 
most  noble  enterprise  that  had  ever  been  undertaken.  These  reflections 
extinguished  all  sense  of  his  own  personal  danger1.  Less  affected  with  the 
loss  of  life  than  solicitous  to  preserve  the  memory  of  what  he  had  attempted 
and  achieved,  he  retired  to  nis  cabin  and  wrote  upon  a  parchment  a  short 
account  of  the  voyage  which  he  had  made,  of  the  course  which  he  had 
taken,  of  the  situation  and  riches  of  the  countries  which  he  had  discovered, 
and  of  the  colony  that  he  had  left  there.  Having  wrapped  up  this  in  an 
oiled  cloth,  which  he  enclosed  in  a  cake  of  wax,  he  put  it  into  a  cask 
carefully  stopped  up,  and  threw  it  into  the  sea,  in  hopes  that  some 
fortunate  accident  might  preserve  a  deposit  of  so  much  importance  to  the 
world.*[!6] 

At  length  Providence  interposed  to  save  a  life  reserved  for  other  services. 
The  wind  abated,  the  sea  became  calm,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  fifteenth, 
Columbus  and  his  companions  discovered  land  ;  and  though  uncertain  what 
it  was,  they  made  towards  it.  They  soon  knew  it  tp  be  St.  Mary,  one  of 
the  Azores  or  western  isles,  subject-  to  the  crown  of  Portugal.  There, 
after  a  violent  contest  with  the  governor,  in  which  Columbus  displayed  no 
less  spirit  than  prudence,  he  obtained  a  supply  of  fresh  provisions,  and 
whatever  else  he  needed.  One  circumstance,  however,  greatly  disquieted 
him.  The  Pinta,  of  which  he  had  lost  sight  on  the  first  day  of  the  hurri 
cane,  did  not  appear  ;  he  "dreaded  for  some  time  that  she  had  foundered  at 
sea,  and  that  all  her  crew  had  perished ;  afterwards,  bis  former  suspicions 
recurred,  and  he  became  apprehensive  that  Pinzpn  had  borne  away  for 
Spain,  that  he  might  reach  it  before  him,  and  by  giving  the  first  account  of 
his  discoveries,  might  obtain  some  share  of  his  fame. 

In  order  to  prevent  this,  he  left  the  Azores  as  soon  as  the  weather  would 
permit  [Feb.  24].  At  no  great  distance  from  the  coast  of  Spain,  when  near 
the  end  of  his  voyage,  and  seemingly  beyond  the  reach  of  any  disaster, 
another  storm  arose,  little  inferior  to  the  former  in  violence ;  and  after 
driving  before  it  during  two  days  and  two  nights,  he  was  forced  to  take 
shelter  in  the  river  Tagus  [March  4].  Upon  application  to  the  King  of 
Portugal,  he  was  allowed  to  come  up  to  Lisbon  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
envy  which  it  was  natural  for  the  Portuguese  to  feel,  when  they  beheld 
another  nation  entering  upon  that  province  of  discovery  which  they  had 
hitherto  deemed  peculiarly  their  own,  and  in  its  first  essay  not  only  rivalling 
but  eclipsing  their  fame,  Columbus  was  received  with  all  the  marks  of 
distinction  due  to  a  man  who  had  performed  things  so  extraordinary  and 
unexpected.  The  King  admitted  him  into  his  presence,  treated  him  with 
the  highest  respect,  and  listened  to  the  account  which  he  gave  of  his  voyage 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  37.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  1, 2. 


AMERICA.  6 

\vith  admiration  mingled  with  regret.  While  Columbus,  on  his  part, 
enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  describing  the  importance  of  his  discoveries,  and 
of  being  now  able  to  prove  the  solidity  of  his  schemes  to  those  very 
persons,  who,  with  an  ignorance  disgraceful  to  themselves,  and  fatal  to  their 
country,  had  lately  rejected  them  as  the  projects  of  a  visionary  or  designing 
adventurer.* 

Columbus  was  so  impatient  to  return  to  Spain,  that  he  remained  only 
five  days  in  Lisbon.  On  the  fifteenth  of  March  he  arrived  in  the  port  ot 
Palos,  seven  months  and  eleven  days  from  the  tirrie  when  he  set  out  thence 
upon  his  voyage.  As  soon  as  the  ship  was  discovered  approaching  the 
port,  all  the  inhabitants  of  Palps  ran  eagerly  to  the  shore,  in  order  to  welcome 
their  relations  and  fellow-citizens,  and  to  hear  tidings  of  their  voyage. 
When  the  prosperous  issue  of  it  was  known,  when  they  beheld  the  strange 
people,  the  unknown  animals,  and  singular  productions,  brought  from  the 
countries  which  had  been  discovered,  the  effusion  of  joy  was  general  and 
unbounded.  The  bells  were  rung,  the  cannon  fired;  Columbus  was 
received  at  landing  with  royal  honours,  and  all  the  people  in  solemn  pro 
cession,  accompanied  him  and  his  crew  to  the  church,  where  they  returned 
thanks  to  Heaven,  which  had  so  wonderfully  conducted  and  crowned  with 
success  a  voyage  of  greater  length  and  of  more  importance  than  had  been 
attempted  in  any  former  age.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  Pinta,  which  the  violence  of  the  tempest  had  driven 
far  to  the  north,  enter  the  harbour. 

The  first  care  of  Columbus  was  to  inform  the  King  and  Queen,  who  were 
then  at  Barcelona,  of  his  arrival  and  success.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  no 
less  astonished  than  delighted  with  this  unexpected  event,  desired  Columbus, 
in  terms  the  most  respectful  and  flattering,  to  repair  immediately  to  court, 
that  from  his  own  mouth  they  might  receive  a  full  detail  of  his  extraordinary 
services  and  discoveries.  During  his  journey  to  Barcelona,  the  people 
crowded  from  the  adjacent  country,  following  him  every  where  with  admi 
ration  and  applause.  His  entrance  into  the  city  was  conducted,  by  order 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  with  poinp  suitable  to  the  great  event,  which 
added  such  distinguishing  lustre  to  their  reign.  The  people  whom  he 
brought  along  with  him  from  the  countries  which  he  had  discovered, 
marched  first,  and  by  their  singular  complexion,  the  wild  peculiarity  of  their 
features,  and  uncouth  finery,  appeared  like  men  of  another  species.  Next 
to  them  were  carried  the  ornaments  of  gold,  fashioned  by  ihe  rude  art  of 
the  natives,  the  grains  of  gold  found  in  the  mountains,  and  dust  of  the  same 
metal  gathered  in  the  rivers.  After  these  appeared  the  various  commodities 
of  the  new  discovered  countries,  together  with  their  curious  productions. 
Columbus  himself  closed  the  procession,  and  attracted  the  eyes  of  all  the 
spectators,  who  gazed  with  admiration  on  the  extraordinary  man,  whose 
superior  sagacity  and  fortitude  had  conducted  their  countrymen,  by  a  route 
concealed  from  past  ages,  to  the  knowledge  of  a  new  world.  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  received  him  clad  in  their  royal  robes,  and  seated  upon  a 
throng  under  a  magnificent  canopy.  When  he  approached,  they  stood  up, 
and  raising  him  as  he  kneeled  to  kiss  their  hands,  commanded  him  to  take 
his  seat  upon  a  chair  prepared  for  him,  and  to  give  a  circumstantial  account 
of  his  voyage.  He  delivered  it  with  a  gravity  and  composure  no  less 
suitable  to  the  disposition  of  the  Spanish  nation  than  to  the  dignity  of  the 
audience  ^  in  which  he  spoke,  and  with  that  modest  simplicity  which 
characterizes  men  of  superior  minds,  who,  satisfied  with  having  performed 
great  actions,  court  not  vain  applause  by  an  ostentatious  display  of  their 
exploits.  When  he  had  finished  his  narration,  the  king  and  queen,  kneeling 
down,  offered  up  solemn  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  discovery  of  those 
new  regions,  from  which  they  expected  ?o  many  advantages  to  flow  in  upoi' 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  40,  41.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  3 


f»4  HISTORY  OF  [Boo*  11 

the  kingdoms  subject  to  their  government.  [17]  Every  mark  of  honour 
that  gratitude  or  admiration  could  suggest  was  conferred  upon  Columbus. 
Letters  patent  were  issued,  confirming  to  him  and  to  his  heirs  all  the  privileges 
contained  in  the  capitulation  concluded  at  Santa  Fe  ;  his  family  was  enno 
bled  ;  the  king  and  queen,  and  after  their  example  the  courtiers,  treated  him 
on  every  occasion  with  all  the  ceremonious  respect  paid  to  persons  of  the 
highest  rank.  But  what  pleased  him  most,  as  it  gratified  his  active  mind, 
bent  continually  upon  great  objects,  was  an  order  to  equip,  without  delay, 
an  armament  of  such  force  as  might  enable  him  not  only  to  take  possession 
of  the  countries  which  he  had  already  discovered,  but  to  go  in  search  of 
those  more  opulent  regions  which  he  still  confidently  expected  to  find.* 

While  preparations  were  making  for  this  expedition,  the  lame  of  Columbus's 
successful  voyage  spread  over  Europe,  and  excited  general  attention.  The 
multitude,  struck  with  amazement  when  they  heard  that  a  new  world  had 
been  found,  could  hardly  believe  an  event  so  much  above  their  conception. 
Men  of  science,  capable  of  comprehending  the  nature,  and  of  discerning 
the  effects  of  this  great  discovery,  received  the  account  of  it  with  admiration 
and  joy.  They  spoke  of  his  vovage  with  rapture,  and  congratulated  one 
another  upon  their  felicity  in  having  lived  in  the  period  when,  by  this  ex 
traordinary  event,  the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge  were  so  much 
extended,  and  such  a  new  field  of  inquiry  and  observation  opened,  as  would 
lead  mankind  to  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  structure  and  productions 
of  the  habitable  globe. |  [18]  Various  opinions  arid  conjectures  were 
formed  concerning  the  new  found  countries,  and  what  division  of  the  earth 
they  belonged  to.  Columbus  adhered  tenaciously  to  his  original  opinion, 
that  they  snould  be  reckoned  a  part  of  those  vast  regions  in  Asia,  compre 
hended  under  the  general  name  of  India.  This  sentiment  was  confirmed 
by  the  observations  which  he  made  concerning  the  productions  of  the 
countries  he  had  discovered.  Gold  was  known  to  abound  in  India,  and  he 
had  met  with  such  promising  samples  of  it  in  the  islands  which  he  visited, 
as  led  him  to  believe  that  rich  mines  of  it  might  be  found.  Cotton,  another 
production  of  the  East  Indies,  was  common  there.  The  pimento  of  the 
islands  he  imagined  to  be  a  species  of  the  East  Indian  pepper.  He  mistook 
a  root,  somewhat  resembling  rhubarb,  for  that  valuable  drug,  which  was 
then  supposed  to  be  a  plant  peculiar  to  the  East  Indies.J  The  birds  brought 
home  by  him  were  adorned  with  the  same  rich  plumage  which  distin 
guishes  those  of  India.  The  alligator  of  the  one  country  appeared  to  be 
the  same  with  the  crocodile  of  the  other.  After  weighing  all  these  circum 
stances,  not  only  the  Spaniards,  but  the  other  nations  of  Europe,  seem  to 
have  adopted  the  opinion  of  Columbus.  The  countries  which  he  had 
discovered  were  considered  as  a  part  of  India.  In  consequence  of  this 
notion,  the  name  of  Indies  is  given  to  them  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  in 
a  ratification  of  their  former  agreement,  which  was  granted  to  Columbus 
upon  his  return.§  Even  after  the  error  which  gave  rise  to  this  opinion  was 
detected,  and  the  true  position  of  the  New  World  was  ascertained,  the 
name  has  remained,  and  the  appellation  of  West  Indies  is  given  by  all  the 
people  of  Europe  to  the  country,  and  that  of  Indians  to  its  inhabitants. 

The  name  by  which  Columbus  distinguished  the  countries  which  he  had 
discovered  was  so  inviting,  the  specimens  of  their  riches  and  fertility  which 
he  produced  were  so  considerable,  and  the  reports  of  his  companions, 
delivered  frequently  with  the  exaggeration  natural  to  travellers,  so  favourable, 
as  to  excite  a  wonderful  spirit  of  enterprise  among  the  Spaniards.  Though 
little  accustomed  to  naval  expeditions,  they  were  impatient  to  set  out  upon 
their  voyage.  Volunteers  of  every  rank  solicited  to  be  employed.  Allured 
by  the  inviting  prospects  which  opened  to  their  ambition  and  avarice, 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  42, 43.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  3.         t  2  P.  Mart,  epist.  133, 134, 135. 
t  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  20.    Gomera  Hist.  c.  17.       $  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  44. 


AMERICA.  65 

neither  the  length  nor  danger  of  the  navigation  intimidated  them.  Cautious 
as  Ferdinand  was,  and  averse  to  every  thing  new  or  adventurous,  he  seems 
to  have  catched  the  same  spirit  with  his  subjects.  Under  its  influence, 
preparations  for  a  second  expedition  were  carried  on  with  rapidity  unusual 
in  Spain,  and  to  an  extent  that  would  be  deemed  not  inconsiderable  in  the 
present  age.  The  fleet  consisted  of  seventeen  ships,  some  of  which  were 
of  good  burden.  It  had  on  board  fifteen  hundred  persons,  among  whom 
were  many  of  noble  families,  who  had  served  in  honourable  stations.  The 
greater  part  of  these,  being  destined  to  remain  in  the  country,  were  fur 
nished  with  every  thing  requisite  for  conquest  or  settlement,  with  all  kinds 
of  European  domestic  animals,  with  such  seeds  and  plants  as  were  most 
likely  to  thrive  in  the  climate  of  the  West  Indies,  with  utensils  and  instruments 
of  every  sort,  and  with  such  artificers  as  might  be  most  useful  in  an  infant 
colony.* 

But,  formidable  and  well  provided  as  this  fleet  was,  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  did  not  rest  their  title  to  the  possession  of  the  newly  discovered 
countries  upon  its  operations  alone.  The  example  of  the  Portuguese,  as 
well  as  the  superstition  of  the  age,  made  it  necessary  to  obtain  from  the 
Roman  pontiff  a  grant  of  those  territories  which  they  wished  to  occupy. 
The  Pope,  as  the  vicar  and  representative  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  supposed 
to  have  a  right  of  dominion  over  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  Alexander 
VI.,  a  pontiff  infamous  for  every  crime  which  disgraces  humanity,  filled  the 
Papal  throne  at  that  time.  As  he  was  born  Ferdinand's  subject,  and  very 
solicitous  to  secure  the  protection  of  Spain,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  execution 
of  his  ambitious  schemes  in  favour  of  his  own  family,  he  was  extremely 
willing  to  gratify  the  Spanish  monarchs.  By  an  act  of  liberality  which 
cost  him  nothing,  and  that  served  to  establish  the  jurisdiction  and  pretensions 
of  the  Papal  See,  he  granted  in  full  right  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  all  the 
countries  inhabited  by  Infidels,  which  they  had  discovered,  or  should  discover ; 
and,  in  virtue  of  that  power  which  he  derived  from  Jesus  Christ,  he  con 
ferred  on  the  crown  of  Castile  vast  regions,  to  the  possession  of  which  he 
himself  was  so  far  from  having  any  title,  that  he  was  unacquainted  with 
their  situation,  and  ignorant  even  of  their  existence.  As  it  was  necessary 
to  prevent  this  grant  from  interfering  with  that  formerly  made  to  the  crown 
of  Portugal,  he  appointed  that  a  line,  supposed  to  be  drawn  from  pole  to 
pole,  a  hundred  leagues  to  the  westward  of  the  Azores,  should  serve  as  a 
limit  between  them ;  and,  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  bestowed  all  to 
the  east  of  this  imaginary  line  upon  the  Portuguese,  and  all  to  the  west  ot 
it  upon  the  Spaniards.!  Zeal  for  propagating  the  Christian  faith  was  the 
consideration  employed  by  Ferdinand  in  soliciting  this  bull,  and  is  mentioned 
by  Alexander  as  his  chief  motive  for  issuing  it.  In  order  to  manifest  some 
concern  for  this  laudable  object,  several  friars,  under  the  direction  of  Father 
Boyl,  a  Catalonian  monk  of  great  reputation,  as  apostolical  vicar,  were 
appointed  to  accompany  Columbus,  and  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
instruction  of  the  natives.  The  Indians,  whom  Columbus  had  brought  along 
with  him,  having  received  some  tincture  of  Christian  knowledge,  were 
baptized  with  much  solemnity,  the  king  himself,  the  prince  his  son,  and  the 
chief  persons  of  his  court,  standing  as  their  godfathers.  Those  first  fruits 
of  the  New  World  have  not  been  followed  by  such  an  increase  as  pious  men 
wished,  and  had  reason  to  expect. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  having  thus  acquired  a  title,  which  was  then 
deemed  completely  valid,  to  extend  their  discoveries  and  to  establish  their 
dominion  over  such  a  considerable  portion  of  the  globe,  nothing  now  retarded 
the  departure ^of  the  fleet.  Columbus  was  extremely  impatient  to  revisit 
roe  colony  which  he  had  left,  and  to  pursue  that  career  of  glory  upon  which 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  5.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  45.  f  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  4. 

Torquemeda  Mon.  Ind.  lib.  xviii.  c.  3. 

VOL.  I.— 9  K 


66  HISTORY  OF  [BooKlL 

he  had  entered.  He  set  sail  from  the  bay  of  Cadiz  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
September,  and  touching  again  at  the  island  of  Gomera,  he  steered  further 
towards  the  south  than  in  his  former  voyage.  By  holding  this  course,  he 
enjoyed  more  steadily  the  benefit  of  the' regular  winds,  which  reign  within 
the  tropics,  and  was  carried  towards  a  large  cluster  of  islands,  ^situated 
considerably  to  the  east  of  those  which  he  had  already  discovered.  '  On  the 
twenty-sixth  day  after  his  departure  from  Gomera  [Nov.  2],  he  made  land.* 
It  was  one  of  the  Carribbee  Or  Leeward  Islands,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
of  Deseada,  on  account  of  the  impatience  of  his  crew  to  discover  some  part 
of  the  New  World.  After  this  he  visited  successively  Dominica,  Mari- 
galante,  Guadaloupe,  Antigua,  San  Juan  de  Puerto  Rico,  and  several  other 
islands,  scattered  in  his  way  as  he  advanced  towards  the  north-west.  All 
these  he  found  to  be  inhabited  by  that  fierce  race  of  people  whom  Guacan- 
ahari  had  painted  in  such  frightful  colours.  His  descriptions  appeared  not 
to  have  been  exaggerated.  The  Spaniards  never  attempted  to  land  without 
meeting  with  such  a  reception  as  discovered  the  martial  and  daring  spirit 
of  the  natives  ;  and  in  their  habitations  were  found  relics  of  those  horrid 
feasts  which  they  had  made  upon  the  bodies  of  their  enemies  taken  in  war. 
But  as  Columbus  was  eager  to  know  the  state  of  the  colony  which  he 
had  planted,  and  to  supply  it  with  the  necessaries  of  which  he  supposed  it 
to  be  in  want,  he  made  no  stay  in  any  of  those  islands,  and  proceeded 
directly  to  Hispaniola  [Nov.  22].|  When  he  arrived  off  Navidad,  the 
station  in  which  he  had  left  the  thirty-eight  men  under  the  command  ol 
Arada,  he  was  astonished  that  none  of  them  appeared,  and  expected  every 
moment  to  see  them  running  with  transports  of  joy  to  welcome  their 
countrymen.  Full  of  solicitude  about  their  safety,  and  foreboding  in  his 
mind  what  had  befallen  them,  he  rowed  instantly  to  land.  All  the  natives 
from  whom  he  might  have  received  information  had  fled.  But  the  fort 
which  he  had  built  was  entirely  demolished,  and  the  tattered  garments,  the 
broken  arms  and  utensils  scattered  about  it,  left  no  room  to  doubt  concerning 
the  unhappy  fate  of  the  garrison. J  While  the  Spaniards  were  shedding 
tears  over  those  sad  memorials  of  their  fellow-citizens,  a  brother  of  the 
cazique  Guacanahari  arrived.  From  him  Columbus  received  a  particular 
detail  of  what  had  happened  after  his  departure  from  the  island.  The 
familiar  intercourse  of  the  Indians  with  the  Spaniards  tended  gradually  to 
diminish  the  superstitious  veneration  with  which  their  first  appearance  had 
inspired  that  simple  people.  By  their  own  indiscretion  and  ill  conduct,  the 
Spaniards  speedily  effaced  those  favourable  impressions,  and  soon  convinced 
the  natives,  that  they  had  all  the  wants,  and  weaknesses,  and  passions  of 
men.  As  soon  as  the  powerful  restraint  which  the  presence  and  authority 
of  Columbus  imposed  was  withdrawn,  the  garrison  threw  off  all  regard  for 
the  officer  whom  he  had  invested  with  command.  Regardless  of  the 
prudent  instructions  which  he  had  given  them,  every  man  became  inde 
pendent,  and  gratified  his  desires  without  control.  The  gold,  the  women, 
the  provisions  of  the  natives,  were  all  the  prey  of  those  licentious  oppressors 
They  roamed  in  small  parties  over  the  island,  extending  their  rapacity  and 
insolence  to  every  corner  of  it.  Gentle  and  timid  as  the  people  were,  those 
unprovoked  injuries  at  length  exhausted  their  patience,  and  roused  their 
courage.  The  cazique  of  Cibao,  whose  country  the  Spaniards  chiefly 
infested  on  account  of  the  gold  which  it  contained,  surprised  and  cut  off 
several  of  them,  while  they  straggled  in  as  perfect  security  as  if  their 
conduct  had  been  altogether  inoffensive.  He  then  assembled  his  subjects, 
and  surrounding  the  fort,  set  it  on  fire.  Some  of  the  Spaniards  were  killed 
in  defending  it ;  the  rest  perished  in  attempting  to  make  their  escape  by 
crossing  an  arm  of  the  sea.  Guacanahari,  whom  all  their  exactions  had 

*  Oviedo  ap.  Ramus.  iU.  85.          f  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  15. 18.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  7.    Lift 
of  Columbus,  c.  46.  &c.          J  Hist,  de  Cura  de  los  Palacios.  MS. 


AMERICA.  61 

tiot  alienated  from  the  Spaniards,  took  arms  in  their  behalf,  and,  in  endea 
vouring  to  protect  them,  had  received  a  wound,  by  which  he  was  still 

£.          J    * 

confined. 

Though  this  account  was  far  from  removing  the  suspicions  which  the 
Spaniards  entertained  with  respect  to  the  fidelity  of  Guacanahari,  Columbus 
perceived  so  clearly  that  this  was  not  a  proper  juncture  for  inquiring  into  his 
conduct  with  scrupulous  accuracy,  that  he  rejected  the  advice  of  several  of 
his  officers,  who  urged  him  to  seize  the  pefson  of  that  Prince,  and  to  revenge 
the  death  of  their  countrymen  by  attacking  his  subjects  He  represented 
to  them  the  necessity  of  securing  the  friendship  of  some  potentate  of  the 
country,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  settlement  which  they  intended,  and  the 
danger  of  driving  the  natives  to  unite  in  some  desperate  attempt  against 
them,  by  such  an  ill-timed  and  unavailing,  exercise  of  rigour.  Instead  of 
wasting  his  time  in  punishing  past  wrongs,  he  took  precautions  for  preventing 
any  future  injury.  With  this  view,  he  made  choice  of  a  situation  more 
healthy  and  commodious  than  that  of  Navidad.  He  traced  out  the  plan  of 
a  town  in  a  large  plain  near  a  spacious  bay,  and  obliging  every  person  to 
put  his  hand  to  a  work  on  which  their  common  safety  depended,  the  houses 
arid  ramparts  were  soon  so  far  advanced,  by  their  united  labour,  as  to  afford 
them  shelter  and  security.  This  rising  city,  the  first  chat  the  Europeans 
founded  in  the  New  World,  he  named  Isabella,  in  honour  of  his  patroness 
the  Queen  of  Castile. t 

In  carrying  on  this  necessary  work,  Columbus  had  not  only  to  sustain  all 
the  hardships,  and  to  encounter  all  the  difficulties,  to  which  infant  colonies 
are  exposed  when  they  settle  in  an  uncultivated  country,  but  he  had  to 
contend  with  what  was  more  insuperable,  the  laziness,  the  impatience,  and 
mutinous  disposition  of  his  followers.  By  the  enervating  influence  of  a  hot 
climate,  the  natural  inactivity  of  the  Spaniards  seemed  to  increase.  Many 
of  them  were  gentlemen,  unaccustomed  to  the  fatigue  of  bodily  labour, 
and  all  had  engaged  in  the  enterprise  with  the  sanguine  hopes  excited  by 
the  splendid  and  exaggerated  description  of  their  countrymen  who  returned 
from  the  first  voyage,  or  by  the  mistaken  opinion  of  Columbus,  that  the 
country  which  he  had  discovered  was  either  the  Cipango  of  Marco  Polo, 
or  the  Ophir,|  from  which  Solomon  imported  those  precious  commodities 
which  suddenly  diiFused  such  extraordinary  riches  through  his  kingdom. 
But  when,  instead  of  that  golden  harvest  which  they  had  expected  to  reap 
without  toil  or  pains,  the  Spaniards  saw  that  their  prospect  of  wealth  was 
remote  as  well  as  uncertain,  and  that  it  could  not  be  attained  but  by  the 
slow  and  persevering  efforts  of  industry,  the  disappointment  of  those 
chimerical  hopes  occasioned  such  dejection  of  mind  as  bordered  on  despair, 
and  led  to  general  discontent.  In  vain  did  Columbus  endeavour  to  revive 
their  spirits  by  pointing  out  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  exhibiting  the 
specimens  of  gold  daily  brought  in  from  different  parts  of  the  island. 
They  had  not  patience  to  wait  for  the  gradual  returns  which  the  former 
might  yield,  and  the  latter  they  despised  as  scanty  and  inconsiderable. 
The  spirit  of  disaffection  spread,  and  a  conspiracy  was  formed,  which  might 
have  been  fatal  to  Columbus  and  the  colony.  Happily  he  discovered  it ; 
and,  seizing  the  ringleaders,  punished  some  of  them,  sent  others  prisoners 
into  Spain,  whither  he  despatched  twelve  of  the  ships  which  had  served 
as  transports,  with  an  earnest  request  for  a  reinforcement  of  men  and  a  large 
supply  of  provisions.^ 

1494.]  Meanwhile,  in  order  to  banish  that  idleness  which,  by  allowing 
his  people  leisure  to  brood  over  their  disappointment,  nourished  the  spirit 
of  discontent,  Columbus  planned  several  expeditions  into  the  interior  part  of 

*  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  22,  &c.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  7.  9.  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  49, 50.  t  Life 
of  Columbus,  c.  51.  Herrera,  dec,  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  10.  }  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  29.  $  Herrera,  dee. 
I.  lib.  ii.  c.  10, 1L 


68  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

the  country.  He  sent  a  detachment,  under  the  command  of  Alonzo  de 
Ojeda,  a  vigilant  and  enterprising  officer,  to  visit  the  district  of  Cibao,  which 
was  said  to  yield  the  greatest  quantity  of  gold,  and  followed  him  in  person 
with  the  main  body  01  his  troops.  In  this  expedition  he  displayed  all  the 
pomp  of  military  magnificence  that  he  could  exhibit,  in  order  to  strike  the 
imagination  of  tne  natives.-  He  marched  with  colours  flying,  with  martiaJ 
music,  and  with  a  small  body  of  cavalry  that  paraded  sometimes  in  the  front 
and  sometimes  in  the  rear.  As  those  were  the  first  horses  which  appeared 
in  the  New  World,  they  were  objects  of  terror  no  less  than  of  admiration 
to  the  Indians,  who,  having  no  tame  animals  themselves,  were  unacquainted 
with  that  vast  accession  ot  power  which  man  hath  acquired  by  subjecting 
them  to  his  dominion.  They  supposed  them  to  be  rational  creatures.  They 
imagined  that  the  horse  and  the  rider  formed  one  animal,  with  whose  speed 
they  were  astonished,  and  whose  impetuosity  and  strength  they  considered 
as  irresistible.  But  while  Columbus  endeavoured  to  inspire  the  natives 
with  a  dread  of  his  power,  he  did  not  neglect  the  arts  of  gaining  their  love 
and  confidence.  He  adhered  scrupulously  to  the  principles  of  integrity  and 
justice  in  all  his  transactions  with  them,  and  treated  them,  on  every  occasion, 
not  only  with  humanity,  but  with  indulgence.  The  district  of  Cibao 
answered  the  description  given  of  it  by  the  natives.  It  was  mountainous 
and  uncultivated,  but  in  every  river  and  brook  gold  was  gathered  either  in 
dust  or  in  grains,  some  of  which  were  of  considerable  size.  The  Indians  had 
never  opened  any  mines  in  search  of  gold.  To  penetrate  into  the  bowels  of 
the  earth,  and  to  refine  the  rude  ore,  were  operations  too  complicated  and 
laborious  for  their  talents  and  industry,  and  they  had  no  such  high  value  for 
gold  as  to  put  their  ingenuity  and  invention  upon  the  stretch  in  order  to 
obtain  it.*  The  small  quantity  of  that  precious  metal  which  they  possessed, 
was  either  picked  up  in  the  beds  of  the  rivers,  or  washed  from  the  mountains 
by  the  heavy  rains  that  fall  within  the  tropics.  But  from  those  indications, 
the  Spaniards  could  no  longer  doubt  that  the  country  contained  rich  treasures 
in  its  bowels,  of  which  they  hoped  soon  to  be  masters.!  In  order  to  secure 
the  command  of  this  valuable  province,  Columbus  erected  a  small  fort,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  Thomas,  by  way  of  ridicule  upon  some  of 
his  incredulous  followers,  who  would  not  believe  that  the  country  produced 
gold,  until  they  saw  it  with  their  own  eyes,  and  touched  it  with  their 
hands.J 

The  account  of  those  promising  appearances  of  wealth  in  the  country  of 
Cibao  came  very  seasonably  to  comfort  the  desponding  colony,  which  was 
affected  with  distresses  of  various  kinds.  The  stock  of  provisions  which 
had  been  brought  from  Europe  was  mostly  consumed  ;  what  remained  was 
so  much  corrupted  by  the  heat  and  moisture  of  the  climate  as  to  be  almost 
unfit  for  use  ;  the  natives  cultivated  so  small  a  portion  of  ground,  and  with 
so  little  skill,  that  it  hardly  yielded  what  was  sufficient  for  their  own  sub 
sistence  ;  the  Spaniards  at  Isabella  had  hitherto  neither  time  nor  leisure  to  clear 
the  soil,  so  as  to  reap  any  considerable  fruits  of  their  own  industry.  On  all 
these  accounts,  they  became  afraid  of  perishing  with  hunger,  and  were 
reduced  already  to  a  scanty  allowance.  At  the  same  time,  the  diseases 
predominant  in  the  torrid  zone,  and  which  rage  chiefly  in  those  uncultivated 
countries  where  the  hand  of  industry  has  not  opened  the  woods,  drained  the 
marshes,  and  confined  the  rivers  within  a  certain  channel,  began  to  spread 
among  them.  Alarmed  at  the  violence  and  unusual  symptoms  of  those 
maladies,  they  exclaimed  against  Columbus  and  his  companions  in  the 
former  voyage,  who,  by  their  splendid  but  deceitful  descriptions  of  Hispa- 
niola,  had  allured  them  to  quit  Spain  for  a  barbarous  uncultivated  land, 
where  they  must  either  be  cut  off"  by  famine,  or  die  of  unknown  distempers. 

*  Oviedo,  lib.  ii.  p.  90.  A.  f  P-  Martyr,  dec.  p.  32.  }  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  12.  Life 
of  Columbus,  c.  52. 


AMERICA.  69 

Several  of  the  officers  and  persons  of  note,  instead  of  checking,  joined  in 
those  seditious  complaints.  Father  Boyi,  the  apostolical  vicar,  was  one  of 
the  most  turbulent  and  outrageous.  It  required  all  the  authority  and  address 
of  Columbus  to  re-establish  subordination  and  tranquillity  in  the  colony. 
Threats  and  promises  were  alternately  employed  for  this  purpose  ;  but 
nothing  contributed  more  to  soothe  the  malecontents  than  the  prospect  of 
finding,  in  the  mines  of  Cibao,  such  a  rich  store  of  treasure  as  would  be  a 
recompense  for  all  their  sufferings,  and  efface  the  memory  of  former 
disappointments. 

When,  by  his  unwearied  endeavours,  concord  and  order  were  so  far 
restored  that  he  could  venture  to  leave  the  island,  Columbus  resolved  to 
pursue  his  discoveries,  that  he  might  be  able  to  ascertain  whether  those  new 
countries  with  which  he  had  opened  a  communication  were  connected  with 
any  region  of  the  earth  already  known,  or  whether  they  were  to  be  con 
sidered  as  a  separate  portion  of  the  globe  hitherto  unvisited.  He  appointed 
his  brother  Don  Diego,  with  the  assistance  of  a  council  of  officers,  to  govern 
the  island  in  his  absence  ;  and  gave  the  command  of  a  body  of  soldiers  to 
Don  Pedro  Margarita,  with  which  he  was  to  visit  the  different  parts  of  the 
island,  and  endeavour  to  establish  the  authority  of  the  Spaniards  among  the 
inhabitants.  Having  left  them  very  particular  instructions  with  respect  to 
their  conduct,  he  weighed  anchor  on  the  24th  of  April,  with  one  ship  and 
two  small  barks  under  his  command.  During  a  tedious  voyage  of  full  five 
months,  he  had  a  trial  of  almost  all  the  numerous  hardships  to  which 
persons  of  his  profession  are  exposed,  without  making  any  discovery  ol 
importance,  except  the  island  of  Jamaica.  As  he  ranged  along  the  southern 
coast  of  Cuba  [l9],he  was  entangled  in  a  labyrinth  formed  by  an  incredible 
number  of  small  islands,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Queen's  Garden. 
In  this  unknown  course,  among  rocks  and  shelves,  he  was  retarded  by  con 
trary  winds,  assaulted  with  furious  storms,  and  alarmed  with  the  terrible 
thunder  and  lightning  which  is  often  almost  incessant  between  the  tropics.  At 
length  his  provisions  fell  short ;  his  crew,  exhausted  with  fatigue  as  well  as 
hunger,  murmured  and  threatened,  and  were  ready  to  proceed  to  the  most 
desperate  extremities  against  him.  Beset  with  danger  in  such  various  forms, 
he  was  obliged  to  keep  continual  watch,  to  observe  every  occurrence  with 
his  own  eyes,  to  issue  every  order,  and  to  superintend  the  execution  of  it. 
On  no  occasion  was  the  extent  of  his  skill  and  experience  as  a  navigator  so 
much  tried.  To  these  the  squadron  owed  its  safety.  But  this  unrernitted 
fatigue  of  body,  and  intense  application  of  mind,  overpowering  his  consti 
tution,  though  naturally  vigorous  and  robust,  brought  on  a  feverish  disorder, 
which  terminated  in  a  lethargy,  that  deprived  him  of  sense  and  memory, 
and  had  almost  proved  fatal  to  his  life.* 

But,  on  his  return  to  Hispanipla  [Sept.  27],  the  sudden  emotion  of  joy 
which  he  felt  upon  meeting  with  his  brother  Bartholomew  at  Isabella, 
occasioned  such  a  flow  of  spirits  as  contributed  greatly  to  his  recovery. 
It  was  now  thirteen  years  since  the  two  brothers,  whom  similarity  of  talents 
united  in  close  friendship,  had  separated  from  each  other,  and  during  that 
long  period  there  had  been  no  intercourse  between  them.  Bartholomew, 
after  finishing  his  negotiation  in  the  court  of  England,  had  set  out  for  Spain 
by  the  way  of  France.  At  Paris  he  received  an  account  of  the  extraordinary 
discoveries  which  his  brother  had  made  in  his  first  voyage,  and  that  he  was 
then  preparing  to  embark  on  a  second  expedition.  Though  this  naturally 
induced  him  to  pursue  his  journey  with  the  utmost  despatch,  the  admiral 
had  sailed  for  Hispaniola  before  he  reached  Spain.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
received  him  with  the  respect  due  to  the  nearest  kinsman  of  a  person  whose 
merit  and  services  rendered  him  so  conspicuous ;  and  as  they  knew  what 
consolation  his  presence  would  afford  to  his  brother,  they  persuaded  him  to 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  54,  &c.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  13, 14     P.  Martyr,  dec.  I.  p.  34,  fee. 


70  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IL 

take  the  command  of  three  ships,  which  they  had  appointed  to  carry 
provisions  to  the  colony  at  Isabella.* 

He  could  not  have  arrived  at  anv  juncture  when  Columbus  stood  more 
in  need  of  a  friend  capable  of  assisting  him  with  his  counselor  of  dividing 
with  him  the  cares  and  burdens  of  government.  For  although  the  provisions 
now  brought  from  Europe  afforded  a  temporary  relief  to  the  Spaniards  from 
the  calamities  of  famine,  the  supply  was  not  in  such  quantity  as  to  support 
them  long,  and  the  island  did  not  hitherto  yield  what  was  sufficient  for  their 
sustenance.  They  were  threatened  with  another  danger,  still  more  formida 
ble  than  the  return  of  scarcity,  and  which  demanded  more  immediate 
attention.  No  sooner  did  Colurnbus  leave  the  island  on  his  voyage  ot 
discovery,  than  the  soldiers  under  Margarita,  as  if  they  had  been  set  free 
from  discipline  and  subordination,  scorned  all  restraint.  Instead  of  con 
forming  to  the  prudent  instructions  of  Columbus,  they  dispersed  in  straggling 
parties  over  the  island,  lived  at  discretion  upon  the  natives,  wasted  their 
provisions,  seized  their  women,  and  treated  that  inoffensive  race  with  all  the 
insolence  of  military  oppression.! 

As  long  as  the  Indians  had  any  prospect  that  their  sufferings  might  come 
to  a  period  by  the  voluntary  departure  of  the  invaders,  they  submitted  in 
silence,  and  dissembled  their  sorrow  ;  but  they  now  perceived  that  the  yoke 
would  be  as  permanent  as  it  was  intolerable.  The  Spaniards  had  built  a 
town,  and  surrounded  it  with  ramparts.  They  had  erected  forts  in  different 
places.  They  had  enclosed  and  sown  several  fields.  It  was  apparent 
that  they  came  not  to  visit  the  country,  but  to  settle  in  it.  Though  the 
number  of  those  strangers  was  inconsiderable,  the  state  of  cultivation  among 
these  rude  people  was  so  imperfect,  and  in  such  exact  proportion  to  their 
own  consumption,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  they  could  afford  subsistence 
to  their  new  guests.  Their  own  mode  of  life  was  so  indolent  and  inactive, 
the  warmth  of  the  climate  so  enervating,  the  constitution  of  their  bodies 
naturally  so  feeble,  and  so  unaccustomed  to  the  laborious  exertions  01 
industry,  that  they  were  satisfied  with  a  proportion  of  food  amazingly  small. 
A  handful  of  maize,  or  a  little  of  the  insipid  bread  made  of  the  cassada- 
root,  was  sufficient  to  support  men  whose  strength  and  spirits  were  not 
exhausted  by  any  vigorous  efforts  either  of  body  or  mind.  The  Spaniards, 
though  the  most  abstemious  of  all  the  European  nations,  appeared  to  them 
excessively  voracious.  One  Spaniard  consumed  as  much  as  several  Indians. 
This  keenness  of  appetite  surprised  them  so  much,  and  seemed  to  be  so 
insatiable,  that  they  supposed  the  Spaniards  had  left  their  own  country 
because  it  did  not  produce  as  much  as  was  requisite  to  gratify  their  immo 
derate  desire  of  food,  and  had  come  among  them  in  quest  of  nourishment.^ 
Self-preservation  prompted  them  to  wish  for  the  departure  of  guests  who 
wasted  so  fast  their  slender  stock  of  provisions.  The  injuries  which  they 
suffered  added  to  their  impatience  for  this  event.  They  had  long  expected 
that  the  Spaniards  would  retire  of  their  own  accord.  They  now  perceived 
that,  in  order  to  avert  the  destruction  with  which  they  were  threatened,  either 
by  the  slow  consumption  of  famine,  or  by  the  violence  of  their  oppressors,  it 
was  necessary  to  assume  courage,  to  attack  those  formidable  invaders  with 
united  force,  and  drive  them  from  the  settlements  of  which  they  had 
violently  taken  possession. 

Such  were  the  sentiments  which  universally  prevailed  among  the  Indians, 
when  Columbus  returned  to  Isabella.  Inflamed,  by  the  unprovoked  out 
rages  of  the  Spaniards,  with  a  degree  of  rage  of  which  their  gentle  natures, 
formed  to  suffer  and  submit,  seemed  hardly  susceptible,  they  waited  only 
for  a  signal  from  their  leaders  to  fall  upon  the  colony.  Some  of  the 
caziques  had  already  surprised  and  cut  off  several  stragglers.  The  dread 
of  this  impending  danger  united  the  Spaniards,  and  re-established  the 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  15.         t  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  47.         $  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  17. 


AMERICA.  71 

authority  of  Columbus,  as  they  saw  no  prospect  of  safety  but  in  committing 
themselves  to  his  prudent  guidance.  It  was  now  necessary  to  have  recourse 
to  arms,  the  employing  of  which  against  the  Indians  Columbus  had  hitherto 
avoided  with  the  greatest  solicitude.  Unequal  as  the  conflict  may  seem, 
between  the  naked  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  armed  with  clubs,  sticks 
hardened  in  the  fire,  wooden  swords,  and  arrows  pointed  with  bones  or  flints, 
and  troops  accustomed  to  the  discipline,  and  provided  with  the  instruments 
of  destruction  known  in  the  European  art  of  war,  the  situation  of  the 
Spaniards  was  far  from  being  exempt  from  danger.  The  vast  superiority 
of  the  natives  in  number  compensated  many  defects.  A  handful  of  men 
was  about  to  encounter  a  whole  nation.  One  adverse  event,  or  even  any 
unforeseen  delay  in  determining  the  fate  of  the  war,  might  prove  fatal  to  the 
Spaniards.  Conscious  that  success  depended  on  the  vigour  and  rapidity  ot 
his  operations,  Columbus  instantly  assembled  his  forces.  They  were 
reduced  to  a  very  small  number.  Diseases,  engendered  by  the  warmth 
and  humidity  of  the  country,  or  occasioned  by  their  own  licentiousness,  had 
raged  among  them  with  much  violence  ;  experience  had  not  yet  taught  them 
the  art  either  of  curing  these,  or  the  precautions  requisite  for  guarding  against 
them  ;  two-thirds  of  the  original  adventurers  were  dead,  and  many  ot 
those  who  survived  were  incapable  of  service.*  The  body  which  took 
the  field  [March  24,,  1495]  consisted  only  of  two  hundred  foot,  twenty 
horse,  and  twenty  large  dogs ;  and  how  strange  soever  it  may  seem  to 
mention  the  last  as  composing  part  of  a  military  force,  they  were  not  perhaps 
the  least  formidable  and  destructive  of  the  whole,  when  employed  against 
naked  and  timid  Indians.  All  the  caziques  of  the  island,  Guacanahari 
excepted,  who  retained  an  inviolable  attachment  to  the  Spaniards,  were  in 
arms  to  oppose  Columbus,  with  forces  amounting,  if  we  may  believe  the 
Spanish  historians,  to  a  hundred  thousand  men.  Instead  of  attempting  to 
draw  the  Spaniards  into  the  fastnesses  of  the  woods  and  mountains,  they 
were  so  imprudent  as  to  take  their  station  in  the  Vega  Real,  the  most  open 
plain  in  the  country.  Columbus  did  not  allow  them  time  to  perceive  their 
error,  or  to  alter  their  position.  He  attacked  them  during  the  night,  when 
undisciplined  troops  are  least  capable  of  acting  with  union  and  concert,  and 
obtained  an  easy  and  bloodless  victory.  The  consternation  with  which  the 
Indians  were  filled  by  the  noise  and  havoc  made  by  the  fire  arms,  by  the 
impetuous  force  of  the  cavalry,  and  the  fierce  onset  of  the  dogs  was  so 
great,  that  they  threw  down  their  weapons,  and  fled  without  attempting 
resistance.  M'any  were  slain  ;  more  were  taken  prisoners,  and  reduced  to 
servitude  [20]  ;  and  so  thoroughly  were  the  rest  intimidated,  that  from  that 
moment  they  abandoned  themselves  to  despair,  relinquishing  all  thoughts 
of  contending  with  aggressors  whom  they  deemed  invincible. 

Columbus  employed  several  months  in  marching  through  the  island,  and 
in  subjecting  it  to  the  Spanish  government,  without  meeting  with  any 
opposition.  He  imposed  a  tribute  upon  all  the  inhabitants  above  the  age  of 
fourteen.  Each  person  who  lived  in  those  districts  where  gold  was  found, 
was  obliged  to  pay  quarterly  as  much  gold  dust  as  filled  a  hawk's  bell ; 
from  those  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  twenty-five  pounds  of  cotton  were 
demanded.  This  was  the  first  regular  taxation  of  the  Indians,  and  served 
as  a  precedent  for  exactions  still  more  intolerable.  Such  an  imposition  was 
extremely  contrary  to  those  maxims  which  Columbus  had  hitherto  inculcated 
with  respect  to  the  mode  of  treating  them.  But  intrigues  were  carrying 
on  in  the  court  of  Spain  at  this  juncture,  in  order  to  undermine  his  power, 
and  discredit  his  operations,  which  constrained  him  to  depart  from  his  own 
system  of  administration.  Several  unfavourable  accounts  of  his  conduct,  as 
well  as  of  the  countries  discovered  by  him,  had  been  transmitted  to  Spain. 
Margarita  and  Father  Boyl  were  now  at  court,  and  in  order  to  justify  their 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  61. 


72  HISTORY   OF  [Boon  II. 

own  conduct,  or  to  gratify  their  resentment,  watched  with  malevolent 
attention  for  every  opportunity  of  spreading  insinuations  to  his  detriment. 
Many  of  the  courtiers  viewed  his  growing  reputation  and  power  with 
envious  eyes.  Fonseca,  archdeacon  of  Seville,  who  was  intrusted  with  the 
chief  direction  of  Indian  affairs,  had  conceived  such  an  unfavourable  opinion 
of  Columbus,  for  some  reason  which  the  contemporary  writers  have  not 
mentioned,  that  he  listened  with  partiality  to  every  invective  against  him.  • 
It  was  not  easy  for  an  unfriended  stranger,  unpractised  in  courtly  arts,  to 
counteract  the  machinations  of  so  many  enemies.  Columbus  saw  that  there 
was  but  one  method  of  supporting  his  own  credit,  and  of  silencing  all  his 
adversaries.  He  must  produce  such  a  quantity  of  gold  as  would  not  only 
justify  what  he  had  reported  with  respect  to  the  richness  of  the  country,  but 
encourage  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to  persevere  in  prosecuting  his  plans. 
The  necessity  of  obtaining  it  forced  him  not  only  to  impose  this  heavy  tax 
upon  the  Indians,  but  to  exact  payment  of  it  with  extreme  rigour ;  and  may 
be  pleaded  in  excuse  for  his  deviating  on  this  occasion  from  the  mildness 
and  humanity  with  which  he  uniformly  treated  that  unhappy  people.* 

The  labour,  attention,  and  foresight  which  the  Indians  were  obliged  to 
employ  in  procuring  the  tribute  demanded  of  them,  appeared  the  most 
intolerable  of  all  evils,  to  men  accustomed  to  pass  their  days  in  a  careless 
improvident  indolence.  They  were  incapable  of  such  a  regular  and 
persevering  exertion  of  industry,  and  felt  it  such  a  grievous  restraint  upon 
their  liberty,  that  they  had  recourse  to  an  expedient  for  obtaining  deliverance 
from  this  yoke,  which  demonstrates  the  excess  of  their  impatience  and 
despair.  They  formed  a  scheme  of  starving  those  oppressors  whom  they 
durst  not  attempt  to  expel  j  and  from  the  opinion  which  they  entertained 
with  respect  to  the  voracious  appetite  of  the  Spaniards,  they  concluded 
the  execution  of  it  to  be  very  practicable.  With  this  view  they  suspended 
all  the  operations  of  agriculture  ;  they  sowed  no  maize,  they  pulled  up  the 
roots  of  the  manioc  or  cassada  which  were  planted,  and,  retiring  to  the  most 
inaccessible  parts  of  the  mountains,  left  the  uncultivated  plains  to  their 
enemies.  This  desperate  resolution  produced  in  some  degree  the  effects 
which  they  expected.  The  Spaniards  were  reduced  to  extreme  want ; 
but  they  received  such  seasonable  supplies  of  provisions  from  Europe,  and 
found  so  many  resources  in  their  own  ingenuity  and  industry,  that  they 
suffered  no  great  loss  of  men.  The  wretched  Indians  were  the  victims  of 
their  own  ill-concerted  policy.  A  great  multitude  of  people,  shut  up  in  the 
mountainous  or  wooded  part  of  the  country,  without  any  food  but  the  spon 
taneous  productions  of  the  earth,  soon  felt  the  utmost  distresses  of  famine. 
This  brought  on  contagious  diseases ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  months 
more  than  a  third  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  perished,  after 
experiencing  misery  in  all  its  various  forms.! 

But  while  Columbus  was  establishing  the  foundations  of  the  Spanish 
grandeur  in  the  New  World,  his  enemies  laboured  with  unwearied  assiduity 
to  deprive  him  of  the  glory  and  rewards  which,  by  his  services  and 
sufferings,  he  was  entitled  to  enjoy.  The  hardships  unavoidable  in  a  new 
settlement,  the  calamities  occasioned  by  an  unhealthy  climate,  the  disasters 
attending  a  voyage  in  unknown  seas,  were  all  represented  as  the  effects  of 
his  restless  and  inconsiderate  ambition.  His  prudent  attention  to  preserve 
discipline  and  subordination  was  denominated  excess  of  rigour;  the 
punishments  which  he  inflicted  upon  the  mutinous  and  disorderly  were 
imputed  to  cruelty.  These  accusations  gained  such  credit  in  a  jealous 
court,  that  a  commissioner  was  appointed  to  repair  to  Hispaniola,  and  to 
inspect  into  the  conduct  of  Columbus.  By  the  recommendation  of  his 
enemies,  Aguado,  a  groom  of  the  bedchamber,  was  the  person  to  whom 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  17.  t  Hen-era,  dec.  1.  lib.  xi.  c.  18.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  61 

Oviedo,  lib.  lii.  p.  93.    D.  Benzon  Higt.  Novi  Orbiu,  lib.  i.  c.  9.    P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  48. 


AMERICA.  73 

ihis  important  trust  was  committed.  But  in  this  choice  they  seem  to  have 
been  more  influenced  by  the  obsequious  attachment  of  the  man  to  their 
interest,  than  by  his  capacity  for  the  station.  Puffed  up  with  such  sudden 
elevation,  Aguado  displayed,  in  the  exercise  of  this  office,  all  the  frivolous 
self-importance,  and  acted  with  all  the  disgusting  insolence  which  are  natural 
to  little  minds,  when  raised  to  unexpected  dignity,  or  employed  in  functions 
to  which  they  are  not  equal.  By  listening  with  eagerness  to  every  accusa 
tion  against  Columbus,  and  encouraging  not  only  the  malecontent  Spaniards, 
but  even  the  Indians,  to  produce  their  grievances,  real  or  imaginary,  he 
fomented  the  spirit  of  dissension  in  the  island,  without  establishing  any 
regulations  of  public  utility,  or  that  tended  .to  redress  the  many  wrongs, 
with  tne  odium  of  which  he  wished  to  load  the  admiral's  administration. 
As  Columbus  felt  sensibly  how  humiliating  his  situation  must  be,  if  he 
should  remain  in  the  country  while  such  a  partial  inspector  observed  his 
motions  and  controlled  his  jurisdiction,  he  took  the  resolution  of  returning  to 
Spain,  in  order  to  lay  a  full  account  of  all  his  transactions,  particularly  with 
respect  to  the  points  in  dispute  between  him  and  his  adversaries,  before 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  from  whose  justice  and  discernment  he  expected  an 
equal  and  a  favourable  decision  [1496].  He  committed  the  administration 
01  affairs,  during  his  absence,  to  Don  Bartholomew,  his  brother,  with  the 
title  of  Adelantado,  or  Lieutenant-Governor.  By  a  choice  less  fortunate, 
and  which  proved  the  source  of  many  calamities  to  the  colony,  he  appointed 
Francis  Roldan  chief  justice,  with  very  extensive  powers.* 

In  returning  to  Europe,  Columbus  held  a  course  different  from  that  which 
he  had  taken  in  his  former  voyage.  He  steered  almost  due  east  from 
Hispaniola,  in  the  parallel  of  twenty-two  degrees  of  latitude ;  as  experience 
had  not  yet  discovered  the  more  certain  and  expeditious  method  of  stretching 
to  the  north,  in  order  to  fall  in  with  the  south-west  winds.  By  this  ill 
advised  choice,  which,  in  the  infancy  of  navigation  between  the  New  and 
Old  Worlds,  can  hardly  be  imputed  to  the  admiral  as  a  defect  in  naval  skill, 
he  was  exposed  to  infinite  fatigue  and  danger,  in  a  perpetual  struggle  with 
the  trade  winds,  which  blow  without  variation  from  the  east  between  the 
tropics.  Notwithstanding  the  almost  insuperable  difficulties  of  such  a 
navigation,  he  persisted  in  his  course  with  his  usual  patience  and  firmness, 
but  made  so  little  way  that  he  was  three  months  without  seeing  land.  At 
length  his  provisions  "began  to  fail,  the  crew  was  reduced  to  the  scanty 
allowance  of  six  ounces  of  bread  a  day  for  each  person.  The  admiral  fared 
no  better  than  the  meanest  sailor.  JBut,  even  in  this  extreme  distress,  he 
retained  the  humanity  which  distinguishes  his  character,  and  refused  to 
comply  with  the  earnest  solicitations  of  his  crew,  some  of  whom  proposed 
to  feed  upon  the  Indian  prisoners  whom  they  were  carrying  over,  and  others 
insisted  to  throw  them  overboard,  in  order  to  lessen  the  consumption  of 
their  small  stock.  He  represented  that  they  were  human  beings,  reduced 
by  a  common  calamity  to  the  same  condition  with  themselves,  and  entitled 
to  share  an  equal  fate.  His  authority  and  remonstrances  dissipated  those 
wild  ideas  suggested  by  despair.  Nor  had  they  time  to  recur;  as  he  came 
soon  within  sight  of  the  coast  of  Spain,  when  all  their  fears  and  sufferings 
ended.f 

Columbus  appeared  at  court  with  the  modest  but  determined  confidence 
of  a  man  conscious  not  only  of  integrity,  but  of  having  performed  great 
services.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  ashamed  of  their  own  facility  in  lending 
too  favourable  an  ear  to  frivolous  or  unfounded  accusations,  received  him 
with  such  distinguished  marks  of  respect  as  covered  his  enemies  with 
shame.  Their  censures  and  calumnies  were  no  more  heard  of  at  that 
juncture.  The  gold,  the  pearls,  the  cotton,  and  other  commodities  of  value 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  18.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.  |  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.    Life  of 

Columbus,  c.  64. 

VOL.  I.— 10 


74  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  11. 

which  Columbus  produced,  seemed  fully  to  refute  what  the  malecontents 
had  propagated  with  respect  to  the  poverty  of  the  country.  By  reducing 
the  Indians  to  obedience,  and  imposing  a  regular  tax  upon  them,  he  had 
secured  to  Spain  a  large  accession  of  new  subjects,  and  the  establishment 
of  a  revenue  that  promised  to  be  considerable.  By  the  mines  which  he  had 
found  out  and  examined,  a  source  of  wealth  still  more  copious  was  opened. 
Great  and  unexpected  as  those  advantages  were,  Columbus  represented 
them  only  as  preludes  to  future  acquisitions,  and  as  the  earnest  of  more 
important  discoveries,  which  he  still  meditated,  and  to  which  those  he  had 
already  made  would  conduct  him  with  ease  and  certainty.* 

The  attentive  consideration  of  all  these  circumstances  made  "such  an 
impression,  not  only  upon  Isabella,  who  was  flattered  with  the  idea  of  being 
the  patroness  of  all  Columbus 's  enterprises,  but  even  upon  Ferdinand,  who 
having  originally  expressed  his  disapprobation  of  his  schemes,  was  still  apt 
to  doubt  of  their  success,  that  they  resolved  to  supply  the  colony  of 
Hispaniola  with  every  thing  which  could  render  it  a  permanent  establish 
ment,  and  to  furnish  Columbus  with  such  a  fleet,  that  he  might  proceed  to 
search  for  those  new  countries  of  .whose  existence  he  seemed  to  be  confident. 
The  measures  most  proper  for  accomplishing  both  these  designs  were 
concerted  with  Columbus.  Discovery  had  been  the  sole  object  of  the  first 
voyage  to  the  New  World  ;  and  though,  in  the  second,  settlement  had  been 
proposed,  the  precautions  taken  for  that  purpose  had  either  been  insuffi 
cient,  or  were  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  mutinous  spirit  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  the  unforeseen  calamities  arising  from  various  causes.  Now  a  plan  was 
to  be  formed  of  a  regular  colony,  that  might  serve  as  a  model  in  all  future 
establishments.  Every  particular  was  considered  with  attention,  and  the 
whole  arranged  with  a  scrupulous  accuracy.  The  precise  number  of 
adventurers  who  should  be  permitted  to  embark  was  fixed.  They  were 
to  be  of  different  ranks  and  professions,  and  the  proportion  of  each  was 
established  according  to  their  usefulness  arid  the  wants  of  the  colony.  A 
suitable  number  of  women  were  to  be  chosen  to  accompany  these  new 
settlers.  As  it  was  the  first  object  to  raise  provisions  in  a  country  where 
scarcity  of  food  had  been  the  occasion  of  so  much  distress,  a  considerable 
body  of  husbandmen  was  to  be  carried  over.  As  the  Spaniards  had  then 
no  conception  of  deriving  any  benefit  from  those  productions  of  the  New 
World  which  have  since  yielded  such  large  returns  of  wealth  to  Europe, 
but  had  formed  magnificent  ideas,  and  entertained  sanguine  hopes  with 
respect  to  the  riches  contained  in  the  mines  which  had  been  discovered,  a 
band  of  workmen,  skilled  in  the  various  arts  employed  in  digging  and 
refining  the  precious  metals,  was  provided.  All  these  emigrants  were  to 
receive  pay  and  subsistence  for  some  years,  at  the  public  expense.f 

Thus  far  the  regulations  were  prudent,  and  well  adapted  to  the  end  in 
view.  But  as  it  was  foreseen  that  few  Would  engage  voluntarily  to  settle 
in  a  country  whose  noxious  climate  had  been  fatal  to  so  many  of  their 
countrymen,  Columbus  proposed  to  transport  to  Hispaniola  such  malefactors 
as  haa  been  convicted  of  crimes  which,  though  capital,  were  of  a  less 
atrocious  nature ;  and  that  for  the  future  a  certain  proportion  of  the  offenders 
usually  sent  to  the  galleys,  should  be  condemned  to  labour  in  the  mines 
which  were  to  be  opened.  This  advice,  given  without  due  reflection,  was 
as  inconsiderately  adopted.  The  prisons  of  Spain  were  drained,  in  order 
to  collect  members  for  the  intended  colony  ;  and  the  judges  empowered  to 
try  criminals  were  instructed  to  recruit  it  by  their  future  sentences.  It  was 
not,  however,  with  such  materials  that  the  foundations  of  a  society,  destined 
to  be  permanent,  should  be  laid.  Industry,  sobriety,  patience,  and  mutual 
confidence,  are  indispensably  requisite  in  an  infant  settlement,  where  purity 
of  morals  must  contribute  more  towards  establishing  order  than  the  operation 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  65.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.  t  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  2. 


AMERICA.  75 

or  authority  of  laws.  But  when  such  a  mixture  0f  what  is  corrupt  is 
admitted  into  the  original  constitution  of  the  political  body,  the  vices  of 
those  unsound  and  incurable  members  will  probably  infect  the  whole,  and 
must  certainly  be  productive  of  violent  and  unhappy  effects.  This  the 
Spaniards  fatally  experienced;  and  the  other  European  nations  having 
successively  imitated  the  practice  of  Spain  in  this  particular,  pernicious 
consequences  have  followed  in  their  settlements,  which  can  be  imputed  to 
no  other  cause.* 

Though  Columbus  obtained,  with  great  facility  and  despatch,  the  royal 
approbation  of  every  measure  and  regulation  that  he  proposed,  his  endeavours 
to  carry  them  into  execution  were  so  long  retarded,  as  must  have  tired  out 
the  patience  of  any  man  less  accustomed  to  encounter  and  to  surmount 
difficulties.  Those  delays  were  occasioned  partly  by  that  tedious  formality 
and  spirit  of  procrastination,  with  which  the  Spaniards  conduct  business, 
and  partly  by  the  exhausted  state  of  the  treasury,  which  was  drained  by  the 
expense  of  celebrating  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella's  only  son 
with  Margaret  of  Austria,  and  that  of  Joanna,  their  second  daughter,  with 
Philip  Archduke  of  Austria  ;|  but  must  be  chiefly  imputed  to  the  malicious 
arts  of  Columbus's  enemies.  Astonished  at  the  reception  which  he  met 
with  upon  his  return,  and  overawed  by  his  presence,  they  gave  way,  for 
some  time,  to  a  tide  of  favour  too  strong  for  them  to  oppose.  Their  enmity, 
however,  was  too  inveterate  to  remain  long  inactive.  They  resumed  their 
operations  ;  and  by  the  assistance  of  Fonseca,  the  minister  for  Indian  affairs, 
who  was  now  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Badajos,  they  threw  in  so  many 
obstacles  to  protract  the  preparations  for  Columbus's  expedition,  that  a  year 
elapsedj  before  he  could  procure  two  ships  to  carry  over  a  part  of  the 
supplies  destined  for  the  colony,  and  almost  two  years  were  spent  before 
the  small  squadron  was  equipped,  of  which  he  himself  was  to  take  the 
command.^ 

1498.]  This  squadron  consisted  of  six  ships  only,  of  no  great  burden,  and 
but  indifferently  provided  for  a  long  or  dangerous  navigation.  The  voyage 
which  he  now  meditated  was  in  a  course  different  from  any  he  had  under 
taken.  As  he  was  fully  persuaded  that  the  fertile  regions  of  India  lay  to  the 
south-west  of  those  countries  which  he  had  discovered,  he  proposed,  as  the 
most  certain  method  of  finding  out  these,  to  stand  directly  south  from  the 
Canary  or  Cape  de  Verd  islands,  until  he  came  under  the  equinoctial  line, 
and  then  to  stretch  to  the  west  before  the  favourable  wind  for  such  a  course, 
which  blows  invariably  between  the  tropics.  With  this  idea  he  set  sail 
[May  30],  and  touched  first  at  the  Canary,  and  then  at  the  Cape  de  Verd 
islands  [July  4],  From  the  former  he  despatched  three  of  his  ships  with  a 
supply  of  provisions  for  the  colony  in  Hispaniola ;  with  the  other  three,  he 
continued  his  voyage  towards  the  south.  No  remarkable  occurrence 
happened  until  they  arrived  within  five  degrees  of  the  line  [July  19], 
There  they  were  becalmed,  and  at  the  same  time  the  heat  became  so 
excessive  that  many  of  their  wine  casks  burst,  the  liquors  in  others  soured, 
and  their  provisions  corrupted.il  The  Spaniards,  who  had  never  ventured 
so  far  to  the  south,  were  afraid  that  the  ships  would  take  fire,  and  began  to 
apprehend  the  reality  of  what  the  ancients  had  taught  concerning  the 
destructive  qualities  of  that  torrid  region  of  the  globe.  They  were 
relieved,  in  some  measure,  from  their  fears  by  a  seasonable  fall  of  rain. 
This,  however,  though  so  heavy  and  unintermitting  that  the  men  could 
hardly  keep  the  deck,  did  not  greatly  mitigate  the  intenseness  of  the  heat. 
The  admiral,  who  with  his  usual  vigilance  had  in  person  directed  every 
operation  from  the  beginning  of  the  voyage,  was  so  much  exhausted  by 


*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  2.    Touron  Hist.  Gener.  de  1'Amerique,  i.  p.  51.  t  P-  Martyr, 

epist.  168.          J  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  65.          §  Herrera.  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  9.          If  P.  Martyr, 
dec.  p.  70. 


76  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

fatigue  and  want  of  sleep,  that  it  brought  on  a  violent  fit  of  the  gout, 
accompanied  with  a  fever.  All  these  circumstances  constrained  him  to 
yield  to  the  importunities  of  his  crew,  and  to  alter  his  course  to  the  north 
west,  in  order  to  reach  some  of  the  Caribbee  islands,  where  he  might  refit, 
and  be  supplied  with  provisions. 

On  the  first  of  August,  the  man  stationed  in  the  round  top  surprised  them 
with  the  joyful  cry  of  Land!  They  stood  toward  it,  and  discovered  a 
considerable  island,  which  the  admiral  called  Trinidad,  a  name  it  still 
retains.  It  lies  on  the  coast  of  Guiana,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco. 
This,  though  a  river  only  of  the  third  or  fourth  magnitude  in  the  New 
World,  far  surpasses  any  of  the  streams  in  our  hemisphere.  It  rolls  towards 
the  ocean  such  a  vast  body  of 'water,  and  rushes  into  it  with  such  impetuous 
force,  that  when  it  meets  the  tide,  which  on  that  coast  rises,  to  an  uncommon 
height,  their  collision  occasions  a  swell  and  agitation  of  the  waves  no  less 
surprising  than  formidable.  In  this  conflict,  the  irresistible  torrent  of  the 
river  so  far  prevails,  that  it  freshens  the  ocean  many  leagues  with  its  flood.* 
Columbus,  before  he  could  conceive  the  danger,  was  entangled  among  those 
adverse  currents  and  tempestuous  waves,  and  it  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  he  escaped  through  a  narrow  strait,  which  appeared  so 
tremendous  that  he  called  it  La  Boca  del  Drago.  As  soon  as  the  conster 
nation  which  this  occasioned  permitted  him  to  reflect  upon  the  nature  of  an 
appearance  so  extraordinary,  he  discerned  in  it  a  source  of  comfort  and 
hope.  He  justly  concluded  that  such  a  vast  body  of  water  as  this  river  con 
tained,  could  not  be  supplied  by  any  island,  but  must  flow  through  a  country 
of  immense  extent,  and  of  consequence  that  he  was  now  arrived  at  that 
continent  which  it  had  long  been  the  object  of  his  wishes  to  discover. 
Full  of  this  idea,  he  stood  to  the  west  along  the  coast  of  those  provinces 
which  are  now  known  by  the  names  of  Paria  and  Cumana.  He  landed 
in  several  places,  and  had  some  intercourse  with  the  people,  who  resembled 
those  of  Hispaniola  in  their  appearance  and  manner  of  life.  They  wore, 
as  ornaments,  small  plates  of  gold,  and  pearls  of  considerable  value,  which 
they  willingly  exchanged  for  European  toys.  They  seemed  to  possess  a 
better  understanding  and  greater  courage  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands. 
The  country  produced  four-footed  animals  of  several  kinds,  as  well  as  a 
great  variety  of  fowls  and  fruits.j  The  admiral  was  so  much  delighted 
with  its  beauty  and  fertility,  that,  with  the  warm  enthusiasm  of  a  discoverer, 
he  imagined'it  to  be  the  Paradise  described  in  Scripture,  which  the  Almighty 
chose  tar  the  residence  of  man  while  he  retained  innocence  that  rendered 
him  worthy  of  such  a  habitation.];  [21]  Thus  Columbus  had  the  glory 
not  only  of  discovering  to  mankind  the  existence  of  a  new  World,  but  made 
considerable  progress  towards  a  perfect  knowledge  of  it ;  and  was  the  first 
man  who  conducted  the  Spaniards  to  that  vast  continent  which  has  been  the 
chief  seat  of  their  empire,  and  the  source  of  their  treasures  in  this  quarter 
of  the  globe.  The  shattered  condition  of  his  ships,  scarcity  of  provisions, 
his  own  infirmities,  together  with  the  impatience  of  his  crew,  prevented 
him  from  pursuing  his  discoveries  any  further,  and  made  it  necessary  to 
bear  away  for  Hispaniola.  In  his  way  thither  he  discovered  the  islands  ot 
Cubagua  and  Margarita,  which  afterwards  became  remarkable  for  their 
pearl-fishery.  When  he  arrived  at  Hispaniola  [Aug.  30],  he  was  wasted 
to  an  extreme  degree,  with  fatigue  and  sickness  ;  but  found  the  affairs  01 
the  colony  in  such  a  situation  as  afforded  him  no*  prospect  of  enjoying  that 
repose  01  which  he  stood  so  much  in  need. 

Many  revolutions  had  happened  in  that  country  dining  his  absence.  His 
brother,  the  adelantado,  in  consequence  of  an  advice  which  the  admiral 
gave  before  his  departure,  had  removed  the  colony  from  Isabella  to  a  more 

*  Gumilla  Hist,  de  1'Orenoque,  torn.  i.  p.  14.  t  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  9—11.    Life  of 

Columbus,  c.  66— T3.          J  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  12.    Gomara,  c.  84. 


AMERICA,  77 

commodious  station,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  St.  Domingo,*  which  was  long  the  most  considerable  European  town  in 
the  New  World,  and  the  seat  of  the  supreme  courts  in  the  Spanish  dominions 
there.  As  soon  as  the  Spaniards  were  established  in  this  new  settlement, 
the  adelantado,  that  they  might  neither  languish  in  inactivity,  nor  have 
leisure  to  form  new  cabals,  marched  into  those  parts  of  the  island  which 
his  brother  had  not  yet  visited  or  reduced  to  obedience.  As  the  people  were 
unable  to  resist,  they  submitted  every  where  to  the  tribute  which  he  im 
posed.  But  they  soon  found  the  burden  to  be  so  intolerable  that,  overawed 
as  they  were  by  the  superior  power  of  their  oppressors,  they  took  arms 
against  them.  Those  insurrections,  however,  were  not  formidable.  A 
conflict  with  timid  and  naked  Indians  was  neither  dangerous  nor  of  doubtful 
issue. 

But  while  the  adelantado  was  employed  against  them  in  the  field,  a 
mutiny  of  an  aspect  far  more  alarming  broke  out  among  the  Spaniards. 
The  ringleader  of  it  was  Francis  Roldan,  whom  Columbus  had  placed  in 
a  station  which  required  him  to  be  the  guardian  of  order  and  tranquillity 
in  the  colony.  A  turbulent  and  inconsiderate  ambition  precipitated  him 
into  this  desperate  measure,  so  unbecoming  his  rank.  The  arguments 
which  he  employed  to  seduce  his  countrymen  were  frivolous  and  ill 
founded.  He  accused  Columbus  and  his  two  brothers  of  arrogance  and 
severity ;  he  pretended  that  they  aimed  at  establishing  an  independent 
dominion  in  the  country ;  he  taxed  them  with  an  intention  of  cutting  off 
part  of  the  Spaniards  by  hunger  and  fatigue,  that  they  might  more  easily 
reduce  the  remainder  to  subjection ;  he  represented,  it  as  unworthy  of 
Castilians,  to  remain  the  tame  and  passive  slaves  of  these  Genoese 
adventurers.  As  men  have  always  a  propensity  to  impute  the  hardships 
of  which  they  feel  the  pressure  to  the  misconduct  of  their  rulers  ;  as  every 
nation  views  with  a  jealous  eye  the  power  and  exaltation  of  foreigners, 
Roldan's  insinuations  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  countrymen.  His 
character  and  rank  added  weight  to  them.  A  considerable  number  of  the 
Spaniards  made  choice  of  him  as  their  leader  ;  and,  taking  arms  against 
the  adelantado  and  his  brother,  seized  the  king's  magazine  of  provisions, 
and  endeavoured  to  surprise  the  fort  at  St.  Domingo.  This  was  preserved 
by  the  vigilance  and  courage  of  Don  Diego  Columbus.  The  mutineers 
were  obliged  to  retire  to  the  province  of  Xaragua,  where  they  continued 
not  only  to  disclaim  the  adelantado's  authority  themselves,  but  excited  the 
Indians  to  throw  off  the  yoke.f 

Such  was  the  distracted  state  of  the  colony  when  Columbus  landed  at 
St.  Domingo.  He  was  astonished  to  find  that  the  three  ships  which  he  had 
despatched  from  the  Canaries  were  not  yet  arrived.  By  the  unskilfulness  of 
the  pilots,  and  the  violence  of  currents,  they  had  been  carried  a  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  to  the  west  of  St.  Domingo,  and  forced  to  take  shelter  in  a 
harbour  of  the  province  of  Xaragua,  where  Roldan  and  his  seditious 
followers  were  cantoned.  Roldan  carefully  concealed  from  the  commanders 
of  the  ships  his  insurrection  against  the  adelantado,  and,  employing  his 
utmost  address  to  gain  their  confidence,  persuaded  them  to  set  on  shore  a 
considerable  part  of  the  new  settlers  whom  they  brought  over,  that  they 
might  proceed  by  land  to  St.  Domingo.  It  required  but  few  arguments  to 
prevail  with  those  men  to  espouse  his  cause.  They  were  the  refuse  of  the 
jails  of  Spain,  to  whom  idleness,  licentiousness,  and  deeds  of  violence  were 
familiar ;  and  they  returned  eagerly  to  a  course  of  life  nearly  resembling 
that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed.  The  commanders  of  the  ships 
perceiving,  when  it  was  too  late,  their  imprudence  in  disembarking  so  many 
of  their  men,  stood  away  for  St.  Domingo,  and  got  safe  into  the  port  a  few 

*  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  56.  t  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  5-8.    Lift  of  Columbus,  c.  7<fr-77, 

Gomara,  c.  23.    P.  Martyr,  p.  78. 


T8  HISTORY  OF  [Boox  II. 

days  after  the  admiral ;  but  their  stock  of  provisions  was  so  wasted  during 
a  voyage  of  such  long  continuance  that  they  brought  little  relief  to  the 
colony."* 

By  this  junction  with  a  band  of  such  bold  and  desperate  associates, 
Roman  became  extremely  formidable,  and  no  less  extravagant  in  his 
demands.  Columbus,  though  filled  with  resentment  at  his  ingratitude,  and 
highly  exasperated  by  the  insolence  of  his  followers,  made  no  haste  to  take 
the  field.  He  trembled  at  the  thoughts  of  kindling  the  flames  of  a  civil 
war,  in  which,  whatever  party  prevailed,  the  power  and  strength  of  both 
must  be  so  much  wasted  as  migh't  encourage  the  common  enemy  to  unite 
and  complete  their  destruction.  At  the  same  time,  he  observed,  that  the 
prejudices  and  passions  which  incited  the  rebels  .to  take  arms,  had  so  far 
infected  those  who  still  adhered  to  him,  that  many  of  them  were  adverse, 
and  all  cold  to  the  service.  From  such  sentiments,  with  respect  to  the 
public  interest,  as  well  as  from  this  view  of  his  own  situation,  he  chose  to 
negotiate  rather  than  to  fight.  By  a  seasonable  proclamation,  offering  free 
pardon  to  such  as  should  merit  it  by  returning  to  their  duty,  he  made 
impression  upon  some  of  the  malecontents.  Bj  engaging  to  grant  such  as 
should  desire  it  the  liberty  of  returning  to  Sj>ain,  he  allured  all  those  unfor 
tunate  adventurers,  who,  from  sickness  and  disappointment,  were  disgusted 
with  the  country.  By  promising  to  re-establish  Roldan  in  his  former  office, 
ne  soothed  his  pride;  .and,  by  complying  with  most* of  his  demands  in 
behalf  of  his  followers,  he  satisfied  their  avarice.  Thus,  gradually  and 
without  bloodshed,  but  after  many  tedious  negotiations,  he  dissolved  this 
dangerous  combination,  which  threatened  the  colony  with  ruin  ;  and  restored 
the  appearance  of  order,  regular  government,  and  tranquillity.! 

In  consequence  of  this  agreement  with  the  mutineers,  lands  were  allotted 
them  in  different  parts  of  the  island,  and  the  Indians  settled  in  each  district 
were  appointed  to  cultivate  a  certain  portion  of  ground  for  the  use  of  those  new 
masters  [1499].  The  performance  of  this  work  was  substituted  in  place  of 
the  tribute  formerly  imposed  ;  and  how  necessary  soever  such  a  regulation 
might  be  in  a  sickly  and  feeble  colony,  it  introduced  among  the  Spaniards 
the  Repartimientos,  or  distributions  of  Indians  established  by  them  in  all 
their  settlements,  which  brought  numberless  calamities  upon  that  unhappy 
people,  and  subjected  them  to  the  most  grievous  oppession.t  This  was 
not  the  only  bad  effect  of  the  insurrection  in  Hispaniola;  it  prevented 
Columbus  from  prosecuting  his  discoveries  on  the  continent,  as  self-pre 
servation  obliged  him  to  keep  near  his  person  his  brother  the  adelantado, 
and  the  sailors  whom  he  intended  to  have  employed  in  that  service.  As 
soon  as  his  affairs  would  permit,  he  sent  some  of  his  ships  to  Spain  with  a 
journal  of  the  voyage  which  he  had  made,  a  description  ot  the  new  countries 
which  he  had  discovered,  a  chart  of  the  coast  along  which  he  had  sailed, 
and  specimens  of  the  gold,  the  pearls,  and  other  curious  or  valuable  pro 
ductions  which  he  had  acquired  by  trafficking  with  the  natives.  At  the 
same  time  he  transmitted  an  account  of  the  insurrection  in  Hispaniola ;  he 
accused  the  mutineers  not  only  of  having  thrown  the  colony  into  such  violent 
convulsions  as  threatened  its  dissolution,  but  of  having  obstructed  every 
attempt  towards  discovery  and  improvement,  by  their  unprovoked  rebellion 
against  their  superiors,  and  proposed  several  regulations  for  the  better 
government  of  the  island,  as  well  as  the  extinction  of  that  mutinous  spirit, 
which,  though  suppressed  at  present,  might  soon  burst  out  with  additional 
rage.  Rolctan  and  his  associates  did  not  neglect  to  convey  to  Spain,  by  the 
same  ships,  an  apology  for  their  own  conduct,  together  with  their  recrimi 
nations  upon  the  admiral  and  his  brothers.  Unfortunately  for  the  honour  of 

*  Heirera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  12.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  78, 79.  t  Herrera.  dec.  1.  lib.  ill  c 

13, 14.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  80.  &c.          ;  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  14,  &c. 


AMERICA.  79 

Spain  and  the  happiness  of  Columbus,  the  latter  gained  most  credit  in  the 
court  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  produced  unexpected  effects.* 

But,  previous  to  the  relating  of  these,  it  is  proper  to  take  a  view  of  some 
events,  which  merit  attention,  both  on  account  of  their  own  importance,  and 
their  connection  with  the  history  of  the  New  World.  While  Columbus 
was  engaged  in  his  successive  voyages  to  the  west,  the  spirit  of  discovery 
did  not  languish  in  Portugal,  the  kingdom  where  it  first  acquired  vigour, 
and  became  enterprising.  Self-condemnation  and  neglect  were  not  the  only 
sentiments  to  which  the  success  of  Columbus,  and  reflection  upon  their  own 
imprudence  in  rejecting  his  proposals,  gave  rise  among  the  Portuguese. 
They  excited  a  general  emulation  to  .surpass  his  performances,  and  an  ardent 
desire  to  make  some  reparation  to  their  country  for  their  own  error.  With 
this  view,  Emanuel,  who  inherited  the  enterprising  genius  of  his  predecessors, 
persisted  in  their  grand  scheme  of  opening  a  passage  to  the  East  Indies  by 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  soon  after  his  accession  to  the  throne  equipped 
a  squadron  for  that  important  voyage.  He  gave  the  command  of  it  to  Vasco 
de  Gama,  a  man  of  noble  birth,  possessed  of  virtue,  prudence,  and  courage, 
equal  to  the  station.  The  squadron,  like  all  those  fitted  put  for  discovery 
in  the  infancy  of  navigation,  was  extremely  feeble,  consisting  only  of  three 
vessels,  of  neither  burden  nor  force  adequate  to  the  service.  As  the 
Europeans  were  at  that  time  little  acquainted  with  the  course  of  the  trade- 
winds  and  periodical  monsoons,  which  render  navigation  in  the  Atlantic 
ocean  as  well  as  in  the  sea  that  separates  Africa  from  India,  at  some 
seasons  easy,  and  at  others  not  only  dangerous  but  almost  impracticable,  the 
time  chosen  for  Garna's  departure  was  the  most  improper  during  the  whole 
year.  He  set  sail  from  Lisbon  on  the  ninth  of  July,  [1497],  and,  standing 
towards  the  south,  had  to  struggle  for  four  months  with  contrary  winds 
before  he  could  reach  the  Cape  ot  Good  Hope.  Here  their  violence  began 
to  abate  [Nov.  20]  ;  and  during  an  interval  of  calm  weather,  Gama  doubled 
that  formidable  promontory,  which  had  so  long  been  the  boundary  of 
navigation,  and  directed  his  course  towards  the  north-east,  along  the  African 
coast.  He  touched  at  several  ports  ;  and  after  various  adventures,  which 
the  Portuguese  historians  relate  with  high  but  just  encomiums  upon  his 
conduct  and  intrepidity,  he  came  to  anchor  before  the  city  of  Melinda. 
Throughout  all  the  vast  countries  which  extend  along  the  coast  of  Africa, 
from  the  river  Senegal  to  the  confines  of  Zanguebar,  the  Portuguese  had 
found  a  race  of  men  rude  and  uncultivated,  strangers  to  letters,  to  arts,  and 
commerce,  and  differing  from  the  inhabitants  ot  Europe  no  less  in  their 
features  and  complexion  than  in  their  manners  and  institutions.  As  they 
advanced  from  this,  they  observed,  to  their  inexpressible  joy,  that  the 
human  form  gradually  altered  and  improved ;  the  Asiatic  features  began 
to  predominate,  marks  of  civilization  appeared,  letters  were  known,  the 
Mahometan  religion  was  established,  arid  a  commerce  far  from  being  incon 
siderable  was  carried  on.  At  that  time  several  vessels  from  India  were  in 
the  port  of  Melinda.  Gama  now  pursued  his  voyage  with  almost  absolute 
certainty  of  success,  and,  under  the  conduct  of  a  Mahometan  pilot,  arrived 
at  Calecut,  upon  the  coast  of  Malabar,  on  the  twenty-second  of  May,  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-eight.  What  he  beheld  of  the  wealth, 
the  populousness,  the  cultivation,  the  industry,  and  arts  of  this  highly 
civilized  country,  far  surpassed  any  idea  that  he  had  formed,  from  the 
imperfect  accounts  which  the  Europeans  had  hitherto  received  of  it.  But 
as  he  possessed  neither  sufficient  force  to  attempt  a  settlement,  nor  proper 
commodities  with  which  he  could  carry  on  commerce  of  any  consequence, 
he  hastened  back  to  Portugal,  with  an  account  of  his  success  in  performing 
a  voyage,  the  longest,  as  well  as  most  difficult,  that  had  ever  been  made 
since  the  first  invention  of  navigation.  He  landed  at  Lisbon  on  the  four- 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  14.    Benzon.  Hiet.  Nov.  Orb.  lib.  i.  c.  2. 


80  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

teenth  of  September,  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-nine,  two  years 
two  months  and  five  days  from  the  time  he  left  that  port.* 

Thus,  during  the  course  of  the  fifteenth  century,  mankind  made  greater 
progress  in  exploring  the  state  of  the  habitable  globe,  than  in  all  the  ages 
which  had  elapsed  previous  to  that  period.  The  spirit  of  discovery,  feeble 
at  first  and  cautious,  moved  within  a  very  narrow  sphere,  and  made  its 
efforts  with  hesitation  and  timidity.  Encouraged  by  success,  it  became 
adventurous,  and  boldly  extended  its  operations.  In  the  course  of  its  pro 
gression,  it  continued  to  acquire  vigour,  and  advanced  at  length  with  a 
rapidity  and  force  which  burst  through  all  the  limits  within  which  ignorance 
and  fear  had  hitherto  circumscribed  the  activity  of  the  human  race.  Almost 
fifty  years  were  employed  by  the  Portuguese  in  creeping  along  the  coast 
of  Africa  from  Cape  Non  to  Cape  de  Verd,  the  latter  of  which  lies  only 
twelve  degrees  to  the  south  of  the  former.  In  less  than  thirty  years  they 
ventured  beyond  the  equinoctial  line  into  another  hemisphere,  and  penetrated 
to  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  at  the  distance  of  forty-nine  degrees 
from  Cape  de  Verd.  During  the  last  seven  years  of  the  century,  a  New 
World  was  discovered  in  the  west,  not  inferior  in  extent  to  all  the  parts  of 
the  earth  with  which  mankind  were  at  that,  time  acquainted.  In  the  East, 
unknown  seas  and  countries  were  found  out,  and  a  communication,  long 
desired,  but  hitherto  concealed,  was  opened  between  Europe  and  the 
opulent  regions  of  India.  In  comparison  with  events  so  wonderful  and 
unexpected,  all  that  had  hitherto  been  deemed  great  or  splendid  faded  away 
and  disappeared.  Vast  objects  now  presented  themselves.  The  human 
mind,  roused  and  interested  by  the  prospect,  engaged  with  ardour  in  pursuit 
of  them,  and  exerted  its  active  powers  in  a  new  direction. 

This  spirit  of  enterprise,  though  but  newly  awakened  in  Spain,  began 
soon  to  operate  extensively.  All  the  attempts  towards  discovery  made  in 
that  kingdom  had  hitherto  been  carried  on  by  Columbus  alone,  and  at  the 
expense  of  the  Sovereign,  But  nOw  private  adventurers,  allured  by  the 
magnificent  descriptions  he  gave  of  the  regions  which  he  had  visited,  as 
well  as  by  the  specimens  of  their  wealth  which  he  produced,  offered  to  fit 
out  squadrons  at  their  own  risk,  and  to  go  in  quest  of  new  countries.  The 
Spanish  court,  whose  scanty  revenues  were  exhausted  by  the  charge  of  its 
expeditions  to  the  New  World,  which,  though  they  opened  alluring  piospects 
of  future  benefit,  yielded  a  very  sparing  return  of  present  profit,  was 
extremely  willing  to  devolve  the  burden  of  discovery  upon  its  subjects. 
It  seizea  with  joj  an  opportunity  of  rendering  the  avarice,  the  ingenuity, 
and  efforts  of  projectors  instrumental  in  promoting  designs  of  certain  advan 
tage  to  the  public,  though  of  doubtful  success  with  respect  to  themselves. 
One  of  the  first  propositions  of  this  kind  was  made  by  Alonzo  de  Ojeda,  a 
gallant  and  active  officer,  who  had  accompanied  Columbus  in  his  second 
voyage.  His  rank  and  character  procured  him  such  credit  with  the  mer 
chants  of  Seville,  that  they  undertook  to  equip  four  ships,  provided  he 
could  obtain  the  royal  license,  authorizing  the  voyage.  The  powerful 
patronage  of  the  Bishbp  of  Badajos  easily  secured  success  in  a  suit 
so  agreeable  to  the  court.  Without  consulting  Columbus,  or  regarding 
the  rights  and  jurisdiction  which  he  had  acquired  by  the  capitulation 
in  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-two,  Ojeda  was  permitted 
to  set  out  for  the  New  World.  In  order  to  direct  his  course,  the  bishop 
communicated  to  him  the  admiral's  journal  of  his  last  voyage,  and  his 
charts  of  the  countries  which  he  had  discovered.  Ojeda  struck  out  into  no 
new  path  of  navigation,  but  adhering  servilely  to  the  route  which  Columbus 
had  taken,  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Paria  [May].  He  traded  with  the 
natives,  and,  standing  to  the  west,  proceeded  as  far  as  Cape  de  Vela,  and 
rangpd  along  a  considerable  extent  of  coast  beyond  that  on  which  Columbus 

*  Raimirio,  vol.  i.  119.  D. 


AMERICA.  81 

had  touched.  Having  thus  ascertained  the  opinion  of  Columbus,  that  this 
country  was  a  part  of  the  continent,  Ojeda  returned  by  way  of  Hispaniola 
to  Spain  [October],  with  some  reputation  as  a  discoverer,  but  with  little 
benefit  to  those  who  had  raised  the  funds  for  the  expedition.* 

Amerigo  Vespucci,  a  Florentine  gentleman,  accompanied  Ojeda  in  this 
voyage.  In  what  station  he  served  is  uncertain ;  but  as  he  was  an  experienced 
sailor,  and  eminently  skilled  in  all  the  sciences  subservient  to  navigation, 
he  seems  to  have  acquired  such  authority  amonsf  his  companions,  that  they 
willingly  allowed  him  to  have  a  chief  share  in  diiecting  their  operations 
during  the  voyage.  Soon  after  his  return,  he  transmitted  an  account  of  his 
adventures  and  discoveries  to  one  of  his  countrymen ;  and  labouring  with 
the  vanity  of  a  traveller  to  magnify  his  own  exploits,  he  had  the  address 
and  confidence  to  frame  his  narrative  so  as  to  make  it  appear  that  he  had 
the  glory  of  having  first  discovered  the  continent  in  the  New  World. 
Amerigo  s  account  was  drawn  up  not  only  with  art,  but  with  sorue  elegance. 
It  contained  an  amusing  history  of  his  voyage,  and  judicious  observations 
upon  the  natural  productions,  the  inhabitants,  and  the  customs  of  the 
countries  which  he  had  visited.  As  it  was  the  first  description  of  any  part 
of  the  New  World  that  was  published,  a  performance  so  we)!  calculated  to 
gratify  the  passion  of  mankind  for  what  is  new  and  marvellous,  circulated 
rapidly,  and  was  read  with  admiration.  The  country  of  which  Amerigo 
was  supposed  to  be  the  discoverer,  came  gradually  to  be  called  by  his 
name.  The  caprice  of  mankind,  often  as  unaccountable  as  unjust,  has 
perpetuated  this  error.  By  the  universal  consent  of  nations,  America  is  the 
name  bestowed  on  this  new  quarter  of  the  globe.  The  bold  pretensions  of 
a  fortunate  impostor,  have  robbed  the  discoverer  of  the  New  World  of  a 
distinction  which  belonged  to  him.  The  name  of  Amerigo  has  supplanted 
that  of  Columbus ;  and  mankind  may  regret  an  act  of  injustice,  which, 
having  received  the  sanction  of  time,  it  is  now  too  late  to  redress.  [22] 

During  the  same  year,  another  voyage  of  discovery  was  undertaken. 
Columbus  not  only  introduced  the  spirit  of  naval  enterprise  into  Spain,  but 
all  the  first  adventurers  who  distinguished  themselves  in  this  new  career 
were  formed  by  his  instructions,  and  acquired  in  his  voyages  the  skill  and 
information  which  qualified  them  to  imitate  his  example  Alonso  Nigno, 
who  had  served  under  the  admiral  in  his  last  expedition,  fitted  out  a  single 
ship,  in  conjunction  with  Christopher  Guerra,  a  merchant  of  Seville,  and 
sailed  to  the  coast  of  Paria.  This  voyage  seems  to  have  been  conducted 
with  greater  attention  to  private  emolument  than  to  any  general  or  national 
object.  Nigno  and  Guerra  made  no  discoveries  of  any  importance  ;  but 
they  brought  home  such  a  return  of  gold  and  pearls  as  inflamed  their  coun 
trymen  with  the  desire  of  engaging  in  similar  adventures.t 

Soon  after  [Jan.  13,  1500],  Vincent  Yanez  Pinzon,  one  of  the  admiral's 
companions  in  his  first  voyage,  sailed  from  Palos  with  four  ships.  He  stood 
boldly  towards  the  south,  and  was  the  first  Spaniard  who  ventured  across 
the  equinoctial  line ;  but  he  seems  to  have  landed  on  no  part  of  the  coast 
beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Maragnon,  or  river  of  the  Amazons.  All  these 
navigators  adopted  the  erroneous  theory  of  Columbus,  and  believed  that 
the  countries  which  they  had  discovered  were  part  of  the  vast  continent  of 
India.} 

During  the  last  year  of  the  fifteenth  century,  that  fertile  district  of 
America,  on  the  confines  of  which  Pinzon  had  stopped  short,  was  more 
fully  discovered.  The  successful  voyage  of  Gama  to  the  East  Indies  having 
encouraged  the  King  of  Portugal  to  fit  out  a  fleet  so  powerful  as  not  oiJy 
to  carry  on  trade  but  to  attempt  conquest,  he  gave  the  command  of  it  to 
Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral.  In  order  to  avoid  the  coast  of  Africa,  where  he  was 

*  Hcrrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  1,  9,  3.        t  P-  Martyr,  dec.  p.  87.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  5 
J  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv,  c.  6.    P.  Martyr,  dee.  p.  $5. 

VOL.  I.— 11 


82  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  IJ. 

certain  of  meeting  with  variable  breezes  or  frequent  calms,  which  might 
retard  his  voyage,  Cabral  stood  out  to  sea,  and  kept  so  far  to  the  west,  that, 
to  his  surprise,  he  found  himself  upon  the  shore  of  an  unknown  country,  in 
the  tenth  degree  beyond  the  line.  He  imagined  at  first  that  it  was  some 
island  in  the  Atlantic  ocean,  hitherto  unobserved ;  but,  proceeding  along 
its  coast  for  several  days,  he  was  led  gradually  to  believe,  that  a  country 
so  extensive  formed  a  part  of  some  great  continent.  This  latter  opinion 
was  well  founded.  The  country  with  which  he  fell  in  belongs  to  that 
province  in  South  America  now  known  by  the  name  of  Brasil.  He  landed ; 
and  having  formed  a  very  high  idea  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  agreea- 
bleness  of  the  climate,  he  took  possession  of  it  for  the  crown  of  Portugal, 
and  despatched  a  ship  to  Lisbon  with  an  account  of  this  event,  which 
appeared  to  be  no  less  important  than  it  was  unexpected.*  Columbus's 
discovery  of  the  New  World  was  the  effort  of  an  active  genius  enlightened 
by  science,  guided  by  experience,  and  acting  upon  a  regular  plan  executed 
with  no  less  courage  than  perseverance.  But  from  this  adventure  of  the 
Portuguese,  it  appears  that  chance  might  have  accomplished  that  great 
design  which  it  is  now  the  pride  of  human  reason  to  have  formed  and 
perfected.  If  the  sagacity  of  Columbus  had  not  conducted  mankind  to 
America,  Cabral,  by  a  fortunate  accident,  might  have  led  them,  a  few  years 
later,  to  the  knowledge  of  that  extensive  continent.! 

While  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  by  those  successive  voyages,  were 
daily  acquiring  more  enlarged  ideas  of  the  extent  and  opulence  of  that 
quarter  of  the  globe  which  Columbus  had  made  known  to  them,  he 
himself,  far  from  enjoying  the  tranquillity  and  honours  with  which  his 
services  should  have  been  recompensed,  was  struggling  with  every  distress 
in  which  the  envy  and  malevolence  of  the  people  under  his  command,  or 
the  ingratitude  of  the  court  which  he  served,  could  involve  him.  Though 
the  pacification  with  Roldan  broke  the  union  and  weakened  the  force  of  the 
mutineers,  it  did  not  extirpate  the  seeds  of  discord  out  of  the  island. 
Several  of  the  malecontents  continued  in  arms,  refusing  to  submit  to  the 
admiral.  He  and  his  brothers  were  obliged  to  take  the  field  alter 
nately,  in  order  to  check  their  incursions,  or  to  punish  their  crimes.  The 
perpetual  occupation  and  disquiet  which  this  created,  prevented  him 
from  giving  due  attention  to  the  dangerous  machinations  of  his  enemies  in 
the  court  of  Spain.  A  good  number  of  such  as  were  most  dissatisfied  with 
his  administration  had  embraced  the  opportunity  of  returning  to  Europe  with 
the  ships  which  he  despatched  from  St.  Domingo.  The  final  disappointment 
of  all  their  hopes  inflamed  the  rage  of  these  unfortunate  adventurers  against 
Columbus  to  the  utmost  pitch.  Their  poverty  and  distress,  by  exciting 
compassion,  rendered  their  accusations  credible,  and  their  complaints  inte 
resting.  They  teased  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  incessantly  with  memorials, 
containing  the  detail  of  their  own  grievances,  and  the  articles  of  their 
charge  against  Columbus.  Whenever  either  the  king  or  queen  appeared 
in  public,  they  surrounded  them  in  a  tumultuary  manner,  insisting  with 
importunate  clamours  for  the  payment  of  the  arrears  due  to  them,  and  de 
manding  vengeance  upon  the  author  of  their  sufferings.  They  insulted  the 
admiral's  sons  wherever  they  met  them,  reproaching  them  as  the  offspring 
of  the  projector,  whose  fatal  curiosity  had  discovered  those  pernicious 
regions  which  drained  Spain  of  its  wealth,  and  would  prove  the  grave  of 
its  people.  These  avowed  endeavours  of  the  malecontents  from  America 
to  ruin  Columbus,  were  seconded  by  the  secret  but  more  dangerous  insinu 
ations  of  that  party  among  the  courtiers,  which  had  always  thwarted  his 
schemes,  and  envied  his  success  and  credit.| 

Ferdinand  was  disposed  to  listen,  not  only  with  a  willing  but  with  a  partial 
ear,  to  these  accusations.  Notwithstanding  the  flattering  accounts  which 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  7.        T  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  5.        ?  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  85. 


AMERICA.  83 

Columbus  had  given  of  the  riches  of  America,  the  remittances  from  it  had 
hitherto  been  so  scanty  that  they  fell  far  short  of  defraying  the  expense  of 
the  armaments  fitted  out.  The  glory  of  the  discovery,  together  with  the 
prospect  of  remote  commercial  advantages,  was  all  that  Spain  had  yet 
received  in  return  for  the  efforts  which  she  had  made.  But  time  had 
already  diminished  the  first  sensations  of  joy  which  the  discovery  of  a 
New  World  occasioned,  and  fame  alone  was  not  an  object  to  satisfy  the 
cold  interested  mind  of  Ferdinand.  The  nature  of  commerce  was  then  so 
little  understood  that,  where  immediate  gain  was  not  acquired,  the  hope  of 
distant  benefit,  or  of  slow  and  moderate  returns,  was  totally  disregarded. 
Ferdinand  considered  Spain,  on  this  account,  as  having  lost  by  the  enterprise 
of  Columbus,  and  imputed  it  to  his  misconduct  and  incapacity  for  govern 
ment,  that  a  country  abounding  in  gold  had  yielded  nothing  of  value  to  its 
conquerors.  Even  Isabella,  who  from  the  favourable  opinion  which  she 
entertained  of  Columbus  had  uniformly  protected  him,  was  shaken  at  length 
by  the  number  and  boldness  of  his  accusers,  and  began  to  suspect  that 
a  disaffection  so  general  must  have  been  occasioned  by  real  grievances  which 
called  for  redress.  The  Bishop  of  Badajos,  with  his  usual  animosity  against 
Columbus,  encouraged  these  suspicions,  and  confirmed  them. 

As  soon  as  the  queen  began  to  give  way  to  the  torrent  of  calumny,  a 
resolution  fatal  to  Columbus  was  taken.  Francis  de  Bovadilla,  a  knight  ot 
Calatrava,  was  appointed  to  repair  to  Hispaniola,  with  full  powers  to  inquire 
into  the  conduct  of  Columbus,  and  if  he  should  find  the  charge  of  malad 
ministration  proved,  to  supersede  him,  and  assume  the  government  of  the 
island.  It  was  impossible  to  escape  condemnation,  when  this  preposterous 
commission  made  it  the  interest  of  the  judge  to  pronounce  the  person  whom 
he  was  sent  to  try,  guilty.  Though  Columbus  had  now  composed  all  the 
dissensions  in  the  island  ;  though  he  had  brought  both  Spaniards  and 
Indians  to  submit  peaceably  to  his  government ;  though  he  had  made  such 
effectual  provision  for  working  the  mines,  and  cultivating  the  country,  as 
would  have  secured  a  considerable  revenue  to  the  king,  as  well  as  large 
profits  to  individuals ;  Bovadilla,  without  deigning  to  attend  to  the  nature 
or  merit  of  those  services,  discovered  from  the  moment  that  he  landed  in 
Hispaniola,  a  determined  purpose  of  treating  him  as  a  criminal.  He  took 
possession  of  the  admiral  s  house  in  St.  Domingo,  from  which  its  master 
happened  at  that  time  to  be  absent,  and  seized  his  effects,  as  if  his  guilt  had 
been  already  fully  proved  ;  he  rendered  himself  master  of  the  fort  and  of  the 
King's  stores  by  violence  ;  he  required  ail  persons  to  acknowledge  him  as 
supreme  governor  ;  he  set  at  liberty  the  prisoners  confined  by  the  admiral, 
and  summoned  him  to  appear  before  his  tribunal,  in  order  to  answer  for  his 
conduct ;  transmitting  to  him,  together  with  the  summons,  a  copy  of  the 
royal  mandate,  by  which  Columbus  was  enjoined  to  yield  implicit  obedience 
to  his  commands. 

Columbus,  though  deeply  affected  with  the  ingratitude  and  injustice  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isaoella,  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  about  his  own  conduct. 
He  submitted  to  the  will  of  his  sovereigns  with  a  respectful  silence,  and 
repaired  directly  [October]  to  the  court  of  that  violent  and  partial  judge 
whom  they  had  authorized  to  try  him.  Bovadilla,  without  admitting  him 
into  his  presence,  ordered  him  instantly  to  be  arrested,  to  be  loaded  with 
chains,  and  hurried  on  board  a  ship.  Even  under  this  humiliating  reverse 
of  fortune,  the  firmness  of  mind .which  distinguishes  the  character  of  Columbus 
did  not  forsake  him.  Conscious  of  his  own  integrity,  and  solacing  himself 
with  reflecting  upon  the  great  things  which  he  had.  achieved,  he  endured 
this  insult  offered  to  his  character,  not  only  with  composure  but  with 
dignity.  Nor  had  he  the  consolation  of  sympathy  to  mitigate  his  sufferings. 
Bovadilla  had  already  rendered  himself  so  extremely  popular,  by  granting 
various  immunities  to  the  colony,  by  liberal  donations  of  Indians  to  all  who 
applied  for  them,  and  by  relaxing  the  reins  of  discipline  and  government. 


84  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

that  the  Spaniards,  who  were  mostly  adventurers,  whom  their  indigence  of 
crimes  had  compelled  to  abandon  their  native  country,  expressed  the  most 
indecent  satisfaction  with  the  disgrace  and  imprisonment  of  Columbus. 
They  flattered  themselves  that  now  they  should  enjoy  an  uncontrolled  liberty 
more  suitable  to  their  disposition  and  former  habits  of  life.  Among  persona 
thus  prepared  to  censure  the  proceedings,  and  to  asperse  the  character  of 
Columbus,  Bovadilla  collected  materials  for  a  charge  against  him.  All 
accusations,  the  most  improbable  as  well  as  inconsistent,  were  received. 
No  informer,  however  infamous,  was  rejected. .  The  result  of  this  inquest, 
no  less  indecent  than  partial,  he  transmitted  to  Spain.  At  the  same  time  he 
ordered  Columbus,  with  his  two  brothers,  to  be  carried  thither  in  fetters  ; 
and,  adding  cruelty  to  insult,  he  confined  them  in  different  ships,  and 
excluded  them  from  the  comfort  of  that  friendly  intercourse  which  mighf 
have  soothed  their  common  distress.  But  while  the  Spaniards  in  Hispaniola 
viewed  the  arbitrary  and  insolent  proceedings  of  Bovadilla  with  a  general 
approbation,  which  reflects  dishonour  upon  their  name  and  country,  one  man 
still  retained  a  proper  sense  of  the  great  actions  which  Columbus  had 
performed,  and  was  touched  with  the  sentiments  of  veneration  and  pity 
due  to  his  rank,  his  age,  and  his  merit.  Alonzo  de  Valejo,  the  captain  of 
the  vessel  on  board  which  the  admiral  was  confined,  as  soon  as  he  was  clear 
of  the  island,  approached  his  prisoner  with  great  respect,  and  offered  to 
release  him  from  the  fetters  with  which  he  was  unjustly  loaded.  "  No," 
replied  Columbus  with  a  generous  indignation,  "I  wear  these  irons  in 
consequence  of  an  order  from  my  sovereigns.  They  shall  find  me  as 
obedient  to  this  as  to  their  other  injunctions.  By  their  command  I  have 
been  confined,  and  their  command  alone  shall  set  me  at  liberty."* 

Nov.  23.]  Fortunately,  the  voyage  to  Spain  was  extremely  short.  As 
soon  as  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  informed  that  Columbus  was  brought 
home  a  prisoner  and  in  chains,  they  perceived  at  once  what  universal 
astonishment  this  event  must  occasion,  and  what  an  impression  to  their 
disadvantage  it  must  make.  All  Europe,  they  foresaw,  would  be  filled  with 
indignation  at  this  ungenerous  requital  of  a  man  who  had  performed  actions 
worthy  of  the  highest  recompense,  and  would  exclaim  against  the  injustice 
of  the  nation,  to  which  he  had  been  such  an  eminent  benefactor,  as  well  as 
against  the  ingratitude  of  the  princes  whose  reign  he  had  rendered  illustrious. 
Ashamed  of  their  own  conduct,  and  eager  not  only  to  make  some  reparation 
for  this  injury,  but  to  efface  the  stain  which  it  might  fix  upon  their  character, 
t^ey  instantly  issued  orders  to  set  Columbus  at  liberty  [Dec.  17],  invited 
him  to  court,  and  remitted  money  to  enable  him  to  appear  there  in  a  manner 
suitable  to  his  rank.  When  he  entered  the  royal  presence,  Columbus  threw 
himself  at  the  feet  of  his  sovereigns.  He  remained  for  some  time  silent ; 
the  various  passions  which  agitated  his  mind  suppressing  his  power  of 
utterance.  At  length  he  recovered  himself,  and  vindicated  his  conduct  in  a 
long  discourse,  producing  the  most  satisfying  proofs  of  his  own  integrity  as 
well  as  good  intention,  and  evidence,  no  less  clear,  of  the  malevolence  of 
his  enemies,  who,  not  satisfied  with  having  ruined  his  fortune,  laboured  to 
deprive  him  of  what  alone  was  now  left,  his  honour  and  his  fame.  Ferdi 
nand  received  him  with  decent  civility,  and  Isabella  with  tenderness  and 
respect.  They  both  expressed  their  sorrow  for  what  had  happened, 
disavowed  their  knowledge  of  it,  and  joined  in  promising  him  protection 
and  future  favour.  •  But  though  they  instantly  degraded  Bovadilla,  in  order 
to  remove  from  themselves  any  suspicion  of  having^  authorized  his  violent 
proceedings,  they  did  not  restore  to  Columbus  his  jurisdiction  and  privileges 
as  viceroy  of  those  countries  which  he  had  discovered.  Though  willing  to 
appear  the  avengers  of  Columbus's  wrongs,  that  illiberal  jealousy  which 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  86.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  Jv.  c.  8—11.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  23.  Ovtedo, 
lib.  iii.  c.  6. 


AMERICA  85 

prompted  them  to  invest  Bovadilla  with  such  authority,  as  put  it  in  his 
power  to  treat  the  admiral  with  indignity,  still  subsisted.  They  were 
afraid  to  trust  a  man  to  whom  they  had  been  so  highly  indebted ;  and 
retaining  him  at  court  under  various  pretexts,  they  appointed  Nicholas 
de  Ovando,  a  knight  of  the  military  order  of  Alcantara,  governor  ot 
Hispaniola.* 

Columbus  was  deeply  affected  with  this  new  injury,  which  came  from 
hands  that  seemed  to  be  employed  in  making  reparation  for  his  past 
sufferings.  The  sensibility  with  which  great  minds  feel  every  thing  that 
implies  any  suspicion  of  their  integrity,  or  that  wears  the  aspect  of  an 
affront,  is  exquisite.  Columbus  had  experienced  both  from  the  Spaniards, 
and  their  ungenerous  conduct  exasperated  him  to  such  a  degree  that  he 
could  no  longer  conceal  the  sentiments  which  it  excited.  Wherever  he 
went  he  carried  about  with  him,  as  a  memorial  of  their  ingratitude,  those 
fetters  with  which  he  had  been  loaded.  They  were  constantly  hung  up 
in  his  chamber,  and  he  gave  orders,  that  when  he  died  they  should  be 
buried  in  his  grave.j 

1501.]  Meanwhile  the  spirit  of  discovery,  notwithstanding  the  severe 
check  which  it  had  received  by  the  ungenerous  treatment  of  the  man  who 
first  excited  it  in  Spain,  continued  active  and  vigorous.  [January]  Roderigo 
de  Bastidas,  a  person  of  distinction,  fitted  out  two  ships  in  copartnery  with 
John  de  la  Cosa,  who  haying  served  under  the  admiral  in  two  of  his  voyages 
was  deemed  the  most  skilful  pilot  in  Spain.  They  steered  directly  towards 
the  continent,  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Paria,  and,  proceeding  to  the  west, 
discovered  all  the  coast  of  the  province  now  known  by  the  name  of  Tierra 
Firme,  from  Cape  de  Vela  to  the  Gulf  of  Darien.  Not  long  after  Ojeda, 
with  his  former  associate  Amerigo  Vespucci,  set  out  upon  a  second  voyage, 
and,  being  unacquainted  with  the  destination  of  Bastidas,  held  the  same 
course  and  touched  at  the  same  places.  The  voyage  of  Bastidas  was 
prosperous  and  lucrative,  that  of  Ojeda  unfortunate.  &ut  both  tended  to 
increase  the  ardour  of  discovery  ;  for  in  proportion  as  the  Spaniards  acquired 
a  more  extensive  knowledge  of  the  American  continent,  their  idea  of  its 
opulence  and  fertility  increased.| 

Before  these  adventurers  returned  from  their  voyages,  a  fleet  was 
equipped,  at  the  public  expense,  for  carrying  over  Ovando,  the  new 
governor,  to  Hispanipla.  His  presence  there  was  extremely  requisite,  in 
order  to  stop  the  inconsiderate  career  of  Bovadilla,  whose  imprudent 
administration  threatened  the  settlement  with  ruin.  Conscious  of  the  violence 
and  iniquity  of  his  proceedings  against  Columbus,  he  continued  to  make  it 
his  sole  object  to  gain  the  favour  and  support  of  his  countrymen,  by 
accommodating  himself  to  their  passions  and  prejudices.  With  this  view, 
he  established  regulations  in  every  point  the  re  verse  of  those  which  Columbus 
deemed  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  colony.  Instead  of  the  severe 
discipline,  necessary  in  order  to  habituate  the  dissolute  and  corrupted  members 
of  which  the  society  was  composed,  to  the  restraints  of  law  and  subordination, 
he  suffered  them  to  enjoy  such  uncontrolled  license  as  encouraged  the  wildest 
excesses.  Instead  of  protecting  the  Indians,  he  gave  a  legal  sanction  to  the 
oppression  of  that  unhappy  people.  He  took  the  exact  number  of  such  as 
survived  their  past  calamities,  divided  them  into  distinct  classes,  distributed 
them  in  property  among  his  adherents,  and  reduced  all  the  people  of  the 
island  to  a  state  of  complete  servitude.  As  the  avarice  of  the  Spaniards 
was  too  rapacious  and  impatient  to  try  any  method  of  acquiring  wealth 
but  that  of  searching  for  gold,  this  servitude  became  as  grievous  as  it  was 
unjust.  The  Indians  were  driven  in  crowds  to  the  mountains,  and  compelled 
to  work  in  the  mines,  by  masters  who  imposed  thek  tasks  without  mercy  or 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  10—12.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  87  t  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  86. 

p.  577.          J  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  11. 


«6  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  H. 

discretion.  Labour  so  disproportioned  to  their  strength  and  former  habit* 
of  life,  wasted  that  feeble  race  of  men  with  such  rapid  consumption,  as  must 
have  soon  terminated  in  the  utter  extinction  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
the  country.* 

The  necessity  of  applying  a  speedy  remedy  to  those  disorders  hastened 
Ovando's  departure.  He  had  the  command  of  the  most  respectable  arma 
ment  hitherto  fitted  out  for  the  New  World.  It  consisted  of  thirty -two  ships, 
on  board  of  which  two  thousand  five  hundred  persons  embarked  with  an 
intention  of  settling  in  the  country.  [1502.]  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  new 
governor  with  this  powerful  reinforcement  to  the  colony,  Bovadilla  resigned 
his  charge,  and  was  commanded  to  return  instantly  to  Spain,  in  order  to 
answer  for  his  conduct.  Roldan  and  the  other  ringleaders  of  the  mutineers, 
who  had  been  most  active  in  opposing  Columbus,  were  required  to  leave 
the  island  at  the  same  time.  A  proclamation  was  issued,  declaring  the 
natives  to  be  free  subjects  of  Spain,  of  whom  no  service  was  to  be  expected 
contrary  to  their  own  inclination,  and  without  paying  them  an  adequate  price 
for  their  labour.  With  respect  to  the  Spaniards  themselves,  various  regu 
lations  were  made,  tending  to  suppress  the  licentious  spirit  which  had  been 
so  fatal  to  the  colony,  and  to  establish  that  reverence  for  law  and  order  on 
which  society  is  founded,  and  to  which  it  is  indebted  for  its  increase  and 
stability.  In  order  to  limit  the  exorbitant  gain  which  private  persons  were 
supposed  to  make  by  working  the  mines,  an  ordinance  was  published, 
directing  all  the  gold  to  be  brought  to  a  public  smelting-house,  and  declaring 
one  half  of  it  to  be  the  property  of  the  crown.f 

While  these  steps  were  taking  for  securing  the  tranquillity  and  welfare 
of  the  colony  which  Columbus  had  planted,  he  himself  was  engaged  in  the 
unpleasant  employment  of  soliciting  the  favour  of  an  ungrateful  court,  and 
notwithstanding  all  his  merit  and  services,  he  solicited  in  vain.  He 
demanded,  in  terms  of  the  original  capitulation  in  one  thousand  four  hundred 
and  ninety-two,  to  be  reinstated  in  his  office  of  viceroy  over  the  countries 
which  he  had  discovered.  By  a  strange  fatality,  the  circumstance  which 
he  urged  in  support  of  his  claim,  determined  a  jealous  monarch  to  reject 
it.  The  greatness  of  his  discoveries,  and  the  prospect  of  their  increasing 
value,  made  Ferdinand  consider  the  concessions  in  the  capitulation  as 
extravagant  and  impolitic.  He  was  afraid  of  intrusting  a  subject  with  the 
exercise  of  a  jurisdiction  that  now  appeared  to  be  so  extremely  extensive, 
and  might  grow  to  be  no  less  formidable.  He  inspired  Isabella  with  the 
same  suspicions ;  and  under  various  pretexts,  equally  frivolous  and  unjust, 
they  eluded  all  Columbus's  requisitions  to  perform  that  which  a  solemn 
compact  bound  them  to  accomplish.  After  attending  the  Court  of  Spain 
for  near  two  years,  as  an  humble  suitor,  he  found  it  impossible  to  remove 
Ferdinand's  prejudices  and  apprehensions ;  and  perceived  at  length  that 
he  laboured  in  vain,  when  he  urged  a  claim  of  justice  or  merit  with  an 
interested  and  unfeeling  prince. 

But  even  this  ungenerous  return  did  not  discourage  him  from  pursuing 
the  great  object  which  first  called  forth  his  inventive  genius,  and  excited 
him  to  attempt  discovery.  To  open  a  new  passage  to  the  East  Indies  was 
his  original  and  favourite  scheme.  This  still  engrossed  his  thoughts  ;  and 
either  from  his  own  observations  in  his  voyage  to  Paria,  or  from  some 
obscure  hint  of  the  natives,  or  from  the  accounts  given  by  Bastidas  and  de 
la  Cosa  of  their  expedition,  he  conceived  an  opinion  that  beyond  the  con 
tinent  of  America  there  was  a  sea  which  extended  to  the  East  Indies,  and 
hoped  to  find  some  strait  or  narrow  neck  of  land,  by  which  a  communica 
tion  might  be  opened  with  it  and  the  part  of  the  ocean  already  known. 
By  a  very  fortunate  conjecture,  he  supposed  this  strait  or  isthmus  to  be 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  11,  &c.  Oviedo  Hist.  lib.  iii.  c.  6.  p.  97.  Benzon  Hint.  lib.  i.  c.  12, 
p.  51.  f  Solorzano  Politica  Indiana,  lib.  i.  c.  12.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  12. 


AMERICA.  87 

situated  near  the  Gulf  of  Darieri.  Full  of  this  idea,  though  he  was  now  of 
"an  advanced  age,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  and  broken  with  infirmities,  he 
offered,  with  the  alacrity  of  a  youthful  adventurer,  to  undertake  a  voyage 
which  would  ascertain  this  important  point,  and  perfect  the  grand  scheme 
which  from  the  beginning  he  proposed  to  accomplish.  Several  circumstances 
concurred  in  disposing  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to  lend  a  favourable  ear  to 
this  proposal.  They  were  glad  to  have  the  pretext  of  any  honourable 
employment  for  removing  from  court  a  man  with  whose  demands  they 
deemed  it  impolitic  to  comply,  and  whose  services  it  was  indecent  to 
neglect.  Though  unwilling  to  reward  Columbus,  they  were  not  insensible 
of  his  merit,  and  from  their  experience  of  his  skill  and  conduct,  had  reason 
to  give  credit  to  his  conjectures,  and  to  confide  in  his  success.  To  these 
considerations,  a  third  must  be  added  of  still  more  powerful  influence. 
About  this  time  the  Portuguese  fleet,  under  Cabral,  arrived  from  the  Indies  ; 
and,  by  the  richness  of  its  cargo,  gave  the  people  of  Europe  a  more  perfect 
idea  than  they  had  hitherto  been  able  to  form,  of  the  opulence  and  fertility 
of  the  East.  The  Portuguese  had  been  more  fortunate  in  their  discoveries 
than  the  Spaniards.  They  had  opened  a  communication  with  countries 
where  industry,  arts,  and  elegance  flourished  ;  and  where  commerce  had 
been  longer  established,  and  carried  to  greater  extent  than  in  any  region 
of  the  earth.  Their  first  voyages  thither  yielded  immediate  as  well  as  vast 
returns  of  profit,  in  commodities  extremely  precious  and  in  great  request. 
Lisbon  became  immediately  the  seat  of  commerce  and  wealth  ;  while  Spain 
had  only  the  expectation  of  remote  benefit,  and  of  future  gain,  from  the  western 
world.  Nothing,  then,  could  be  more  acceptable  to  the  Spaniards  than 
Columbus's  offer  to  conduct  them  to  the  East,  by  a  route  which  he  expected 
to  be  shorter,  as  well  as  less  dangerous  than  that  which  the  Portuguese  had 
taken.  Even  Ferdinand  was  roused  by  such  a  prospect,  and  warmly 
approved  of  the  undertaking. 

But  interesting  as  the  object  of  this  voyage  was  to  the  nation,  Columbus 
could  procure  only  four  small  barks,  the  largest  of  which  did  not  exceed 
seventy  tons  in  burden,  for  performing  it.  Accustomed  to  brave  danger, 
and  to  engage  in  arduous  undertakings  with  inadequate  force,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  accept  the  command  of  this  pitiful  squadron.  His  brother  Bar 
tholomew,  and  his  second  son  Ferdinand,  the  historian  of  his  actions, 
accompanied  him.  He  sailed  from  Cadiz  on  the  ninth  of  May,  and  touched, 
as  usual,  at  the  Canary  islands ;  from  thence  he  proposed  to  have  stood 
directly  for  the  continent ;  but  his  largest  vessel  was  so  clumsy  and  unfit 
for  service,  as  constrained  him  to  bear  away  for  Hispaniola,  in  hopes  of 
exchanging  her  for  some  ship  of  the  fleet  that  had  carried  out  Ovando. 
When  he  arrived  at  St.  Domingo  [June  29],  he  found  eighteen  of  these 
ships  ready  loaded,  and  on  the  point  of  departing  for  Spain.  Columbus 
immediately  acquainted  the  governor  with  the  destination  of  his  voyage, 
and  the  accident  which  had  obliged  him  to  alter  his  route.  He  requested 
permission  to  enter  the  harbour,  not  only  that  he  mi^ht  negotiate  the 
exchange  of  his  ship,  but  that  he  might  take  shelter  during  a  violent  hurri 
cane,  of  which  he  discerned  the  approach  from  various  prognostics  which 
his  experience  and  sagacity  had  taught  him  to  observe.  On  that  account, 
he  advised  him  likewise  to  put  off  for  some  days  the  departure  of  tne 
fleet  bound  for  Spain.  But  Ovando  refused  his  request,  and  despised  his 
counsel.  Under  circumstances  in  which  humanity  would  have  afforded 
refuge  to  a  stranger,  Columbus  was  denied  admittance  into  a  country  of 
which  he  had  discovered  the  existence  and  acquired  the  possession.  His 
salutary  warning,  which  merited  the  greatest  attention,  was  regarded  as 
the  dream  of  a  visionary  prophet,  who  arrogantly  pretended  to  predict  an 
event  beyond  the  reach  of  human  foresight.  The  fleet  set  sail  for  Spain. 
Next  night  the  hurricane  came  on  with  dreadful  impetuosity.  Columbus, 
aware  of  the  danger,  took  precautions  against  it,  and  saved  his  little  squadron. 


€8  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  II. 

The  fleet  destined  for  Spain  met  with  the  fate  which  the  rashness  and 
obstinacy  of  its  commanders  deserved.  Of  eighteen  ships  two  or  three 
only  escaped.  In  this  general  wreck  perished  Bovadilla,  Roldan,  and  the 
greater  part  of  those  who  had  been  the  most  active  in  persecuting  Columbus, 
and  oppressing  the  Indians.  Together  with  themselves,  all  the  wealth 
which  they  had  acquired  by  their  injustice  and  cruelty  was  swallowed  up. 
It  exceeded  in  value  two  hundred  thousand  pesos ;  an  immense  sum  at  that 
period,  and  sufficient  not  only  to  have  screened  them  from  any  severe  scrutiny 
into  their  conduct,  but  to  have  secured  them  a  gracious  reception  in  the 
Spanish  court.  Among  the  ships  that  escaped,  one  had  on  board  all  the 
effects  of  Columbus  which  had  been  recovered  from  the  ruins  of  his 
fortune.  Historians,  struck  with  the  exact  discrimination  of  characters,  as 
well  as  the  just  distribution  of  rewards  and  punishments,  conspicuous  in 
those  events,  universally  attribute  them  to  an  immediate  interposition  of  Divine 
Providence,  in  order  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  an  injured  man,  and  to  punish  the 
oppressors  of  an  innocent  people.  Upon  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  race 
ot  men,  who  were  witnesses  of  this  occurrence,  it  made  a  different  im 
pression.  From  an  opinion  which  vulgar  admiration  is  apt  to  entertain 
with  respect  to  persons  who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their  sagacity 
and  inventions,  they  believed  Columbus  to  be  possessed  of  supernatural 
powers,  and  imagined  that  he  had  conjured  up  this  dreadful  storm  by 
magical  art  and  incantations  in  order  to  be  avenged  of  his  enemies.* 

Columbus  soon  left  Hispaniola  [July  14],  where  he  met  with  such  an 
inhospitable  reception,  and  stood  towards  the  continent.  After  a  tedious 
and  dangerous  voyage,  he  discovered  Guanaia,  an  island  not  far  distant 
from  the  coast  of  Honduras.  There  he  had  an  interview  with  some 
inhabitants  of  the  continent,  who  arrived  in  a  large  canoe.  They  appealed 
to  be  a  people  more  civilized,  and  who  had  made  greater  progress  in  the 
knowledge  of  useful  arts  than  any  whom  he  had  hitherto  discovered.  In 
return  to  the  inquiries  which  the  Spaniards  made,  with  their  usual  eager 
ness,  concerning  the  places  where  the  Indians  got  the  gold  which  they 
wore  by  way  of  ornament,  they  directed  them  to  countries  situated  to  the 
west,  in  which  gold  was  found  in  such  profusion  that  it  was  applied  to  the 
most  common  uses.  Instead  of  steering  in  quest  of  a  country  so  inviting, 
which  would  have  conducted  him  along  the  coast  of  Yucatan  to  the  rich 
Empire  of  Mexico,  Columbus  was  so  bent  upon  his  favourite  scheme  of 
finding  out  the  strait  which  he  supposed  to  communicate  with  the  Indian 
ocean,  that  he  bore  away  to  the  east  towards  the  gulf  of  Darien.  In  this 
navigation  he  discovered  all  the  coast  of  the  continent,  from  Cape  Gracias 
a  Dios  to  a  harbour  which,  on  account  of  its  beauty  and  security,  he  called 
Porto  Bello.  He  searched  in  vain  for  the  imaginary  strait,  through  which 
he  expected  to  make  his  way  into  an  unknown  sea ;  and  though  he  went 
on  shore  several  times,  and  advanced  into  the  country,  he  did  not  penetrate 
so  far  as  to  cross  the  narrow  isthmus  which  separates  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
from  the  great  Southern  ocean.  He  was  so  much  delighted,  however, 
with  the  fertility  of  the  country,  and  conceived  such  an  idea  of  its  wealth 
from  the  specimens  of  gold  produced  by  the  natives,  that  he  resolved  to  leave 
a  small  colony  upon  the  river  Belen,  in  the  province  of  Veragua,  under  the 
command  of  his  brother,  and  to  return  himself  to  Spain  [1503],  in  order  to 
procure  what  was  requisite  for  rendering  the  establishment  permanent.  But 
the  ungovernable  spirit  of  the  people  under  his  command,  deprived  Colum 
bus  of  the  glory  of  planting  the  first  colony  on  the  continent  of  America. 
Their  insolence  and  rapaciousness  provoked  the  natives  to  take  arms  ;  and 
as  these  were  a  more  hardy  and  warlike  race  of  men  than  the  inhabitants 
of  the  islands,  they  cut  off  part  of  the  Spaniards,  and  obliged  the  rest  to 
abandon  a  station  which  was  found  to  be  untenable.! 

*  Oviedo,  lib,  iii.  c.  7.  9.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  v.  c.  1,  2.  Lif*  of  Columbue,  c.  88.  t  Herrera 
dec  1.  lib.  v,  c.  5,  &c.  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  89,  &c.  Oviedo.  lib  in  c.  9. 


AMERICA.  89 

This  repulse,  the  first  that  the  Spaniards  met  with  from  any  of  the  Ame 
rican  nations,  was  not  the  only  misfortune  that  befell  Columbus ;  it  was 
followed  by  a  succession  of  all  the  disasters  to  which  navigation  is  exposed. 
Furious  hurricanes,  with  violent  storms  of  thunder  and  lightning,  threatened 
his  leaky  vessels  with  destruction  ;  while  his  discontented  crew,  exhausted 
with  fatigue,  and  destitute  of  provisions,  was  unwilling  or  unable  to  execute 
his  commands.  One  of  his  ships  perished ;  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
another,  as  unfit  for  service  ;  and  with  the  two  which  remained,  he  quitted 
that  part  of  the  continent,  which,  in  his  anguish,  he  named  the  Coast  of 
Vexation,*  and  bore  away  for  Hispaniola.  New  distresses  awaited  him 
in  this  voyage.  He  was  driven  back  by  a  violent  tempest  from  the  coast  of 
Cuba,  his  ships  fell  foul  of  one  another,  and  were  so  much  shattered  by  the 
shock  that  with  the  utmost  difficulty  they  reached  Jamaica  [June  24], 
where  he  was  obliged  to  run  them  aground,  to  prevent  them  from  sinking. 
The  measure  of  his  calamities  seemed  now  to  be  full.  He  was  cast  ashore 
upon  an  island  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  only  settlement  of  the 
Spaniards  in  America.  His  ships  were  ruined  beyond  the  possibility  of 
being  repaired.  To  convey  an  account  of  his  situation  to  Hispaniola 
appeared  impracticable  ;  and  without  this  it  was  in  vain  to  expect  relief. 
His  genius,  fertile  in  resources,  and  most  vigorous  in  those  perilous  extre 
mities  when  feeble  minds  abandon  themselves  to  despair,  discovered  the 
only  expedient  which  afforded  any  prospect  of  deliverance.  He  had 
recourse  to  the  hospitable  kindness  of  the  natives,  who,  considering  the 
Spaniards  as  beings  of  a  superior  nature,  were  eager,  on  every  occasion,  to 
minister  to  their  wants.  From  them  he  obtained  two  of  their  canoes,  each 
formed  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  single  tree  hollowed  with  fire,  and  so  misshapen 
and  awkward  as  hardly  to  merit  the  name  of  boats.  In  these,  which  were 
fit  only  for  creeping  along  the  coast,  or  crossing  from  one  side  of  a  bay  to 
another,  Mendez,  a  Spaniard,  and  Fieschi,  a  Genoese,  two  gentlemen  parti 
cularly  attached  to  Columbus,  gallantly  offered  to  set  out  for  Hispaniola, 
upon  a  voyage  of  above  thirty  leagues.!  This  they  accomplished  in  ten 
days,  after  surmounting  incredible  dangers,  and  enduring  such  fatigues  that 
several  of  the  Indians  who  accompanied  them  sunk  under  it,  and  died. 
The  attention  paid  to  them  by  the  governor  of  Hispaniola  was  neither  such 
as  their  courage  merited,  nor  the  distress  of  the  persons  from  \vhom  they 
came  required.  Ovando,  from  a  mean  jealousy  of  Columbus,  was  afraid 
of  allowing  him  to  set  foot  in  the  island  under  his  government.  This  unge 
nerous  passion  hardened  his  heart  against  every  tender  sentiment  which 
reflection  upon  the  services  and  misfortunes  of  that  great  man,  or  compas 
sion  for  his  own  fellow-citizens,  involved  in  the  same  calamities,  must  have 
excited.  Mendez  and  Fieschi  spent  eight  months  in  soliciting  relief  for 
their  commander  and  associates,  without  any  prospect  of  obtaining  it. 

During  this  period,  various  passions  agitated  the  mind  of  Columbus  and 
his  companions  in  adversity.  At  first,  the  expectation  of  speedy  deliverance, 
from  the  success  of  Mendez  and  Fieschi's  voyage,  cheered  the  spirits  of 
the  most  desponding.  After  some  time  the  most  timorous  began  to  suspect 
that  they  had  miscarried  in  their  daring  attempt  [1504].  At  length,  even 
the  most  sanguine  concluded  that  they  had  perished.  The  ray  of  hope 
which  had  broke  in  upon  them,  made  their  condition  appear  now  more 
dismal.  Despair,  heightened  by  disappointment,  settled  in  every  breast. 
Their  last  resource  had  failed,  and  nothing  remained  but  the  prospect  of 
ending  their  miserable  days  among  naked  savages,  far  from  their  country 
and  their  friends.  The  seamen,  in  a  transport  of  rage,  rose  in  open  mutiny, 
threatened  the  life  ot  Columbus,  whom  they  reproached  as  the  author  of 
all  their  calamities,  seized  ten  canoes,  which  they  had  purchased  from  the 
Indians,  and,  despising  his  remonstrances  and  entreaties,  made  off  with 

*  La  Costa  de  los  Constrastea.  |  Oviedo,  lib.  iii.  c.  9. 

VOL.  I.— 12  6 


90  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  II. 

them  to  a  distant  part  of  the  island.  At  the  same  time  the  natives  mur 
mured  at  the  long  residence  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  country.  As  their 
industry  was  not  greater  than  that  of  their  neighbours  in  Hispaniola,  like 
them  they  found  the  burden  of  supporting  so  many  strangers  to  be  altoge- 
thei  intolerable.  They  began  to  bring  in  provisions  with  reluctance,  they 
furnished  them  with  a  sparing  hand,  and  threatened  to  withdraw  those 
supplies  altogether.  Such  a  resolution  must  have  been  quickly  fatal  to  the 
Spaniards.  Their  safety  depended  upon  the  good  will  of  the  Indians  ;  and 
unless  they  could  revive  the  admiration  and  reverence  with  which  that 
simple  people  had  at'  first  beheld  them,  destruction  was  unavoidable. 
Though  the  licentious  proceedings  of  the  mutineers  had  in  a  great  measure 
effaced  those  impressions  which  had  been  so  favourable  to  the  Spaniards, 
the  ingenuity  of  Columbus  suggested  a  happy  artifice,  that  not  only  restored 
but  heightened  the  high  opinion  which  the  Indians  had  originally  entertained 
of  them.  By  his  skill  in  astronomy,  he  knew  that  there  was  shortly  to  be  a 
total  eclipse  of  the  moon.  He  assembled  all  the  principal  persons  of  the 
district  around  him  on  the  day  before  it  happened,  and,  after  reproaching 
them  for  their  fickleness  in  withdrawing  their  affection  and  assistance  from 
men  whom  they  had  lately  revered,  he  told  them,  that  the  Spaniards 
were  servants  of  the  Great  Spirit  who  dwells  in  heaven,  who  made  and 
governs  the  world  :  that  he,  offended  at  their  refusing  to  support  men  who 
were  the  objects  of  his  peculiar  favour,  was  preparing  to  punish  this  crime 
with  exemplary  severity,  and  that  very  night  the  moon  should  withhold  her 
light,  and  appear  of  a  bloody  hue,  as  a  sign  of  the  divine  wrath  and  an 
emblem  of  the  vengeance  ready  to  fall  upon  them.  To  this  marvellous 
prediction  some  of  them  listened  with  the  careless  indifference  peculiar  to 
the  people  of  America ;  others,  with  the  credulous  astonishment  natural 
to  barbarians.  But  when  the  moon  began  gradually  to  be  darkened,  and 
at  length  appeared  of  a  red  colour,  all  were  struck  with  terror.  They  ran 
with  consternation  to  their  houses,  and  returning  instantly  to  Columbus 
loaded  with  provisions,  threw  them  at  his  feet,  conjuring  him  to  intercede 
with  the  Great  Spirit  to  avert  the  destruction  with  which  they  were  threat 
ened.  Columbus,  seeming  to  be  moved  by  their  entreaties,  promised  to 
comply  with  their  desire.  The  eclipse  went  off,  the  moon  recovered  its 
splendour,  and  from  that  day  the  Spaniards  were  not  only  furnished  profusely 
with  provisions,  but  the  natives,  with  superstitious  attention,  avoided  every 
thing  that  could  give  them  offence.* 

During  those  transactions,  the  mutineers  had  made  repeated  attempts  to 
pass  over  to  Hispaniola  in  the  canoes  which  they  had  seized.  But,  from 
their  own  misconduct  or  the  violence  of  the  winds  and  currents,  their  efforts 
were  all  unsuccessful.  Enraged  at  this  disappointment,  they  marched  towards 
that  part  of  the  island  where  Columbus  remained,  threatening  him  with 
new  insults  and  danger.  While  they  were  advancing,  an  event  happened, 
more  cruel  and  afflicting  than  any  calamity  which  he  dreaded  from  them. 
The  governor  of  Hispaniola,  whose  mind  was  still  filled  with  some  dark 
suspicions  of  Columbus,  sent  a  small  bark  to  Jamaica,  not  to  deliver 
his  distressed  countrymen,  but  to  spy  out  their  condition.  Lest  the  sympathy 
of  those  whom  he  employed  should  afford  them  relief,  contrary  to  his  inten 
tion,  he  gave  the  command  of  this  vessel  to  Escobar,  an  inveterate  enemy 
of  Columous,  who,  adhering  to  his  instructions  with  malignant  accuracy,  cast 
anchor  at  some  distance  from  the  island,  approached  the  shore  in  a  small 
boat,  observed  the  wretched  plight  of  the  Spaniards,  delivered  a  letter  of 
empty  compliments  to  the  admiral,  received  his  answer,  and  departed. 
When  the  Spaniards  first  descried  the  vessel  standing  towards  the  island, 
every  heart  exulted,  as  if  the  long  expected  hour  of  their  deliverance  had 
at  length  arrived  ;  but  when  it  disappeared  so  suddenly,  they  sunk  into  the 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  103.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi  $.  5,  6.    Benzon,  Hist.  lib.  i.  c.  14. 

a-.  Jl-~.i  -.JOY 


AMERICA.  91 

deepest  dejection,  and  all  their  hopes  died  away.  Columbus  alone,  though 
he  felt  most  sensibly  this  wanton  insult  which  Ovando  added  to  his  past 
neglect,  retained  such  composure  of  mind  as  to  be  able  to  cheer  his  followers. 
He  assured  them  that  Mendez  and  Fieschi  had  reached  Hispaniola  in  safety; 
that  they  would  speedily  procure  ships  to  carry  them  off ;  but,  as  Escobar's 
vessel  could  not  take  them  all  on  board,  that  he  had  refused  to  go  with  her, 
because  he  was  determined  never  to  abandon  the  faithful  companions  of  his 
distress.  Soothed  with  the  expectation  of  speedy  deliverance,  and  delighted 
with  his  apparent  generosity  in  attending  more  to  their  preservation  than  to 
his  own  safety,  their  spirits  revived,  and  he  regained  their  confidence.* 

Without  this  confidence  he  could  not  have  resisted  the  mutineers,  who 
were  now  at  hand.  Al]  his  endeavours  to  reclaim  those  desperate  men  had 
no  effect  but  to  increase  their  frenzy.  Their  demands  became  every  day 
more  extravagant,  and  their  intentions  more  violent  and  bloody.  The 
common  safety  rendered  it  necessary  to  oppose  them  with  open  force. 
Columbus,  who  had  been  long  afflicted  with  the  gout,  could  not  take  the 
field.  His  brother,  the  adelantado,  marched  against  them  [May  20]. 
They  quickly  met.  The  mutineers  rejected  with  scorn  terms  of  accom 
modation,  which  were  once  more  offered  them,  and  rushed  on  boldly  to  the 
attack.  They  fell  not  upon  an  enemy  unprepared  to  receive  them.  In  the 
first  shock,  several  of  their  most  daring  leaders  were  slain.  The  adelan 
tado,  whose  strength  was  equal  to  his  courage,  closed  with  their  captain, 
wounded,  disarmed,  and  took  him  prisoner.!  At  sight  of  this,  the  rest 
fled  with  a  dastardly  fear  suitable  to  their  former  insolence.  Soon  after, 
they  submitted  in  a  body  to  Columbus,  and  bound  themselves  by  the  most 
solemn  oaths  to  obey  all  his  commands.  Hardly  was  tranquillity  re 
established  when  the  ships  appeared,  whose  arrival  Columbus  had  promised 
with  great  address,  though  he  could  foresee  it  with  little  certainty.  With 
transports  of  joy  the  Spaniards  quitted  an  island  in  which  the  unfeeling 
jealousy  of  Ovando  had  suffered  them  to  languish  above  a  year,  exposed  to 
misery  in  all  its  various  forms. 

When  they  arrived  at  St.  Domingo  [Aug.  13],  the  governor,  with  the  mean 
artifice  of  a  vulgar  mind,  that  labours  to  atone  for  insolence  by  servility, 
fawned  on  the  man  whom  he  envied,  and  had  attempted  to  ruin.  He 
received  Columbus  with  the  most  studied  respect,  lodged  him  in  his  own 
house,  and  distinguished  him  with  every  mark  of  honour.  But  amidst  those 
overacted  demonstrations  of  regard,  he  could  not  conceal  the  hatred  and 
malignity  latent  in  his  heart.  He  set  at  liberty  the  captain  of  the  mutineers, 
whom  Columbus  had  brought  over  in  chains  to  be  tried  for  his  crimes  ;  and 
threatened  such  as  had  adhered  to  the  admiral  with  proceeding  to  a  judicial 
inquiry  into  their  conduct.  Columbus  submitted  in  silence  to  what  he 
could  not  redress  ;  but  discovered  an  extreme  impatience  to  quit  a  country 
which  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  man  who  had  treated  him,  on  every 
occasion,  with  inhumanity  and  injustice.  His  preparations  were  soon  finished, 
and  he  set  sail  for  Spain  with  two  ships  [Sept.  12].  Disasters  similar  to 
those  which  had  accompanied  him  through  life  continued  to  pursue  him 
to  the  end  of  his  career.  One  of  his  vessels  being  disabled,  was  soon  forced 
back  to  St.  Domingo  ;  the  other,  shattered  by  violent  storms,  sailed  several 
hundred  leagues  with  jury-masts,  and  reached  with  difficulty  the  .port  of  St. 
Lucar  [December].f 

There  he  received  the  account  of  an  event  the  most  fatal  that  could  have 
befallen  him,  and  which  completeji  his  misfortunes.  This  was  the  death  of 
his  patroness  Queen  Isabella  [Nov.  9],  in  whose  justice,  humanity,  and 
favour  he  confided  as  his  last  resource.  None  now  remained  to  redress  his 
wrongs,  or  to  reward  him  for  his  services  and  sufferings,  but  Ferdinand,  who 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  104.  Kerrey,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  17.  t  Ibid.  c.  107.  Herrera,  dec  1. 
lib.  vi.  c.  11.  }  Ibid.  c.  108.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  12. 


92  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III. 

had  so  long  opposed  and  so  often  injured  him.    To  solicit  a  prince  thus 

Erejudiced  against  him  was  an  occupation  no  less  irksome  than  hopeless, 
a  this,  however,  was  Columbus  doomed  to  employ  the  close  of  his  days. 
As  soon  as  his  health  was  in  some  degree  re-established,  he  repaired  to 
court ;  and  though  he  was  received  there  with  civility  barely  decent,  he 
plied  Ferdinand  with  petition  after  petition,  demanding  the  punishment  of 
his  oppressors,  and  the  restitution  of  all  the  privileges  oestowed  upon  him 
by  the  capitulation  of  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-two.  Ferdi 
nand  amused  him  with  fair  words  and  unmeaning  promises.  Instead  of 
granting  his  claims,  he  proposed  expedients  in  order  to  elude  them,  and 
spun  out  the  affair  with  such  apparent  art,  as  plainly  discovered  his  intention 
that  it  should  never  be  terminated.  The  declining  hearth  of  Columbus 
flattered  Ferdinand  with  the  hopes  of  being  soon  delivered  from  an 
importunate  suitor,  and  encouraged  him  to  persevere  in  this  illiberal  plan. 
Nor  was  he  deceived  in  his  expectations.  Disgusted  with  the  ingratitude  of 
a  monarch  whom  he  had  served  with  such  fidelity  and  success,  exhausted 
with  the  fatigues  and  hardships  which  he  had  endured,  and  broken  with 
the  infirmities  which  these  had  brought  upon  him,  Columbus  ended  his  life 
at  Valladolid  on  the  twentieth  of  May,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  six 
in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  He  died  with  a  composure  of  mind 
suitable  to  the  magnanimity  which  distinguished  his  character,  and  with 
sentiments  of  piety  becoming  that  supreme  respect  for  religion  which  he 
manifested  in  eveiy  occurrence  of  his  life.* 


BOOK  III. 

WHILE  Columbus  was  employed  in  his  last  voyage,  several  events  worthy 
of  notice  happened  in  Hispaniola.  The  colony  there,  the  parent  and  nurse 
of  all  the  subsequent  establishments  of  Spain  in  the  New  World,  gradually 
acquired  the  form  of  a  regular  and  prosperous  society.  The  humane 
solicitude  of  Isabella  to  protect  the  Indians  from  oppression,  and  particularly 
the  proclamation  by  which  the  Spaniards  were  prohibited  to  compel  them 
to  work,  retarded,  it  is  true,  for  some  time  the  progress  of  improvement. 
The  natives,  who  considered  exemption  from  toil  as  extreme  felicity,  scorned 
every  allurement  and  reward  by  which  they  were  invited  to  labour.  The 
Spaniards  had  not  a  sufficient  number  of  hands  either  to  work  the  mines  or 
to  cultivate  the  soil.  Several  of  the  first  colonists  who  had  been  accus 
tomed  to  the  service  of  the  Indians,  quitted  the  island,  when  deprived  of 
those  instruments,  without  which  they  knew  not  how  to  carry  on  any 
operation.  Many  of  the  new  settlers  who  came  over  with  Ovando,  were 
seized  with  the  distempers  peculiar  to  the  climate,  and  in  a  short  space  above 
a  thousand  of  them  died.  At  the  same  time,  the  exacting  one  half  of  the 
product  of  the  mines,  as  the  royal  share,  was  found  to  be  a  demand  so  exor 
bitant  that  no  adventurers  would  engage  to  work  them  upon  such  terms.  In 
order  to  save  the  colony  from  ruin,  Ovando  ventured  to  relax  the  rigour  of 
the  royal  edicts  [1505].  He  made  a  new  distribution  of  the  Indians  among 
the  Spaniards,  and  compelled  them  to  labour,  for  a  stated  time,  in  digging 
the  mines,  or  in  cultivating  the  ground  ;  but  in  order  to  screen  himself  from 
the  imputation  of  having  subjected  them  again  to  servitude,  he  enjoined 
their  masters  to  pay  them  a  certain  sum,  as  the  price  of  their  work.  He 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  108.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  13, 14, 15. 


AMERICA.  93 

reduced  the  royal  share  of  the  gold  found  in  the  mines  from  the  half  to  the 
third  part,  and  soon  after  lowered  it  to  a  fifth,  at  which  it  long  remained. 
Notwithstanding  Isabella's  tender  concern  for  the  good  treatment  of  the 
Indians,  and  Ferdinand's  eagerness  to  improve  the  Royal  revenue,  Ovando 
persuaded  the  court  to  approve  of  both  these  regulations.* 

But  the  Indians,  after  enjoying  respite  from  oppression,  though  during  a 
short  interval,  now  felt  the  yoke  of  bondage  to  be  so  galling  that  they  made 
several  attempts  to  vindicate  their  own  liberty.    This  the  Spaniards  consi 
dered  as  rebellion,  and  took  arms  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  subjection. 
When  war  is  carried  on  between  nations  whose  state  of  improvement  is  in 
any  degree  similar,  the  means  of  defence  bear  some  proportion  to  those 
employed  in  the  attack  ;  and  in  this  equal  contest  snch  efforts  must  be  made, 
such  talents  are  displayed,  and  such  passions  roused,  as  exhibit  mankind  to 
view  in  a  situation  no  less  striking  than  interesting.    It  is  one  of  the  noblest 
functions  of  history  to  observe  and  to  delineate  men  at  a  juncture  when  their 
minds  are  most  violently  agitated,  and  all  their  powers  and  passions  are 
called  forth.     Hence  the  operations  of  war,  and  the  struggles  between 
contending  states,  have  been  deemed  by  historians,  ancient  as  well  as 
modern,  a  capital  and  important  article  in  the  annals  01  human  actions. 
But  in  a  contest  between  naked  savages,  and  one  of  the  most  warlike  of  the 
European  nations,  where  science,  courage,  and  discipline  on  oqe  side,  were 
opposed  by  ignorance,  timidity,  and  disorder  on  the  other,  <x  particular 
detail  of  events  would  be  as  unpleasant  as  uninstructiye.     If  the  simplicity 
and  innocence  of  the  Indians  had  inspired  the  Spaniards  with  himanity, 
had  softened  the  pride  of  superiority  into  compassion,  and  had  inducei  them 
to  improve  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World,  instead  of  oppressing  %hem, 
some   sudden  acts  of   violence,  like   the   too  rigorous  chastisemen$  of 
impatient  instructors,  might  have  been  related  without  horror.     But,  unfyr- 
tunately,  this  consciousness  of  superiority  operated  in  a  different  manftr. 
The  Spaniards  were  advanced  so  far  beyond  the  natives  of  America'^ 
improvement  of  every  kind,  that  they  viewed  them  with  contempt.     Ther 
conceived  the  Americans  to  be  animals  of  an  inferior  nature,  who  were  nc\ 
entitled  to  the  rights  and  privileges  of  men.     In  peace  they  subjected  then\ 
to  servitude.     In  war  they  paid  no  regard  to  those  laws  which,  by  a  tacit 
convention  between  contending  nations,  regulate  hostility,  and  set  some 
bounds  to  its  rage.     They  considered  them  not  as  men  fighting  in  defence 
of  their  liberty,  but  as  slaves  who  had  revolted  against  their  masters.^  Their 
caziques,  when  taken,  were  condemned,  like  the  leaders  of  banditti,  to  the 
most  cruel  and  ignominious  punishments ;  and  all  their  subjects,  without 
regarding  the  distinction  of  ranks  established  amon^  them,  were  reduced 
to  the  same  state  of  abject  slavery.    With  such  a  spirit  and  sentiments  were 
hostilities  carried  on  against  the  cazique  of  Higuey,  a  province  at  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  island.    This  war  was  occasioned  by  the  perfidy 
of  the  Spaniards,  in  violating  a  treaty  which  they  had  made  with  the 
natives,  and  it  was  terminated  by  hanging  up  the  cazique,  who  defended 
his  people  with  bravery  so  far  superior  to  that  of  his  countrymen,  as 
entitled  him  to  a  better  fate.j 

The  conduct  of  Ovando,  in  another  part  of  the  island,  was  still  more 
treacherous  and  cruel.  The  province  anciently  named  Xaragua,  which 
extends  from  the  fertile  plain  where  Leogane  is  now  situated  to  the  western 
extremity  of  the  island,  was  subject  to  a  female  cazique,  named  Anacoana, 
highly  respected  by  the  natives.  She,  from  that  partial  fondness  with  which 
the  women  of  America  were  attached  to  the  Europeans  (the  cause  of 
which  shall  be  afterwards  explained),  had  always  courted  the  friendship 
of  the  Spaniards,  and  loaded  them  with  benefits.  But  some  of  the  adhe 
rents  of  Koldan  having  settled  in  her  country,  were  so  much  exasperated 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  v.  c.  3  f  Ibid  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  9, 10. 


94  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III. 

at  her  endeavouring  to  restrain  their  excesses,  that  they  accused  her  of 
having  formed  a  plan  to  throw  off  the  yoke,  and  to  exterminate  the 
Spaniards.  Ovando,  though  he  knew  well  what  little  credit  was  due  to 
such  profligate  men,  marched,  without  further  inquiry,  towards  Xaragua, 
with  three  hundred  foot  and  seventy  horsemen.  To  prevent  the  Indians 
from  taking  alarm  at  this  hostile  appearance,  he  gave  out  that  his  sole 
intention  was  to  visit  Anacoana,  to  whom  his  countrymen  had  been  so  much 
indebted,  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  and  to  regulate  with  her  the  mode 
of  levying  the  tribute  payable  to  the,  king  of  Spain.  Anacoana,  in  order 
to  receive  this  illustrious  guest  with  due  honour,  assembled  the  principal  men 
in  her  dominions,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  ;  and  advancing  at  the 
head  of  these,  accompanied  by  a  great  crowd  of  persons  of  inferior  rank, 
«he  welcomed  Ovando  with  songs  and  dances,  according  to  the  mode  of 
the  country,  and  conducted  him  to  the  place  of  her  residence.  There  he 
was  feasted  for  some  days,  with  all  the  kindness  of  simple  hospitality,  and 
amused  with  the  games  and  spectacles  usual  among  the  Americans  upon 
occasions  of  mirth  and  festivity.  But  amidst  the  security  which  this 
inspired,  Ovando  was  meditating  the  destruction  of  his  unsuspicious  enter 
tainer  and  her  subjects  ;  and  the  mean  perfidy  with  which  he  executed  this 
scheme,  equalled  his  barbarity  in  forming  it.  Under  colour  of  exhibiting 
to  the  Indian?  the  parade  of  a  European  tournament,  he  advanced  with  his 
troops,  in  battle  array,  towards  the  house  in  which  Anacoana  and  the  chiefs 
who  attended  her  were  assembled.  The  infantry  took  possession  of  all  the 
avenues  *vhich  led  to  the  village.  The  horsemen  encompassed  the  house. 
These  movements  were  the  object  of  admiration,  without  any  mixture  of 
fear,  intil,  upon  a  signal  which  had  been  concerted,  the  Spaniards  suddenly 
drev  their  swords,  and  rushed  upon  the  Indians,  defenceless,  and  astonished 
at  ?n  act  of  treachery  which  exceeded  the  conception  of  undesigning  men. 
In  a  moment  Anacoana  was  secured.  All  her  attendants  were  seized  and 
found.  Fire  was  set  to  the  house  ;  and  without  examination  or  conviction, 
ai  these  unhappy  persons,  the  most  illustrious  in  their  own  country,  were 
onsumed  in  the  flames.  Anacoana  was  reserved  for  a  more  ignominious 
ate.  She  was  carried  in  chains  to  St.  Domingo,  and,  after  the  formality  of 
a  trial  before  Spanish  judges,  she  was  condemned,  upon  the  evidence  of 
those  very  men  who  had  betrayed  her,  to  be  publicly  hanged.* 

Overawed  and  humbled  by  this  atrocious  treatment  of  their  princes  and 
nobles,  who  were  objects  of  their  highest  reverence,  the  people  in  all  the 
provinces  of  Hispamola  submitted,  without  further  resistance,  to  the  Spanish 
yoke.  Upon  the  death  of  Isabella  all  the  regulations  tending  to  mitigate  the 
rigour  of  their  servitude  were  forgotten.  The  small  gratuity  paid  to  them 
as  the  price  of  their  labour  was  withdrawn,  and  at  the  same  time  the  tasks 
imposed  upon  them  were  increased  [1506].  Ovando,  without  any  restraint, 
distributed  Indians  among  his  friends  in  the  island.  Ferdinand,  to  whom 
the  Queen  had  left  by  will  one  half  of  the  revenue  arising  from  the  settle 
ments  in  the  New  World,  conferred  grants  of  a  similar  nature  upon  his 
courtiers,  as  the  least  expensive  mode  of  rewarding  their  services.  They 
farmed  out  the  Indians,  of  whom  they  were  rendered  proprietors,  to  their 
countrymen  settled  in  Hispaniola  ;  and  that  wretched  people,  being  com 
pelled  to  labour  in  order  to  satisfy  the  rapacity  of  both,  the  exactions  of 
their  oppressors  no  longer  knew  any  bounds.  But,  barbarous  as  their  policy 
was,  and  fatal  to  the  inhabitants  of  Hispaniola,  it  produced,  for  some  time, 
very  considerable  effects.  By  calling  forth  the  force  of  a  whole  nation, 
and  exerting  itself  in  one  direction,  the  working  of  the  mines  was  carried 
on  with  amazing  rapidity  and  success.  During  several  years  the  gold  brought 
into  the  royal  smelting  houses  in  Hispaniola  amounted  annually  to  four  hundred 

*  Ovledo,  lib.  iii.  c.  12.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  4.  Relacion  de  Destruyc.  de  las  Indias  por 
liart  de  lasCasaa,  p.  8. 


AMERICA.  95 

and  sixty  thousand  pesos,  above  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling ;  which* 
if  we  attend  to  the  great  change  in  the  value  of  money  since  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  present  times,  must  appear  a  considerable 
sum.  Vast  fortunes  were  created,  of  a  sudden,  by  some.  Others  dissipated, 
in  ostentatious  profusion,  what  they  acquired  with  facility.  Dazzled  by 
both,  new  adventurers  crowded  to  America,  with  the  most  eager  impatience, 
to  share  in  those  treasures  which  had  enriched  their  countrymen ;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  mortality  occasioned  by  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate, 
the  colony  continued  to  increase.* 

Ovando  governed  the  Spaniards  with  wisdom  and  justice  not  inferior  to 
the  rigour  with  which  he  treated  the  Indians.  He  established  equal  laws  ; 
and,  by  executing  them  with  impartiality,  accustomed  the  people  of  the 
colony  to  reverence  them.  He  founded  several  new  towns  in  different  parts 
of  the  island,  and  allured  inhabitants  to  them  by  the  concession  of  various 
immunities.  He  endeavoured  to  turn  the  attention  of  the  Spaniards  to 
some  branch  of  industiy  more  useful  than  that  of  searching  for  gold  in  the 
mines.  Some  slips  of  the  sugarcane  having  been  brought  from  the  Canary 
islands  by  way  of  experiment,  they  were  found  to  thrive  with  such  increase 
in  the  rich  soil  and  warm  climate  to  which  they  were  transplanted,  that 
the  cultivation  of  them  soon  became  an  object  of  commerce.  Extensive 

Elantations  were  begun  ;  sugarworks,  which  the  Spaniards  called  ingenioSj 
•om  the  various  machinery  employed  in  them,  were  erected,  and  in  a  few 
years  the  manufacture  of  this  commodity  was  the  great  occupation  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Hispaniola,  and  the  most  considerable  source  of  their 
wealth.f 

The  prudent  endeavours  of  Ovando,  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
colony,  were  powerfully  seconded  by  Ferdinand,  The  large  remittances 
which  he  received  from  the  New  World  opened  his  eyes,  at  length,  with 
respect  to  the  importance  of  those  discoveries,  which  he  had  hitherto 
affected  to  undervalue.  Fortune,  and  his  own  address,  having  now  ex 
tricated  him  out  of  those  difficulties  in  which  he  had  been  involved  by 
the  death  of  his  Queen  [1507],  and  by  his  disputes  with  his  son-in-law 
about  the  government  other  dominions,!  he  had  full  leisure  to  turn  his 
attention  to  the  affairs  of  America.  To  his  provident  sagacity  Spain  is 
indebted  for  many  of  those  regulations  which  gradually  formed  that 
system  of  profound  but  jealous  policy,  by  which  she  governs  her  dominions 
in  the  New  World.  He  erected  a  court  distinguished  by  the  title  of 
Casa  de  Contratacion,  or  Board  of  Trade,  composed  of  persons  eminent 
for  rank  and  abilities,  to  whom  he  committed  the  administration  of  American 
affairs.  This  board  assembled  regularly  in  Seville,  and  was  invested  with 
a  distinct  and  extensive  jurisdiction.  He  gave  a  regular  form  to  ecclesias 
tical  government  in  America,  by  nominating  archbishops,  bishops,  deans, 
together  with  clergymen  of  subordinate  ranks,  to  take  charge  of  the  Spaniards 
established  there,  as  well  as  of  the  natives  who  should  embrace  the  Christian 
faith,  but  notwithstanding  the  obsequious  devotion  of  the  Spanish  court  to 
the  papal  see,  such  was^Ferdinarid's  solicitude  to  prevent  any  foreign  power 
from  claiming  jurisdiction,  or  acquiring  influence,  in  his  new  dominions, 
that  he  reserved  to  the  crown  of  Spain  the  sole  right  of  patronage  to  the 
benefices  in  America,  and  stipulated  that  no  papal  bull  or  mandate  should 
be  promulgated  there  until  it  was  previously  examined  and  approved  of  by 
his  council.  With  the  same  spirit  of  jealousy,  he  prohibited  any  goods  to 
be  exported  to  America,  or  any  person  to  settle  there  without  a  special 
license  from  that  council.^ 

But,  notwithstanding  this  attention  to  the  police  and  welfare  of  the  colony, 
a  calamity  impended  which  threatened  its  dissolution.  The  original  inha- 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  18,  &c.  t  Oviedo,  lib.  iv.  c.  8.  *  History  of  tbe  Reign  of 

Charles  V.  p.  6,  &c.          §  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  19,  20. 


96  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III. 

bitants,  on  whose  labour  the  Spaniards  in  Hispaniola  depended  for  their 
prosperity,  and  even  their  existence,  wasted  so  fast  that  the  extinction  of  the 
whole  race  seemed  to  be  inevitable.  When  Columbus  discovered  Hispa 
niola,  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  was  computed  to  be  at  least  a  million.* 
They  were  now  reduced  to  sixty  thousand  in  the  space  of  fifteen  years. 
This  consumption  of  the  human  species,  no  less  amazing  than  rapid,  was 
the  effect  of  several  concurring  causes.  The  natives  of  the  American 
islands  were  of  a  more  feeble  constitution  than  the  inhabitants  of  the 
other  hemisphere.  They  could  neither  perform  the  same  work  nor  endure 
the  same  fatigue  with  men  whose  organs  were  of  a  more  vigorous  con 
formation.  The  listless  indolence  in  which  they  delighted  to  pass  their 
days,  as  it  was  the  effect  of  their  debility,  contributed  likewise  to  increase 
it,  and  rendered  them  from  habit,  as  well  as  constitution,  incapable  of  hard 
labour.  The  food  on  which  they  subsisted  afforded  little  nourishment,  and 
they  were  accustomed  to  take  it  in  small  quantities,  not  sufficient  to  invigorate 
a  languid  frame,  and  render  it  equal  to  the  efforts  of  active  industry.  The 
Spaniards,  without  attending  to  those  peculiarities  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Americans,  imposed  tasks  upon  them  which,  though  not  greater  than 
Europeans  might  have  performed  with  ease,  were  so  disprop>ortioned  to 
their  strength,  that  many  sunk  under  the  fatigue,  and  ended  their  wretched 
days.  Others,  prompted  by  impatience  and  despair,  cut  short  their  own 
lives  with  a  violent  hand.  Famine,  brought  on  by  compelling  such  numbers 
to  abandon  the  culture  of  their  lands,  in  order  to  labour  in  the  mines,  proved 
fatal  to  many.  Diseases  of  various  kinds,  some  occasioned  by  the  hardships 
to  which  they  were  exposed,  and  others  by  their  intercourse  with  the 
Europeans,  who  communicated  to  them  some  of  their  peculiar  maladies, 
completed  the  desolation  of  the  island.  The  Spaniards,  being  thus  deprived 
of  the  instruments  which  they  were  accustomed  to  employ,  found  it  impos 
sible  to  extend  their  improvements,  or  even  to  carry  on  the  works  which 
they  had  already  begun  [1508],  In  order  to  provide  an  immediate  remedy 
for  an  evil  so  alarming,  Ovando  proposed  to  transport  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Lucayo  islands  to  Hispaniola,  under  pretence  that  they  might  be  civilized 
with  more  facility,  and  instructed  to  greater  advantage  in  the  Christian 
religion,  if  they  were  united  to  the  Spanish  colony,  and  placed  under  the 
immediate  inspection  of  the  missionaries  settled  there.  Ferdinand,  deceived 
by  this  artifice,  or  willing  to  connive  at  an  act  of  violence  which  policy 
represented  as  necessary,  gave  his  assent  to  the  proposal.  Several  vessels 
were  fitted  out  for  the  Lucayos,  the  commanders  of  which  informed  the 
natives,  with  whose  language  they  were  now  well  acquainted,  that  they 
came  from  a  delicious  country,  in  which  the  departed  ancestors  of  the 
Indians  resided,  by  whom  they  were  sent  to  invite  their  descendants  to  resort 
thither,  to  partake  of  the  bliss  enjoyed  there  by  happy  spirits.  That  simple 
people  listened  with  wonder  and  credulity :  and,  fond  of  visiting  their 
relations  and  friends  in  that  happy  region,  followed  the  Spaniards  with 
eagerness.  By  this  artifice  above  forty  thousand  were  decoyed  into  His 
paniola,  to  share  in  the  sufferings  which  were  the  lot  of  the  inhabitants  of 
that  island,  and  to  mingle  their  groans  and  tears  with  those  of  that  wretched 
race  of  men.t 

The  Spaniards  had,  for  some  time,  carried  on  their  operations  in  the 
mines  of  Hispaniola  with  such  ardour  as  well  as  success,  that  these  seemed 
to  have  engrossed  their  whole  attention.  The  spirit  of  discovery  lan 
guished  ;  and,  since  the  last  voyage  of  Columbus,  no  enterprise  of  any 
moment  had  been  undertaken.  But  as  the  decrease  of  the  Indians  rendered 
it  impossible  to  acquire  wealth  in  that  island  with  the  same  rapidity  as 
formerly,  this  urged  some  of  the  more  adventurous  Spaniards  to  search  for 
new  countries,  where  their  avarice  might  be  gratified  with  more  facility. 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  12.     t  Ibid.  lib.  vii.  c.  3.    Oviedo,  lib.  iii.  c.  6.    Gomara  Hist.  c.  41. 


AMERICA.  97 

Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  who  commanded  under  Ovando  in  the  eastern  district 
of  Hispaniola,  passed  over  to  the  island  of  St.  Juan  de  Puerto  Rico,  which 
Columbus  had  discovered  in  his  second  voyage,  and  penetrated  into  the 
interior  part  of  the  country.  As  he  found  the  soil  to  be  fertile,  and  ex 
pected,  from  some  symptoms,  as  well  as  from  the  information  of  the 
inhabitants,  to  discover  mines  of  gold  in  the  mountains,  Ovando  permitted 
him  to  attempt  making  a  settlement  in  the  island.  This  was  easily  effected 
by  an  officer  eminent  for  conduct  no  less  than  for  courage.  In  a  few  years 
Puerto  Rico  was  subjected  to  the  Spanish  government,  the  natives  were 
reduced  to  servitude  ;  and  being  treated  with  the  same  inconsiderate  rigour 
as  their  neighbours  in  Hispaniola)  the  race  of  original  inhabitants,  worn  out 
with  fatigue  and  sufferings,  was  soon  exterminated.* 

About  the  same  time  Juan  Diazde  Solis,  in  conjunction  with  Vincent  Yanez 
Pinzon,  one  of  Columbus's  original  companions,  made  a  voyage  to  the  conti 
nent.  They  held  the  same  course  which  Columbus  had  taken  as  far  as  the 
island  of  Guanaios  ;  but,  standing  from  thence  to  the  west,  they  discovered 
a  new  and  extensive  province,  afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  Yucatan, 
and  proceeded  a  considerable  way  along  the  coast  of  that  country.f 
Though  nothing  memorable  occurred  in  this  voyage,  it  deserves  notice, 
because  it  led  to  discoveries  of  greater  importance.  For  the  same  reason 
the  voyage  of  Sebastian  de  Ocampo  must  be  mentioned.  By  the  command 
of  Ovando  he  sailed  round  Cuba,  and  first  discovered  with  certainty,  that 
this  country,  which  Columbus  once  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the  continent, 
was  a  large  island.^ 

This  voyage  round  Cuba  was  one  of  the  last  occurrences  under  the  adrni 
nistration  of  Ovando.  Ever  since  the  death  of  Columbus,  his  son,  Don 
Diego,  had  been  employed  in  soliciting  Ferdinand  to  grant  him  the  offices 
of  viceroy  and  admiral  in  the  New  World,  together  with  all  the  other 
immunities  and  profits  which  descended  to  him  by  inheritance,  in  consequence 
of  the  original  capitulation  with  his  father.  But  if  these  dignities  and 
revenues  appeared  so  considerable  to  Ferdinand,  that,  at  the  expense  of 
being  deemed  unjust  as  well  as  ungrateful,  he  had  wrested  them  from 
Columbus,  it  was  not  surprising  that  he  should  be  unwilling  to  confer  them 
on  his  son.  Accordingly  Don  Diego  wasted  two  years  in  incessant  but 
fruitless  importunity.  Weary  of  this,  he  endeavoured  at  length  to  obtain 
by  a  legal  sentence  what  he  could  not  procure  from  the  favour  of  an  inte 
rested  monarch.  He  commenced  a  suit  against  Ferdinand  before  the 
council  which  managed  Indian  affairs  ;  and  that  court,  with  integrity  which 
reflects  honour  upon  its  proceedings,  decided  against  the  king,  and  sustained 
Don  Diego's  claim  of  the  viceroyalty,  together  with  all  the  other  privileges 
stipulated  in  the  capitulation.  Even  after  this  decree  Ferdinand's  repugnance 
to  put  a  subject  in  possession  of  such  extensive  rights  might  have  thrown 
in  new  obstacles,  if  Don  Diego  had  not  taken  a  step  which  interested  very 
powerful  persons  in  the  success  of  his  claims.  The  sentence  of  the 
council  of  the  Indies  gave  him  a  title  to  a  rank  so  elevated,  and  a  fortune  so 
opulent,  that  he  found  no  difficulty  in  concluding  a  marriage  with  Donna 
Maria,  daughter  of  Don  Ferdinand  de  Toledo,  great  commendator  of  Leon, 
and  brother  of  the  duke  of  Alva,  a  nobleman  of  the  first  rank,  and  nearly 
related  to  the  king.  The  duke  and  his  family  espoused  so  warmly  the 
cause  of  their  new  ally,  that  Ferdinand  could  not  resist  their  solicitations 
[1509],  He  recalled  Ovando,  and  appointed  Don  Diego  his  successor, 
though  even  in  conferring  this  favour  he  could  not  conceal  his  jealousy; 
for  he  allowed  him  to  assume  only  the  title  of  governor,  not  that  of  viceroy, 
which  had  been  adjudged  to  belong  to  him.§ 

Don  Diego  quickly  repaired  to  Hispaniola,  attended  by  his  brother,  his  uncles, 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  1—4.      Gomara  Hist.  c.  44.     Relation  de  B.  de  las  Casas,  p.  10. 
t  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  17.        J  Ibid.  lib.  vii.  c.  1.        $  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  4,  &c. 

VOL.  I.— 13 


98  HISTORY    OF  fB9oK  III, 

his  wife,  whom  the  courtesy  of  the  Spaniards  honoured  with  the  title  of  vice1- 
queen,  and  a  numerous  retinue  of  persons  of  both  sexes  born  of  good  families, 
He  lived  with  a  splendour  and  magnificence  hitherto  unknown  in  the  New 
World ;  and  the  family  of  Columbus  seemed  now  to  enjoy  the  honours  and 
rewards  due  to  his  inventive  genius,  of  which  he  himself  had  been  cruelly  de 
frauded.  The  colony  itself  acquired  new  lustre  by  the  accession  of  so  many 
inhabitants,  of  a  different  rank  and  character  from  most  of  those  who  had 
hitherto  migrated  to  America,  and  many  of  the  most  illustrious  families  in  the 
Spanish  settlements  are  descended  from  the  persons  who  at  that  time  accom 
panied  Don  Diego  Columbus.* 

No  benefits  accrued  to  the  unhappy  natives  from  this  change  of  governors. 
Don  Diego  was  not  only  authorized  by  a  royal  edict  to  continue  the  repar- 
timientos,  or  distribution  of  Indians,  but  the  particular  number  which  he 
might  grant  to  every  person,  according  to  his  rank  in  the  colony,  was  spe 
cified.  He  availed  himself  of  that  permission  ;  and  soon  after  he  landed  at 
St.  Domingo,  he  divided  such  Indians  as  were  still  unappropriated,  among 
his  relations  and  attendants.! 

The  next  care  of  the  new  governor  was  to  comply  with  an  instruction 
which  he  received  from  the  king,  about  settling  a  colony  in  Cubagua,  a 
small  island  which  Columbus  had  discovered  in  his  third  voyage.  Though 
this  barren  spot  hardly  yielded  subsistence  to  its  wretched  inhabitants, 
such  quantities  of  those  oysters  which  produce  pearls  were  found  on  its 
coast,  that  it  did  not  long  escape  the  inquisitive  avarice  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  became  a  place  of  considerable  resort.  Large  fortunes  were  acquired 
by  the  fishery  of  pearls,  which  was  carried  on  with  extraordinary  ardour. 
The  Indians,  especially  those  from  the  Lucayo  islands,  were  compelled  to 
dive  for  them  ;  and  this  dangerous  and  unhealthy  employment  was  an  addi 
tional  calamity  which  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  extinction  of  that 
devoted  race.J 

About,  this  period,  Juan  Diazde  Solis  and  Pinzon  set  out,  in  conjunction, 
upon  a  second  voyage.  They  stood  directly  south,  towards  the  equinoctial 
line,  which  Pinzon  had  formerly  crossed,  and  advanced  as  far  as  the  fortieth 
degree  of  southern  latitude.  They  were  astonished  to  find  that  the  conti 
nent  of  America  stretched  on  their  right  hand  through  all  this  vast  extent  of 
ocean.  They  landed  in  different  places,  to  take'  possession  in  name  of  their 
sovereign  ;  but  though  the  country  appeared  to  be  extremely  fertile  and 
inviting,  their  force  was  so  small,  having  been  fitted  out  rather  for  discovery 
than  making  settlements,  that  they  left  no  colony  behind  them.  Their 
voyage  served,  however,  to  give  the  Spaniards  more  exalted  and  adequate 
ideas  with  respect  to  the  dimensions  of  this  new  quarter  of  the  globe.§ 

Though  it  was  about  ten  years  since  Columbus  had  discovered  the  main 
land  of  America,  the  Spaniards  had  hitherto  made  no  settlement  in  any 
part  of  it.  What  had  been  so  long  neglected  was  now  seriously  attempted, 
and  with  considerable  vigour ;  though  the  plan  for  this  purpose  was  neither 
formed  by  the  crown,  nor  executed  at  the  expense  of  the  nation,  but  carried 
on  by  the  enterprising  spirit  of  private  adventurers.  The  scheme  took  its 
rise  from  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  who  had  already  made  two  voyages  as  a  disco 
verer,  by  which  he  acquired  considerable  reputation,  but  no  wealth.  But 
his  character  for  intrepidity  and  conduct  easily  procured  him  associates,  who 
advanced  the  money  requisite  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  expedition. 
About  the  same  time,  Diego  de  Nicuessa,  who  had  acquired  a  large  fortune 
in  Hispaniola,  formed  a  similar  design.  Ferdinand  encouraged  both  ;  and 
though  he  refused  to  advance  the  smallest  sum,  he  was  extremely  liberal  of 
titles  and  patents.  .He  erected  two  governments  on  the  continent,  one  ex 
tending  from  Cape  de  Vela  to  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  and  the  other  from  that  to 
Cape  Gracias  a  Bios.  The  former  was  given  to  Ojeda,  the  latter  to  Nicuessa. 

*  Oviedo,  lib.  iii.  c.  1.  f  Recopilacion  de  Leyes,  lib.  vi.  tit.  8. 1.  1,  2.  Herrera,  dec.  1  lib. 
TU.  c.  10.  J  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  9.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  7S.  $  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  9. 


AMERICA.  99 

Ojeda  fitted  out  a  ship  and  two  brigantines,  with  three  hundred  men, 
Nicuessa,  six  vessels,  with  seven  hundred  and  eighty  men.  They  sailed 
about  the  same  time  from  St.  Domingo  for  their  respective  governments. 
In  order  to  give  their  title  to  those  countries  some  appearance  of  validity, 
several  of  the  most  eminent  divines  and  lawyers  in  Spain  were  employed  to 
prescribe  the  mode  in  which  they  should  take  possession  of  them.*  There 
is  not  in  the  history  pf  mankind  any  thing  more  singular  or  extravagant  than 
the  form  which  they  devised  for  this  purpose.  They  instructed  those 
invaders,  as  soon  as  they  landed  on  the  continent,  to  declare  to  the  natives 
the  principal  articles  of  the  Christian  faith ;  to  acquaint  them  in  parti 
cular,  with  the  supreme  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope  over  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth  ;  to  inform  them  of  the  grant  which  this  holy  pontiff  had  made  of 
their  country  to  the  king  of  Spain  ;  to  require  them  to  embrace  the  doctrines 
of  that  religion  which  the  Spaniards  made  known  to  them ;  and  to  submit 
to  the  sovereign  whose  authority  they  proclaimed.  If  the  natives  refused  to 
comply  with  this  requisition,  the  terms,  of  which  must  have  been  utterly 
incomprehensible  to  uninstructed  Indians,  then  Ojeda  and  Nicuessa  were 
authorized  to  attack  them  with  fire  and  sword ;  to  reduce  them,  their 
wives  and  children,  to  a  state  of  servitude  ;  and  to  compel  them  by  force 
to  recognise  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church,  and  the  authority  of  the  monarch, 
to  which  they  would  not  voluntarily  subject  themselves  [23]. 

As  the  inhabitants  of  the  continent  could  not  at  once  yield  assent  to 
doctrines  too  refined  for  their  uncultivated  understandings,  and  explained  to 
them  by  interpreters  imperfectly  acquainted  with  their  language  ;  as  they 
did  not  conceive  how  a  foreign  priest,  of  whom  they  had  never  heard, 
could  have  any  right  to  dispose  of  their  country,  or  how  an  unknown  prince 
should  claim  jurisdiction  over  them  as  his  subjects  ;  they  fiercely  opposed 
the  new  invaders  of  their  territories.  Ojeda  and  Nicuessa  endeavoured 
to  effect  by  force  what  they  could  not  accomplish  by  persuasion.  The 
contemporary  writers  enter  into  a  very  minute  detail  in  relating  their 
transactions ;  but  as  they  made  no  discovery  of  importance,  nor  established 
any  permanent  settlement,  their  adventures  are  not  entitled  to  any  consi 
derable  place  in  the  general  history  of  a  period  where  romantic  valour, 
struggling  with  incredible  hardships,  distinguishes  every  effort  of  the 
Spanish  arms.  They  found  the  natives  in  those  countries  of  which  they 
went  to  assume  the  government,  to  be  of  a  character  very  different  from  that 
of  their  countrymen  in  the  islands.  They  were  free  and  warlike.  Their 
arrows  were  dipped  in  a  poison  so  noxious,  that  every  wound  was  followed 
with  certain  death.  In  one  encounter  they  slew  above  seventy  of  Ojeda's 
followers,  and  the  Spaniards,  for  the  first  time,  were  taught  to  dread  the 
inhabitants  of  the  New  World.  Nicuessa  was  opposed  by  people  equally 
resolute  in  defence  of  their  possessions.  Nothing  could  soften  their 
ferocity.  Though  the  Spaniards  employed  every  art  to  soothe  them,  and  to 
gain  their  confidence,  they  refused  to  hold  any  intercourse,  or  to  exchange 
any  friendly  office,  with  men  whose  residence  arnong  them  they  considered 
as  fatal  to  their  liberty  and  independence  [1510].  This  implacable  enmity 
of  the  natives,  though  it  rendered  an  attempt  to  establish  a  settlement  in 
their  country  extremely  difficult  as  well  as  dangerous,  might  have  been 
surmount&d  at  length  by  the  perseverance  of  the  Spaniards,  by  the  supe 
riority  of  their  arms,  and  their  skill  in  the  art  of  war.  But  every  disaster 
which  can  be  accumulated  upon  the  unfortunate  combined  to  complete  their 
ruin.  The  loss  of  their  ships  by  various  accidents  upon  an  unknown 
coast,  the  diseases  peculiar  to  a  climate  the  most  noxious  in  all  America, 
the  want  of  provisions  unavoidable  in  a  country  imperfectly  cultivated, 
dissension  among  themselves,  and  the  incessant  hostilities  01  the  natives, 
involved  them  in  a  succession  of  calamities,  the  bare  recital  of  which  strikes 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  15. 


100  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III, 

one  with  horror.  Though  they  received  two  considerable  reinforcements 
from  Hispaniola,  the  greater  part  .of  those  who  had  engaged  in  this  unhappy 
expedition  perished,  in  less  than  a  year,  in  the  most  extreme  misery.  A 
few  who  survived  settled  as  a  feeble  colony  at  Santa  Maria  el  Antigua,  on 
the  Gulf  of  Darien,  under  the  command  of  Vasco  Nugnez  de  Balboa,  who, 
in  the  most  desperate  exigencies,  displayed  such  courage  and  conduct  as 
first  gained  the  confidence  of  his  countrymen,  and  marked  him  out  as  their 
leader  in  more  splendid  and  successful  undertakings.  Nor  was  he  the 
only  adventurer  in  this  expedition  •  who  will  appear  with  lustre  in  more 
important  scenes.  Francisco  Pizarro  was  one  of  Ojeda's  companions,  and 
in  this  school  of  adversity  acquired  or  improved  the  talents  which  fitted  him 
for  the  extraordinary  actions  which  he  afterwards  performed.  Hernan 
Cortes,  whose  name  became  still  more  famous,  had  likewise  engaged  early 
in  this  enterprise,  which  roused  all  the  active  youth  of  Hispaniola  to  arms  ; 
but  the  good  fortune  that  accompanied  him  in  his  subsequent  adventures 
interposed  to  save  him  from  the  disasters  to  which  his  companions  were 
exposed.  He  was  taken  ill  at  St.  Domingo  before  the  departure  of  the 
fleet,  and  detained  there  by  a  tedious  indisposition.* 

Notwithstanding  the  unfortunate  issue  of  this  expedition,  the  Spaniards 
were  not  deterred  from  engaging  in  new  schemes  of  a  similar  nature. 
When  wealth  is  acquired  gradually  by  the  persevering  hand  of  industry,  or 
accumulated  by  the  slow  operations  of  regular  commerce,  the  means 
employed  are  so  proportioned  to  the  end  attained,  that  there  is  nothing  to 
strike  the  imagination,  and  little  to  urge  on  the  active  powers  of  the  mind 
to  uncommon  efforts.  But  when  large  fortunes  were  created  almost 
instantaneously ;  when  gold  and  pearls  were  procured  in  exchange  for 
baubles ;  when  the  countries  which  produced  these  rich  commodities, 
defended  only  by  naked  savages,  might  be  seized  by  the  first  bold  invader  ; 
objects  so  singular  and  alluring  roused  a  wonderful  spirit  of  enterprise 
among  the  Spaniards,  who  rushed  with  ardour  into  this  new  path  that  was 
opened  to  wealth  and  distinction.  While  this  spirit  continued  warm  and 
vigorous,  every  attempt  either  towards  discovery  or  conquest  was  applauded, 
and  adventurers  engaged  in  it  wjth  emulation.  The  passion  for  new  under 
takings,  which  characterizes  the  age  of  discovery  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
fifteenth  and  beginning  of  the  sixteenth' century,  would  alone  have  been 
sufficient  to  prevent  the  Spaniards  from  stopping  short  in  their  career.  But 
circumstances  peculiar  to  Hispaniola,  at  this  juncture,  concurred  with  it  in 
extending  their  navigation  and  conquests.  The  rigorous  treatment  of  the 
inhabitants  of  that  island  having  almost  extirpated  the  race,  many  of  the 
Spanish  planters,  as  I  have  already  observed,  finding  it  impossible  to  carry 
on  their  works  with  the  same  vigour  and  profit,  were  obliged  to  look  out  for 
settlements  in  some  country  where  people  were  not  yet  wasted  by  op 
pression.  Others,  with  the  inconsiderate  levity  natural  to  men  upon  whom 
wealth  pours  in  with  a  sudden  flow,  had  squandered  in  thoughtless  prodigality 
what  they  acquired  with  ease,  and  were  driven  by  necessity  to  embark  ir* 
the  most  desperate  schemes,  in  order  to  retrieve  their  affairs.  From  all 
these  causes,  when  Don  Diego  Columbus  proposed  [1511]  to  conquer  the 
island  of  Cuba,  and  to  establish  a  colony  there,  many  persons  of  chief 
distinction  in  Hispaniola  engaged  with  alacrity  in  the  measure.  He  gave 
the  command  of  the  troops  destined  for  that  service  to  Diego  Velasquez, 
one  of  his  father's  companions  in  his  second  voyage,  and  who,  having  been 
long  settled  in  Hispaniola,  had  acquired  an  ample  fortune,  with  such  repu 
tation  for  probity  and  prudence,  that  he  seemed  to  be  well  qualified  for 
conducting  an  expedition  of  importance.  Three  hundred  men  were  deemed 
sufficient  for  the  conquest  of  an  island  of  above  seven  hundred  miles  in 


*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  11,  &c.    Gomara  Hist.  c.  57,  58, 59. 
F.MartyMecad.p.  122. 


Benzon.  Hist.  lib.  i.  c.  19—23. 


AMERICA.  101 

length,  and  filled  with  inhabitants.  But  they  were  of  the  same  unwarlike 
character  with  the  people  of  Hispaniola.  They  were  not  only  intimidated 
by  the  appearance  of  their  new  enemies,  but  unprepared  to  resist  them. 
Iror  though,  from  the  time  that  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of  the  adjacent 
island,  there  was  reason  to  expect  a  descent  on  their  territories,  none  of 
the  small  communities  into  which  Cuba  was  divided,  had  either  made  any 
provision  for  its  own  defence,  or  had  formed  any  concert  for  their  common 
safety.  The  only  obstruction  the  Spaniards  met  with  wras  from  Hatuey,  a 
cazique,  who  had  fled  from  Hispaniola,  and  had  taken  possession  of  the 
eastern  extremity  of  Cuba.  He  stood  upon  the  defensive  at  their  first 
landing,  and  endeavoured  to  drive  them  back  to  their  ships.  His  feeble 
troops,  however,  were  soon  broken  and  dispersed ;  and  he  himself  being 
taken  prisoner,  Velasquez,  according  to  the  barbarous  maxim  of  the 
Spaniards,  considered  him  as  a  slave  who  had  taken  arms  against  his  master, 
'and  condemned  him  to  the  flames.  When  Hatuey  was  fastened  to  the 
stake,  a  Franciscan  friar,  labouring  to  convert  him,  promised  him  imme- 


regior  DIISS  wmcn  you  aescnoe  :  -  •  les,  replied  me  monK,  uui 
only  such  as  are  worthy  and  good." — "  The  best  of  them,"  returned  the 
indignant  cazique,  "  have  neither  worth  nor  goodness  :  I  will  not  go  to  a 
place  where  I  may  meet  with  one  of  that  accursed  race."*  This  dreadful 
example  of  vengeance  struck  the  people  of  Cuba  with  such  terror  that  they 
scarcely  gave  any  opposition  to  the  progress  of  their  invaders  ;  and  Velas 
quez,  without  the  loss  of  a  man,  annexed  this  extensive  and  fertile  island  to 
the  Spanish  monarchy.! 

The  facility  with  which  this  important  conquest  was  completed  served 
as  an  incitement  to  other  undertakings.  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  having 
acquired  both  fame  and  wealth  by  the  reduction  of  Puerto  Rico,  was 
Impatient  to  engage  in  some  new  enterprise.  He  fitted  out  three  ships  at 
his  own  expense,  for  a  voyage  of  discovery  [1512],  and  his  reputation  soon 
drew  together  a  respectable  body  of  followers.  Ke  directed  his  course 
towards  the  Lucayo  islands  ;  and  after  touching  at  several  of  them,  as  well 
as  of  the  Bahama  isles,  he  stood  to  the  south-west,  and  discovered  a  country 
hitherto  unknown  to  the  Spaniards,  which  he  called  Florida,  either  because 
he  fell  in  with  it  on  Palm  Sunday,  or  on  account  of  its  gay  and  beautiful 
appearance.  He  attempted  to  land  in  different  places,  but  met  with  such 
vigorous  opposition  from  the  natives,  who  were  fierce  and  warlike,  as  con 
vinced  him  that  an  increase  of  force  wras  requisite  to  effect  a  settlement. 
Satisfied  with  having  opened  a  communication  with  a  new  country,  of  whose 
value  and  importance  he  conceived  very  sanguine  hopes,  he  returned  to 
Puerto  Rico  through  the  channel  no\v  known  by  the  name  of  the  Gulf  of 
Florida. 

It  was  not  merely  the  passion  of  searching  for  new  countries  that  prompted 
Ponce  de  Leon  to  undertake  this  voyage  ;  he  was  influenced  by  one  of 
those  visionary  ideas,  which  at  that  time  often  mingled  with  the  spirit  of 
discovery,  and  rendered  it  more  active.  A  tradition  prevailed  among  the 
natives  of  Puerto  Rico,  that  in  the  isle  of  Bimini,  one  of  the  Lucayos,  there 
was  a  fountain  of  such  wonderful  virtue  as  to  renew  the  youth  and  recall 
the  vigour  of  every  person  who  bathed  in  its  salutary  waters.  In  hopes  of 
finding  this  grand  restorative,  Ponce  de  Leon  and  his  followers  ranged 
through  the  islands,  searching  with  fruitless  solicitude  and  labour  for  the 
fountain  which  was  the  chief  object  of  their  expedition.  That  a  tale  so 
fabulous  should  gain  credit  among  simple  and  uninstructed  Indians  is  not 
surprising.  That  it  should  make  any  impression  upon  an  enlightened  people 
appears  in  the  present  age  altogether  incredible.  The  fact,  however,  is 

*  B.  de  las  Casas,  p.  40.         t  Herrera,  doc.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  2,  3,  &c.    Oviodo,  lib.  xvii.  e.  3.  p.  170. 


102  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III, 

certain ;  and  the  most  authentic  Spanish  historians  mention  this  extravagant 
sally  of  their  credulous  countrymen.  The  Spaniards  at  that  period  were 
engaged  in  a  career  of  activity  which  gave  a  romantic  turn  to  their  imagina 
tion,  and  daily  presented  to  them  strange  and  marvellous  objects.  A  New 
World  was  opened  to  their  view.  They  visited  islands  and  continents,  of 
whose  existence  mankind  in  former  ages  had  no  conception.  Irj  those 
delightful  countries  nature  seemed  to  assume  another  form  :  every  tree  and 
plant  and  animal  was  different  from  those  of  the  ancient  hemisphere.  They 
seemed  to  be  transported  into  enchanted  ground ;  and  after  the  wonders 
which  they  had  seen,  nothing,  in  the  warmth  and  novelty  of  their  admira 
tion,  appeared  to  them  so  extraordinary  as  to  be  beyond  belief.  If  the 
rapid  succession  of  new  .and  striking  scenes  made  such  impression  even 
upon  the  sound  understanding  of  Columbus,  that  he  boasted  of  having  fourid 
the  seat  of  Paradise,  it  will  not  appear  strange  that  Ponce  de  Leon  should 
dream  of  discovering  the  fountain  of  youth.* 

Soon  after  the  expedition  to  Florida,  a  discovery  of  much  greater  import 
ance  was  made  in  another  part  of  America.  Balboa  having  been  raised 
to  the  government  of  the  small  colony  at  Santa  Maria  in  Darien,  by  the 
voluntary  suffrage  of  nis  associates,  was  so  extremely  desirous  to  obtain 
from  the  crown  a  confirmation  of  their  election,  that  he  despatched  one  of 
his  officers  to  Spain,  in  order  to  solicit  a  royal  commission,  which  might 
invest  him  with  a  legal  title  to  the  supreme  command.  Conscious,  however, 
that  he  could  not  expect  success  from  the  patronage  of  Ferdinand's  ministers, 
with  whom  he  was  unconnected,  or  from  negotiating  in  a  cpprt  to  the  arts 
of  which  he  was  a  stranger,  he  endeavoured  to  merit  the  dignity  to  which 
he  aspired,  and  aimed  at  performing  some  signal  service  that  would  secure 
him  the  preference  to  every  competitor.  Full  of  this  idea,  he  made  frequent 
inroads  into  the  adjacent  country,  subdued  several  of  the  caziques,  and 
collected  a  considerable  quantity  of  gold,  which  abounded  more  in  that 
part  of  the  continent  than  in  the  islands.  In  one  of  those  excursions,  the 
Spaniards  contended  with  such  eagerness  about  the  division  of  some  gold, 
that  they  were  at  the  point  of  proceeding  to  acts  of  violence  against  one 
another.  A  young  cazique  who  was  present,  astonished  at  the  high  value 
which  they  set  upon  a  thing  of  which  he  did  not  discern  the  use,  tumbled 
the  gold  out  of  the  balance  with  indignation  ;  and  turning  to  the  Spaniards, 
"  Why  do  you  quarrel  (says  he)  about  such  a  trifle  1'  If  you  are  so  passion 
ately  fond  of  gold,  as  to  abandon  your  own  country,  and  to  disturb  the 
tranquillity  of  distant  nations  for  its  sake,  I  will  conduct  you  to  a  region 
where  the  metal  which  seems  to  be  the  chief  object  of  your  admiration  and 
desire  is  so  common  that  the  meanest  utensils  are  formed  of  it."  Transported 
with  what  they  heard,  Balboa  and  his  companions  inquired  eagerly 
where  this  happy  country  lay,  and  how  they  might  arrive  at  it.  ne 
informed  them  that  at  the  distance  of  six  suns,  that  is,  of  six  days' jpurnev, 
towards  the  south,  they  should  discover  another  ocean,  near  to  which  this 
wealthy  kingdom  was  situated  ;  but  if  they  intended  to  attack  that  powerful 
state,  they  must  assemble  forces  far  superior  in  number  and  strength  to  those 
with  which  they  novv  appeared.! 

This  was  the  first  information  which  the  Spaniards  received  concerning 
the  great  southern  ocean,  or  the  opulent  and  extensive  country  known  after 
wards  by  the  name  of  Peru.  Balboa  had  now  before  him  objects  suited 
to  his  boundless  ambition,  and  the  enterprising  ardour  of  his  genius.  He 
immediately  concluded  the  ocean  which  the  cazique  mentioned,  to  be  that 
for  which  Columbus  had  searched  without  success  in  this  part  of  America, 
in  hopes  of  opening  a  more  direct  communication  with  the  East  Indies ;  and  he 

*  P.  Martyr,  decad.  p.  202.  Ensayo  Chronol.  para  la  Hist,  de  la  Florida,  par  de  Gab.  Cardenas, 

p.  1.     Oviedo,  lib.  xvi.  c.  11.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  5.     Hist,  de  la  Conq.  de  la  Florida,  par 

Garc.  de  la  Vega,  lib.  1.  c.  3.  t  Horrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c,  2.  Gomara,  c.  60.  P.  Martyr,  dec, 
£•  149. 


AMERICA.  103 

jsctured  that  the  rich  territory  which  had  been  described  to  him  must  be 
'part  of  that  vast  and  opulent  region  of  the  earth.  Elated  with  the  idea 
•of  performing  what  so  great  a  man  had  attempted  in  vain,  and  eager  to 
accomplish  a  discovery  which  he  knew  would  be  no  less  acceptable  to  the 
king  than  beneficial  to  his  country,  he  was  impatient  until  he  could  set  out 
upon  this  enterprise,  in  comparison  of  which  all  his  former^exploits  appeared 
inconsiderable.  But  previous  arrangement  and  preparation  were  requisite 
to  ensure  success.  He  began  with  courting  and  securing  the  friendship  of 
the  neighbouring  caziques.  He  sent  some  of  his  officers  to  Hispaniola  with 
a  large  quantity  of  gold,  as  a  proof  of  his  past  success,  and  an  earnest  of 
his  future  hopes.  By  a  proper  distribution  of  this,  they  secured  the  favour 
of  the  governor,  and  allured  volunteers  into  the  service.  A  considerable 
reinforcement  from  that  island  joined  him,  and  he  thought  himself  in  a  con 
dition  to  attempt  the  discovery. 

The  isthmus  of  Darien  is  not  above  sixty  miles  in  breadth  ;  but  this  neck 
of  land  which  binds  together  the  continents  of  North  and  South  America, 
is  strengthened  by  a  chain  of  lofty  mountains  stretching  through  its  whole 
extent,  which  render  it  a  barrier  of  solidity  sufficient  to  resist  the  impulse 
of  two  opposite  oceans.  The  mountains  are  covered  with  forests  almost 
inaccessible.  The  valleys  in  that  moist  climate  where  it  rains  during  two- 
thirds  of  the  year,  are  marshy,  and  so  frequently  overflowed  that  the 
inhabitants  find  it  necessary,  in  many  places;  to  build  their  houses  upon 
trees,  in  order  to  be  elevated  at  some  distance  from  the  damp  soil,  and  the 
odious  reptiles  engendered  in  the  putrid  waters.*  Large  rivers  rush  down 
with  an  impetuous  current  from  the  high  grounds.  In 'a  region  thinly 
inhabited  by  wandering  savages,  the  hand  of  industry  had  done  nothing  to 
mitigate  or  correct  those  natural  disadvantages.  To  march  across  this 
unexplored  country  with  no  other  guides  but  Indians,  whose  fidelity  could 
be  little  trusted,  was,  on  all  those  accounts,  the  boldest  enterprise  on  which 
the  Spaniards  had  hitherto  ventured  in  the  New  World.  But  the  intrepidity 
of  Balboa  was  such  as  distinguished  him  among  his  countrymen,  at  a  period 
wnen  every  adventurer  was  conspicuous  for  daring  courage  [1513].  Nor 
was  bravery  his  only  merit ;  he  was  prudent  in  conduct,  generous,  affable, 
and  possessed  of  those  popular  talents  which,  in  the  most  desperate  under 
takings,  inspire  confidence  and  secure  attachment.  Even  after  the  junction 
of  the  volunteers  from  Hispaniola,  he  was  able  to  muster  only  a  hundred 
and  ninety  men  for  his  expedition.  But  they  were  hardy  veterans,  inured 
to  the  climate  of  America,  and  ready  to  follow  him  through  every  danger. 
A  thousand  Indians  attended  them  to  carry  their  provisions  ;  and,  to  com 
plete  their  warlike  array,  they  took  with  them  several  of  those  fierce  dogs, 
which  were  no  less  fomiidable  than  destructive  to  their  naked  enemies. 

Balboa  set  out  upon  this  important  expedition  on  the  first  of  September, 
about  the  time  that  the  periodical  rains  began  to  abate.  He  proceeded 
by  sea,  and  without  any  difficulty,  to  the  territories  of  a  cazique^  whose 
friendship  he  had  gained ;  but  no  sooner  did  he  begin  to  advance  into  the 
interior  part  of  the  country,  than  he  was  retarded  by  every  obstacle,  which 
he  had  reason  to  apprehend,  from  the  nature  of  the  territory,  or  the  dispo 
sition  of  its  inhabitants.  Some  of  the  caziques,  at  his  approach,  fled  to  the 
mountains  with  all  their  people,  and  carried  off  or  destroyed  whatever 
could  afford  subsistence  to  his  troops.  Others  collected  their  subjects,  in 
order  to  oppose  his  progress ;  and  he  quickly  perceived  what  an  arduous 
undertaking  it  was  to  conduct  such  a  body  of  men  through  hostile1  nations, 
across  swamps,  and  rivers,  and  woods,  wnich  had  never  been  passed  but 
by  straggling  Indians.  But  by  sharing  in  every  hardship  with  the  meanest 
soldier,  by  appearing  the  foremost  to  meet  every  danger,  by  promising 
confidently  to  nis  troops  the  enjoyment  of  honour  and  riches  superior  to 

*  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p,  15& 


104  HISTORY   OF  [Boon  III. 

what  had  been  attained  by  the  most  successful  of  their  countrymen,  he 
inspired  them  with  such  enthusiastic  resolution,  that  they  followed  him 
without  murmuring.  When  they  had  penetrated  a  good  way  into  ihs 
mountains,  a  powerful  cazique  appeared  in  a  narrow  pass,  with  a  numerous 
body  of  his  subjects,  to  obstruct  their  progress.  But  men  who  had  sur 
mounted  so  many  obstacles,  despised  the  opposition  of  such  feeble  enemies 
They  attacked  them  with  impetuosity,  and,  haying  dispersed  them  with 
much  ease  and  great  slaughter,  continued  their  inarch.  Though  their 
guides  had  represented  the  breadth  of  the  isthmus  to  be  only  a  journey  of 
six  days,  they  had  already  spent,  twenty-five  in  forcing  their  way  through 
the  woods  and  mountains.  Many  of  them  were  ready  to  sink  under  such 
uninterrupted  fatigue  in  that  sultry  climate,  several  were  taken  ill  of  the 
dysentery  and  other  diseases  frequent  in  that  country,  and  all  became 
impatient  to  reach  the  period  of  their  labours  and  sufferings.  At  length 
the  Indians  assured  them,  that  from  the  top  of  the  next  mountain  they 
should  discover  the  ocean  which  was  the  object  of  their  wishes.  When, 
with  infinite  toil,  they  had  climbed  up  the  greater  part  of  that  steep  ascent, 
Balboa  commanded  his  men  to  halt,  and  advanced  alone  to  the  summit, 
that  he  might  be  the  first  who  should  enjoy  a  spectacle  which  he  had  so 
long  desired.  As  soon  as  he  beheld  the  South  Sea  stretching  in  endless 
prospect  below  him,  he  fell  $n  his  knees,  and,  lifting  up  his  hands  to 
heaven,  returned  thanks  to  God,  who  had  conducted  him  to  a  discovery  so 
beneficial  to  his  country,, and  so  honourable  to  himself.  His  followers, 
observing  his  transports  of  joy,  rushed  forward  to  join  in  his  wonder, 
exultation,  and  gratitude.  1  hey  held  on  their  course  to  the  shore  with 
great  alacrity,  when  Balboa,,  advancing  up  to  the  middle  in  the  waves  with 
his  buckler  and  sword,  took  possession  of  that  ocean  in  the  name  of  the 
king  his  master,  and  vowed  to  defend  it  with  these  arms,  against  all  his 
enemies.* 

That  part  of  the  great  Pacific  or  Southern  Ocean  .which  Balboa  first 
discovered,  still  retains  the  name  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Michael,  which  he 
gave  to  it,  and  is  situated  to  the  east  of  Panama.  From  several  of  the 
petty  princes,  who  governed  in  the  districts  adjacent  to  that  gulf,  he  extorted 
provisions  and  gold  by  force  of  arms.  Others  sent  them  to  him  volun 
tarily.  To  these  acceptable  presents,  some  of  the  caziques  added  a 
considerable  quantity  of  pearls ;  and  he  learned  from  them,  with  much 
satisfaction,  that  pearl  oysters  abounded  in  the  sea  which  he  had  newly 
discovered. 

Together  with  the  acquisition  of  this  wealth,  which  served  to  soothe 
and  encourage  his  followers,  he  received  accounts  which  confirmed  his 
sanguine  hopes  of  future  and  more  extensive  benefits  from  the  expedition. 
All  the  people  on  the  coast  of  the  South  Sea  concurred  in  informing  him 
that  there  was  a  mighty  and  opulent  kingdom  situated  at  a  considerable 
distance  towards  the  south-east,  the  inhabitants  of  which  had  tame  animals 
to  carry  their  burdens.  In  order  to  give  the  Spaniards  an  idea  of  these,  they 
drew  upon  the  sand  the  figure  of  the  llamas  or  sheep,  afterwards  found  in 
Peru,  which  the  Peruvians  had  taught  to  perform  such  services  as  they 
described.  As  the  llama  in  its  form  nearly  resembles  a  camel,  a  beast  of 
burden  deemed  peculiar  to  Asia,  this  circumstance,  in  conjunction  with  the 
discovery  of  the  pearls,  another  noted  production  of  that  country,  tended  to 
confirm  the  Spaniards  in  their  mistaken  theory  with  respect  to  the  vicinity 
of  the  New  World  to  the  East  Indies.! 

But  though  the  information  which  Balboa  received  from  the  people  on  the 
coast,  as  well  as  his  own  conjectures  and  hopes,  rendered  him  extremely 
impatient  to  visit  this  unknown  country,  his  prudence  restrained  him  from 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  1,  &c.  Gomara,  c.  62,  &c.  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  205,  &c.  t  H>id, 
dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  2. 


AMERICA.  105 

attempting  to  invade  it  with  a  handful  of  men  exhausted  by  fatigue  and 
weakened  by  diseases.  [24]  He  determined  to  lead  back  his  followers,  at 
present,  to  their  settlement  of  Santa  Maria  in  Darien,  and  to  return  next 
season  with  a  force  more  adequate  to  such  an  arduous  enterprise.  In  order 
to  acquire  a  more  extensive  knowledge  of  the  isthmus,  he  marched  back  by 
a  different  route,  which  he  found  to  be  no  less  dangerous  and  difficult  than 
that  which  he  had  formerly  taken.  But  to  men  elated  with  success,  and 
animated  with  hope,  nothing  is  insurmountable.  Balboa  returned  to  Santa 
Maria  [1514],  from  which  he  had  been  absent  four  -months,  with  greater 
glory  and  more  treasure  than  the  Spaniards  had  acquired  in  any  expedition 
in  the  New  World.  None  of  Balboa's  officers  distinguished  themselves 
more  in  this  service  than  Francisco  Pizarro,  or  assisted  with  greater  courage 
and  ardour  in  opening  a  communication  with  those  countries  in  which  he 
was  destined  to  act  soon  a  more  illustrious  part.* 

Balboa's  first  care  was  to  send  information  to  Spain  of  the  important  dis 
covery  which  he  had  made  :  and  to  demand  a  reinforcement  of  a  thousand 
men,  in  order  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  that  opulent  country  concerning 
which  he  had  received  such  inviting  intelligence.  The  first  account  of  the 
discovery  of  the  New  World  hardly  occasioned  greater  joy  than  the  unex 
pected  tidings  that  a  passage  was  at  last  found  to  the  great  southern  ocean. 
The  communication  with  the  East  Indies,  by  a  course  to  the  westward  of 
the  line  of  demarcation  drawn  by  the  Pope,  seemed  now  to  be  certain. 
The  vast  wealth  which  flowed  into  Portugal,  from  its  settlements  and 
conquests  in  that  country,  excited  the  envy  and  called  forth  the  emulation 
of  other  states.  Ferdinand  hoped  now  to  come  in  for  a  share  in  this  lucra 
tive  commerce,  and,  in  his  eagerness  to  obtain  it,  was  willing  to  make  an 
effort  beyond  what  Balboa  required.  But  even  in  this  exertion,  his  jealous 
policy,  as  well  as  the  fatal  antipathy  of  Fonseca,  now  Bishop  of  Burgos,  to 
every  man  of  merit  who  distinguished  himself  in  the  New  World,  was  con 
spicuous.  Notwithstanding  Balboa's  recent  services,  which  marked  him 
out  as  the  most  proper  person  to  finish  that  great  undertaking  which  he  had 
begun,  Ferdinand  was.  so  ungenerous  as  to  overlook  these,  and  to  appoint 
Pedrarias  Davila  governor  of  Darien.  He  gave  him  the  command  of 
fifteen  stout  vessels  and  twelve  hundred  soldiers.  These  were  fitted  out 
at  the  public  expense,  with  a  liberality  which  Ferdinand  had  never  dis 
played  in  any  former  armament  destined  for  the  New  World ;  and  such 
was  the  ardour  of  the  Spanish  gentlemen  to  follow  a  leader  who  was  about 
to  conduct  them  to  a  country  where,  as  fame  reported,  they  had  only  to 
throw  their  nets  into  the  sea  and  draw  out  gold,|  that  fifteen  hundred 
embarked  on  board  the  fleet,  and,  if  they  had  not  been  restrained,  a  much 
greater  number  would  have  engaged  in  the  service.  J 

Pedrarias  reached  the  Gulf  of  Darien  without  any  remarkable  accident, 
and  immediately  sent  some  of  his  principal  officers  ashore  to  inform  Balboa 
of  his  arrival,  with  the  king's  commission  to  be  governor  of  the  Colony. 
To  their  astonishment,  they  found  Balboa,  of  whose  great  exploits  they 
had  heard  so  much,  and  of  whose  opulence  they  had  formed  such  high  ideas, 
clad  in  a  canvass  jacket,  and  wearing  coarse  hempen  sandals  used  only  by 
the  meanest  peasants,  employed,  together  with  some  Indians,  in  thatching 
his  own  hut  with  reeds.  Even  in  this  simple  garb,  which  corresponded  so 
ill  with  the  expectations  and  wishes  of  his  new  guests,  Balboa  received 
them  with  dignity.  The  fame  of  his  discoveries  had  drawn  so  many  adven 
turers  from  the  islands,  that  he  could  now  muster  four  hundred  and  fifty  men. 
At  the  head  of  those  daring  veterans,  he  was  more  than  a  match  for  the 
forces  which  Pedrarias  brought  with  him.  But,  though  his  troops  mur 
mured  loudly  at  the  injustice  of  the  king  in  superseding  their  commander, 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  3—6.     Gomara,  c.  64.     P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  229,  &c.       t  Ibid-  <=•  14. 
J  Tr-id.  c.  6, 7.    P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  177.  296. 

VOL.  I.— 14 


106  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III. 

and  complained  that  strangers  would  now  reap  the  fruits  of  their  toil  and 
success,  Balboa  submitted  with  implicit  obedience  to  the  will  of  his  sove 
reign,  and  received  Pedrarias  with  all  the  deference  due  to  his  character.* 
Notwithstanding  this  moderation,  to  which  Pedrarias  owed  the  peaceable 
possession  of  his  government,  he  appointed  a  judicial  inquiry  to  be  made 
into  Balboa's  conduct,  while  under  the  command  of  Nicuessa,  and  imposed 
a  considerable  fine  upon  him,  on  account  of  the  irregularities  of  which  he  had 
then  been  guilty.  Balboa  felt  sensibly  the  mortification  of  being  subjected 
to  trial  and  to  punishment  in  a  place  where  he  had  so  lately  occupied  the  firs£ 
station.  Pedrarias  could  not  conceal  his  jealousy  of  his  superior  merit ;  so 
that  the  resentment  of  the  one  and  the  envy  of  the  other  gave  rise  to  dissen 
sions  extremely  detrimental  to  the  colony.  It  was  threatened  with  a  cala 
mity  still  more  fatal.  Pedrarias  had  landed  in  Darien  at  a  most  unlucky  time 
of  the  year  [July],  about  the  middle  of  the  rainy  season,  in  that  part  of  the 
torrid  zone  where  the  clouds  pour  down  such  torrents  as  are  unknown  in 
more  temperate  clima'es.t  The  village  of  Santa  Maria  was  seated  in  a 
rich  plain,  environed  with  marshes  and  woods.  The  constitution  of  Euro 
peans  was  unable  to  withstand  the  pestilential  influence  of  such  a  situation, 
in  a  climate  naturally  so  noxious,  and  at  a  season  so  peculiarly  unhealthy. 
A  violent  and  destructive  malady  carried  off  many  of  the  soldiers  who 
accompanied  Pedrarias.  An  extreme  scarcity  of  provision  augmented  this 
distress,  as  it  rendered  it  impossible  to  find  proper  refreshment  for  the  sick, 
or  the  necessary  sustenance  for  the  healthy.  J  In  the  space  of  a  month,  above 
six  hundred  persons  perished  in  the  utmost  misery.  Dejection  and  despair 
spread  through  the  colony.  Many  principal  persons  solicited  their  dismis 
sion,  and  were  glad  to  relinquish  all  their  hopes  of  wealth,  in  order  to 
escape  from  that  pernicious  region.  Pedrarias  endeavoured  to  divert  those  who 
remained  from  brooding  over  their  misfortunes,  by  finding  them  employment. 
With  this  view,  he  sent  several  detachments  into  the  interior  parts  of  the 
country,  to  levy  gold  among  the  natives,  and  to  search  for  the  mines  in 
which  it  was  produced.  Those  rapacious  adventurers,  more  attentive  to 
present  gain  than  to  the  means  of  facilitating  their  future  progress,  plun 
dered  without  distinction  wherever  they  marched.  Regardless  of  the 
alliances  which  Balboa  had  made  with  several  of  the  caziques,  they  stripped 
them  of  every  thing  valuable,  and  treated  them,  as  well  as  their  subjects, 
with  the  utmost  insolence  and  cruelty.  By  their  tyranny  and  exactions, 
which  Pedrarias,  either  from  want  of  authority  or  inclination,  did  not  restrain, 
all  the  country  from  the  Gulf  of  Darien  to  the  lake  of  Nicaragua  was  deso 
lated,  and  the  Spaniards  were  inconsiderately  deprived  of  the  advantages 
which  they  might  have  derived  from  the  frienoship  of  the  natives,  in  extend 
ing  their  conquests  to  the  South  Sea.  Balboa,  who  saw  with  concern  that 
such  ill-judged  proceedings  retarded  the  execution  of  his  favourite  scheme, 
sent  violent  remonstrances  to  Spain  against  the  imprudent  government  of 
Pedrarias,  who  had  ruined  a  happy  and  flourishing  colony.  Pedrarias, 
on  the  other  hand,  accused  him  of  having  deceived  the  King,  by  magnifying 
his  own  exploits,  as  well  as  by  a  false  representation  of  the  opulence  and 
value  of  the  country.§ 

Ferdinand  became  sensible  at  length  of  his  imprudence  in  superseding 
the  most  active  and  experienced  officer  he  had  in  the  New  World,  and,  by 
way  of  compensation  to  Balboa,  appointed  him  Adelantado,  or  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  countries  upon  the  South  Sea,  with  very  extensive  privi 
leges  and  authority.  At  the  same  time  he  enjoined  Pedrarias  to  support 
Balboa  in  all  his  operations,  and  to  consult  with  him  concerning  every 
measure  which  he  himself  pursued.  [1515]  But  to  effect  such  a  sudden 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  13, 14.  f  Richard,  Hist.  Naturelle  de  T  Air,  torn.  1,  p.  204. 

J  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  14.  P.  Martyr,  decad.  p.  272.  $  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  15.  dec.  2. 
e.  1,  &c.  Gomara,  c.  66.  P.  Martyr,  dec.  3.  c.  10.  Relation  de  B.  de  las  Casas,  p.  12. 


AMERICA.  107 

transition  from  inveterate  enmity  to  perfect  confidence,  exceeded  Ferdinand's 
power.  Pedrarias  continued  to  treat  his  rival  with  neglect ;  and  Balboa's 
fortune  being-  exhausted  by  the  payment  of  his  fine,  and  other  exactions  of 
Pedrarias,  he  could  not  make  suitable  preparations  for  taking  possession  of 
his  new  government.  At  length,  by  the  interposition  and  exhortations  of  the 
Bishop  of  Darien,  they  were  brought  to  a  reconciliation ;  and,  in  order  to 
cement  this  union  more  firmly,  Pedrarias  agreed  to  give  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  Balboa.  [1516.]  The  first  effect  of  their  concord  was,  that 
Balboa  was  permitted  to  make  several  small  incursions  into  the  country. 
These  he  conducted  with  such  prudence,  as  added  to  the  reputation  which 
he  had  already  acquired.  Many  adventurers  resorted  to  him,  and,  with 
the  countenance  and  aid  of  Pedrarias,  he  began  to  prepare  for  his  expedi 
tion  to  the  South  Sea.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  it  was  necessary  to 
build  vessels  capable  of  conveying  his  troops  to  those  provinces  which  he 
purposed  to  invade.  [1517.J  After  surmounting  many  obstacles,  .and 
enduring  a  variety  of  those  hardships  which  were  the  portion  of  the  con 
querors  of  America,  he  at  length  finished  four  small  brigantines.  In  these, 
with  three  hundred  chosen  men,  a  force  superior  to  that  with  which  Pizarro 
afterwards  undertook  the  same  expedition,  he  was  ready  to  sail  towards 
Peru,  when  he  received  an  unexpected  message  from  Pedrarias.*  As  his 
reconciliation  with  Balboa  had  never  been  cordial,  the  progress  which  his 
soB-in-law  was  making  revived  his  ancient  enmity,  and  added  to  its  rancour. 
He  dreaded  the  prosperity  and  elevation  of  a  man  whom  he  had  injured 
so  deeply.  He  suspected  that  success  would  encourage  him  to  aim  at  inde 
pendence  upon  his  jurisdiction ;  and  so  violently  did  the  passions  of  hatred, 
fear,  and  jealousy  operate  upon  his  mind,  that,  in  order  to  gratify  his 
vengeance,  he  scrupled  not  to  defeat  an  enterprise  of  the  greatest  moment 
to  his  country.  Under  pretexts  which  were  false,  but  plausible,  he  desired 
Balboa  to  postpone  his  voyage  for  a  short  time,  and  to  repair  to  Acla,  in 
order  that  he  might  have  an  interview  with  him.  Balboa,  with  the  unsus 
picious  confidence  of  a  man  conscious  of  no  crime,  instantly  obeyed  the 
summons ;  but  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  place,  he  was  arrested  by  order  of 
Pedrarias,  whose  impatience  to  satiate  his  revenge  did  not  suffer  him  to 
languish  long  in  confinement.  Judges  were  immediately  appointed  to  pro 
ceed  to  his  trial.  An  accusation  of  disloyalty  to  the  king,  and  of  an  intention 
to  revolt  against  the  governor  was  preferred  against  him.  Sentence  of  death 
was  pronounced  ;  and  though  the  judges  who  passed  it,  seconded  by  the 
whole  colony,  interceded  warmly  for  his  pardon,  Pedrarias  continued  inex 
orable  ;  and  the  Spaniards  beheld,  with  astonishment  and  sorrow,  the  public 
execution  of  a  man  whom  they  universally  deemed  more  capable  than  any 
one  who  had  borne  command  in  America,  of  forming  and  accomplishing 
great  designs.!  Upon  his  death,  the  expedition  which  he  had  planned  was 
relinquished.  Pedrarias,  notwithstanding  the  violence  and  injustice  of  his 
proceedings,  was  not  only  screened  from  punishment  by  the  powerful  patron 
age  of  the  Bishop  of  Burgos  and  other  courtiers,  but  continued  in  power. 
Soon  after  he  obtained  permission  to  remove  the  colony  from  its  unwhole 
some  station  of  Santa  Maria  to  Panama,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  isthmus ; 
and  though  it  did  not  gain  much  in  point  of  healthfulness  by  the  change, 
the  commodious  situation  of  this  new  settlement  contributed  greatly  to 
facilitate  the  subsequent  conquests  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  extensive  countries 
situated  upon  the  Southern  Ocean.| 

During  these  transactions  in  Darien  [1515],  the  history  of  which  it  was 
proper  to  carry  on  in  an  uninterrupted  tenour,  several  important  events 
occurred  with  respect  to  the  discovery,  the  conquest,  and  government  of 
other  provinces  in  the  New  World.  Ferdinand  was  so  intent  upon  opening 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  i.  c.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  11. 13. 21.  t  Ibid.  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  21.  22.  J  Ibid.  lib. 
IT.  0.1. 


108  HISTORY  OF  [Booic  III. 

a  communication  with  the  Molucca  or  Spice  Islands  by  the  west,  that  in  the 
year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifteen  he  fitted  out  two  ships  at  his  own 
expense,  in  order  to  attempt  such  a,  voyage,  and  gave  the  command  of  them 
to  Juan  Diaz  de  Solis,  wbo  was  deemed  one  of  the  most  skilful  navigators 
in  Spain.  He  stood  along  the  coast  of  South  America,  and  on  the  first  of 
January,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixteen,  entered  a  river  which  he 
called  Janeiro,  where  an  extensive  commerce  is  now  carried  on.  From 
thence  he  proceeded  to  a  spacious  bay,  which  he  supposed  to  be  the  entrance 
into  a  strait  that  communicated  with  the  Indian  Ocean ;  but,  upon  advancing 
further,  he  found  it  to  be  the  mouth  of  Rio  de , Plata,  one  of  the  vast  rivers 
by  which  the  southern  continent  .of  America  is  watered.  In  endeavouring 
to  make  a  descent  in  'this  country,  De  Solis  and  several  of  his  crew  were 
slain  by  the  natives,  who,  in  sight  of  the  ships,  cut  their  bodies  in  pieces, 
roasted  and  devoured  them.  Discouraged  with  the  loss  of  their  commander, 
and  terrified  at  this  shocking  spectacle,  the  surviving  Spaniards  set  sail  for 
Europe,  without  aiming  at  any  further  discovery.*  Though  this  attempt 
proved  abortive,  it  was  not  without  benefit.  It  turned  the  attention  of 
ingenious  men  to  this  course  of  navigation,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  more 
fortunate  voyage,  by  which,  a  few  years  posterior  to  this  period,  the  great 
design  that  Ferdinand  had  in  view  was  accomplished. 

Though  the  Spaniards  were  thus  actively  employed  in  extending  their 
discoveries  and  settlements  in  America,  they  still  .considered  Hispaniola  as 
their  principal  colony,  and  the  seat  of  government.  Don  Diego  Columbus 
wanted  neither  inclination  nor  abilities  to  have  rendered  the  members  of  this 
colony,  who  were  most  immediately  under  his  jurisdiction,  prosperous  and 
happy.  But  he  was  circumscribed  in  all  his  operations  by  the  suspicious 
policy  of  Ferdinand,  who  on  every  occasion,  and  under  pretexts  the  most 
frivolous,  retrenched  his  privileges,  and  encouraged  the  treasurer,  the  judges, 
and  other  subordinate  officers  to  counteract  his  measures,  and  to  dispute  his 
authority.  The  most  valuable  prerogative  which  the  governor  possessed 
was  that  of  distributing  Indians  among  the  Spaniards  settled  in. the  island. 
The  rigorous  servitude  of  those  unhappy  men  having  been  but  little  mitigated 
by  all  the  regulations  in  their  favour,  the  power  of  parcelling  out  such 
necessary  instruments  of  labour  at  pleasure,  secured  to  the  governor  great 
influence  in  the  colony.  In  order  to  strip  him  of  this,  Ferdinand  created 
a  new  office,  with  the  power  of  distributing  the  Indians,  and  bestowed  it 
upon  Rodrigo  Albuquerque,  a  relation  of  Zapata,  his  confidential  minister. 
Mortified  with  the  injustice  as  well  as  indignity  of  this  invasion  upon  his 
rights,  in  a  point  so  essential,  Don  Diego  could  no  longer  remain  in  a  place 
where  his  power  and  consequence  were  almost  annihilated.  He  repaired 
to  Spain  with  the  vain  hopes  of  obtaining  redress.j  Albuquerque  entered 
upon  his  office  with  all  the  rapacity  of  an  indigent  adventurer  impatient  to 
amass  wealth.  He  began  with  taking  the  exact  number  of  Indians  in  the 
island,  and  found  that  from  sixty  thousand,  who  in  the  year  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  eight  survived  after  all  their  sufferings,  they  were  now 
reduced  to  fourteen  thousand.  These  he  threw  into  separate  divisions  or 
lots,  and  bestowed  them  upon  such  as  were  willing  to  purchase  them  at  the 
highest  price.  By  this  arbitrary  distribution  several  of  the  natives  were 
removed  from  their  original  habitations,  many  were  taken  from  their  ancient 
masters,  and  all  of  them  subjected  to  heavier  burdens,  and  to  more  intolerable 
labour,  in  order  to  reimburse  their  new  proprietors. — Those  additional 
calamities  completed  the  misery,  and  hastened  on  the  extinction  of  this 
wretched  and  innocent  race  of  men.  j 

The  violence  of  these  proceedings,  together  with  the  fatal  consequences 
which  attended  them,  not  only  excited  complaints  among  such  as  thought 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  i.  c.  7.  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  317.  t  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  5.  lib.  x.  c.  12. 
}  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  12. 


AMERICA.  109 

themselves  aggrieved,  but  touched  the  hearts  of  all  who  retained  any 
sentiments  of  humanity.  From  the  time  that  ecclesiastics  ,were  sent  as 
instructors  into  America,  they  perceived  that  the  rigour  with  which  their 
countrymen  treated  the  natives,  rendered  their  ministry  altogether  fruitless. 
The  missionaries,  in  conformity  to  the  mild  spirit  of  that  religion  which 
they  were  employed  to  publish,  early  remonstrated  against  the  maxims  of 
the  planters  with  respect  to  the  Americans,  and  condemned  the  repartimi- 
entos,  or  distributions,  by  which  they  were  given  up  as  slaves  to  their 
conquerors,  as  no  less  contrary  to  natural  justice  and  the  precepts  of 
Christianity  than  to  sound  policy.  The  Dominicans,  to  whom  the  instruction 
of  the  Americans  was  originally  committed,  were  most  vehement  in  testi 
fying  against  the  repartimientos.  In  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  eleven,  Montesino,one  of  their  most  eminent  preachers,  inveighed  against 
this  practice,  in  the  great  church  of  St.  Domingo,  with  all  the  impetuosity 
of  popular  eloquence.  Don  Diego  Columbus,  the  principal  officers  of  the 
colony,  and  all  the  laymen  who  had  been  his  hearers,  complained  of  the 
monk  to  his  superiors ;  but  they,  instead  of  condemning,  applauded  his 
doctrine  as  equally  pious  and  seasonable.  The  Franciscans,  influenced  by 
the  spirit  of  opposition  and  rivalship  which  subsists  between  the  two  orders, 
discovered  some  inclination  to  take  part  with  the  laity,  and  to  espouse  the 
defence  of  the  repartimientos.  But  as  they  could  not  with  decency  give 
their  avowed  approbation  to  a  system  of  oppression  so  repugnant  to  the 
spirit  of  religion,  they  endeavoured  to  palliate  what  they  could  not  justify, 
and  alleged,  in  excuse  for  the  conduct  of  their  countrymen,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  carry  on  any  improvement  in  the  colony,  unless  the  Spaniards 
possessed  such  dominion  over  the  natives  that  they  could  compel  them  to 

T      1  «k. 

labour.* 

The  Dominicans,  regardless  of  such  political  and  interested  considerations, 
would  not  relax  in  any  degree  the  rigour  of  their  sentiments,  and  even 
refused  to  absolve,  or  admit  to  the  sacrament,  such  of  their  countrymen  as 
continued  to  hold  the  natives  in  servitude.!  Both  parties  applied  to  the 
king  for  his  decision  in  a  matter  of  such  importance.  Ferdinand  empowered 
a  committee  of  his  privy  council,  assisted  by  pome  of  the  most  eminent 
civilians  and  divines  in  Spain,  to  hear  the  deputies  sent  from  Hispaniola  in 
support  of  their  respective  opinions. ,  After  a  long  discussion,  the  speculative 
point  in  controversy  was  determined  in  favour  of  the  Dominicans,  the 
Indians  were  declared  to  be  a  free  people  entitled  to  all  the  natural  rights 
of  men ;  but  notwithstanding  this  decision,  the  repartimientos  were  continued 
upon  their  ancient  footing.];  As  this  determination  admitted  the  principle 
upon  which  the  Dominicans  founded  their  opinion,  they  renewed  their  efforts 
to  obtain  relief  for  the  Indians  with  additional  boldness  and  zeal.  At 
length,  in  order  to  quiet  the  colony,  which  was  alarmed  by  their  remon 
strances  and  censures,  Ferdinand  issued  a  decree  of  his  privy  council  [1513], 
declaring,  that  after  mature  consideration  of  the  Apostolic  Bull,  and  other 
titles  by  which  the  crown  of  Castile  claimed  a  right  to  its  possessions  in  the 
New  World,  the  servitude  of  the  Indians  was  warranted  both  by  the  laws 
of  God  and  of  man ;  that  unless  they  were  subjected  to  the  dominion  of 
the  Spaniards,  and  compelled  to  reside  under  their  inspection,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  reclaim  them  from  idolatry,  or  to  instruct  them  in  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  faith  ;  that  no  further  scruple  oueht  to  be  entertained  con 
cerning  the  lawfulness  of  the  repartimientos,  as  the  king  and  council  were 
willing  to  take  the  charge  of  that  upon  their  own  consciences ;  and  that 
therefore  the  Dominicans  and  monks  of  other  religious  orders  should  abstain 
for  the  future  from  those  invectives  which,  from  an  excess  of  charitable  but 
ill-informed  zeal,  they  had  uttered  against  that  practice.§ 

That  his  intention  of  adhering  to  this  decree  might  be  fully  understood, 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1   lib.  viii.  c.  11.    Oviedo,  lib.  iii.  c.  6.  p.  97.  t  Oviedo,  lib.  iii.  c.  6.  p.  97. 

J  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib  viii.  c.  12.  lib  ix.  c.  5.  §  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  14. 


110  HISTORY   OF  [BooK  111. 

Ferdinand  conferred  new  grants  of  Indians  upon  several  of  his  courtiers  [25]. 
But,  in  order  that  he  might  not  seem  altogether  inattentive  to  the  rights  of 
humanity,  he  published  an  edict,  in  which  he  endeavoured  to  provide  for 
the  mila  treatment  of  the  Indians  under  the  yoke  to  which  he  subjected 
them  ;  he  regulated  the  nature  of  the  work  which  they  should  be  required 
to  perform  ;  he  prescribed  the  mode  in  which  they  should  be  clothed  and 
fed,  and  gave  directions  with  respect  to  their  instructions  in  the  principles  of 
Christianity.* 

But  the  Dominicans,  who  from  their  experience  of  what  was  past  judged 
concerning  the  future,  soon  perceived  the  inefficacy  of  those  provisions,  and 
foretold,  that  as  long  as  it  was  the  interest  of  individuals  to  treat  the  Indians 
with  rigoui;,  no  public  regulations  could  render  their  servitude  mild  or 
tolerable.  They  considered  it  as  vain,  to  waste  their  own  time  and  strength 
in  attempting  to  communicate  the  sublime  truths  of  religion  to  men  whose 
spirits  were  broken  and  their  faculties  impaired  by  oppression.  Some  ol 
them  in  despair,  requested  the  permission  of  their  superiors  to  remove  to 
the  continent,  and  to  pursue  the  object  of  their  mission  among  such  of  the 
natives  as  were  not  hitherto  corrupted  by  the  example  of  the  Spaniards,  or 
alienated  by  their  cruelty  from  the  Christian  faith.  Such  as  remained  in 
Hispaniola  continued  to  remonstrate,  with  decent  firmness,  against  the  ser 
vitude  of  the  Indians.f 

The  violent  operations  of  Albuquerque,  the  new  distributor  of  Indians, 
revived  the  zeal  of  the  Dominicans  against  the  repartimientos,  and  called 
forth  an  advocate  for  that  oppressed  people,  who  possessed  all  the  courage, 
the  talents,  and  activity  requisite  in  supporting  such  a  desperate  cause. 
This  was  Bartholomew  de  las  Casas,  a  native  of  Seville,  and  one  of  the 
clergymen  sent  out  with  Columbus  in  his  second  voyage  to  Hispaniola,  in 
order  to  settle  in  that  island.  He  early  adopted  the  opinion  prevalent 
among  ecclesiastics,  with  respect  to  the  unlawfulness  of  reducing  the 
natives  to  servitude  ;  and  that  he  might  demonstrate  the  sincerity  of  his 
conviction,  he  relinquished  all  the  Indians  who  had  fallen  to  his  own  share 
in  the  division  of  the  inhabitants  among  their  conquerors,  declaring  that  he 
should  ever  bewail  his  own  misfortune  and  guilt,  in  having  exercised  for  a 
moment  this  impious  dominion  over  his  fellow-creatures.J  From  that  time 
he  became  the  avowed  patron  of  the  Indians ;  and  by  his  bold  interpositions 
in  their  behalf,  as  well  as  by  the  respect  due  to  his  abilities  and  character, 
he  had  often  the  merit  of  setting  some  bounds  to  the  excesses  of  his  coun 
trymen.  He  did  not  fail  to  remonstrate  warmly  against  the^  proceedings 
of  Albuquerque  ;  and  though  he  soon  found  that  attention  to  his  own 
interest  rendered  this  rapacious  officer  deaf  to  admonition,  he  did  not  aban 
don  the  wretched  people  whose  cause  he  had  espoused.  He  instantly 
set  out  for  Spain,  with  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  opening  the  eyes  and 
softening  the  heart  of  Ferdinand,  by  that  striking  picture  of  the  oppression 
of  his  new  subjects  which  he  would  exhibit  to  his  view.§ 

He  easily  obtained  admittance  to  the  King,  whom  he  tound  in  a  declining 
state  of  health.  With  much  freedom,  and  no  less  eloquence,  he  repre 
sented  to  him  all  the  fatal  effects  of  the  repartimientos  in  the  New  World, 
boldly  charging  him  with  the  guilt  of  having  authorized  this  impious 
measure,  which  had  brought  misery  and  destruction  upon  a  numerous  and 
innocent  race  of  men,  whom  Providence  had  placed  under  his  protection. 
Ferdinand,  whose  mind  as  well  as  body  was  much  enfeebled  by  his  dis 
temper,  was  greatly  alarmed  at  this  charge  of  impiety,  which  at  another 
juncture  he  would  have  despised.  He  listened  with  deep  compunction  to 
the  discourse  of  Las  Casas,  and  promised  to  take  into  serious  consideration 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  14.  f  Id.  ibid.  Touron.  Hisloire  G<*n6rale  de  I' Antique,  torn,  i 

p.  252.         *  Fr.  Aug.  Davila  Padilla  Hist,  de  la  Fundacion  de  la  Provincia  de  St.  Jago  de  Mexico, 
p  303,  304.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  12.  $  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  12.    Dec.  2.  lib.  i.  c.  1L, 

Davila  Padilla  Hist.  p.  304. 


AMERICA.  ill 

the  means  of  redressing  the  evil  of  which  he  complained.  But  death  pre 
vented  him  from  executing  his  resolution.  Charles  of  Austria,  to  whom  all 
his  crowns  devolved,  resided  at  that  time  in  his  paternal  dominions  in  the 
Low  Countries.  Las  Casas,  with  his  usual  ardour,  prepared  immediately 
to  set  out  for  Flanders,  in  order  to  occupy  the  ear  of  the  young  monarch, 
when  Cardinal  Ximenes,  who,  as  regent,  assumed  the  reins  of  government 
in  Castile,  commanded  him  to  desist  from  the  journey,  and  engaged  to  hear 
his  complaints  in  person. 

He  accordingly  weighed  the  matter  with  attention  equal  to  its  importance  ; 
and  as  his  impetuous  mind  delighted  in  schemes  bold  and  uncommon,  he  soon 
fixed  upon  a  plan  which  astonished  the  ministers  trained  up  under  the  formal 
and  cautious  administration  of  Ferdinand.  Without  regarding  either  the  rights 
of  Don  Diego  Columbus,  or  the  regulations  established  by  the  late  King,  he 
resolved  to  send  three  persons  to  America  as  superintendents  of  all  the  colonies 
there,  with  authority,  after  examining  all  circumstances  on  the  spot,  to  decide 
finally  with  respect  to  the  point  in  question.  It  was  a  matter  of  delibera 
tion  and  delicacy  to  choose  men  qualified  for  such  an  important  station. 
As  alMhe  laymen  settled  in  America,  or  who  had  been  consulted  in  the 
administration  of  that  department,  had  given  their  opinion  that  the  Spaniards 
couid  not  keep  possession  of  their  new  settlements,  unless  they  were  allowed 
to  retain  their  dominion  over  the  Indians,  he  saw  that  he  could  not  rely  on 
their  impartiality,  and  determined  to  commit  the  trust  to  ecclesiastics.  As 
the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  had  already  espoused  opposite  sides  in  the 
controversy,  he,  from  the  same  principle  of  impartiality,  excluded  both  these 
fraternities  from  the  commission.  He  confined  his  choice  to  the  monks  of 
St.  Jerome,  a  small  but  respectable  order  in  Spain.  With  the  assistance  of 
their  general,  and  in  concert  with  Las  Casas,  he  soon  pitched  upon  three 
persons  whom  he  deemed  equal  to  the  charge.  To  them  he  joined  Zuazo, 
a  private  lawyer  of  distinguished  probity,  with  unbounded  power  to  regu 
late  all  judicial  proceedings  in  the  colonies.  Las  Casas  was  appointed  to 
accompany  them,  with  the  title  of  protector  of  the  Indians.* 

To  vest  such  extraordinary  powers,  as  might  at  once  overturn  the  system 
of  government  established  in  the  New  World,  in  four  persons,  who,  from 
their  humble  condition  in  life,  were  little  entitled  to  possess  this  high  autho 
rity,  appeared  to  Zapata,  and  other  ministers  of  the  late  king,  a  measure  so 
wild  and  dangerous,  that  they  refused  to  issue  the  despatches  necessary  for 
carrying  it  into  execution.  But  Ximenes  was  not  of  a  temper  patiently  to 
brook  opposition  to  any  of  his  schemes.  He  sent  for  the  refractory  minis 
ters,  and  addressed  them  in  such  a  tone  that  in  the  utmost  consternation  they 
obeyed  his  orders.f  The  superintendents,  with  their  associate  Zuazo  and 
Las  Casas,  sailed  for  St.  Domingo.  Upon  their  arrival,  the  first  act  of  their 
authority  was  to  set  at  liberty  all  the  Indians  who  had  been  granted  to  the 
Spanish  courtiers,  or  to  any  person  not  residing  in  America.  This,  together 
with  the  information  which  had  been  received  from  Spam  concerning  the 
object  of  the  commission,  spread  a  general  alarm.  The  colonists  concluded 
that  they  were  to  be  deprived  at  once  of  the  hands  with  which  they 
carried  on  their  labour,  and  that,  of  consequence,  ruin  was  unavoidable. 
But  the  fathers  of  St.  Jerome  proceeded  with  such  caution  and  prudence  as 
soon  dissipated  all  their  fears.  They  discovered,  in  every  step  of  their 
conduct,  a  knowledge  of  the  world,  ana  of  affairs,  which  is  seldom  acquired 
in  a  cloister ;  and  displayed  a  moderation  as  well  as  gentleness  still  more 
rare  among  persons  trained  up  in  the  solitude  and  austerity  of  a  monastic 
life.  Their  ears  were  open  to  information  from  every  quarter ;  they  com 
pared  the  different  accounts  which  they  received  ;  and,  after  a  mature 
consideration  of  the  whole,  they  were  fully  satisfied  that  the  state  of  the 
colony*  rendered  it  impossible  to  adopt  the  plan  proposed  by  Las  Casas,. 

*  Herrera>  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  3.  t  Ibid.  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  «. 


112  HISTORY  OF  {BOOK  III. 


and  recommended  by  the  Cardinal.  They  plainly  perceived  thai  the  Spaniards 
settled  in  America  were  so  few  in  number,  that  they  could  neither  work  the 


b 

the 

mines  which  had  been  opened,  nor  cultivate  the  country;  that  they  depended 
for  effecting  both  upon  the  labour  of  the  natives,  and,  if  deprived  of  it,  they 
must  instantly  relinquish  their  conquests,  or  give  up  all  the  advantages  which 
they  derived  from  them  ;  that  no  allurement  was  so  powerful  as  to  surmount 
the  natural  aversion  of  the  Indiaas  to  any  laborious  effort,  and  that  nothing 
but  the  authority  of  a  master  could  compel  them  to  work  ;  and  if  they  were 
not  kepf  constantly  under  the  eye  and  discipline  of  a  superior,  so  great  was 
their  natural  listlessness  and  ^difference,  that  they  would  neither  attend  to 
religious  instruction,  nor  observe  those  rites  of  Christianity  which  they  had 
been  already  taught.  Upon  all  those  accounts,  the  superintendents  found 
it  necessary  to  tolerate  the  repartimientos,  and  to  suffer  the  Indians  to  remain 
under  subjection  to  their  Spanish  masters."  They  used  their  utmost  endea 
vours,  however,  to  prevent  the  fatal  effects  of  this  establishment,  and  to 
secure  to  the  Indians  the  consolation  of  the  best  treatment  compatible  with 
a  state  of  servitude.  For  this  purpose,  they  revived  former  regulations, 
they  prescribed  new  ones,  they  neglected  no  circumstance  that  tended  to 
mitigate  the  rigour  of  the  yoke  ;  and  by  their  authority,  their  example,  and 
their  exhortations,  they  laboured  to  inspire  their  countrymen  with  sentiments 
of  equity  and  gentleness  towards  the  unhappy  people  upon  whose  industry 
they  depended.  Zuazo,  in  his  department,  seconded  the  endeavours  of  the 
superintendents.  He  reformed  the  courts  of  justice  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
render  their  decisions  equitable  as  well  as  expeditious,  and  introduced 
various  regulations  which  greatly  improved  the  interior  policy  of  the  colony. 
The  satisfaction  which  his  conduct  and  that  of  the  superintendents  gave 
was  now  universal  among  the  Spaniards  settled  in  the  New  World  ;  and  all 
admired  the  boldness  of  Ximenes  in  having  departed  from  the  ordinary 
path  of  business  in  forming  his  plan,  as  well  as  his  sagacity  in  pitching  upon 
persons  whose  wisdom,  moderation,  and  disinterestedness  rendered  them 
worthy  of  this  high  trust.* 

Las  Casas  alone  was  dissatisfied.  The  prudential  consideration  which 
influenced  the  superintendents  made  no  impression  upon  him.  He  regarded 
their  idea  of  accommodating  their  conduct  to  the  state  of  the  colony,  as  the 
maxim  of  an  unhallowed  timid  policy,  which  tolerated  what  was  unjust 
because  it  was  beneficial.  He  contended  that  the  Indians  were  by  nature 
free,  and,  as  their  protector,  he  required  the  superintendents  not  to  bereave 
them  of  the  common  privilege  of  humanity.  They  received  his  most  virulent 
remonstrances  without  emotion,  but  adhered  firmly  to  their  own  system. 
The  Spanish  planters  did  not  bear  with  him  so  patiently,  and  were  ready 
to  tear  him  in  pieces  for  insisting  in  a  requisition  so  odious  to  them.  Las 
Casas,  in  order  to  screen  himself  from  their  rage,  found  it  necessary  to  take 
shelter  in  a  convent ;  and  perceiving  that  all  his  efforts  in  America  were 
fruitless,  he  soon  set  out  for  Europe,  with  a  fixed  resolution  not  to  abandon 
the  protection  of  a  people  whom  he  deemed  to  be  cruelly  oppressed.! 

Had  Ximenes  retained  that  vigour  of  mind  with  which  he  usually  applied 
to  business,  Las  Casas  must  have  met  with  no  very  gracious  reception  upon 
his  return  to  Spain.  But  he  found  the  Cardinal  languishing  under  a  mortal 
distemper,  and  preparing  to  resign  his  authority  to  the  young  king,  who  was 
daily  expected  from  the  Low  Countries.  Charles  arrived,  took  possession 
of  the  government,  and,  by  the  death  of  Ximenes,  lost  a  minister  whose 
abilities  and  integrity  entitled  him  to  direct  his  affairs.  Many  of  the  Flemish 
nobility  had  accompanied  their  sovereign  to  Spain.  From  that  warm  pre 
dilection  to  his  countrymen,  which  was  natural  at  his  age,  he  consulted  them 
with  respect  to  all  the  transactions  in  his  new  kingdom  ;  and  they,  with 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  15.  Remesal,  Hiat.  Gener.  lib.  ii.  c.  14, 15,'  16.  t  Ibid.  dec.  2.  lib, 
li.  c.  16. 


AMERICA.  113 

an  indiscreet  eagerness,  intruded  themselves  into  every  business,  and  seized 
almost  every  department  of  administration.*  The  direction  of  American 
affairs  was  an  object  too  alluring  to  escape  their  attention.  Las  Casas 
observed  their  growing  influence ;  and  though  projectors  are  usually  too 
sanguine  to  conduct  their  schemes  with  much  dexterity,  he  possessed  a 
bustling,  indefatigable  activity,  which  sometimes  accomplishes  its  purposes 
with  greater  success  than  the  most  exquisite  discernment  and  address.  He 
courted  the  Flemish  ministers  with  assiduity.  He  represented  to  them  the 
absurdity  of  all  the  maxims  hitherto  adopted  with  respect  to  the  govern 
ment  of  America,  particularly  during  the  administration  of  Ferdinand,  and 
pointed  out  the  defects  of  those  arrangements  which  Ximenes  had  in^ 
troduced.  The  memory  of  Ferdinand  was  odious  to  the  Flemings.  The 
superior  virtues  and  abilities  of  Ximenes  had  long  been  the  object  of  their 
envy.  They  fondly  wished  to  have  a  plausible  pretext  for  condemning  the 
measures  both  of  the  monarch  and  of  the  minister,  and  of  reflecting  some 
discredit  on  their  political  wisdom.  The  friends  of  Don  Diego  Columbus, 
as  well  as  the  Spanish  courtiers  who  had  been  dissatisfied  with  the  Cardi 
nal's  administration,  joined  Las  Casas  in  censuring  the  scheme  of  sending 
superintendents  to  America.  This  union  of  so  many  interests  and  passions 
was  irresistible ;  and  in  consequence  of  it  the  fathers  of  St.  Jerome,  together 
with  their  associate  Zuazo,  were  recalled.  Roderigo  de  Figueroa*  a 
lawyer  of  some  eminence,  was  appointed  chief  judge  of  the  island,  and 
received  instructions,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  Las  Casas,  to 
examine  once  more,  with  the  utmost  attention,  the  point  in  controversy 
between  him  and  the  people  of  the  colony,  with  respect  to  the  treatment 
of  the  natives ;  and  in  the  mean  time  to  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to 
alleviate  their  sufferings,  and  prevent  the  extinction  of  the  race.j 

This  was  all  that  the  zeal  of  Las  Casas  could  procure  at  that  juncture  in 
favour  of  the  Indians.  The  impossibility  of  carrying  on  any  improvements 
in  America,  unless  the  Spanish  planters  could  command  the  labour  of  the 
natives,  was  an  insuperable  objection  to  his  plan  of  treating  them  as  free 
subjects.  In  order  to  provide  some  remedy  for  this,  without  which  he 
found  it  was  in  vain  to  mention  his  scheme,  Las  Casas  proposed  to  purchase 
a  sufficient  number  of  negroes  from  the  Portuguese  settlements  on  the  coast 
of  Africa,  and  to  transport  them  to  America,  in  order  that  they  might  be 
employed  as  slaves  in  working  the  rnines  and  cultivating  the  ground.  One 
of  the  first  advantages  which  the  Portuguese  had  derived  from  their  disco 
veries  in  Africa  arose  from  the  trade  in  slaves.  Various  circumstances 
concurred  in  reviving  this  odious  commerce,  which  had  been  long  abolished 
in  Europe,  and  which  is  no  less  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  humanity  than 
to  the  principles  of  religion.  As  early  as  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  three,  a  few  negro  slaves  had  been  sent  into  the  New  World. J  In  the 
year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eleven,  Ferdinand  permitted  the  impor 
tation  of  them  in  greater  numbers.^  They  were  found  to  be  a  more  robust 
and  hardy  race  than  the  natives  of  America.  They  were  more  capable  of 
enduring  fatigue,  more  patient  under  servitude,  and  the  labour  of  one  negro 
was  computed  to  be  equal  to  that  of  four  Indians.)!  Cardinal  Ximenes, 
however,  when  solicited  to  encourage  this  commerce,  peremptorily  rejected 
the  proposition,  because  he  perceived  the  iniquity  of  reducing  one  race  of 
men  to  slavery,  while  he  was  consulting  about  the  means  of  restoring  liberty 
to  another.lF  But  Las  Casas,  from  the  inconsistency  natural  to  men  who 
hurry  with  headlong  impetuosity  towards  a  favourite  point,  was  incapable 
of  making  this  distinction.  While  he  contended  earnestly  for  the  liberty  of 
the  people  born  in  one  quarter  of  the  globe,  he  laboured  to  enslave  the 

*  History  of  Charles  V.  f  Herrera.  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  16. 19. 21.  lib.  iii.  c.  7, 8. 

I  Ibid.  dec.  1.  lib.  v.  c.  12.        $  Ibid.  lib.  vili.  c.  9.         |j  Ibid.  lib.  ix.  c.  5.        1T  Ibid.  dec.*,  lib, 
ii  c.  8. 

VOL.  L— 15  7 


114  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  HI. 

inhabitants  of  anqther  region ;  and  in  the  warmth  of  his  zeal  to  save  the 
Americans  from  the  yoke,  pronounced  it  to  be  lawful  and  expedient  to  impose 
one  still  heavier  upon  the  Africans.  Unfortunately  for  the  latter,  Las  Casas's 
plan  was  adopted.  Charles  granted  a  patent  to  one  of  his  Flemish  favour 
ites,  containing  an  exclusive  right  of  importing  four  thousand  negroes  into 
America.  The  favourite  sold  his  patent  to  some  Genoese  merchants  for 
twenty-five  thousand  ducats,  and  they  were  the  first  who  brought  into  a 
regular  form  that  commerce  for  slaves  between  Africa  and  America,  which 
has  since  been  carried  on  to  such  an  amazing  extent.* 

But  the  Genoese  merchants  [1518],  conducting  their  operations,  at  first, 
with  the  rapacity  of  monopolists,  demanded  such  a  high  price  for  negroes, 
that  the  number  imported  into  Hispaniola  made  no  great  change  upon  the 
state  of  the  colony.  Las  Casas,  whose  zeal  was  no  less  inventive  than  inde 
fatigable,  had  recourse  to  another  expedient  for  the  relief  of  the  Indians 
He  observed,  that  most  of  the  persons  who  had  settled  hitherto  in  America, 
were  sailors  and  soldiers  employed  in  the  discovery  or  conquest  of  the 
country ;  the  younger  sons  of  noble  families,  allured  by  the  prospect  of 
acquiring  sudden  wealth ;  or  desperate  adventurers,  whom  their  indigence 
or  crimes  forced  to  abandon  their  native  land.  Instead  of  such  men,  who 
were  dissolute,  rapacious,  and  incapable  of  that  sober  persevering  industry 
which  is  requisite  in  forming  new  colonies,  he  proposed  to  supply  the  set 
tlements  in  Hispaniola  and  other  parts  of  the  New  World  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  labourers  and  husbandmen,  who  should  be  allured  by  suitable 
premiums  to  remove  thither.  These,  as  they  were  accustomed  to  fatigue, 
would  be  able  to  perform  the  work  to  which  the  Indians,  from  the  feebleness 
of  their  constitution,  were  unequal,  and  might  soon  become  useful  and 
opulent  citizens.  But  though  Hispaniola  stood  much  in  need  of  a  recruit 
01  inhabitants,  having  been  visited  at  this  time  with  the  small-pox,  which 
swept  off  almost  all  the  natives  who  had  survived  their  long  continued  op 
pression;  and  though  Las  Casas  had  the  countenance  of  the  Flemish 
ministers,  this  scheme  was  defeated  by  the  bishop  of  Burgos,  who  thwarted 
all  his  projects.! 

Las  Casas  now  despaired  of  procuring  any  relief  for  the  Indians  in  those 
places  where  the  Spaniards  were  already  settled.  The  evil  was  become 
so  inveterate  there  as  not  to  admit  of  a  cure.  But  such  discoveries  were 
daily  making  in  the  continent  as  gave  a  high  idea  both  of  its  extent  and 
populousness.  In  all  those  vast  regions  there  was  but  one  feeble  colony- 
planted  ;  and  except  a  small  spot  on  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  the  natives  still 
occupied  the  whole  country.  This  opened  a  new  and  more  ample  field  for 
the  humanity  and  zeal  of  Las  Casas,  who  flattered  himself  that  he  might 

Erevent  a  pernicious  system  from  being  introduced  there,  though  he  had 
liled  of  success  in  his  attempts  to  overturn  it  where  it  was  already  esta 
blished.  Full  of  this  idea,  he  applied  for  a  grant  of  the  unoccupied  country 
stretching  along  the  seacoast  from  the  Gulf  of  Paria  to  the  western  frontier 
of  that  province  now  known  by  the  name  of  Santa  Martha.  He  proposed 
to  settle  there  with  a  colony  composed  of  husbandmen,  labourers,  and 
ecclesiastics.  He  engaged  in  the  space  of  two  years  to  civilize  ten  thousand 
af  the  natives,  and  to  instruct  them  so  thoroughly  in  the  arts  of  social  life, 
that  from  the  fruits  of  their  industry  an  annual  revenue  of  fifteen  thousand 
ducats  should  arise  to  the  king.  In  ten  years  he  expected  that  his  improve 
ments  would  be  so  far  advanced  as  to  yield  annually  sixty  thousand  ducats* 
He  stipulated,  that  no  soldier  or  sailor  should  ever  be  permitted  to  settle 
in  this  district ;  and  that  no  Spaniard  whatever  should  enter  it  without  his 
permission.  He  even  projected  to  clothe  the  people  whom  he  took  along 
with  him  in  some  distinguishing  garb,  which  did  not  resemble  the  Spanish 
dress,  that  they  might  appear  to  the  natives  to  be  a  different  race  of  mer> 

*  Herrera  dec.  1.  lil*.  ii.  c.  90*  t  n>«l-  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  21. 


AMERICA.  115 

from  those  who  had  brought  so  many  calamities  upon  their  country.*  From 
this  scheme,  of  which  I  have  traced,  only  the  great  lines,  it  is  manifest  that 
Las  Casas  had  formed  ideas  concerning  the  method  of  treating  the  Indians, 
similar  to  those  by  which  the  Jesuits  afterwards  carried  on  their  great 
operations  in  another  part  of  the  same  continent.  He  supposed  that  the 
Europeans,  by  availing  themselves  of  that  aspendarrt  which  they  possessed 
in  consequence  of  their  superior  progress  in  science  and  improvement,  might 
gradually  form  the  minds  of  the  Americans  to  relish  those  comforts  of  which 
the/  were  destitute,  might  train  them  to  the  arts  of  civil  life,  and  render  them 
capable  of  its  functions. 

But  to  the  bishop  of  Burgos,  and  the  council  of  the  Indies,  this  project, 
appeared  not  only  chimerical,  but  dangerous  in  a  high  degree.  They  deemed 
the  faculties  of  the  Americans  to  be  naturally  so  limited,  and  their  indolence 
so  excessive,  that  every  attempt  to  instruct  or  to  improve  them  would  be 
fruitless.  They  contended,  that  it  would  be  extremely  imprudent  to  give 
the  command  of  a  country  extending  above  a  thousand  miles  along  the  coast 
to  a  fanciful  presumptuous  enthusiast,  a  stranger  to  the  affairs  of  the  worldy 
and  unacquainted  with  the  arts  of  government.  Las  Casas,  far  from  being 
discouraged  with  a  repulse,  which  he  had  reason  to  expect,  had  recourse 
once  more  to  the  Flemish  favourites,  who  zealously  patronized  his  scheme 
merely  because  it  had  been  rejected  by  the  Spanish  ministers.  They  pre 
vailed  with  their  master,  who  had  lately  been  raised  to  the  Imperial 
dignity,  to  refer  the  consideration  of  this  measure  to  a  select  number  of  his 
privy  counsellors  ;  and  Las  Casas  having  excepted  against  the  members  ot 
the  council  of  the  Indies,  as  partial  and  interested,  they  were  all  excluded. 
The  decision  of  men  chosen  by  recommendation  of  the  Flemings  was 
perfectly  conformable  to  their  sentiments.  They  warmly  approved  of  Las 
Casas's  plan,  and  gave  orders  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  but  restricted 
the  territory  allotted  him  to  three  hundred  miles  along  the  coast  of  Cumana  j 
allowing  him,  however,  to  extend  it  as  far  as  he  pleased  towards  the  interior 
part  of  the  country.t 

This  determination  did  not  pass  uncensured.  Almost  every  person  who 
had  been  in  the  West  Indies  exclaimed  against  it,  and  supported  their 
opinion  so  confidently,  and  with  such  plausible  reasons,  as  made  it  advisable 
to  pause  and  to  review  the  subject  more  deliberately.  Charles  himself, 
though  accustomed,  at  this  early  period  of  his  life,  to  adopt  the  sentiments 
of  his  ministers  with  such  submissive  deference  as  did  not  promise  thai- 
decisive  vigour  of  mind  which  distinguished  his  riper  years,  could  not  help 
suspecting  that  the  eagerness  with  which  the  Flemings  took  part  in  every 
affair  relating  to  America  flowed  from  some  improper  motive,  and  began  to 
discover  an  inclination  to  examine  in  person  into  the  state  of  the  question 
concerning  the  character  of  the  Americans,  and  the  proper  manner  oi 
treating  them.  An  opportunity  of  making  this  inquiry  with  great  advantage 
soon  occurred  [June  20].  Quevedo,  the  bishop  of  Darien,  who  had  accom 
panied  Pedrarias  to  the  continent  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  thirteen,  happened  to  land  at  Barcelona,  where  the  couft  then  resided. 
It  was  quickly  known  that  his  sentiments  concerning  the  talents  and  dis-* 
position  of  the  Indians  differed  from  those  of  Las  Casas :  and  Charles 
naturally  concluded  that  by  confronting  two  respectable  persons,  who, 
during  their  residence  in  America,  had  full  leisure  to  observe  the  manners 
of  the  people  whom  they  pretended  to  describe,  he  might  be  able  to 
discover  which  of  them  had  formed  his  opinion  with  the  greatest  discern 
ment  and  accuracy. 

A  day  for  this  solemn  audience  was  appointed.  The  emperor  appeared 
with  extraordinary  pomp,  and  took  his  seat  on  a  throne  in  the  great  hall  of 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iv.  c.  2.  f  Goraara  Hist.  Gener.  c.  77.    Herrera.  dec.  2.  lib.  iv  C.  3. 

Oviedo,  lib.  xix.  c.  5. 


116  HISTORY  OF  [Boon  III. 

the  palace.  His  principal  courtiers  attended.  Don  Diego  Columbus, 
admiral  of  the  Indies,  was  summoned  to  be  present.  The  bishop  of  Darien 
was  called  upon  first  to  deliver  his  opinion.  He,  in  a  short  discourse, 
lamented  the  fatal  desolation  of  America  by  the  extinction  of  so  many  of 
Jts  inhabitants;  he  acknowledged  that  this  must  be  imputed,  in  some 
degree,  to  the  extensive  rigour  and  inconsiderate  proceedings  of  the 
Spaniards ;  but  declared  that  all  the  people  of  the  New  World  whom  he 
had  seen,  either  in  the  continent  or  in  the  islands,  appeared  to  him  to  be  a 
race  of  men  marked  out,  by  the  inferiority  of  their  talents,  for  servitude, 
and  whom  it  would  be  impossible  to  instruct  or  improve,  unless  they  were 
kept  under  the  continual  inspection  of  a  master.  Las  Casas,  at  greater 
length  and  with  more  fervour,  defended  his  own  system.  He  rejected  with 
indignation  the  idea  that  any  race  of  men  was  born  to  servitude  as  irreligious 
and  inhuman.  He  asserted  that  the  faculties  of  the  Americans  were  not 
naturally  despicable,  but  unimproved ;  that  they  were  capable  of  receiving 
instruction  in  the  principles  of  religion,  as  well  as  of  acquiring  the  industry 
and  arts  which  would  qualify  them  for  the  various  offices  of  social  life ; 
that  the  mildness  and  timidity  of  their  nature  rendered  them  so  submissive 
and  docile,  that  they  might  be  led  and  formed  with  a  gentle  hand.  He 
professed  that  his  intentions  in  proposing  the  scheme  now  under  considera 
tipn  were  pure  and  disinterested  ;  and  though  from  the  accomplishment  of 
his  designs  inestimable  benefits  would  result  to  the  crown  01  Castile,  he 
never  had  claimed,  nor  ever  would  receive,  any  recompense  on  that 
account. 

Charles,  after  hearing  both,  and  consulting  with  his  ministers,  did  not 
think  himself  sufficiently  informed  to  establish  any  general  arrangement 
with  respect  to  the  state  of  the  Indians  ;  but  as  he  had  perfect  confidence  in 
the  integrity  of  Las  Casas,  and  as  even  the  bishop  of  Darien  admitted  his 
scheme  to  be  of  such  importance  that  a  trial  should  be  made  of  its  effects, 
he  issued  a  patent  [1522],  granting  him  the  district  of  Cumana  formerly 
mentioned,  with  full  power  to  establish  a  colony  there  according  to  his 
own  plan.* 

Las  Casas  pushed  on  the  preparations  for  his  voyage  with  his  usual 
ardour.  But,  either  from  his  own  inexperience  in  the  conduct  of  affairs, 
or  from  the  secret  opposition  of  the  Spanish  nobility,  who  universally 
dreaded  the  success  of  an  institution  that  might  rob  them  of  the  industrious 
and  useful  hands  which  cultivated  their  estates,  his  progress  in  engaging 
husbandmen  and  labourers  was  extremely  slow,  and  he  could  not  prevail 
on  more  than  two  hundred  to  accompany  him  to  Cumana. 

Nothing,  however,  could  damp  his  zeal.  With  this  slender  train,  hardly 
sufficient  to  take  possession  of  such  a  large  territory,  and  altogether  unequal 
to  any  effectual  attempt  towards  civilizing  its  inhabitants,  he  set  sail.  The 
first  place  at  which  he  touched  was  the  island  of  Puerto  Rico.  There  he 
received  an  account  of  a  new  obstacle  to  the  execution  of  his  scheme, 
more  insuperable  than  any  he  had  hitherto  encountered.  When  he  left 
America,  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixteen,  the  Spaniards 
had  little  intercourse  with  any  part  of  the  continent  except  the  countries 
adjacent  to  the  Gulf  of  Darien.  But  as  every  species  of  internal  industry 
began  to  stagnate  in  Hispaniola,  when,  by  the  rapid  decrease  of  the  natives, 
the  Spaniards  were  deprived  of  those  hands  with  which  they  had  hitherto 
carried  on  their  operations,  this  prompted  them  to  try  various  expedients 
for  supplying  that  loss.  Considerable  numbers  of  negroes  were  imported  ; 
but,  on  account  of  their  exorbitant  price,  many  of  the  planters  could  not 
afford  to  purchase  them.  In  order  to  procure  slaves  at  an  easier  rate,  some 
of  the  Spaniards  in  Hispaniola  fitted  out  vessels  to  cruise  along  the  coast 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iv.  c.  3, 4, 5.  Argensola  Annales  d'Aragon,  74.  97.  Remisal  Hist.  Gcner. 
lib.  ii,  e.  19,  20; 


AMERICA.  117 

ol  the  continent.  In  places  where  they  found  themselves  inferior  in  strength, 
they  traded  with  the  natives,  and  gave  European  toys  in  exchange  for  the 
plates  of  gold  worn  by  them  as  ornaments ;  but,  wherever  they  could 
surprise  or  overpower  the  Indians,  they  carried  them  off  by  force,  and  sold 
them  as  slaves.*  In  those  predatory  excursions  such  atrocious  acts  of 
violence  and  cruelty  had  been  committed,  that  the  Spanish  name  was 
held  in  detestation  all  over  the  continent.  Whenever  any  ships  appeared, 
the  inhabitants  either  fled  to  the  woods,  or  rushed  down  to  the  shore  in  arms 
to  repel  those  hated  disturbers  of  their  tranquillity.  They  forced  some 
parties  of  the  Spaniards  to  retreat  with  precipitation  ;  they  cut  off  others  ; 
and  in  the  violence  of  their  resentment  against  the  whole  nation,  they 
murdered  two  Dominican  missionaries,  whose  zeal  had  prompted  them  to 
settle  in  the  province  of  Cumana.t  This  outrage  against  persons  revered 
for  their  sanctity  excited  such  indignation  among  the  people  of  Hispaniola, 
who,  notwithstanding  all  their  licentious  and  cruel  proceedings,  were 
possessed  with  a  wonderful  zeal  for  religion,  and  a  superstitious  respect 
for  its  ministers,  that  they  determined  to  inflict  exemplary  punishment, 
not  only  upon  the  perpetrators  of  that  crime,  but  upon  the  whole  race. 
With  this  view,  they  gave  the  command  of  five  ships  and  three  hundred 
men  to  Diego  Ocampo,  with  orders  to  lay  waste  the  country  of  Cumana 
with  fire  and  sword,  and  to  transport  all  the  inhabitants  as  slaves  to  His 
paniola.  This  armament  Las  Casas  found  at  Puerto  Rico,  in  its  way  to 
the  continent ;  and  as  Ocampo  refused  to  defer  his  voyage,  he  immediately 
perceived  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  attempt  the  execution  of  his 
pacific  plan  in  a  country  destined  to  be  the  seat  01  war  and  desolation.J 

In  order  to  provide  against  the  effects  of  this  unfortunate  incident,  he 
set  sail  directly  for  St.  Domingo  [April  12],  leaving  his  followers  cantoned 
out  among  the  planters  in  Puerto  Rico.  From  many  concurring  causes, 
the  reception  which  Las  Casas  met  with  in  Hispaniola  was  very  unfavour 
able.  In  his  negotiations  for  the  relief  of  the  Indians,  he  had  censured 
the  conduct  of  his  countrymen  settled  there  with  such  honest  severity  as 
rendered  him  universally  odious  to  them.  They  considered  their  own 
ruin  as  the  inevitable  consequence  of  his  success.  They  were  now  elated 
with  hope  of  receiving  a  large  recruit  of  slaves  from  Cumana,  which  must 
be  relinquished  if  Las  Casas  were  assisted  in  settling  his  projected  colony 
there.  Figueroa,  in  consequence  of  the  instructions  which  he  had  received 
in  Spain,  had  made  an  experiment  concerning  the  capacity  of  the  Indians, 
that  was  represented  as  decisive  against  the  system  of  Las  Casas.  He 
collected  in  Hispaniola  a  good  number  of  the  natives,  and  settled  them 
in  two  villages,  leaving  them  at  perfect  liberty,  and  with  the  uncontrolled 
direction  of  their  own  actions.  But  that  people,  accustomed  to  a  mode 
of  life  extremely  different  from  that  which  takes  place  wherever  civiliza 
tion  has  made  any  considerable  progress,  were  incapable  of  assuming 
new  habits  at  once.  Dejected  with  their  own  misfortunes  as  well  as  those 
of  their  country,  they  exerted  so  little  industry  in  cultivating  the  ground, 
appeared  so  devoid  of  solicitude  or  foresight  in  providing  lor  their  own 
wants,  and  were  such  strangers  to  arrangement  in  conducting  their  affairs, 
that  the  Spaniards  pronounced  them  incapable  of  being  formed  to  live 
like  men  in  social  life,  and  considered  them  as  children,  who  should  be 
kept  under  the  perpetual  tutelage  of  persons  superior  to  themselves  in 
wisdom  and  sagacity.§ 

Notwithstanding  all  those  circumstances,  which  alienated  the  persons 
in  Hispaniola  to  whom  Las  Casas  applied  from  himself  and  from  his 
measures,  he,  by  his  activity  and  perseverance,  by  some  concessions  and 
many  threats,  obtained  at  length  a  small  body  of  troops  to  protect  him 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  3.  f  Oviedo,  Hist.  lib.  xix.  p.  3  J  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  ix. 

c.  8, 9.          $  Ibid.  dec.  2.  lib.  x  c.  5. 


118  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  III. 

and  his  colony  at  their  first  landing.  But  upon  his  return  to  Puerto  Rico, 
he  found  that  the  diseases  of  the  climate  had  been  fatal  to  several  of  his 
people  ;  and  that  others  having  got  employment  in  that  island,  refused  to 
tollow  him.  With  the  handful  that  remained,  he  set  sail  and  landed  in 
Cumana.  Ocampo  had  executed  his  commission  in  that  province  with 
such  barbarous  rage,  having  massacred  many  of  the  inhabitants,  sent  others 
in  chains  to  Hispaniola,  and  forced  the  rest  to  fly  for  shelter  to  the  woods, 
that  the  people  of  a  small  colony,  which  he  had  planted  at  a  place  which 
he  named  Toledo,  were  ready  to  perish  for  want  in  a  desolated  country. 
There,  however,  Las  Casas  was  obliged  to  fix  his  residence,  though 
desjerted  both  by  the  troops  appointed  to  protect  him,  and  by  those  under 
the  command  of  Ocampo,  who  foresaw  and  dreaded  the  calamities  to 
which  he  must  he  exposed  in  that  wretched  station.  He  made  the  best 
provision  in  his  power  for  the  safety  and  subsistence  of  his  followers  ,  lut 
as  his  utmost  efforts  availed  little  towards  securing  either  the  one  or  the 
other,  he  returned  to  Hispaniola,  in  order  to  solicit  more  effectual  aid  for 
the  preservation  of  men  who,  from  confidence  in  him,  had  ventured  into 
a  post  of  so  much  danger.  Soon  after  his  departure,  the  natives,  having 
discovered  the  feeble  and  defenceless  state  of  the  Spaniards,  assembled 
secretly,  attacked  them  with  the  fury  natural  to  men  exasperated  by  many 
injuries,  cut  off  a  good  number,  and  compelled  the  rest  to  fly  in  the  utmost 
consternation  to  the  island  of  Cubagua.  The  small  colony  settled  there 
on  account  of  the  pearl  fishery,  catching  the  panic  with  which  their  coun 
trymen  had  been  seized,  abandoned  the  island,  and  not  a  Spaniard  remained 
in  any  part  of  the  continent,  or  adjacent  islands,  from  the  Gulf  of  Paria 
to  the  borders  of  Darien.  Astonished  at  such  a  succession  of  disasters, 
Las  Casas  was  ashamed  to  show  his  face  after  this  fatal  termination  of  all 
his  splendid  schemes.  He  shut  himself  up  in  the  convent  of  the  Domini 
cans  at  St.  Domingo,  and  soon  after  assumed  the  habit  of  that  order.* 

Though  the  expulsion  of  the  colony  from  Cumana  happened  in  the  year 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-one,  I  have  chosen  to  trace  the  progress 
of  Las  Casas's  negotiations  from  their  first  rise  to  their  final  issue  without 
interruption.  His  system  was  the  object  of  long  and  attentive  discussion ;  and 
though  his  efforts  in  b.ehalf  of  the  oppressed  Americans,  partly  from  his  own 
rashness  and  imprudence,  and  partly  from  the  malevolent  opposition  of  his 
adversaries,  were  not  attended  with  that  success  which  he  promised  with 
too  sanguine  confidence,  great  praise  is  due  to  his  humane  activity,  which 
gave  rise  to  various  regulations  that  were  of  some  benefit  to  that  unhappy 
people.  I  return  now  to  the  history  of  the  Spanish  discoveries  as  they 
occur  in  the  order  of  tjme.t 

Diego  Velasquez,  who  conquered  Cuba  in  the  year  one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  eleven,  still  retained  the  government  of  that  island,  as  the 
deputy  of  Don  Diego  Columbus,  though  he  seldom  acknowledged  his  supe 
rior,  and  aimed  at  rendering  his  own  authority  altogether  independent.} 
Under  his  prudent  administration,  Cuba  became  one  of  the  most  flourish  ing 
of  the  Spanish  settlements.  The  fame  of  this  allured  thither  many  persons 
from  the  other  colonies,  in  hopes  of  finding  either  some  permanent  establish 
ment  or  some  employment  for  their  activity.  As  Cuba  lay  to  the  west  of 
all  the  islands  occupied  by  the  Spaniards,  and  as  the  ocean  which  stretches 
beyond  it  towards  that  quarter  had  not  hitherto  been  explored,  these  circum 
stances  naturally  invited  the  inhabitants  to  attempt  new  discoveries.  An 
jexpedition  for  this  purpose,  in  which  activity  and  resolution  might  conduct 
to  sudden  wealth,  was  more  suited  to  the  genius  of  the  age  than  the  patient 
industry  requisite  in  clearing  ground  and  manufacturing  sugar.  Instigated 

*  Hen-era,  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  5.  dec.  3.  lib.  iJ.  c.  3, 4,  5.  Oviedo,  Hist.  lib.  xix.  c.  5.  Gomara,  c.  77. 
Pavila  Padilla,  lib.  i.  ,c.  97.  Remisal  Hist.  Gen.  lib.  xi.  c,  22,  23,  f  Herrera,  dec.  2,  lib.  x.  c.  5.  p. 
329.  i  Ibid,  lib.  ii.c.  19. 


AMERICA.  119 

by  this  spirit,  several  officers,  who  had  served  under  Pedrarias  in  Darien, 
entered  into  an  association  to  undertake  a  voyage  of  discovery.  They 
persuaded  Franscisco  Hernandez  Cordova,  an  opulent  planter  in  Cuba, 
and  a  man  of  distinguished  courage,  to  join  with  them  in  the  adventure,  and 
chose  him  to  be  their  commander.  Velasquez  not  only  approved  of  the 
design,  but  assisted  in  carrying  it  on.  As  the  veterans  from  Darien  were 
extremely  indigent,  he  and  Cordova  advanced  money  for  purchasing  three 
small  vessels,  and  furnished  them  with  every  thing  requisite  either  for 
traffic  or  for  war.  A  hundred  and  ten  men  embarked  on  board  of  them, 
and  sailed  from  St.  Jago  de  Cuba,  on  the  eighth  of  February,  one  thou 
sand  five  hundred  and  seventeen.  By  the  advice  of  their  chief  pilot, 
Antonio  Alaminos,  who  had  served  under  the  first  admiral  Columbus,  they 
stood  directly  west,  reiving  on  the  opinion  of  that  great  navigator,  who 
uniformly  maintained  mat  a  westerly  course  would  lead  to  the  most 
important  discoveries. 

On  the  twenty-first  day  after  their  departure  from  St.  Jago,  they  saw  land, 
which  proved  to  be  Cape  Catoche,  the  eastern  point  of  that  large  peninsula 
projecting  from  the  continent  of  America,  which  still  retains  its  original  name 
of  Yucatan.  As  they  approached  the  shore,  five  canoes  came  off  full  of 
people  decently  clad  in  cotton  garments  ;  an  astonishing  spectacle  to  the 
Spaniards,  who  had  found  every  other  part  of  America  possessed  by  naked 
savages.  Cordova  endeavoured  by  small  presents  to  gain  the  good  will 
of  these  people.  They,  though  amazed  at  the  strange  objects  now  pre 
sented  for  the  first  time  to  their  view,  invited  the  Spaniards  to  visit  their 
habitations,  with  an  appearance  of  cordiality.  They  landed  accordingly, 
and  as  they  advanced  into  the  country,  they  observed  with  new  wonder 
some  large  houses  built  with  stone.  But  they  soon  found  that,  if  the 
people  of  Yucatan  had  made  progress  in  improvement  beyond  their  coun 
trymen,  they  were  likewise  more  artful  and  warlike.  For  though  the 
cazique  had.  received  Cordova  with  many  tokens  of  friendship,  he  had 
posted  a  considerable  body  of  his  subjects  in  ambush  behind  a  thicket, 
who,  upon  a  signal  given  by  him,  rushed  out  and  attacked  the  Spaniards 
with  great  boldness,  and  some  degree  of  martial  order.  At  the  first  flight 
of  their  arrows,  fifteen  of  the  Spaniards  were  wounded ;  but  the  Indians 
were  struck  with  such  terror  by  the  sudden  explosion  of  the  fire  arms,  and 
so  surprised  at  the  execution  done  by  them,  by  the  cross  bows,  and  by  the 
other  weapons  of  their  new  enemies,  that  they  fled  precipitately.  Cordova 
quitted  a  country  where  he  had  met  with  such  a  fierce  reception,  carrying 
off  two  prisoners,  together  with  the  ornaments  of  a  small  temple  which  he 
plundered  in  his  retreat. 

He  continued  his  course  towards  the  west,  without  losing  sight  of  the  coast, 
and  on  the  sixteenth  day  arrived  at  Campeachy.  There  the  natives  re 
ceived  them  more  hospitably;  but  the  Spaniards  were  much  surprised,  that  on 
all  the  extensive  coast  along  which  they  had  sailed,  and  which  they  imagined 
to  be  a  large  island,  they  had  not  observed  any  river  [26].  As  their  water  had 
began  to  tail,  they  advanced,  in  hopes  of  finding  a  supply  ;  and  at  length 
they  discovered  the  mouth  of  a  river  at  Potonchan,  some  leagues  beyond 
Campeachy. 

Cordova  landed  all  his  troops,  in  order  to  protect  the  sailors  while  em 
ployed  in  filling  the  casks  ;  but  notwithstanding  this  precaution,  the  natives 
rushed  down  upon  them  with  such  fury  and  in  such  numbers,  that  forty- 
seven  of  the  Spaniards  were  killed  upon  the  spot,  and  one  man  only  of  tne 
whole  body  escaped  unhurt.  Their  commander,  though  wounded  in 
twelve  different  places,  directed  the  retreat  with  presence  of  mind  equal 
to  the  courage  with  which  he  had  led  them  on  in  the  engagement,  and 
with  much  difficulty  they  regained  their  ships.  After  this  fatal  repulse, 
nothing  remained  but  to  hasten  back  to  Cuba  with  their  shattered  torces. 
In  their  passage  thither  they  suffered  the  most  exquisite  distress  for  want 


120  H I S  T  O  R  Y   O  F  [BOOK  III. 

of  water,  that  men,  wounded  and  sickly,  shut  up  in  small  vessels,  and  ex 
posed  to  the  heat  of  the  torrid  zone,  can  be  supposed  to  endure.  Some  of 
them,  sinking  under  these  calamities,  died  by  the  way  ;  Cordova,  their 
commander,  expired  soon  after  they  landed  in  Cuba."* 

Notwithstanding  the  disastrous  conclusion  of  this  expedition,  it  con 
tributed  rather  to  animate  than  to  damp  a  spirit  of  enterprise  among 
the  Spaniards.  They  had  discovered  an  extensive  country,  situated 
at  no  great  distance  from  Cuba,  fertile  in  appearance,  ana  possessed 
by  a  people  far  superior  in  improvement  to  any  hitherto  known  in  Ame 
rica.  Though  they  had  carried  on  little  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  natives,  they  had  brought  off  some  ornaments  of  gold,  not  conside 
rable  in  value,  but  of  singular  fabric.  These  circumstances,  related 
with  the  exaggeration  natural  to  men  desirous  of  heightening  the  merit 
of  their  own  exploits,  were  more  than  sufficient  to  excite  romantic  hopes 
and  expectations.  Great  numbers  offered  to  engage  in  a  new  expedi 
tion.  Velasquez,  solicitous  to  distinguish  himself  by  some  service  so 
meritorious  as  might  entitle  him  to  claim  the  government  of  Cuba  in 
dependent  of  the  admiral,  not  only  encouraged  their  ardour,  but  at  his 
own  expense  fitted  out  four  ships  for  the  voyage.  Two  hundred  and 
forty  volunteers,  among  whom  were  several  persons  of  rank  and  fortune, 
embarked  in  this  enterprise.  The  command  of  it  was  given  to  Juan  de 
Grijalva,  a  young  man  of  known  merit  and  courage,  with  instructions  to 
observe  attentively  the  nature  of  the  countries  which  he  should  discover, 
to  barter  for  gold,  and,  if  circumstances  were  inviting,  to  settle  a  colony  in 
some  proper  station.  He  sailed  from  St.  Jago  de  Cuba  on  the  eighth  of 
April,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighteen.  The  pilot,  Alaminos, 
held  the  same  course  as  in  the  former  voyage  ;  but  the  violence  of  the 
currents  carrying  the  ships  to  the  south,  the  first  land  which  they  made 
•was  the  island  of  Cozumel,  to  the  east  of  Yucatan.  As  all  the  inhabitants 
fled  to  the  woods  and  mountains  at  the  approach  of  the  Spaniards,  they 
made  no  long  stay  there,  and  without  any  remarkable  occurrence  they 
reached  Potonchan  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  peninsula.  The  desire  of 
avenging  their  countrymen,  who  had  been  slain  there,  concurred  with  their 
ideas  of  good  policy,  in  prompting  them  to  land,  that  they  might  chastise 
the  Indians  of  that  district  with  such  exemplary  rigour  as  would  strike 
terror  into  all  the  people  round  them.  But  though  they  disembarked  all 
their  troops,  and  carried  ashore  some  field  pieces,  the  Indians  fought  with 
such  courage,  that  the  Spaniards  gained  the  victory  with  difficulty,  and 
were  confirmed  in  their  opinion  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  would 
prove  more  formidable  enemies  than  any  they  had  met  with  in  other  parts  of 
America.  From  Potonchan  they  contmuecf  their  voyage  towards  the  west, 
keeping  as  near  as  possible  to  the  shore,  and  casting  anchor  every  evening1, 
from  dread  of  the  dangerous  accidents  to  which  they  might  be  exposed  in 
an  unknown  sea.  During  the  day  their  eyes  were  turned  continually 
towards  land,  with  a  mixture  of  surprise  ana  wonder  at  the  beauty  of  the 
country,  as  well  as  the  novelty  of  the  objects  which  they  beheld.  Many 
villages  were  scattered  along  the  coast,  in  which  they  could  distinguish 
houses  of  stone  that  appeared  white  and  lofty  at  a  distance.  In  the  warmth 
of  their  admiration,  they  fancied  these  to  be  cities  adorned  with  towers 
and  pinnacles ;  and  one  of  the  soldiers  happening  to  remark  that  this 
country  resembled  Spain  in  appearance,  Grijalva,  with  universal  applause, 
called  it  JVeTw  Spain,  the  name  which  still  distinguishes  this  extensive  and 
opulent  province  of  the  Spanish  empire  in  America  [27].  They  landed 
in  a  river  which  the  natives  called  Tabasco  [June  9] ;  and  the  fame  of  their 

*  Herrera,  doc.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  17, 18.  Hist.  Verdadera  de  la  Conqoista  de  la  Nueva  Espana  poi 
Bernal  Diaz  del  Coslillo,  cap.  1—7.  Oviedo,  lib.  xvii.  c.  3.  Gomara,  cj  52.  P.  Martyr  de  Insulia 
nupcr  inventis,  p.  £29. 


AMERICA,  121 

victory  at  Fotonchan  having  reached  this  place,  the  cazique  not  only 
received  them  amicably,  but  bestowed  presents  upon  them  of  such  value, 
as  confirmed  the  high  ideas  which  the  Spaniards  had  formed  with  respect 
to  the  wealth  and  fertility  of  the  country.  These  ideas  were  raised  still 
higher  by  what  occurred  at  the  place  where  they  next  touched.  This  was 
considerably  to  the  west  of  Tabasco,  in  the  province  since  known  by  the 
name  of  Guaxaca.  There  they  were  received  with  the  respect  paid  to 
superior  beings.  The  people  perfumed  them,  as  they  landed,  with  incense 
of  gum  copal,  and  presented  to  them  as  offerings  the  choicest  delicacies  of 
,heir  country.  They  were  extremely  fond  of  trading  with  their  new 
visitants,  and  in  six  days  the  Spaniards  obtained  ornaments  of  gold  of 
curious  workmanship,  to  the  value  of  fifteen  thousant  pesos,  in  exchange 
for  European  toys  ol  small  price.  The  two  prisoners  \v  nom  Cordova  had 
brought  from  Yucatan,  had  hitherto  served  as  interpreters  ;  but  as  they  did 
not  understand  the  language  of  this  country,  the  Spaniards  learned  from 
the  natives  by  signs,  that  they  were  subjects  of  a  great  monarch  called 
Montezuma,  whose  dominions  extended  over  that  and  many  other  provinces 
Leaving  this  place,  with  which  he  had  so  much  reason  to  be  pleased, 
Grijalva  continued  his  course  towards  the  west.  He  landed  on  a  small 
island  [June  19],  which  he  named  the  Isle  of  Sacrifices,  because  there  the 
Spaniards  beheld,  for  the  first  time,  the  horrid  spectacle  of  human  victims, 
which  the  barbarous  superstition  of  the  natives  offered  to  their  gods.  He 
touched  at  another  small  island,  which  he  called  St.  Juan  de  Ulua.  From  this 
place  he  despatched  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  one  of  his  officers,  to  Velasquez, 
with  a  full  account  of  the  important  discoveries  which  he  had  made,  and 
with  all  the  treasure  that  he  acquired  by  trafficking  with  the  natives. 
After  the  departure  of  Alvarado,  he  himself,  with  the  remaining  vessels, 
proceeded  along  the  coast  as  far  as  the  river  Panuco,the  country  still  ap 
pearing  to  be  well  peopled,  fertile,  and  opulent. 

Several  of  Grijalva's  officers  contended  that  it  was  not  enough  to  have 
discovered  those  delightful  regions,  or  to  have  performed,  at  their  different 
landing-places,  the  empty  ceremony  of  taking  possession  of  them  for  the 
crown  of  Castile,  and  that  their  glory  was  incomplete,  unless  they  planted 
a  colony  in  some  proper  station,  which  might  not  only  secure  the  Spanish 
nation  a  footing  in  the  country,  but,  with  the  reinforcements  which  they 
were  certain  of  receiving,  might  gradually  subject  the  whole  to  the 
dominion  of  their  sovereign.  But  the  squadron  had  now  been  above  five 
months  at  sea  ;  the  greatest  part  of  their  provisions  was  exhausted,  and 
what  remained  of  their  stores  so  much  corrupted  by  the  heat  of  the 
climate,  as  to  be  almost  unfit  for  use  ;  they  had  lost  some  men  by  death ; 
others  were  sickly  ;  the  country  was  crowded  with  people  who  seemed 
to  be  intelligent  as  well  as  brave ;  and  they  were  under  the  government 
of  one  powerful  monarch,  who  could  bring  them  to  act  against  their  invaders 
with  united  force.  To  plant  a  colony  under  so  many  circumstances  of 
disadvantage,  appeared  a  scheme  too  perilous  to  be  attempted.  Grijalva, 
though  possessed  both  of  ambition  and  courage,  was  destitute  of  the 
superior  talents  capable  of  forming  or  executing  such  a  great  plan.  He 
judged  it  more  prudent  to  return  to  Cuba,  having  fulfilled  the  purpose  of 
his  voyage,  and  accomplished  all  that  the  armament  which  he  commanded 
enabled  him  to  perform.  He  returned  to  St.  Jago  de  Cuba,  on  the 
twenty-sixth  of  October,  from  which  he  had  taken  his  departure  about 
six  months  before.* 

This  was  the  longest  as  well  as  the  most  successful  voyage  which  the 
Spaniards  had  hitherto  made  in  the  New  World.  They  had  discovered 
that  Yucatan  was  not  an  island  as  they  had  supposed,  but  part  of  the  great 

*  Herrera,  dec.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  1, 2.  9, 10.    Bernal  Diaz,  c.  8. 17.    Oviedo  Hist.  lib.  xvii.  c.  9.  20 
Gomara,  c.  49 
VOL.  I.— 16 


122  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

continent  of  America.  From  Potonchan  they  had  pursued  their  course 
for  many  hundred  miles  along  a  coast  formerly  unexplored,  stretching  at 
first  towards  the  west,  and  then  turning  to  the  north ;  all  the  country  which 
they  had  discovered  appeared  to  be  no  less  valuable  than  extensive.  As 
soon  as  Alvarado  reached  Cuba,  Velasquez,  transported  with  success  so 
far  beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations,  immediately  despatched  a 
person  of  confidence  to  carry  this  important  intelligence  to  Spain,  to 
exhibit  the  rich  productions  of  the  countries  which  had  been  discovered 
by  his  means,  and  to  solicit  such  an  increase  of  authority  as  might  enable 
and  encourage  him  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  them.  Without  waiting 
for  the  return  of  his  messenger,  or  for  the  arrival  of  Grijalva,  of  whom 
he  was  become  so  jealous  or  distrustful  that  he  was  resolved  no  longer  to 
employ  him,  he  began  to  prepare  such  a  powerful  armament  as  might 
prove  equal  to  an  enterprise  of  so  much  danger  and  importance. 

But  as  the  expedition  upon  which  Velasquez  was  now  intent  terminated 
in  conquests  of  greater  moment  than  what  the  Spaniards  had  hitherto 
achieved,  and  led  them  to  the  knowledge  of  a  people,  who,  if  compared 
with  those  tribes  of  America  with  whom  they  were  hitherto  acquainted, 
may  be  considered  as  highly  civilized ;  it  is  proper  to  pause  before  we 
proceed  to  the  history  of  events  extremely  different  from  those  which  we 
have  already  related,  in  order  to  take  a  view  of  the  state  of  the  New 
World  when  first  discovered,  and  to  contemplate  the  policy  and  manners 
of  the  rude  uncultivated  tribes  that  occupied  all  the  parts  of  it  with  which 
the  Spaniards  were  at  this  time  acquainted. 


BOOK  IT. 

TWENTY-SIX  years  had  elasped  since  Columbus  had  conducted  the 
people  of  Europe  to  the  New  World.  During  that  period  the  Spaniards 
had  made  ffreat  progress  in  exploring  its  various  regions.  They  had 
visited  all  the  islands  scattered  in  different  clusters  through  that  part  of 
the  ocean  which  flows  in  between  North  and  South  America.  They  had 
sailed  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the  continent  from  the  river  De  la  Plata 
to  the  bottom  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  had  found  that  it  stretched  without 
interruption  through  this  vast  portion  of  the  globe.  They  had  discovered 
the  great  Southern  Ocean,  which  opened  new  prospects  in  that  quarter. 
They  had  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  coast  of  Florida,  which  led 
them  to  observe  the  continent  as  it  extended  in  an  opposite  direction ; 
and  though  they  pushed  their  discoveries  no  further  towards  the  North, 
other  nations  had  visited  those  parts  which  they  neglected.  The  English, 
in  a  voyage  the  motives  and  success  of  which  shall  be  related  in  another 
part  of  this  History,  had  sailed  along  the  coast  of  America  from  Labrador 
to  the  confines  of  Florida  ;  and  the  Portuguese,  in  quest  of  a  shorter 
passage  to  the  East  Indies,  had  ventured  into  the  northern  seas,  and 
vieVved  the  same  regions.*  Thus,  at  the  period  where  I  have  chosen  to 
fake  a  view  of  the  state  of  the  New  World,  its  extent  was  known  almost 
from  its  northern  extremity  to  thirty-five  degrees  south  of  the  equator.  The 
countries  which  stretch  from  thence  to  the  southern  boundary  of  America, 
the  great  empire  of  Peru,  and  the  interior  state  of  the  extensive  dominions 
subject  to  the  sovereigns  of  Mexico,  were  still  undiscovered. 

*  Horrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vi  c.  16 


AMERICA.  123 

When  we  contemplate  the  New  World,  the  first  circumstance  that 
strikes  us  is  its  immense  extent.  It  was  not  a  small  portion  of  the  earth, 
so  inconsiderable  that  it  might  have  escaped  the  observation  or  research  oi 
former  ages,  which  Columbus  discovered.  He  made  known  a  new 
hemisphere,  larger  than  either  Europe,  or  Asia,  or  Africa,  the  three  noted 
divisions  of  the  ancient  continent,  and  not  much  inferior  in  dimensions  to  a 
third  part  of  the  habitable  globe. 

America  is  remarkable,  not  only  for  its  magnitude,  but  for  its  position. 
It  stretches  from  the  northern  polar  circle  to  a  high  southern  latitude, 
above  fifteen  hundred  miles  beyond  the  furthest  extremity  of  the  old 
continent  on  that  side  of  the  line.  A  country  of  such  extent  passes  through 
all  the  climates  capable  of  becoming  the  habitation  of  man,  and  fit  for 
yielding  the  various  productions  peculiar  either  to  the  temperate  or  to  the 
torrid  regions  of  the  earth. 

Next  to  the  extent  of  the  New  World,  the  grandeur  of  the  objects  which 
it  presents  to  view  is  most  apt  to  strike  the  eye  of  an  observer.  Nature 
seems  here  to  have  carried  on  her  operations  upon  a  larger  scale  and  with 
a  bolder  hand,  and  to  have  distinguished  the  features  of  this  country  by  a 
peculiar  magnificence.  The  mountains  in  America  are  much  superior  in 
height  to  those  in  the  other  divisions  of  the  globe.  Even  the  plain  of 
Quito,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  base  of  the  Andes,  is  elevated 
further  above  the  sea  than  the  top  of  the  Pyrenees.  This  stupendous 
ridge  of  the  Andes,  no  less  remarkable  for  extent  than  elevation,  rises  in 
different  places  more  than  one-third  above  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe,  the 
highest  land  in  the  ancient  hemisphere.  The  Andes  may  literally  be  said 
to  hide  their  heads  in  the  clouds  ;  the  storms  often  roll,  and  the  thunder 
bursts  below  their  summits,  which,  though  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun 
in  the  centre  of  the  torrid  zone,  are  covered  with  everlasting  snows  [28], 

From  these  lofty  mountains  descend  rivers,  proportionabry  large,  with 
which  the  streams  in  the  ancient  continent  are  not  to  be  compared,  either 
for  length  of  course,  or  the  vast  body  of  water  which  they  roll  towards 
the  ocean.  The  Maragnon,  the  Orinoco,  the  Plata  in  South  America,  the 
Mississippi  and  St.  Laurence  in  North  America,  flow  in  such  spacious 
channels,  that  long  before  they  feel  the  influence  of  the  tide,  they  resemble 
arms  of  the  sea  rather  than  rivers  of  fresh  water  [29]. 

The  lakes  of  the  New  World  are  no  less  conspicuous  for  grandeur  than 
its  mountains  and  rivers.  There  is  nothing  in  other  parts  of  the  globe 
which  resembles  the  prodigious  chain  of  lakes  in  North  America.  They 
may  properly  be  termed  inland  seas  of  fresh  water  ;  and  even  those  of  the 
second  or  third  class  in  magnitude  are  of  larger  circuit  (the  Caspian  Sea 
excepted)  than  the  greatest  lake  of  the  ancient  continent. 

The  New  World  is  of  a  form  extremely  favourable  to  commercial  inter 
course.  When  a  continent  is  formed,  like  Africa,  of  one  vast  solid  mass, 
unbroken  by  arms  of  the  sea  penetrating  into  its  interior  parts,  with  few 
large  rivers,  and  those  at  a  considerable  distance  from  each  other,  the 
greater  part  of  it  seems  destined  to  remain  for  ever  uncivilized,  and  to  be 
debarred  from  any  active  or  enlarged  communication  with  the  rest  of 
mankind.  When,  like  Europe,  a  continent  is  opened  by  inlets  of  the  ocean 
of  great  extent,  such  as  the  Mediterranean  and  Baltic ;  or  when,  like 
Asia,  its  coasts  is  broken  by  deep  bays  advancing  far  into  the  country,  such 
as  the  Black  Sea,  the  Gulfs  of  Arabia,  of  Persia,  of  Bengal,  of  Siam,  and  of 
Leotang;  when  the  surrounding  seas  are  filled  with  large  and  fertile 
islands,  and  the  continent  itself  watered  with  a  variety  of  navigable  rivers, 
those  regions  may  be  said  to  possess  whatever  can  facilitate  the  progress 
of  their  inhabitants  in  commerce  and  improvement.  In  all  these  respects 
America  may  bear  a  comparison  with  the  other  quarters  of  the  globe.  The 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  which  flows  in  between  North  and  South  America,  may 
be  considered  as  a  Mediterranean  sea,  which  opens  a  maritime  commerce 


124  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  I ^ 

with  all  the  fertile  countries  by  which  it  is  encircled.  The  islands 
scattered  in  it  are  inferior  only  to  those  in  the  Indian  Archipelago,  in 
number,  in  magnitude,  and  in  value.  As  we  stretch  along  the  northern 
division  of  the  American  hemisphere,  the  Bay  of  Chesaj>eak  presents  a 
spacious  inlet,  which  conducts  the  navigator  far  into  the  interior  parts  of 
provinces  no  less  fertile  than  extensive  ;  and  if  ever  the  progress  of  culture 
and  population  shall  mitigate  the  extreme  rigour  of  the  climate  in  the  more 
northern  districts  of  America,  Hudson's  Bay  may  become  as  subservient 
to  commercial  intercourse  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  as  the  Baltic  is  in 
Europe.  The  other  great  portion  of  the  New  World  is  encompassed  on 
every  side  by  the  sea,  except  one  narrow  neck  which  separates  the  Atlantic 
from  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  though  it  be  not  opened  by  spacious  bays 
or  arms  of  the  sea,  its  interior  parts  are  rendered  accessible  by  a  number  of 
large  rivers,  fed  by  so  many  auxiliary  streams,  flowing  in  such  various 
directions,  that  almost  without  any  aid  from  the  hand  of  industry  and 
art,  an  inland  navigation  may  be  carried  on  through  all  the  provinces  from 
the  river  De  la  Plata  to  the  Gulf  of  Paria.  Nor  is  this  bounty  of  nature  confined 
to  the  southern  division  of  America ;  its  northern  continent  abounds  no  less  in 
rivers  which  are  navigable  almost  to  their  sources,  and  by  its  immense 
chain  of  lakes  provision  is  made  for  an  inland  communication,  more  extensive 
and  commodious  than  in  any  quarter  of  the  globe.  The  countries  stretching 
from  the  Gulf  of  Darien  on  one  side,  to  that  of  California  on  the  other, 
which  form  the  chain  that  binds  the  two  parts  of  the  American  continent 
together,  are  not  destitute  of  peculiar  advantages.  Their  coast  on  one 
side  is  washed  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  on  the  omer  by  the  Pacific.  Some 
of  their  rivers  flow  into  the  former,  some  into  the  latter,  and  secure  to  them 
all  the  commercial  benefits  that  may  result  from  a  communication  with 
both. 

But  what  most  distinguishes  America  from  other  parts  of  the  earth  is  the 
peculiar  temperature  of  its  climate,  and  the  different  laws  to  which  it  is 
subject  with  respect  to  the  distribution  of  heat  and  cold.  We  cannot 
determine  with  precision  the  portion  of  heat  felt  in  any  part  of  the  globe, 
merely  by  measuring  its  distance  from  the  equator.  The  climate  of  a 
country  is  affected,  in  some  degree,  by  its  elevation  above  the  sea,  by  the 
extent  of  continent,  by  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  height  of  adjacent  moun 
tains,  and  many  other  circumstances.  The  influence  of  these,  however, 
is  from  various  causes  less  considerable  in  the  greater  part  of  the  ancient 
continent ;  and  from  knowing  the  position  of  any  country  there,  we  can 
pronounce  with  greater  certainty  what  will  be  the  warmth  of  its  climate, 
and  the  nature  of  its  productions. 

The  maxims  which  are  founded  upon  observation  of  our  hemisphere 
will  not  apply  to  the  other.  In  the  New  World,  cold  predominates.  The 
rigour  of  the  frigid  zone  extends  over  half  of  those  regions  which  should 
be  temperate  by  their  position.  Countries  where  the  grape  and  the  fig 
should  ripen,  are  buried  under  snow  one  half  of  the  year ;  and  lands 
situated  in  the  same  parallel  with  the  most  fertile  and  best  cultivated 
provinces  in  Europe,  are  chilled  with  perpetual  frosts,  which  almost 
destroy  the  power  of  vegetation  [30].  As  we  advance  to  those  parts  of 
America  which  lie  in  the  same  parallel  with  provinces  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
blessed  with  a  uniform  enjoyment  of  such  genial  warmth  as  is  most  friendly 
to  life  and  to  vegetation,  the  dominion  of  cold  continues  to  be  felt,  and 
winter  reigns,  though  during  a  short  period,  with  extreme  severity.  If  we 
proceed  along  the  American  continent  into  the  torrid  zone,  we  shall  find 
the  cold  prevalent  in  the  New  World  extending  itself  also  to  this  region  of 
the  globe,  and  mitigating  the  excess  of  its  fervour.  While  the  negro  on 
the  coast  of  Africa  is  scorched  with  unremitting  heat,  the  inhabitant  of 
Peru  breathes  an  air  equally  mild  and  temperate,  and  is  perpetually  shaded 
under  a  canopy  of  gray  clouds,  which  intercepts  the  fierce  beams  of  the 


AMERICA.  I2fr 

sun,  without  obstructing  his  friendly  influence.*  Along  the  eastern  coast 
of  America,  the  climate,  though  more  similar  to  that  of  the  torrid  zone  in 
other  parts  of  the  earth,  is  nevertheless  considerably  milder  than  in  those 
countries  of  Asia  and  Africa  which  lie  in  the  same  latitude.  If  from  the 
southern  tropic  we  continue  our  progress  to  the  extremity  of  the  American 
continent,  we  meet  with  frozen  seas,  and  countries  horrid,  barren,  and 
scarcely  habitable  for  cold,  much  sooner  than  in  the  north.  | 

Various  causes  combine  in  rendering  the  climate  of  America  so  extremely 
different  from  that  of  the  ancient  continent.  Though  the  utmost  extent  of 
America  towards  the  north  be  not  yet  discovered,  we  know  that  it  advances 
much  nearer  to  the  pole  than  either  Europe  or  Asia.  Both  these  have 
large  seas  to  the  north,  which  are  open  during  part  of  the  year ;  and  even 
when  covered  with  ice,  the  wind  that  blows  over  them  is  less  intensely 
cold  than  that  which  blows  over  land  in  the  same  high  latitudes.  But  in 
America  the  land  stretches  from  the  river  St.  Laurence  towards  the  pole, 
and  spreads  out  immensely  to  the  west.  A  chain  of  enormous  mountains 
covered  with  snow  and  ice,  runs  through  all  this  dreary  region.  The 
wind,  in  passing  over  such  an  extent  of  high  and  frozen  land,  becomes  so 
impregnated  with  cold,  that  it  acquires  a  piercing  keenness,  which  it 
retains  in  its  progress  through  warmer  climates,  and  it  is  not  entirely 
mitigated  until  it  reach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Over  all  the  continent  of 
North  America,  a  north-westerly  wind  and  excessive  cold  are  synonymous 
terms.  Even  in  the  most  sultry  weather,  the  moment  that  the  wincf  veers 
to  that  quarter,  its  penetrating  influence  is  felt  in  a  transition  from  heat  to 
cold  no  less  violent  than  sudden.  To  this  powerful  cause  we  may  ascribe 
the  extraordinary  dominion  of  cold,  and  its  violent  inroads  into  the  southerp 
provinces,  in  that  part  of  the  globe.]; 

Other  causes,  no  less  remarkable,  diminish  the  active  power  of  heat  In 
those  parts  of  the  American  continent  which  lie  between  the  tropics.  In 
all  that  portion  of  the  globe,  the  wind  blows  in  an  invariable  direction 
from  east  to  west.  As  this  wind  holds  its  course  across  the  ancient  con 
tinent,  it  arrives  at  the  countries  which  stretch  along  the  western  shores  of 
Africa,  inflamed  with  all  the  fiery  particles  which  it  hath  collected  from  the 
sultry  plains  of  Asia,  and  the  burning  sands  in  the  African  deserts.  The 
coast  of  Africa  is,  accordingly,  the  region  of  the  earth  which  feels  the  most 
fervent  heat,  and  is  exposed  to  the  unmitigated  ardour  of  the  torrid  zone 
But  this  same  wind,  which  brings  such  an  accession  of  warmth  to  the 
countries  lying  between  the  river  of  Senegal  and  Cafraria,  traverses  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  before  it  reaches  the  American  shore.  It  is  cooled  in  its 
passage  over  this  vast  body  of  water,  and  is  felt  as  a  refreshing  gale  along 
the  coast  of  Brazil  [31],  and  Guiana,  rendering  these  countries,  though 
among  the  warmest  in  America,  temperate,  when  compared  with  those 
which  lie  opposite  to  them  in  Africa  p52].  As  this  wind  advances  in  its 
course  across  America,  it  meets  with  immense  plains  covered  with  impe 
netrable  forests,  or  occupied  by  large  rivers,  marshes,  and  stagnating 
waters,  where  it  can  recover  no  considerable  degree  of  heat.  At  length 
it  arrives  at  the  Andes,  which  run  from  north  to  south  through  the  whole 
continent.  In  passing  over  their  elevated  and  frozen  summits,  it  is  so 
thoroughly  cooled,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  countries  beyond  them 
hardly  feel  the  ardour  to  which  they  seem  exposed  by  their  situation.§ 
In  the  other  provinces  of  America,  from  Tierra  Ferme  westward  to  the 
Mexican  empire,  the  heat  of  the  climate  is  tempered,  in  some  places,  by 
the  elevation  of  the  land  above  the  sea,  in  others,  by  their  extraordinary 

*  Voyage  de  TJIIoa,  torn.  i.  p.  453.    Anson's  Voyage,  p.  184.  t  Anson'a  Voyage,  p.  74 ;  and 

Voyage  de  Quiros,  chez.  Hist.  Gen.  des  Voyages,  torn.  xiv.  p.  83.  Richard  Hist.  Naturj  de  1'Air, 
ii.  305,  &c.  f  Charlevoix  Hist,  de  Nouv.  Fr.  iii.  165.  Hist.  Generate  des  Voyages,  torn,  xv 

915,  &c.  $  Acosta  Hist.  Novi  Orbis,  lib.  ii.  c.  11.  Biiffon  Hist.  Naturelle,  &c.  torn,  ii.512,  &tf. 
ix.  107,  &c.  Oeborn's  Collect,  of  Voyages,  ii.  p.  868. 


126  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

humidity,  and  in  all,  by  the  enormous  mountains  scattered  over  this  tract* 
The  islands  of  America  in  the  torrid  zone  are  either  small  or  mountainous, 
and  are  fanned  alternately  by  refreshing  sea  and  land  breezes. 

The  causes  of  the  extraordinary  cold  towards  the  southern  limits  of 
America*  and  in  the  seas  beyond  it,  cannot  be  ascertained  in  a  manner 
equally  satisfying.  It  was  long  supposed  that  a  vast  continent,  distin 
guished  by  the  name  of  Terra  Jlustralis  Incognita,  lay  between  the 
southern  extremity  of  America  and  the  Antarctic  pole.  The  same  prin 
ciples  which  account  for  the  extraordinary  degree  of  cold  in  the  northern 
regions  of  America,  were  employed  in  order  to  explain  that  which  is  felt 
at  Cape  Horn  and  the  adjacent  countries.  The  immense  extent  of  the 
southern  continent,  and  the  large  rivers  which  it  poured  into  the  ocean, 
were  mentioned  and  admitted  by  philosophers  as  causes  sufficient  to  occa 
sion  the  unusual  sensation  of  cold,  and  the  still  more  uncommon  appearances 
of  frozen  seas  in  that  region  of  the  globe.  But  the  imaginary  continent  to 
which  such  influence  was  ascribed,  having  been  searched  for  in  vain,  and 
the  space  which  it  was  supposed  to  occupy  having  been  found  to  be  an  open 
sea,  new  conjectures  must  be  formed  with  respect  to  the  causes  of  a  tem 
perature  of  climate,  so  extremely  different  from  that  which  we  experience 
in  countries  removed  at  the  same  distance  from  the  opposite  pole  [33]. 

After  contemplating  those  permanent  and  characteristic  qualities  of  the 
American  continent,  which  arise  from  the  peculiarity  of  its  situation,  and 
the  disposition  of  its  parts,  the  next  object  that  merits  attention  is  its  condition 
when  first  discovered,  as  far  as  that  depended  upon  the  industry  and  operations 
of  man.  The  effects  of  human  ingenuity  and  labour  are  more  extensive 
and  considerable  than  even  our  own  vanity  is  apt  at  first  to  imagine.  When 
we  survey  the  face  of  the  habitable  globe,  no  small  part  of  that  fertility  and 
beauty  which  we  ascribe  to  the  hand  of  nature,  is  the  work  of  man.  His 
efforts,  when  continued  through  a  succession  of  ages,  change  the  appearance 
and  improve  the  qualities  of  the  earth.  As  a  great  part  of  the  ancient 
continent  has  long  been  occupied  by  nations  far  advanced  in  arts  and 
industry,  our  eye  is  accustomed  to  view  the  earth  in  that  form  which  it 
assumes  when  rendered  fit  to  be  the  residence  of  a  numerous  race  of  men, 
and  to  supply  them  with  nourishment. 

But  in  the  New  World,  the  state  of  mankind  was  ruder,  and  the  aspect 
of  nature  extremely  different.  Throughout  all  its  vast  regions,  there  were 
only  two  monarchies  remarkable  for  extent  of  territory,  or  distinguished 
by  any  progress  in  improvement.  The  rest  of  this  continent  was  possessed 
by  small  independent  tribes,  destitute  of  arts  and  industry,  and  neither 
capable  to  correct  the  defects  nor  desirous  to  meliorate  the  condition  of 
hat  part  of  the  earth  allotted  to  them  for  their  habitation.  Countries 
occupied  by  such  people  were  almost  in  the  same  state  as  if  they  had 
been  without  inhabitants.  Immense  forests  covered  a  great  part  of  the 
uncultivated  earth  ;  and  as  the  hand  of  industry  had  not  taught  the  rivers 
to  run  in  a  proper  channel,  or  drained  off  the  stagnating  water,  many  of 
the  most  fertile  plains  were  overflowed  with  inundations,  or  converted  into 
marshes.  In  the  southern  provinces,  where  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  the 
moisture  of  the  climate,  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  combine  in  calling 
forth  the  most  vigorous  powers  of  vegetation,  the  woods  are  so  choked 
with  its  rank  luxuriance  as  to  be  almost  impervious,  and  the  surface 
of  the  ground  is  hid  from  the  eye  under  a  thick  covering  of  shrubs  and 
herbs  and  weeds.  In  this  state  of  wild  unassisted  nature,  a  great  part  of 
the  large  provinces  in  South  America,  which  extend  from  the  bottom  of 
the  Andes  to  the  sea,  still  remain.  The  European  colonies  have  cleared  and 
cultivated  a  few  spots  along  the  coast ;  but  the  original  race  of  inhabitants, 
as  rude  and  indolent  as  ever,  have  done  nothing  to  open  or  improve  a 
country  possessing  almost  every  advantage  of  situation  and  climate.  As 
we  advance  towards  the  northern  provinces  of  America,  nature  continues 


AMERICA.  127 

to  wear  the  same  uncultivated  aspect,  and,  ki  proportion  as  the  rigour  of 
the  climate  increases,  appears  more  desolate  and  horrid.  There  the  forests, 
though  not  encumbered  with  the  same  exuberance  of  vegetation,  are  of 
immense  extent ;  prodigious  marshes  overspread  the  plains,  and  few  marks 
appear  of  human  activity  in  any  attempt  to  cultivate  or  embellish  the 
earth.  No  wonder  that  the  colonies  sent  from  Europe  were  astonished  at 
their  first  entrance  into  the  New  World.  It  appeared  to  them  waste, 
solitary,  and  uninviting.  When  the  English  began  to  settle  in  America, 
they  termed  the  countries  of  which  they  took  possession,  The  Wilderness. 
Nothing  but  their  eager  expectation  of  finding  mines  of  gold  could  have 
induced  the  Spaniards  to  penetrate  through  the  woods  and  marshes  of 
America,  where  at  every  step  they  observed  the  extreme  difference 
between  the  uncultivated  face  of  nature,  and  that  which  it  acquires  under 
the  forming  hand  of  industry  and  art  [34]. 

The  labour  and  operations  of  man  not  only  improve  and  embellish  the 
earth,  but  render  it  more  wholesome  and  friendly  to  life.  When  any 
region  lies  neglected  and  destitute  of  cultivation,  the  air  stagnates  in  the 
woods  ;  putrid  exhalations  arise  from  the  waters  ;  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
loaded  with  rank  vegetation,  feels  not  the  purifying  influence  of  the  sun 
or  of  the  wind ;  the  malignity  of  the  distempers  natural  to  the  climate 
increases,  and  new  maladies  no  less  noxious  are  engendered.  Accordingly, 
all  the  provinces  of  America,  when  first  discovered,  were  found  to  be 
remarkably  unhealthy.  This  the  Spaniards  experienced  in  every  expedi 
tion  into  the  New  World,  whether  destined  for  conquest  or  settlement. 
Though  by  the  natural  constitution  of  their  bodies,  their  habitual  tem 
perance,  and  the  persevering  vigour  of  their  minds,  they  were  as  much 
formed  as  any  people  in  Europe  for  active  service  in  a  sultry  climate,  they 
felt  severely  the  fatal  and  pernicious  qualities  of  those  uncultivated  regions 
through  which  they  marched,  or  where  they  endeavoured  tc  plant  colonies. 
Great'  numbers  were  cut  off  by  the  unknown  and  violent  diseases  with 
which  they  were  infected.  Such  as  survived  the  destructive  rage  of  those 
maladies,  were  not  exempted  from  the  noxious  influence  of  the  climate. 
They  returned  to  Europe,  according  to  the  description  of  the  early  Spanish 
historians,  feeble,  emaciated,  with  languid  looks,  and  complexions  of  such 
a  sickly  yellow  colour  as  indicated  the  unwholesome  temperature  of  the 
countries  where  they  had  resided.* 

The  uncultivated  state  of  the  New  World  affected  not  only  the  tem 
perature  of  the  air,  but  the  qualities  of  its  productions.  The  principle  of 
life  seems  to  have  been  less  active  and  vigorous  there  than  in  the  ancient 
continent.  Notwithstanding  the  vast  extent  of  America,  and  the  variety 
of  its  climates,  the  different  species  of  animals  peculiar  to  it  are  much 
fewer  in  proportion  than  those  of  the  other  hemisphere.  In  the  islands 
there  were  only  four  kinds  of  quadrupeds  known,  the  largest  of  which 
did  not  exceed  the  size  of  a  rabbit.  On  the  continent,  the  variety  was 
greater ;  and  though  the  individuals  of  each  kind  could  not  fail  of  multi 
plying  exceedingly  when  almost  unmolested  by  men,  who  were  neither  so 
numerous,  nor  so  united  in  society,  as  to  be  formidable  enemies  to  the 
animal  creation,  the  number  of  distinct  species  must  still  be  considered 
as  extremely  small.  Of  two  hundred  different  kinds  of  animals  spread 
over  the^face  of  the  earth,  only  about  one-third  existed  in  America  at  the 
time  of  its  discovery .f  •  Nature  was  not  only  less  prolific  in  the  New 
World,  but  she  appears  likewise  to  have  been  less  vigorous  in  her  pro 
ductions.  The  animals  originally  belonging  to  this  quarter  of  the  globe 
appear  to  be  of  an  inferior  race,  neither  so  robust  nor  so  fierce  as  those  of 
the  other  continent.  America  gives  birth  to  no  creature  of  such  bulk  as 

*  Gomara  Hist.  c.  20. 22.  Oviedo  Hist.  lib.  ii.  c.  13.  lib-  v.  c.  10,  P.  Martyr,  Epist.  545.  Decad. 
p.  176.  t  Buffon  Hist.  Naturelle,  torn.  ix.  p.  86. 


128  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

to  be  compared  with  the  elephant  or  rhinoceros,  or  that  equals  the  lion 
and  tiger  in  strength  and  ferocity  [35].  The  Tapyr  of  Brazil,  the  largest 
quadruped  of  the  ravenous  tribe  in  the  New  World,  is  not  larger  than  a 
calf  of  six  months  old.  The  Puma  and  Jaguar,  its  fiercest  beasts  of 
prey,  which  Europeans  have  inaccurately  denominated  lions  and  tigers, 
possess  neither  the  undaunted  courage  of  the  former,  nor  the  ravenous 
cruelty  of  the  latter.*  They  are  inactive  and  timid,  hardly  formidable 
to  man,  and  often  turn  their  backs  upon  the  least  appearance  of  resistance.! 
The  same  qualities  in  the  climate  of  America  which  stinted  the  growth, 
and  enfeebled  the  spirit,  of  its  native  animals,  have  proved  pernicious  to 
such  as  have  migrated  into  it  voluntarily  from  the  other  continent,  or  have 
been  transported  thither  by  the  Europeans.J  The  bears,  the  wolves,  the 
deer  of  America,  are  not  equal  in  size  to  those  of  the  Old  World.§  Most 
of  the  domestic  animals,  with  which  the  Europeans  have  stored  the  pro 
vinces  wherein  they  settled,  have  degenerated  with  respect  either  to  bulk 
or  quality,  in  a  country  whose  temperature  and  soil  seem  to  be  less  favour 
able  to  the  strength  and  perfection  of  the  animal  creation  [36] . 

The  same  causes  which  checked  the  growth  and  the  vigour  of  the 
more  noble  animals,  were  friendly  to  the  propagation  and  increase  ot 
reptiles  and  insects.  Though  this  is  not  peculiar  to  the  New  World,  and 
those  odious  tribes,  nourished  by  heat,  moisture,  and  corruption,  infest 
every  part  of  the  torrid  zone  ;  they  multiply  faster,  perhaps,  in  America, 
and  grow  to  a  more  monstrous  bulk.  As  this  country  is  on  the  whole  less 
cultivated  and  less  peopled  than  the  other  quarters  of  the  earth,  the  active 
principle  of  life  wastes  its  force  in  productions  of  this  inferior  form.  The 
air  is  often  darkened  with  clouds  of  insects,  and  the  ground  covered  with 
shocking  and  noxious  reptiles.  The  country  around  Porto  Bello  swarms 
with  toads  in  such  multitudes  as  hide  the  surface  of  the  earth.  At  Guaya 
quil,  snakes  and  vipers  are  hardly  less  numerous.  Carthagena  is  infested 
with  numerous  flocks  of  bats,  which  annoy  not  only  the  cattle  but  the 
inhabitants.)!  In  the  islands,  legions  of  ants  have  at  different  times  con 
sumed  every  vegetable  production  [37],  and  left  the  earth  entirely  bare 
as  if  it  had  been  burned  with  fire.  The  damp  forests  and  rank  soil  oi 
the  countries  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco  and  Maragnon  teem  with 
almost  every  offensive  and  poisonous  creature  which  the  power  of  a  sultry 
sun  can  quicken  into  life. IT 

The  birds  of  the  New  World  are  not  distinguished  by  qualities  so  con 
spicuous  and  characteristical  as  those  which  we.'have  observed  in  its  quad 
rupeds.  Birds  are  more  independent  of  man,  and  less  affected  by  the 
changes  which  his  industry  and  labour  make  upon  the  state  of  the  earth. 
They  have  a  greater  propensity  to  migrate  from  one  country  to  another,  and 
can  gratify  this  instinct  of  their  nature  without  difficulty  or  danger.  Hence 
the  number  of  birds  common  to  both  continents  is  much  greater  than  that 
of  quadrupeds  ;  and  even  such  as  are  peculiar  to  America  nearly  resemble 
those  with  which  mankind  were  acquainted  in  similar  regions  of  the  ancient 
hemisphere.  The  American  birds  of  the  torrid  zone,  like  those  of  the 
same  climate  in  Asia  and  Africa,  are  decked  in  plumage  which  dazzles 
the  ey;e  with  the  beauty  of  its  colours ;  but  nature,  satisfied  with  clothing 
them  in  this  gay  dress,  has  denied  most  of  them  that  melody  of  sound  and 
variety  of  notes  which  catch  and  delight  the  ear.  The  birds  of  the  tem 
perate  climates  there,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  our  continent,  are  less 

*  Buffon  Hist.  Natur.  torn.  ix.  p.  87.    Maregravii  Hist.  Nat.  Brazil,  p.  229.  f  Buffon  Hist, 

Natur.  ix.  13.  203.  Acosta  Hist.  lib.  iv.  c.  34.  Pisonia  Hist.  p.  6.  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  iv.  c.  1.  lib. 
x.  c.  13.  \  Churchill,  v.  p.  691.  Ovalle  Relat.  of  Cnili,  Church,  iii.  p.  10.  Somario  de  Oviedo, 
c.  14—22.  Voyage  du  Des  Marchais,  iii.  299.  $  Buffon  Hist.  Natur.  ix.  103.  Kalm's  Travels 
1. 102,  Biet.  voy.  de  France  Equinox,  p.  339.  ||  Voyage  de  Ulloa,  torn.  i.  p.  89.  Ib.  p  147. 

Herrera,  dec.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  3. 19.  IT  Voyage  de  Condamine,  p.  167.  Gumilla,  iii.  120,  &c.  Hist- 
Gener.  dee  Voyages,  xiv.  317.  Dumont  Memoire*  ma  la  Louwiane,  i.  108.  Somario  de  Oviedo,  c. 


AMERICA.  129 

splendid  in  their  appearance  ;  but,  in  compensation  for  that  defect,  they 
have  voices  of  greater  compass,  and  more  melodious.  In  some  districts 
of  America,  the  unwholesome  temperature  of  the  air  seems  to  be  un 
favourable  even  to  this  part  of  the  creation.  The  number  of  birds  is  less 
than  in  other  countries,  and  the  traveller  is  struck  with  the  amazing  solitude 
and  silence  of  its  forests.*  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  America, 
where  the  quadrupeds  are  so  dwarfish  and  dastardly,  should  produce  the 
Condor  which  is  entitled  to  pre-eminence  over  all  the  flying  tribe,  in  bulk, 
in  strength,  and  in  courage. f 

The  soil  in  a  continent  so  extensive  as  America  must,  of  course,  be 
extremely  various.  In  each  of  its  provinces  we  find  some  distinguishing 
peculiarities,  the  description  of  which  belongs  to  those  who  write  their 
particular  history.  In  general  we  may  observe,  that  the  moisture  and 
cold,  which  predominate  so  remarkably  in  all  parts  of  America,  must 
have  great  influence  upon  the  nature  01  its  soil ;  countries  lying;  in  the 
same  parallel  with  those  regions  which  never  feel  the  extreme  rigour  of 
winter  in  the  ancient  continent,  are  frozen  over  in  America  during  a  great 
part  of  the  year.  Chilled  by  this  intense  cold,  the  ground  never  acquires 
warmth  sufficient  to  ripen  the  fruits  which  are  found  in  the  corresponding 
parts  of  the  other  continent.  If  we  wish  to  rear  in  America  the  productions 
which  abound  in  any  particular  district  of  the  ancient  world,  we  must 
advance  several  decrees  nearer  to  the  line  than  in  the  other  hemisphere,  as 
it  requires  such  an  increase  of  heat  to  counterbalance  the  natural  frigidity 
of  the  soil  and  climate  [38].  At  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  several  of  the 
plants  and  fruits  peculiar  to  the  countries  within  the  tropics  are  cultivated 
with  success  ;  whereas,  at  St.  Augustine  in  Florida,  and  Charles  Town  in 
South  Carolina,  though  considerably  nearer  the  line,  they  cannot  be  brought 
to  thrive  with  equal  certainty  [39].  But,  if  allowance  be  made  for  this 
diversity  in  the  degree  of  heat,  the  soil  of  America  is  naturally  as  rich 
and  fertile  as  in  any  part  of  the  earth.  As  the  country  was  thinly  inhabited, 
and  by  a  people  of  little  industry,  who  had  none  of  the  domestic  animals 
which  civilized,  nations  rear  in  such  vast  numbers,  the  earth  was  not  ex 
hausted  by  their  consumption.  The  vegetable  productions,  to  which  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  gave  birth,  often  remained  untouched,  and,  being  suffered 
to  corrupt  on  its  surface,  returned  with  increase  into  its  bosom.J  As  trees 
and  plants  derive  a  great  part  of  their  nourishment  from  air  and  water  ;  if 
they  were  not  destroyed  by  man  and  other  animals,  they  would  render  to 
the  earth  more,  perhaps,  than  they  take  from  it,  and  feed  rather  than  impoverish 
it.  Thus  the  unoccupied  soil  of  America  may  have  gone  on  enriching 
for  many  ages.  The  vast  number  as  well  as  enormous  size  of  the  trees  in 
America,  indicate  the  extraordinary  vigour  of  the  soil  in  its  native  state. 
When  the  Europeans  first  began  to  cultivate  the  New  World,  they  were 
astonished  at  the  luxuriant  power  of  vegetation  in  its  virgin  mould  ;  and  in 
several  places  the  ingenuity  of  the  planter  is  still  employed  in  diminishing 
and  wasting  its  superfluous  fertility,  in  order  to  bring  it  down  to  a  state  fit 
for  profitable  culture§  [40]. 

Having  thus  surveyed  tne  state  of  the  New  World  at  the  time  of  its 
discovery,  and  considered  the  peculiar  features  and  qualities  which  dis 
tinguish  and  characterize  it,  the  next  inquiry  that  merits  attention  is,  How 
was  America  peopled  ?  By  what  course  dia  mankind  migrate  from  the  one 
continent  to  the  other  ?  And  in  what  quarter  is  it  most  probable  that  a 
communication  was  opened  between  them  ? 

We  know,  with  infallible  certainty,  that  all  the  human  race  spring  from 

*  Bouguer  Voy.  au  Perou,  17.  Chanvalon  Voyage  a  la  Martinique,  p.  96.  Warren's  Descript. 
Surinam.  Osborn's  Collect,  ii.  924.  Lettres  Edif.  xxiv.  p.  339.  Charlev.  Hist,  de  la  Nouv.  France, 
jii.  155.  t  Voyage  de  Ulloa,  i.  363.  Voyage  de  Condamine,  175.  Buffon  Hist.  Nat.  xvu  184. 

Voyaae  du  Des  Marchais,  iii.  320.  J  Buffon,  Hist.  Natur.  i.  242.  Kalm,  i.  151.  §  Charlevoix, 
Hirt  de  Nouv.  Fran.  iii.  405.  Voyage  du  Des  Marchais,  iii.  229.  Lery  up.  de  Bry.  part  iii  p.  174. 

VOL.  I.— 17 


130  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  IV, 

the  same  source,  and  that  the  descendants  of  one  man,  under  the  protection, 
as  well  as  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  Heaven,  multiplied  and 
replenished  the  earth.  But  neither  the  annals  nor  the  traditions  of  nations 
reach  back  to  those  remote  ages,  in  which  they  took  possession  of  the 
different  countries  where  they  are  now  settled.  We  cannot  trace  the 
branches  of  this  first  family,  or  point  out  with  certainty  the  time  and 
manner  in  which  they  divided  and  spread  over  the  face  of  the  globe 
Even  among  the  most  enlightened  people,  the  period  of  authentic  history 
is  extremely  short ;  and  every  thing  prior  to  that  is  fabulous  or  obscure. 
It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  the  unlettered  inhabitants  of  America,  who 
have  no  solicitude  about  futurity,  and  little  curiosity  concerning  what  is 
passed,  should  be  altogether  unacquainted  with  their  own  original.  The 
people  on  the  two  opposite  coasts  of  America,  who  occupy  those 
countries  in  America  which  approach  nearest  to  the  ancient  continent  are 
so  remarkably  rude,  that  it  is  altogether  vain  to  search  among  them  for 
such  information  as  might  discover  the  place  from  whence  they  came,  or 
the  ancestors  of  whoirTthey  are  descended.*  Whatever  light  has  been 
thrown  on  this  subject  is  derived  not  from  the  natives  of  America,  but 
from  the  inquisitive  genius  of  their  conquerors. 

When  the  people  of  Europe  unexpectedly  discovered  a  New  World, 
removed  at  a  vast  distance  from  every  part  of  the  ancient  continent  which 
was  then  known,  and  filled  with  inhabitants  whose  appearance  and  manners 
differed  remarkably  from  the  rest  of  the  human  species,  the  question  con 
cerning  their  original  became  naturally  an  object  of  curiosity  and  atten 
tion.  The  theories  and  speculations  of  ingenious  men  with  respect  to 
this  subject,  would  fill  many  volumes ;  but  are  often  so  wild  and  chi 
merical,  that  I  should  offer  an  insult  to  the  understanding  of  my  readers,  if 
I  attempted  either  minutely  to  enumerate  or  to  refute  them.  Some  have 
presumptuously  imagined,  that  the  people  of  America  were  not  the  offspring 
of  the  same  common  parent  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  but  that  they  formed 
a  separate  race  of  men,  distinguishable  by  peculiar  features  in  the  consti 
tution  of  their  bodies,  as  well  as  in  the  characteristic  qualities  of  their 
minds.  Others  contend,  that  they  are  descended  from  some  remnant  of 
the  antediluvian  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  who  survived  the  deluge  which 
swept  away  the  greatest  part  of  the  human  species  in  the  days  of  Noah  ; 
and  preposterously  suppose  rude,  uncivilized  tribes,  scattered  over  an  un 
cultivated  continent,  to  be  the  most  ancient  race  of  people  on  the  earth. 
There  is  hardly  any  nation  from  the  north  to  the  south  pole,  to  which  some 
antiquary,  in  the  extravagance  of  conjecture,  has  not  ascribed  the  honour 
of  peopling  America.  The  Jews,  the  Canaanites,  the  Phoenicians,  the 
Carthaginians,  the  Greeks,  the  Scythians,  in  ancient  times,  are  supposed  to 
have  settled  in  this  western  world.  The  Chinese,  the  Swedes,  the  Nor 
wegians,  the  Welsh,  the  Spaniards,  are  said  to  have  sent  colonies  thither 
in  later  ages,  at  different  periods  and  on  various  occasions.  Zealous  advo 
cates  stand  forth  to  support  the  respective  claims  of  those  people  ;  and 
though  they  rest  upon  no  better  foundation  than  the  casual  resemblance  of 
some  customs,  or  the  supposed  affinity  between  a  few  words  in  their  dif 
ferent  languages,  much  erudition  and  more  zeal  have  been  employed,  to 
little  purpose,  in  defence  of  the  opposite  systems.  Those  regions  of  conjec 
ture  and  controversy  belong  not  to  the  historian.  His  is  a  more  limited 
piovince,  confined  by  what  is  established  by  certain  or  highly  probable 
evidence.  Beyond  this  I  shall  not  venture,  in  offering  a  few  observations 
which  may  contribute  to  throw  some  light  upon  this  curious  and  much 
agitated  question 

1.  There  are  authors  who  have  endeavoured  by  mere  conjecture 
to  account  for  the  peopling  of  America.  Some  have  supposed  that  it  was 

*  Vinegas'B  Hist,  of  California,  i.  60. 


AMERICA.  131 

originally  united  to  the  ancient  continent,  and  disjoined  from  it  by  the 
shock  ol  an  earthquake,  or  the  irruption  of  a  delug-e.  Others  have  ima 
gined,  that  some  vessel  being  forced  from  its  course  by  the  violence  of  a 
westerly  wind,  might  be  driven  by  accident  towards  the  American  coast, 
and  have  given  a  beginning  to  population  in  that  desolate  continent.* 
But  with  respect  to  all  those  systems,  it  is  in  vain  either  to  reason  or  inquire, 
because  it  is  impossible  to  come  to  any  decision.  Such  events  as  they 
suppose  are  barely  possible,  and  may  have  happened.  That  they  ever  did 
happen,  we  have  no  evidence,  either  from  the  clear  testimony  of  history, 
or  from  the  obscure  intimations  of  tradition. 

2.  Nothing  can  be  more  frivolous  or  uncertain  than  the  attempts  to  dis 
cover  the  original  of  the  Americans  merely  by  tracing  the  resemblance 
between  their  manners  and  those  of  any  particular  people  in  the  ancient 
continent.  If  we  suppose  two  tribes,  though  placed  in  the  most  remote 
regions  of  the  globe,  to  live  in  a  climate  nearly  of  the  same  temperature, 
to  he  in  the  same  state  of  society,  and  to  resemble  each  other  in  the 
degree  of  their  improvement,  they  must  feel  the  same  wants,  and  exert 
the  same  endeavours  to  supply  them.  The  same  objects  will  allure,  the 
same  passions  will  animate  them,  and  the  same  ideas  and  sentiments  will 
arise  in  their  minds.  The  character  and  occupations  of  the  hunter  in  Ame 
rica  must  be  little  different  from  those  of  an  Asiatic  who  depends  for  sub 
sistence  on  the  chase.  A  tribe  of  savages  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube  must 
nearly  resemble  one  upon  the  plains  washed  by  the  Mississippi.  Instead 
then  of  presuming  from  this  similarity,  that  there  is  any  affinity  between 
them,  we  should  only  conclude  that  the  disposition  and  manners  of  men  are 
formed  by  their  situation,  and  arise  from  the  state  of  society  in  which  they 
live.  The  moment  that  begins  to  vary,  the  character  of  a  people  must 
change.  In  proportion  as  it  advances  in  improvement,  their  manners  refine, 
their  powers  and  talents  are  called  forth.  In  every  part  of  the  earth,  the 
progress  of  man  hath  been  nearly  the  same  ;  and  we  can  trace  him  in  his 
career  from  the  rude  simplicity  of  savage  life,  until  he  attains  the  industry, 
the  arts,  and  the  elegance  of  polished  society.  There  is  nothing  wonder 
ful,  then,  in  the  similitude  between  the  Americans  and  the  oarbarous 
nations  of  our  continent.  Had  Lafitau,  Garcia,  and  many  other  authors 
attended  to  this,  they  would  not  have  perplexed  a  subject,  which  they 
pretend  to  illustrate,  by  their  fruitless  endeavours  to  establish  an  affinity 
between  various  races  of  people,  in  the  old  and  new  continents,  upon  no 
other  evidence  than  such  a  resemblance  in  their  manners  as  necessarily 
arises  from  the  similarity  of  their  condition.  There  are,  it  is  true,  among 
every  people,  some  customs  which,  as  they  do  not  flow  from  any  natural 
want  or  desire  peculiar  to  their  situation,  may  be  denominated  usages  of 
arbitrary  institution.  If  between  two  nations  settled  in  remote  parts  of  the 
earth,  a  perfect  agreement  with  respect  to  any  of  these  should  be  discovered, 
one  might  be  led  to  suspect  that  they  were  connected  by  some  affinity. 
If,  for  example,  a  nation  were  found  in  America  that  consecrated  the 
seventh  day  to  religious  worship  and  rest,  we  might  justly^  suppose  that  it 
had  derived  its  knowledge  of  this  usage,  which  is  of  arbitrary  institution, 
from  the  Jews.  But,  if  it  were  discovered  that  another  nation  celebrated 
the  first  appearance  of  every  new  moon  with  extraordinary  demonstrations 
of  joy,  we  should  not  be  entitled  to  conclude  that  the  observation  of  this 
monthly  festival  was  borrowed  from  the  Jews,  but  ought  to  consider  it  merely 
as  the  expression  of  that  joy  which  is  natural  to  man  on  the  return  of  the 
planet  which  guides  and  cheers  him  in  the  night.  The  instances  of  customs, 
merely  arbitrary,  common  to  the  inhabitants  of  both  hemispheres,  are, 
indeed,  so  few  and  so  equivocal,  that  no  theory  concerning  the  population  of 
the  New  World  ought  to  be  founded  upon  them. 

*  Parson's  Remains  of  Japhet,  p.  240.  Ancient  Univers.  Hist  vol,  xx.  p.  164*  P.  Feyjoo  Tea- 
tro  Critico,  tom.  v.  p.  304,  &c.  Acosta  Hist.  Moral.  Novi  Orbis,  lib.  i.  16.  c.  19. 


13?  HISTORYOF  [BOOK  IV, 

3.  The  theories  which  have  been  formed  with  respect  to  the  original  of 
the  Americans,  from  observation  of  their  religious  rites  and  practices,  are 
no  less  fanciful  and  destitute  of  solid  foundation.    When  the  religious 
opinions  of  any  people  are  neither  the  result  of  rational  inquiry,  nor  derived 
from  the  instructions  of  revelation,  they  must  needs  be  wild  and  extravagant. 
Barbarous  nations  are  incapable  of  the  former,  and  have  not  been  blessed 
with  the  advantages  arising  from  the  latter.     Still,  however,  the  human 
mind,  even  where  its  operations  appear  most  wild  and  capricious,  holds  a 
course  so  regular,  that  in  every  age  and  country  the  dominion  of  particular 
passions  will  be  attended  with  similar  effects.     The  savage  of  Europe  OF 
America,  when  filled  with  superstitious  dread  of  invisible  beings,  or  with 
inquisitive  solicitude  to  penetrate  into  the  events  of  futurity,  trembles  alike 
with  fear,  or  glows  with  impatience.     He  has  recourse  to  rites  and  practices 
of  the  same  kind,  in  order  to  avert  the  vengeance  which  he  supposes  to  be 
impending  over  him,  or  to  divine  the  secret  which  is  the  object  of  his 
curiosity.    Accordingly,  the  ritual  of  superstition  in  one  continent  seems, 
in  many  particulars,  to  be  a  transcript  of  that  established  in  the  other,  and 
both  authorize  similar  institutions,  sometimes  so  frivolous  as  to  excite  pity, 
sometimes  so  bloody  and  barbarous  as  to  create  horror.     But  without 
supposing  any  consanguinity  between  such  distant  nations,  or  imagining 
that  their  religious  ceremonies  were  conveyed  by  tradition  from  the  one  to  the 
other,  we  may  ascribe  this  uniformity,  which  in  many  instances  seems  very 
amazing,  to  the  natural  operation  of  superstition  and  enthusiasm  upon  the 
weakness  of  the  human  mind. 

4.  We  may  lay  it  down  as  a  certain  principle  in  this  inquiry,  that 
America  was  not  peopled  by  any  nation  of  the  ancient  continent  which  had 
made  considerable  progress  in  civilization.     The  inhabitants  of  the  New 
World  were  in  a  state  of  society  so  extremely  rude  as  to  be  unacquainted 
with  those  arts  which  are  the  first  essays  of  human  ingenuity  in  its  advance 
towards  improvement.     Even  the  most  cultivated  nations  of  America  were 
strangers  to  many  of  those  simple  inventions  which  were  almost  coeval  with 
society  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  were  known  in  the  earliest  periods 
of  civil  life  with  which  we   have  any  acquaintance.    From  this  it  is 
manifest,  that  the  tribes  which  originally  migrated  to  America,  came  off 
from  nations  which  must  have  been  no  less  barbarous  than  their  posterity, 
at  the  time  when  they  were  first  discovered  by  the  Europeans.    For, 
although  the  elegant  or  refined  arts  may  decline  or  perish,  amidst  the  violent 
shocks  of  those  revolutions  and  disasters  to  which  nations  are  exposed,  the 
necessary  arts  of  life,  when  once  they  have  been  introduced  among  any 
people,  are  never  lost.    None  of  the  vicissitudes  in  human  affairs  affect 
these,  and  they  continue  to  be  practised  as  long  as  the  race  of  men  exists. 
If  ever  the  use  of  iron  had  been  known  to  the  savages  of  America,  or  to 
their  progenitors  ;  if  ever  they  had  employed  a  plough,  a  loom,  or  a  forge, 
the  utility  of  those  inventions  would  have  preserved  them,  and  it  is  impos 
sible  that  they  should  have  been  abandoned  or  forgotten.    We  may  conclude, 
then,  that  the  Americans  sprung  from  some  people,  who  were  themselves 
in  sudi  an  early  and  unimproved  stage  of  society,  as  to  be  unacquainted 
with  all  those  necessary  arts,  which  continued  to  be  unknown  among  their 
posterity  when  first  visited  by  the  Spaniards. 

5.  It  appears  no  less  evident  that  America  was  not  peopled  by  any 
colony  from  the  more  southern  nations  of  the  ancient  continent.    None  of 
the  rude  tribes  settled  in  that  part  of  our  hemisphere  can  be  supposed  to 
have  visited  a  country  so  remote.     They  possessed  neither  enterprise,  nor 
ingenuity,  nor  power  that  could  prompt  them  to  undertake,  or  enable  them 
to  perform  such  a  distant  voyage.     That  the  more  civilized  nations  in  Asia 
or  Africa  are  not  the  progenitors  of  the  Arnericans,  is  manifest  not  only  from 
the  observations  which  I  have  already  made  concerning  their  ignorance  of 
the  most  simple  and  necessary  arts,  but  from  an  additional  circumstance. 


AMERICA.  133 

Whenever  any  people  have  experienced  the  advantages  which  men  enjoy 
by  their  dominion  over  the  inferior  animals,  they  can  neither  subsist  without 
the  nourishment  which  these  afford,  nor  carry  on  any  considerable  operation 
independent  of  their  ministry  and  labour.  Accordingly,  the  first  care  of 
the  Spaniards,  when  they  settled  in  America,  was  to  stock  it  with  all  the 
domestic  animals  of  Europe  ;  and  if,  prior  to  them,  the  Tyrians,  the 
Carthaginians,  the  Chinese,  or  any  other  polished  people,  had  taken 
possession  of  that  continent,  we  should  have  found  there  the  animals  peculiar 
to  those  regions  of  the  globe  where  they  were  originally  seated.  In  all 
America,  however,  there  is  not  one  animal,  tame  or  wild,  which  properly 
belongs  to  the  warm  or  even  the  more  temperate  countries  of  the  ancient 
continent.  The  camel,  the  dromedary,  the  horse,  the  cow,  were  as  much 
unknown  in  America  as  the  elephant  or  the  lion.  •  From  which  it  is  obvious, 
that  the  people  who  first  settled  in  the  western  world  did  riot  issue  from 
the  countries  where  those  animals  abound,  and  where  men,  from  having 
been  long  accustomed  to  their  aid,  would  naturally  consider  it  not  only  as 
beneficial,  but  as  indispensably  necessary  to  the  improvement,  and  even  the 
preservation  of  civil  society. 

6.  From  considering  the  animals  with  which  America  is  stored,  we  may 
conclude  that  the  nearest  point  of  contact  between  the  old  and  new  con 
tinents  is   towards   the  northern  extremity  of  both,  and   that   there  the 
communication  was  opened,  and  the  intercourse  carried  on  between  them. 
All  the  extensive  countries  in  America  which  lie  within  the  tropics,  or 
approach  near  to  them,  are  filled  with  indigenous  animals  of  various  kinds, 
entirely  different  from  those  in  the  corresponding  regions  of  the  ancient 
continent.     But  the  northern  provinces  of  the  New  World  abound  with 
many  of  the  wild  animals  which  are  common  in  such  parts  of  our  hemisphere 
as  lie  in  a  similar  situation.     The  bear,  the  wolf,  the  fox,  the  hare,  the 
deer,  the  roebuck,  the  elk,  and  several  other  species,  frequent  the  forests  of 
North  America,  no  less  than  those  in  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia.*     It 
seems  to  be  evident,  then,  that  the  two  continents  approach  each  other  in 
this  quarter,  and  are  either  united,  or  so  nearly  adjacent  that  these  animals 
might  pass  from  the  one  to  the  other. 

7.  The  actual  vicinity  of  the  two  continents  is  so  clearly  established  by 
modern  discoveries,  that  the  chief  difficulty  with  respect  to  the  peopling 
of  America  is  removed.     While  those  immense  regions  which  stretch 
eastward  from  the  river  Oby  to  the  sea  of  Kamchatka  were  unknown  or 
imperfectly  explored,  the  north-east  extremities  of  our  hemisphere  were 
supposed  to  be  so  far  distant  from  any  part  of  the  New  World,  that  it  was 
not  easy  to  conceive  how  any  communication  should  have  been  carried  on 
between  them.     But  the  Russians,  having  subjected  the  western  part  of 
Siberia  to  their  empire,  gradually  extended  their  knowledge  of  that  vast 
country,  by  advancing  towards  the  east  into  unknown  provinces.     These 
were  discovered  by  hunters  in  their  excursions  after  game,  or  by  soldiers 
employed  in  levying  the  taxes ;  and  the  court  of  Moscow  estimated  the 
importance  of  those  countries,  only  by  the  small  addition  which  they  made  to 
its  revenue.     At  length  Peter  the  Great  ascended  the  Russian  throne.    His 
enlightened,  comprehensive  mind,  intent  upon  every  circumstance  that  could 
aggrandize  his  empire,  or  render  his  reign  illustrious,  discerned  consequences 
ot  those  discoveries  which  had  escaped  the  observation  of  his  ignorant 
predecessors.     He  perceived  that  in  proportion  as  the  regions  of  AsU 
extended  towards  the  east,  they  must  approach  nearer  to  America ; ,  that  the 
communication  between  the  two  continents,  which  had  long  been  searched 
for  in  vain,  would  probably  be  found  in  this  quarter  ;  and  that  by  opening 
it,  some  part  of  the  wealth  and  commerce  of  the  western  world  might  be 
made  to  flow  into  his  dominions  by  a  new  channel.    Such  an  object  suited 

*  Buffon,  Hist.  Nat.  ix.  p.  97,  &c. 


134  HISTORY  OF  {BOOK  IV 

a  genius  that  delighted  in  grand  schemes.  Peter  drew  up  instructions  with 
his  own  hand  for  prosecuting  this  design,  and  gave  orders  for  carrying  it 
into  execution.* 

His  successors  adopted  his  ideas  and  pursued  his  plan.  The  officers 
whom  the  Russian  court  employed  in  this  service  had  to  struggle  with  so 
many  difficulties,  that .  their  progress  was  extremely  slow.  Encouraged 
by  some  faint  traditions  among  the  people  of  Siberia,  concerning  a  successful 
voyage  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-eight,  round  the 
north-east  promontory  of  Asia,  they  attempted  to  follow  the  same  course. 
Vessels  were  fitted  out,  with  this  view,  at  different  times,  from  the  rivers 
Lena  and  Kolyma  ;  but  in  a  frozen  ocean,  which  nature  seems  not  to  have 
destined  for  navigation,  they  were  exposed  to  many  disasters,  without  being 
able  to  accomplish  their  purpose.  No  vessel  fitted  out  by  the  Russian 
court  ever  doubled  this  formidable  Cape  [41]  ;  we  are  indebted  for  what 
is  known  of  those  extreme  regions  of  Asia,  to  the  discoveries  made  in 
excursions  by  land.  In  all  those  provinces  an  opinion  prevails,  that  there 
are  countries  of  great  extent  and  fertility  which  lie  at  no  considerable 
distance  from  their  own  coasts.  These  the  Russians  imagined  to  be  part 
of  America ;  and  several  circumstances  concurred  not  only  in  confirming 
them  in  this  belief,  but  in  persuading  them  that  some  portion  of  that  con 
tinent  could  not  be  very  remote.  Trees  of  various  kinds  unknown  in  those 
naked  regions  of  Asia,  are  driven  upon  the  coast  by  an  easterly  wind.  By 
the  same  wind,  floating  ice  is  brought  thither  in  a  few  days  ;  flights  of  birds 
arrive  annually  from  the  same  quarter ;  and  a  tradition  obtains  among  the 
inhabitants,  of  an  intercourse  formerly  carried  on  with  some  countries 
situated  to  the  east. 

After  weighing  all  these  particulars,  and  comparing  the  position  of  the 
countries  in  Asia  which  had  been  discovered,  with  such  parts  in  the  north 
west  of  America  as  were  already  known,  the  Russian  court  formed  a 
plan,  which  would  have  hardly  occurred  to  a  nation  less  accustomed  to 
engage  in  arduous  undertakings,  and  to  contend  with  great  difficulties. 
Orders  were  issued  to  build  two  vessels  at  the  small  village  of  Ochotz, 
situated  on  the  sea  of  Kamchatka,  to  sail  on  a  voyage  of  discovery.  Though 
that  dreary  uncultivated  region  furnished  nothing  that  could  be  of  use  in 
constructing  them,  but  some  larch  trees  :  though  not  only  the  iron,  the 
cordage,  the  sails,  and  all  the  numerous  articles  requisite  for  their  equipment, 
but  the  provisions  for  victualling  them  were  to  be  carried  through  the 
immense  deserts  of  Siberia,  down  rivers  of  difficult  navigation,  and  along 
roads  almost  impassable,  the  mandate  of  the  sovereign,  and  the  perseverance 
of  the  people,  at  last  surmounted  every  obstacle.  Two  vessels  were 
finished,  and,  under  the  command  of  the  Captains  Behring  and  Tschirikow, 
sailed  from  Kamchatka,  in  quest  of  the  New  World  in  a  quarter  where  it 
had  never  been  approached.  They  shaped  their  course  towards  the  east ; 
and  though  a  storm  soon  separated  the  vessels,  which  never  rejoined,  and 
many  disasters  befell  them,  the  expectations  from  the  voyage  were  not 
altogether  frustrated.  Each  of  the  commanders  discovered  land,  which  to 
them  appeared  to  be  part  of  the  American  continent ;  and,  according  to 
their  observation,  it  seems  to  be  situated  within  a  few  degrees  of  the 
north-west  coast  of  California.  Each  set  some  of  his  people  ashore  :  but 
in  one  place  the  inliabitants  fled  as  the  Russians  approached ;  in  another, 
they  carried  off  those  who  landed,  and  destroyed  their  boats.  The  violence 
of  the  weather,  and  the  distress  of  their  crews,  obliged  both  captains  to 
quit  this  inhospitable  coast.  In  their  return  they  touched  at  several  islands 
which  stretch  in  a  chain  from  east  to  west  between  the  country  which  they 
had  discovered  and  the  coast  of  Asia.  They  had  some  intercourse  with 
the  natives,  who  seemed  to  them  to  resemble  the  North  Americans.  They 

*  Muller,  Voyages  ct  D&ouvertes  par  les  Husses,  torn.  i.  p.  4,  5. 141. 


AMERICA.  135 

presented  to  the  Russians  the  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace,  which  is  a  symbol 
of  friendship  universal  among  the  people  of  North  America,  and  a  usage  of 
arbitrary  institution  peculiar  to  them. 

Though  the  islands  of  this  New  Archipelago  have  been  frequented  since 
that  time  by  the  Russian  hunters,  the  court  of  St.  Petersburgh,  during  a 
period  of  more  than  forty  years,  seems  to  have  relinquished  every  thought 
of  prosecuting  discoveries  in  that  quarter.  But  in  the  year  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight  it  was  unexpectedly  resumed.  The 
sovereign  who  had  been  lately  seated  on  the  throne  of  Peter  the  Great, 
possessed  the  genius  and  talents  of  her  illustrious  predecessor.  During  the 
operations  of  the  most  arduous  and  extensive  war  in  which  the  Russian 
empire  was  ever  engaged,  she  formed  schemes  and  executed  undertakings, 
to  which  more  limited  abilities  would  have  been  incapable  of  attending 
but  amidst  the  leisure  of  pacific  times.  A  new  voyage  of  discovery  irom 
the  eastern  extremity  of  Asia  was  planned,  and  Captain  Krenitzm  and 
Lieutenant  Levashett  were  appointed  to  command  the  two  vessels  fitted  out 
for  that  purpose.  In  their  voyage  outward  they  held  nearly  the  same  course 
with  the  former  navigators,  they  touched  at  the  same  islands,  observed 
their  situation  and  productions  more  carefully,  and  discovered  several  new 
islands  with  which  Behring  and  Tschirikow  had  not  fallen  in.  Though 
they  did  not  proceed  so  far  to  the  east  as  to  revisit  the  country  which 
Behring  and  Tschirikow  supposed  to  be  part  of  the  American  continent, 
yet,  by  returning  in  a  course  considerably  to  the  north  of  theirs,  they  cor 
rected  some  capital  mistakes  into  which  their  predecessors  had  fallen,  and 
have  contributed  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  future  navigators  in  those 
seas  [42]. 

Thus  the  possibility  of  a  communication  between  the  continents  in  this 
quarter  rests  no  longer  upon  mere  conjecture,  but  is  established  by  undoubted 
evidence.*  Some  tribe,  or  some  families  of  wandering  Tartars,  from  the 
restless  spirit  peculiar  to  their  race,  might  migrate  to  the  nearest  islands, 
and,  rude  as  their  knowledge  of  navigation  Was,  might,  by  passing  from  one 
to  the  other,  reach  at  length  the  coast  of  America,  and  give  a  beginning  to 
population  in  that  continent.  The  distance  between  the  Marian  or  Ladrone 
islands  and  the  nearest  land  in  Asia,  is  greater  than  that  between  the  part  of 
America  which  the  Russians  discovered,  and  the  coast  of  Kamchatka ;  and 
yet  the  inhabitants  of  those  islands  are  manifestly  of  Asiatic  extract.  If, 
notwithstanding  their  remote  situation,  we  admit  that  the  Marian  islands 
were  peopled  from  our  continent,  distance  alone  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
hesitate  about  admitting  that  the  Americans  may  derive  their  original  from 
the  same  source.  It  is  probable  that  future  navigators  in  those  seas,  by 
steering  further  to  the  north,  may  find  that  the  continent  of  America  ap 
proaches  still  nearer  to  Asia.  According  to  the  information  of  the  barbarous 
people  who  inhabit  the  country  about  the  north-east  promontory  of  Asia, 
there  lies,  off  the  coast,  a  small  island,  to  which  they  sail  in  less  than  a  day. 
From  that  they  can  descry  a  large  continent  which,  according  to  their 
description,  is  covered  with  forests,  and  possessed  by  people  whose  language 
they  do  not  understand.!  By  them  they  are  supplied  with  the  skins  of 
martens,  an  animal  unknown  in  the  northern  parts  of  Siberia,  and  which  is 
never  found  but  in  countries  abounding  with  trees.  If  we  could  rely  on 
this  account,  we  might  conclude  that  the  American  continent  is  separated 
from  ours  only  by  a  narrow  strait,  and  all  the  difficulties  with  respect  to  the 
communication  between  them  would  vanish.  What  could  be  offered  only 
as  a  conjecture,  when  this  History  was  first  published,  is  now  known  to  be 
certain.  The  near  approach  of  the  two  continents  to  each  other  has  been 
discovered  and  traced  in  a  voyage  undertaken  upon  principles  so  pure  and 
so  liberal,  and  conducted  with  so  much  professional  skill,  as  reflect  lustre 

*  Muller's  Voyages,  torn,  i.  p.  248,  &c,  237,  276.        t  Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  166. 


136  HISTORY   OF  [Booic  IV. 

upon  the  reign  of  the  sovereign  by  whom  it  was  planned,  and  do  honour  to 
the  officers  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  it  [43]. 

It  is  likewise  evident  from  recent  discoveries,  that  an  intercourse  between 
our  continent  and  America  might  be  carried  on  with  no  less  facility  from 
the  north-west  extremities  of  Europe.  As  early  as  the  ninth  century  [A.  D. 
830],  the  Norwegians  discovered  Greenland,  and  planted  colonies  there. 
The  communication  with  that  country,  after  a  long  interruption,  was  renewed 
in  the  last  century.  Some  Lutheran  and  Moravian  missionaries,  prompted 
by  zeal  for  propagating  the  Christian  faith,  have  ventured  to  settle  in  this 
frozen  and  uncultivated  region.*  To  them  we  are  indebted  for  much 
curious  information  with  respect  to  its  nature  and  inhabitants.  We  learn 
that  the  north-west  coast  of  Greenland  is  separated  from  America  by  a  very 
narrow  strait ;  that,  at  the  bottom  of  the  bay  into  which  this  strait  conducts, 
it  is  highly  probable  that  they  are  united  ;|  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  two 
countries  have  some  intercourse  with  one  another ;  that  the  Esquimaux  of 
America  perfectly  resemble  the  Greenlanders  in  their  aspect,  dress,  and 
mode  of  living ;  that  some  sailors  who  had  acquired  the  knowledge  of  a 
few  words  in  the  Greenlandish  language,  reported  that  these  were  under 
stood  by  the  Esquimaux;  that,  at  length  [A.  D.  1764],  a  Moravian  mis 
sionary,  well  acquainted  with  the  language  of  Greenland,  having  visited 
the  country  of  the  Esquimaux,  found,  to  his  astonishment,  that  they  spoke 
the  same  language  with  the  Greenlanders ;  that  they  were  in  every  respect 
the  same  people,  and  he  was  accordingly  received  and  entertained  by 
them  as  a  friend  and  a  brother.  J 

By  these  decisive  facts,  not  only  the  consanguinity  of  the  Esquimaux  and 
Greenlanders  is  established,  but  the  possibility  of  peopling  America  from 
the  north  of  Europe  is  demonstrated.  If  the  Norwegians,  in  a  barbarous 
age,  when  science  had  hot  begun  to  dawn  in  the  north  of  Europe,  possessed 
such  naval  skill  as  to  open  a  communication  with  Greenland,  their  ancestors, 
as  much  addicted  to  roving  by  sea,  as  the  Tartars  are  to  wandering  by 
land,  might,  at  some  more  remote  period,  accomplish  the  same  voyage, 
and  settle  a  colony  there,  whose  descendants  might,  in  progress  of  time, 
migrate  into  America.  But  if,  instead  of  venturing  to  sail  directly  from 
their  own  coast  to  Greenland,  we  suppose  that  the  Norwegians  held  a  more 
'Cautious  course,  and  advanced  from  Shetland  to  the  Feroe  islands,  and  from 
them  to  Iceland,  in  all  which  they  had  planted  colonies ;  their  progress 
may  have  been  so  gradual,  that  this  navigation  cannot  be  considered  as 
either  longer  or  more  hazardous  than  those  voyages  which  that  hardy  and 
enterprising  race  of  men  is  known  to  have  performed  in  every  age. 

8.  Though  it  be  possible  that  America  may  have  received  its  first  inhabit 
ants  from  our  continent,  either  by  the  north-west  of  Europe  or  the  north 
east  of  Asia,  there  seems  to  be  good  reason  for  supposing  that  the  progenitors 
of  all  the  American  nations  from  Cape  Horn  to  the  southern  confines  of 
Labrador,  migrated  from  the  latter  rather  than  the  former.  The  Esquimaux 
are  the  only  people  in  America,  who  in  their  aspect  or  character  bear  any 
resemblance  to  the  northern  Europeans.  They  are  manifestly  a  race  of 
men  distinct  from  all  the  nations  of  the  American  continent,  in  language, 
in  disposition,  and  in  habits  of  life.  Their  original,  then,  may  warrantably 
be  traced  up  to  that  source  which  I  have  pointed  out.  But  among  all  the 
other  inhabitants  of  America,  there  is  such  a  striking  similitude  in  the  form 
of  their  bodies  and  the  qualities  of  their  minds,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
diversities  occasioned  by  the  influences  of  climate,  or  unequal  progress  in 
improvement,  we  must  pronounce  them  to  be  descended  from  one  source. 
There  may  be  a  variety  in  the  shades,  but  we  can  every  where  trace  the 
same  original  colour.  Each  tribe  has  something  peculiar  which  distinguishes 

*  Crantz'  Hist,  of  Greeol.  i.  242.  244.  Prevot,  Hist.  G£n.  des  Voyages,  torn.  xv.  152,  note  (06). 
t  Eggede,  p.  2,  3.  J  Crantz'  Hist,  of  Greenl.  p.  261,  262, 


AMERICA.  137 

it,  but  in  all  of  them  we  discern  certain  features  common  to  the  whole  race. 
Jt  is  remarkable,  that  in  every  peculiarity,  whether  in  their  persons  or 
dispositions,  which  characterize  the  Americans,  they  have  some  resemblance 
to  the  rude  tribes  scattered  over  the  north-east  of  Asia,  but  almost  none  to 
the  nations  settled  in  the  northern  extremities  of  Europe.  We  may,  there 
fore,  rercjr  them  to  the  former  origin,  and  conclude  that  their  Asiatic 
progenitors,  having  settled  in  those  parts  of  America  where  the  Russians 
have  discovered  the  proximity  of  the  two  continents,  spread  gradually  over 
its  various  regions.  This  account  of  the  progress  of  population  in  America 
coincides  with  the  traditions  of  the  Mexicans  concerning  their  own  origin, 
which,  imperfect  as  they  are,  were  preserved  with  more  accuracy,  and 
merit  greater  credit,  than  those  of  any  people  in  the  New  World.  Ac 
cording  to  them,  their  ancestors  came  from  a  remote  country  situated  to  the 
north-west  of  Mexico.  The  Mexicans  point  put  their  various  stations  as 
they  advanced  from  this  into  the  interior  provinces,  and  it  is  precisely  (he 
same  route  which  they  must  have  held  if  they  had  been  emigrants  from 
Asia.  The  Mexicans,  in  describing  the  appearance  of  their  progenitors, 
their  manners  and  habits  of  life  at  that  period,  exactly  delineate  those  of 
the  rude  Tartars  from  whom  I  suppose  them  to  have  sprung.* 

Thus  have  I  finished  a  Disquisition  which  has  been  deemed  of  so  much 
importance  that  it  would  have  been  improper  to  omit  it  in  writing  the  his 
tory;  of  America.  I  have  ventured  to  inquire,  but  without  presuming  to 
decide.  Satisfied  with  offering  conjectures,  1  pretend  not  to  establish  any 
system.  When  an  investigation  is,  from  its  nature,  so  intricate  and  obscure, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  conclusions  which  are  certain,  there  ma} 
be  some  merit  in  pointing  out  such  as  are  probable.f 

The  condition  and  character  of  the  American  nations,  at  the  time  when 
they  became  known  to  the  Europeans,  deserve  more  attentive  considera 
tion  than  the  inquiry  concerning  their  original.  The  latter  is  merely  an 
object  of  curiosity  ;  the  former  is  one  of  the  most  important  as  well  as 
instructive  researches  which  can  occupy  the  philosopher  or  historian.  In 
order  to  complete  the  history  of  the  human  mind,  and  attain  to  a  perfect 
knowledge  01  its  nature  and  operations,  we  must  contemplate  man  in  all 
those  various  situations  wherein  he  has  been  placed.  We  must  follow  him 
in  his  progress  through  the  different  stages  of  society,  as  he  gradually  ad 
vances  from  the  infant  state  of  civil  life  towards  its  maturity  and  decline. 
We  must  observe,  at  each  period,  how  the  faculties  of  his  understanding 
unfold  ;  we  must  attend  to  the  efforts  of  his  active  powers,  watch  the  va 
rious  movements  of  desire  and  affection,  as  they  rise  in  his  breast,  and 
mark  whither  they  tend,  and  with  what  ardour  they  are  exerted.  The 
philosophers  and  historians  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  our  guides  in 
this  as  well  as  every  other  disquisition,  had  only  a  limited  view  of  this 
subject,  as  they  had  hardly  any  opportunity  of  surveying  man  in  his  rudest 
and  most  early  state.  In  all  those  regions  of  the  earth  with  which  they 
were  well  acquainted,  civil  society  had  made  considerable  advances,  and 
nations  had  finished  a  good  part  of  their  career  before  they  began  to  ob 
serve  them.  The  Scythians  and  Germans,  the  rudest  people  of  whom 
any  ancient  author  has  transmitted  to  us  an  authentic  account,  possessed 
flocks  and  herds,  had  acquired  property  of  various  kinds,  and,  when  com 
pared  with  mankind  in  their  primitive  state,  may  be  reckoned  to  have 
attained  to  a  great  degree  of  civilization. 

But  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  enlarged  the  sphere  of  contem 
plation,  and  presented  nations  to  our  view,  in  stages  of  their  progress, 
much  less  advanced  than  those  wherein  they  have  been  observed  in  our 
continent.  In  America,  man  appears  under  the  rudest  form  in  which  we 

*  Acosta,  Hist.  Nat.  et  Mor.  lib.  vii.  c.  2,  Sec.  Garcia,  Origen  de  los  Indies,  lib.  v.  c.  3.  Tor- 
quemada  Monar  Ind.  lib.  i.  c.  2.  &c.  Boturini  Benaduci  Idea  de  una  Hist,  de  la  Amer.  Septentr. 
sect.  xvii.  p.  127.  t  Memolros  dur  la  Louisiana,  par  Burnout,  torn.  1.  p.  119. 

VOL.  I.— 18  8 


138  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  IV. 

can  conceive  him  to  subsist.  We  behold  communities  just  beginning  to 
unite,  and  may  examine  the  sentiments  and  actions  of  human  beings  in 
the  infancy  of  social  life,  while  they  feel  but  imperfectly  the  force  of  it's 
ties,  and  have  scarcely  relinquished  their  native  liberty.  That  state  of 
primeval  simplicity,  which  was  known  in  our  continent  only  by  the  fanci 
ful  description  of  poets,  really  existed  in  the  other.  The  greater  part  of 
its  inhabitants  were  strangers  to  industry  and  labour,  ignorant  of  arts,  im 
perfectly  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  property,  and  enjoying  almost 
without  restriction  or  control  the  blessings  which  flowed  spontaneously 
from  the  bounty  of  nature.  There  were  only  two  nations  in  this  vast 
continent  which  had  emerged  from  this  rude  state,  and  had  made  any 
considerable  progress  in  acquiring  the  ideas,  and  adopting  the  institutions, 
which  belong  to  polished  societies  Their  government  and  manners  will 
fall  naturally  under  our  review  in  relating  the  discovery  and  conquest  of 
the  Mexican  and  Peruvian  empires  ;  and  we  shall  have  there  an  oppor 
tunity  of  contemplating  the  Americans  in  the  state  of  highest  improve 
ment  to  which  they  ever  attained. 

At  present,  our  attention  and  researches  shall  be  turned  to  the  small  in 
dependent  tribes  which  occupied  every  other  part  of  America.  Among 
these,  though  with  some  diversity  in  their  character,  their  manners,  and 
institutions,  the  state  of  society  was  nearly  similar,  and  so  extremely  rude, 
that  the  denomination  of  savage  may  be  applied  to  them  all.  In  a  gene 
ral  history  of  America,  it  would  be  highly  improper  to  describe  the  con 
dition  of  each  petty  community,  or  to  investigate  every  minute  circum 
stance  which  contributes  to  form  the  character  of  its  members.  Such  an 
inquiry  would  lead  to  details  of  immeasurable  and  tiresome  extent.  The 
qualities  belonging  to  the  people  of  all  the  different  tribes  have  such  a 
near  resemblance,  that  they  may  be  painted  with  the  same  features. 
Where  any  circumstances  seem  to  constitute  a  diversity  in  their  charac 
ter  and  manners  worthy  of  attention,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  point  these 
out  as  they  occur,  and  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  such  peculiarities. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  procure  satisfying  and  authentic  information 
concerning  nations  while  they  remain  uncivilized.  To  discover  their  true 
character  under  this  rude  form,  and  to  select  the  features  by  which  they 
are  distinguished,  requires  an  observer  possessed  of  no  less  impartiality 
than  discernment.  For,  in  every  stage  of  society,  the  faculties,  the  sen 
timents,  and  desires  of  men  are  so  accommodated  to  their  own  state,  that 
they  become  standards  of  excellence  to  themselves,  they  affix  the  idea  of 
perfection  and  happiness  to  those  attainments  which  resemble  their  own, 
and,  wherever  the  objects  and  enjoyments  to  which  they  have  been  ac 
custorned  are  wanting,  confidently  pronounce  a  people  to  be  barbarous 
and  miserable.  Hence  the  mutual  contempt  with  which  the  members  of 
communities,  unequal  in  their  degrees  of  improvement,  regard  ea'ch  other. 
Polished  nations,  conscious  of  the  advantages  which  they  derive  from  their 
knowledge  alid  arts,  are  apt  to  view  rude  nations  with  peculiar  scorn,  and, 
in  the  pride  of  superiority,  will  hardly  allow  either  their  occupations,  their 
feelings,  or  their  pleasures,  to  be  worthy  of  men.  It  has  seldom  been  the 
lot  of  communities,  in  their  early  and  unpolished  state,  to  fall  under  the  ob 
servation  of  persons  endowed  with  force  of  mind  superior  to  vulgar  preju 
dices,  and  capable  of  contemplating  man,  under  whatever  aspect  he  appears, 
with  a  candid  and  discerning  eye. 

The  Spaniards,  who  first  visited  America,  and  who  had  opportunity  ol, 
beholding  its  various  tribes  while  entire  and  .unsubdued,  and  before  any 
change  had  been  made  in  their  ideas  or  manners  by  intercourse  with  a  race 
of  men  much  advanced  beyond  them  in  improvement,  were  far  from  pos 
sessing  the  qualities  requisite  for  observing  the  striking  spectacle  presented 
to  their  view.  Neither  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  nor  the  nation  to  which 
they  belonged,  had  made  such  progress  in  true  science,  as  inspires  enlarged 


AMERICA.  139 

and  liberal  sentiments.  The  conquerors  of  the  New  World  were  mostly 
illiterate  adventurers,  destitute  of  all  the  ideas  which  should  have  directed 
them  in  contemplating  objects  so  extremely  different  from  those  with  which 
they  were  acquainted.  Surrounded  continually  with  danger  or  struggling 
with  hardships,  they  had  little  leisure,  and  less  capacity,  for  any  speculative 
inquiry.  Eager  to  take  possession  of  a  country  of  such  extent  and  opu 
lence,  and  happy  in  finding  it  occupied  by  inhabitants  so  incapable  to  de 
fend  it,  they  hastily  pronounced  them  to  be  a  wretched  order  of  men,  form 
ed  merely  for  servitude  ;  and  were  more  employed  in  computing  the  profits 
of  their  labour,  than  in  inquiring:  into  the  operations  of  their  minds,  or  the 
reasons  of  their  customs  and  institutions.  The  persons  who  penetrated  at 
subsequent  periods  into  the  interior  provinces,  to  which  the  knowledge  and 
devastations  of  the  first  conquerors  did  not  reach,  were  generally  of  a  simi 
lar  character  ;  brave  and  enterprising  in  a  high  decree,  but  so  uninformed 
as  to  be  little  qualified  either  for  observing  or  describing  what  they  beheld. 

Not  only  the  incapacity  but  the  prejudices  of  the  Spaniards  rendered 
their  accounts  of  the  people  of  America  extremely  defective.  _Spon  after 
they  planted  colonies  in  their  new  conquests,  a  difference  in  opinion  arose 
with  respect  to  the  treatment  of  the  natives.  One  party,  solicitous  to  ren 
der  their  servitude  perpetual,  represented  them  as  a  brutish,  obstinate  race, 
incapable  either  of  acquiring  religious  knowledge,  or  of  being  trained  to 
the  functions  of  social  life.  The  other,  full  of  pious  concern  for  their  con 
version,  contended  that,  though  rude  and  ignorant,  they  were  gentle,  affec 
tionate,  docile,  and  by  proper  instructions  and  regulations  might  be  formed 
gradually  into  good  Christians  and  useful  citizens.  This  controversy,  as  I 
have  already  related,  was  carried  on  with  all  the  warmth  which  is  natural, 
when  attention  to  interest  on  the  one  hand,  and  religious  zeal  on  the  other, 
animate  the  disputants.  Most  of  the  laity  espoused  the  former  opinion  ; 
all  the  ecclesiastics  were  advocates  for  the  latter ;  and  we  shall  uniformly 
find  that,  accordingly  as  an  author  belonged  to  either  of  these  parties,  he 
is  apt  to  magnify  the  virtues  or  aggravate  the  defects  of  the  Americans 
far  beyond  truth.  Those  repugnant  accounts  increase  the  difficulty  of 
attaining  a  perfect  knowledge  of  their  character,  and  render  it  necessary 
to  peruse  all  the  descriptions  of  them  by  Spanish  writers  with  distrust, 
and  to  receive  their  information  with  some  grains  of  allowance. 

Almost  two  centuries  elapsed  after  the  discovery  of  America,  before 
the  manners  of  its  inhabitants  attracted,  in  any  considerable  degree,  the 
attention  of  philosophers.  At  length  they  discovered  that  the  contemplation 
of  the  condition  and  characterof  the  Americans,  in  their  original  state,  tend 
ed  to  complete  our  knowledge  of  the  human  species  ;  might  enable  us  to 
fill  up  a  considerable  chasm  in  the  history  of  its  progress  ;  and  lead  to  spe 
culations  no  less  curious  than  important.  They  entered  upon  this  n,ew 
field  of  study  with  great  ardour  ;  but,  instead  of  throwing  light  upon  the 
subject,  they  have  contributed  in  some  degree  to  involve  it  in  additional 
obscurity.  Too  impatient  to  inquire,  they  hastened  to  decide  ;  and  began 
to  erect  systems,  when  they  should  have  been  searching  for  facts  on  which 
to  establish  their  foundations.  Struck  with  the  appearance  of  degene 
racy  in  the  human  species  throughout  the  New  World,  and  astonished  at 
beholding  a  vast  continent  occupied  by  a  naked,  feeble,  and  ignorant  race 
of  men,  some  authors,  of  great  name,  have  maintained  that  this  part  of 
the  globe  had  but  lately  emerged  from  the  sea,  and  become  fit  for  the 
residence  of  man ;  that  every  thing  in  it  bore  marks  of  a  recent  original  ; 
and  that  its  inhabitants,  lately  called  into  existence,  and  still  at  the  begin 
ning  of  their  career,  were  unworthy  to  be  compared  with  the  people  of 
a  more  ancient  and  improved  continent.*  Others  have  imagined,  that, 
under  the  influence  of  an  unkindly  climate,  which  checks  and  enervates* 

*  M.  de  Buffon  Hist.  Nat.  iii.  484,  &c.  ix.  103. 114. 


HO  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

the  principle  of  life,  man  never  attained  in  America  the  perfection  which 
belongs  to  his  nature,  but  remained  an  animal  of  an  inferior  order,  defec 
tive  in  the  vigour  of  his  bodily  frame,  and  destitute  of  sensibility,  as  well 
as  of  force,  in  the  operations  of  his  minji.*  In  opposition  to  both  these, 
other  philosophers  have  supposed  that  man  arrives  at  his  highest  dignity 
and  excellence  long  before  he  reaches  a  state  of  refinement ;  and,  in  the 
rude  simplicity  of  savage  life,  displays  an  elevation  of  sentiment,  an  in 
dependence  of  mind,  and  a  warmth  of  attachment,  for  which  it  is  vain  to 
search  among  the  members  of  polished  societies.!  They  seem  to  consi 
der  that  as  the  most  perfect  state  of  man  which  is  the  least  civilized. 
They  describe  the  manners  of  the  rude  Americans  with  such  rapture,  as 
if  they  proposed  them  for  models  to  the  rest  of  the  species.  These  con 
tradictory  theories  have  been  proposed  with  equal  -confidence,  and  un 
common  powers  of  genius  and  eloquence  have  been  exerted,  in  order  to 
clothe  them  with  an  appearance  of  truth. 

As  all  those  circumstances  concur  in  rendering  an  inquiry  into  the  state 
of  the  rude  nations  in  America  intricate  and  obscure,  it  is  necessary  to  carry 
it  on  with  caution.  When  guided  in  our  researches  by  the  intelligent 
observations  of  the  few  philosophers  who  have  visited  this  part  of  the 
globe,  we  may  venture  to  decide.  When  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the 
superficial  remarks  of  vulgar  travellers,  of  sailors,  traders,  buccaneers,  and 
missionaries,  we  must  often  pause,  and,  comparing  detached  facts,  endeavour 
to  discover  what  they  wanted  sagacity  to  observe.  Without  indulging 
conjecture,  or  betraying  a  propensity  to  either  system,  we  must  study  with 
equal  care  to  avoid  the  extremes  of  extravagant  admiration,  or  of  supercilious 
contempt  for  those  manners  which  we  describe. 

In  order  to  conduct  this  inquiry  with  greater  accuracy,  it  should  be 
rendered  as  simple  as  possible.  Man  existed  as  an  individual  before  he 
became  the  member  of  a  community  ;  and  the  qualities  which  belong  to 
him  under  his  former  capacity  should  be  known,  before  we  proceed  to 
examine  those  which  arise  from  the  latter  relation.  This  is  peculiarly 
necessary  in  investigating  the  manners  of  rude  nations.  Their  political 
union  is  so  incomplete,  their  civil  institutions  and  regulations  so  few,  so 
simple,  and  of  such  slender  authority,  that  men  in  this  state  ought  to  be 
viewed  rather  as  independent  agents,  than  as  members  of  a  regular  society. 
The  character  of  a  savage  results  almost  entirely  from  his  sentiments  or 
feelings  as  an  individual,  and  is  but  little  influenced  by  his  imperfect 
subjection  to  government  and  order.  I  shall  conduct  my  researches 
concerning  the  manners  of  the  Americans  in  this  natural  order,  proceeding: 
gradually  from  what  is  simple  to  what  is  more  complicated. 

I  shall  consider,  I.  The  bodily  constitution  of  the  Americans  in  those 
regions  now  under  review.  II.  The  qualities  of  their  minds.  III.  Their 
domestic  state.  IV.  Their  political  state  and  institutions.  V.  Their 
system  of  war,  and  public  security.  VI.  The  arts  with  which  they  were 
acquainted.  VII.  Their  religious  ideas  and  institutions.  VIII.  Such 
singular  detached  customs  as  are  not  reducible  to  any  of  the  former  heads. 
IX.  I  shall  conclude  with  a  general  review  and  estimate  of  their  virtues 
and  defects. 

I.  The  bodily  constitution  of  the  Americans. — The  human  body  is  less 
affected  by  climate  than  that  of  any  other  animal.  Some  animals  are 
confined  to  a  particular  region  of  the  globe,  and  cannot  exist  beyond  it ; 
others,  though  they  may  be  brought  to  bear  the  injuries  of  a  climate 
foreign  to  them,  cease  to  multiply  when  carried  out  of  that  district  which 
nature  destined  to  be  their  mansion.  Even  such  as  seem  capable  of  being 
naturalized  in  various  climates  feel  the  effect  of  every  remove  from  their 
proper  station,  and  gradually  dwindle  and  degenerate  from  the  vigour  and 

*  M.  de  P.  Recherches  Philoe.  Bur  les  Am£ric.  passim.        t  M.  Rousseau. 


AMERICA.  141 

perfection  peculiar  to  their  species.  Man  is  the  only  living  creature 
whose  frame  is  at  once  so  hardy  and  so  flexible,  that  he  can  spread  over 
the  whole  earth,  become  the  inhabitant  of  every  region,  and  thrive  and 
multiply  under  every  climate.  Subject,  however,  to  the  general  law  of 
Nature,  the  human  body  is  not  entirely  exempt  from  the  operation  of 
climate  ;  and  when  exposed  to  the  extremes  either  of  heat  or  cold,  its 
size  or  vigour  diminishes. 

The  first  appearance  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  filled  the 
discoverers  with  such  astonishment  that  they  were  apt  to  imagine  them  a 
race  of  men  different  from  those  of  the  other  hemisphere.  Their  com 
plexion  is  of  a  reddish  brown,  nearly  resembling  the  colour  of  copper.* 
The  hair  of  their  heads  is  always  black,  long,  coarse,  and  uncurled.  They 
have  no  beard,  and  every  part  of  their  body  is  perfectly  smooth.  Their 
persons  are  of  .a  full  size,  extremely  straight,  and  well  proportioned  [44], 
Their  features  are  regular,  though  often  distorted  by  absurd  endeavours 
to  improve  the  beauty  of  their  natural  form,  or  to  render  their  aspect  more 
dreadful  to  their  enemies.  In  the  islands,  where  four-footed  animals  were 
both  few  and  small,  and  the  earth  yielded  her  productions  almost  spon 
taneously,  the  constitution  of  the  natives,  neither  braced  by  the  active 
exercises  of  the  chase,  nor  invigorated  by  the  labour  of  cultivation,  was 
extremely  feeble  and  languid.  On  the  continent,  where  the  forests  abound 
with  game  of  various  kinds,  and  the  chief  occupation  of  many  tribes  was 
to  pursue  it,  the  human  frame  acquired  greater  firmness.  Still,  however, 
the  Americans  were  more  remarkable  for  agility  than  strength.  They 
resembled  beasts  of  prey,  rather  than,  animals  formed  for  labour  [45]. 
They  were  not  only  averse  to  toil,  but  incapable  of  it ;  and  when  roused 
by  force  from  their  native  indolence,  and  compelled  to  work,  they  sunk 
under  tasks  which  the  people  of  the  other  continent  would  have  performed 
with  ease.j  This  feebleness  of  constitution  was  universal  among  the 
inhabitants  of  those  regions  in  America  which  we  are  surveying,  and  may 
be  considered  as  characteristic  of  the  species  there.J 

The  beardless  countenance  and  smooth  skin  of  the  American  seems  to 
indicate  a  defect  of  vigour,  occasioned  by  some  vice  in  his  frame.  ^  He  is 
destitute  of  one  sign  of  manhood  and  of  strength.  This  peculiarity,  by 
which  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  are  distinguished  from  the 
people  of  all  other  nations,  cannot  be  attributed,  as  some  travellers  have 
supposed,  to  their  mode  of  subsistence. §  For  though  the  food  of  many 
Americans  be  extremely  insipid,  as  they  are  altogether  unacquainted  with 
the  use  of  salt,  rude  tribes  in  other  parts  of  the  earth  have  subsisted  on 
aliments  equally  simple,  without  this  mark  of  degradation,  or  any  apparent 
symptom  of  a  diminution  in  their  vigour. 

As  the  external  form  of  the  Americans  leads  us  to  suspect  that  there  is 
some  natural  debility  in  their  frame,  the  smallness  of  their  appetite  for 
food  has  been  mentioned  by  many  authors  as  a  confirmation  of  this  sus 
picion.  The  quantity  of  food  which  men  consume  varies  according  to  the 
temperature  of  the  climate  in  which  they  live,  the  degree  of  activity 
which  they  exert,  and  the  natural  vigour  of  their  constitutions.  Under 
the  enervating  heat  of  the  torrid  zone,  and  when  men  pass  their  days  in 
indolence  and  ease,  they  require  less  nourishment  than  the  active  inhabitants 
of  temperate  or  cold  countries.  But  neither  the  warmth  of  their  climate, 
nor  their  extreme  laziness,  will  account  for  the  uncommon  defect  of 
appetite  among  the  Americans.  The  Spaniards  were  astonished  with 
observing  this,  not  only  in  the  islands,  but  in  several  parts  of  the  continent. 
The  constitutional  temperance  of  the  natives  far  exceeded,  in  their  opinion, 

*  Oviedo  Somario  p.  46.  D.    Life  of  Columbus,  c.  24.  |  Oviedo  Som.  p.  51.  C:    Voy. 

de  Correal,  ii.  138.  Wafer's  Description,  p.  13J.  $  B.  Las  Casas  Brev.  Relac.  p.  4.  Torquem. 

Motiar.  i.  580.  Oviedo  Somario,  p.  41.  Histor.  lib.  iii.  c.  6.  Herrera,  dec.  i.  Jib.  xi.  c.  5.  Simon, 
p.  41.  §  Charlev.  Hist.  de.  Nouv.  Fr.  iii.  310. 


142  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

the  abstinence  of  the  most  mortified  hermits  :*  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  appetite  of  the  Spaniards  appeared  to  the  Americans  insatiably 
voracious  ;  and  they  affirmed,  that  one  Spaniard  devoured  more  food  in  a 
day  than  was  sufficient  for  ten  Americans.! 

f  A  proof  of  some  feebleness  in  their  frame,  still  more  striking,  is  the 
insensibility  of  the  Americans  to  the  charms  of  beauty,  and  the  power  of 
love.  That  passion  which  was  destined  to  perpetuate  life,  to  be  the  bond  of 
social  union,  and  the  source  of  tenderness  and  joy,  is  the  most  ardent  in 
the  human  breast.  Though  the  perils  and  hardships  of  the  savage  state, 
though  excessive  fatigue  on  some  occasions,  and  the  difficulty  at  all  times 
of  procuring  subsistence,  may  seem  to  be  adverse  to  this  passion,  and  to 
have  a  tendency  to  abate  its  vigour,  yet  the  rudest  nations  in  every  other 
part  of  the  globe  seem  to  feel  its  influence  more  powerfully  than  the 
inhabitants  of  the  New  World.  The  negro  glows  with  all  the  warmth  of 
desire  natural  to  his  climate  ;  and  the  most  uncultivated  Asiatics  discover 
that  sensibility,  which,  from  their  situation  on  the  globe,  we  should  expect 
them  to  have  felt.  ^  But  the  Americans  are,  in  an  amazing  degree,  strangers 
to  the  force  of  this  first  instinct  of  nature.  In  every  part  of  the  New 
World  the  natives  treat  their  women  with  coldness  and  indifference. 
They  are  neither  the  objects  of  that  tender  attachment  which  takes  place 
in  civilized  society,  nor  of  that  ardent  desire  conspicuous  among  rude 
nations.  Even  in  climates  where  this  passion  usually  acquires  its  greatest 
vigour,  the  savage  of  America  views  his  female  with  disdain,  as  an  animal 
of  a  less  noble  species.  He  is  at  no  pains  to  win  her  favour  .by  the 
assiduity  of  courtship,  and  still  less  solicitous  to  preserve  it  ^indulgence 
and  gentleness.J  Missionaries  themselves,  notwithstanding  the  austerity 
of  moriastic  ideas,  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  their  astonishment  at  the 
dispassionate  coldness  of  the  American  young  men  in  their  intercourse 
with  the  other  sex.§  Nor  is  this  reserve  to  be  ascribed  to  any  opinion 
which  they  entertain  with  respect  to  the  merit  of  female  chastity.  That 
is  an  idea  too  refined  for  a  savage,  and  suggested  by  a  delicacy  of  sentiment 
and  affection  to  which  he  is  a  stranger. 

But  in  inquiries  concerning  either  the  bodily  or  mental  qualities  of 
particular  races  of  men,  there  is  not  a  more  common  or  more  seducing 
error,  than  that  of  ascribing  to  a  single  cause,  those  characteristic 
peculiarities  which  are  the  effect  of  the  combined  operation  of  many 
causes.  The  climate  and  soil  of  America  differ  in  so  many  respects  from 
those  of  the  other  hemisphere,  and  this  difference  is  so  obvious  and  striking, 
that  philosophers  of  great  eminence  have  laid  hold  on  this  as  sufficient  to 
account  for  what  is  peculiar  in  the  constitution  of  its  inhabitants.  They 
rest  on  physical  causes  alone,  and  consider  the  feeble  frame  and  languid 
desire  of  the  Americans,  as  consequences  of  the  temperament  of  that, 
portion  of  the  globe  which  they  occupy.  But  the  influences  of  political 
and  moral  causes  ought  not  to  have  been  overlooked.  These  operate  with 
no  less  effect  than  that  on  which  many  philosophers  rest  as  a  full  explanation 
of  the  singular  appearances  which  have  been  mentioned.  Wherever  the 
state  of  society  is  such  as  to  create  many^  wants  and  desires,  which  cannot 
be  satisfied  without  regular  exertions  of  industry,  the  body  accustomed  to 
labour  becomes  robust  and  patient  of  fatigue.  In  a  more  simple  state, 
where  the  demands  of  men  are  so  few  and  so  moderate  that  they  may  be 
gratified,  almost  without  any  effort,  by  the  spontaneous  productions  of 
nature,  the  powers  of  the  body  are  not  called  forth,  nor  can  they  attain  their 
proper  strength.  The  natives  of  Chili  and  of  North  America,  the  two 

*  Ramusip,  iii.  304.  F.  306.  A.  Simon  Conquista,  &c.  p.  39.  Hakluyt,  iii.  468.  508.        f  Herrcra, 
dec.  1.  lib.  ii.  c.  16.  J  Hennepin  Mosurs  des  Sauvages,  32,  &c.    Rochefort  Hist,  des  Isles 

Antilles,  p.  461.  Voyage  de  Correal,  ii.  141.  Ramusio,  iii.  309.  F.  Lozano  Descr.  del  Gran  Chaco, 
71.  Falkner's  Descr.  of  Patagon,  p.  125.  Lettere  di  P.  Cataneo  ap.  Muratori  II  Christian.  Felice, 
i.  305.  $  Chanvalon,  p.  51.  Lettr.  Edif.  torn.  xxiv.  318.  Tertre,  ii.  377.  Venegas,  i.  81. 

Ribas  Hist,  de  los  Triumf.  p.  11. 


AMERICA.  143 

temperate  regions  in  the  New  World,  who  live  by  hunting,  majr  be  deemed 
an  active  and  vigorous  race,  when  compared  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
isies,  or  of  those  parts  of  the  continent  where  hardly  any  labour  is  requisite 
to  procure  subsistence.  The  exertions  of  a  hunter  are  not,  however,  so 
regular,  or  so  continued,  as  those  of  persons  employed  in  the  culture  of 
the  earth,  or  in  the  various  arts  of  civilized  life ;  and  though  his  agility 
may  be  greater  than  theirs,  his  strength  is  on  the  whole  inferior.  If 
another  direction  were  given  to  the  active  powers  of  man  in  the  New 
World,  and  his  force  augmented  by  exercise,  he  might  acquire  a  degree 
of  vigour  which  he  does  not  in  his  present  state  possess.  The  truth  ol 
this  is  confirmed  by  experience.  Wherever  the  Americans  have  been 
gradually  accustomed  to  hard  labour,  their  constitutions  become  robust, 
and  they  have  been  found  capable  of  performing  such  tasks,  as  seemed 
not  only  to  exceed  the  powers  of  such  a  feeble  frame  as  has  been  deemed 
peculiar  to  their  country,  but  to  equal  any  effort  of  the  natives  either  of 
Africa  or  of  Europe  [46]. 

The  same  reasoning  will  apply  to  what  has  been  observed  concerning 
their  slender  demand  for  food.  As  a  proof  that  this  should  be  ascribed 
as  much  to  their  extreme  indolence,  and  often  total  want  of  occupation,  as 
to  any  thing  peculiar  in  the  physical  structure  of  their  bodies,  it  has  been 
observed,  that  in  those  districts  where  the  people  of  America  are  obliged 
to  exert  any  unusual  effort  of  activity,  in  order  to  procure  subsistence,  ^or 
wherever  they  are  employed  in  severe  labour,  their  appetite  is  not  inferior 
to  that  of  other  men,  and  in  some  places,  it  has  struck  observers  as  remark 
ably  voracious.* 

The  operation  of  political  and  moral  causes  is  still  more  conspicuous  in 
modifying  the  degree  of  attachment  between  the  sexes.  In  a  state  of  high 
civilization,  this  passion,  inflamed  by  restraint,  refined  by  delicacy,  and 
cherished  by  fashion,  occupies  and  engrosses  the  heart.  It  is  no  longer  a 
simple  instinct  of  nature  ;  sentiment  heightens  the  ardour  of  desire,  and 
the  most  tender  emotions  of  which  our  Trame  is  susceptible  soothe  and 
agitate  the  soul.  This  description,  however,  applies  only  to  those,  who, 
by  their  situation,  are  exempted  from  the  cares  and  labours  of  life.  ^  Among 
persons  of  inferior  order,  who  are  doomed  by  their  condition  to  incessant 
toil,  the  dominion  of  this  passion  is  less  violent ;  their  solicitude  to  procure 
subsistence,  and  to  provide  for  the  first  demand  of  nature,  leaves  little 
le-isure  for  attending  to  its  second  call.  But  if  the  nature  of  the  intercourse 
between  the  sexes  varies  so  much  in  persons  of  different  rank  in  polished 
societies,  the  condition  of  man  while  he  remains  uncivilized  must  occasion 
a  variation  still  more  apparent.  We  may  well  suppose,  that  amidst  the 
hardships,  the  dangers,  and  the  simplicity  of  domestic  life,  where  subsist 
ence  is  always  precarious  and  often  scanty,  where  men  are  almost  con 
tinually  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  their  enemies,  or  in  guarding  against  their 
attacks,  and  where  neither  dress  nor  reserve  are  employed  as  arts  of 
female  allurement,  that  the  attention  of  the  Americans  to  their  women 
would  be  extremely  feejale,  without  imputing  this  solely  to  any  physical 
defect  or  degradation  in  their  frame. 

It  is  accordingly  observed,  that  in  those  countries  of  America  where, 
from  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  mildness  of  the  climate,  or  some  further 
advances  which  the  natives  have  made  in  improvement,  the  means  of 
subsistence  are  more  abundant,  and  the  hardships  of  savage  life  are  less 
severely  felt,  the  animal  passion  of  the  sexes  becomes  more  ardent. 
Striking  examples  of  this  occur  among  some  tribes  seated  on  the  banks  of 
great  rivers  well  stored  with  food,  among  others  who  are  masters  of 
hunting  grounds  abounding  so  much  with  game,  that  they  have  a  regular 
and  plentiful  supply  of  nourishment  with  little  labour.  The  superior  degree 

*  Gumilla,  ii.  12.  70.247.    Lafitau,  i  515.    Ovalle  Church.  11.  81.    Muratori,  i.  205, 


144  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

of  security  and  affluence  which  those  tribes  enjoy  is  followed  by  their 
natural  effects.  The  passions  implanted  in  the  human  frame  by  the  hand 
of  nature  acquire  additional  force  ;  new  tastes  and  desires  are  formed ;  the 
women,  as  they  are  more  valued  and  admired,  become  more  attentive  to 
dress  and  ornament ;  the  men  beginning  to  feel  how  much  of  their  own 
happiness  depends  upon  them,  no  longer  disdain  the  arts  of  winning  their 
favour  and  affection.  The  intercourse  of  the  sexes  becomes  very  different 
from  that  which  takes  place  among  their  ruder  countrymen ;  and  as  hardly 
any  restraint  is  imposed  on  the  gratification  of  desire,  either  by  religion  or 
laws  or  decency,  the  dissolution  of  their  manners  is  excessive.* 

Notwithstanding  the_ feeble  make  of  the  Americans,  hardly  any  of  them 
are  deformed,  or  mutilated,  or  defective  in  any  of  their  senses.  All 
travellers  have  been  struck  with  this  circumstance,  and  have  celebrated 
the  uniform  symmetry  and  perfection  of  their  external  figure.  Some 
authors  search  for  the  cause  of  this  appearance  in  their  physical  condition. 
As  (he  parents  are  not  exhausted  or  over  fatigued  with  hard  labour,  they 
suppose  that  their  children  are  born  vigorous  and  sound.  They  imagine 
that,  in  the  liberty  of  savage  life,  the  human  body,  naked  and  unconfined 
from  its  earliest  age,  preserves  its  natural  form  ;  and  that  all  its  limbs  and 
members  acquire  a  juster  proportion  than  when  fettered  with  artificial 
restraints,  which  stint  its  growth  and  distort  its  shape.f  Something,  without 
doubt,  may  be  ascribed  to  the  operation  of  these  causes ;  but  the  true 
reasons  of  this  apparent  advantage,  which  is  common  to  all  savage  nations, 
lie  deeper,  and  are  closely  interwoven  with  the  nature  and  genius  of  that 
state.  The  infancy  of  man  is  so  long  and  so  helpless,  that  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  rear  children  among  rude  nations.  Their  means  of  subsistence 
are  not  only  scanty,  but  precarious.  Such  as  live  by  hunting  must  range 
over  extensive  countries,  and  shift  often  from  place  to  place.  The  care  of 
children,  as  well  as  every  other  laborious  task,  is  devolved  upon  the  women. 
The  distresses  and  hardships  of  the  savage  life,  which  are  often  such  as 
can  hardly  be  supported  by  persons  in  full  vigour,  must  be  fatal  to  those 
of  more  tender  age.  Afraid  of  undertaking  a  task  so  laborious,  and  of  such 
long  duration,  as  that  of  rearing  their  offspring,  the  women,  in  some  parts  of 
America,  procure  frequent  abortions  by  the  use  of  certain  herbs,  and  extin 
guish  the  first  sparks  of  that  life  which  they  are  unable  to  cherish.];  Sen 
sible  that  only  stout  and  well  formed  children  have  force  of  constitution  to 
struggle  through  such  a  hard  infancy,  other  nations  abandon  and  destroy 
such  of  their  progeny  as  appear  feeble  or  defective,  as  unworthy  of  attention.§ 
Even  when  they  endeavour  to  rear  all  their  children  without  distinction,  so 
great  a  proportion  of  the  whole  number  perishes  under  the  rigorous  treat 
ment  which  must  be  their  lot  in  the  savage  state,  that  few  of  those  who 
laboured  under  any  original  frailty  attain  the  age  of  manhood.!)  Thus- 
in  polished  societies,  where  the  means  of  subsistence  are  secured  with 
certainty,  and  acquired  with  ease  ;  where  the  talents  of  the  mind  are 
often  of  more  importance  than  ,the  powers  of  the  body ;  children  are  pre 
served  notwithstanding  their  defects  or  deformity,  end  grow  up  to  be  useful 
citizens.  In  rude  nations,  such  persons  are  either  cut  off  as  soon  as  they 
are  born,  or,  becoming  a  burden  to  themselves  and  to  the  community, 
cannot  long  protract  their  lives.  But  in  those  provinces  of  the  New 
World,  where,  by  the  establishment  of  the  Europeans,  more  regular  pro 
vision  has  been  made  for  the  subsistence  of  its  inhabitants,  and  they  are 
restrained  from  laying  violent  hands  on  their  children,  the  Americans  are 
so  far  from  being  eminent  for  any  superior  perfection  in  their  form,  that 
one  should  rather  suspect  some  peculiar  imbecility  in  the  race,  from  the 

*  Biet.  389.    Charlev.  iii.  423.    Dumont.  M6m.  sur  Louisiane,  i.  155.  t  Piso,  p.  6; 

*  Ellis's  Voyage  to  Hudson's  Bay,  198.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib*  ix.  c.  4.  $  Gumilla  H  ist.  ii,  234. 

Techo's  Hist,  of  Paraguay,  &c.  Churchill's  Collect,  vi.  108.        ||  Creuxii.  Hist.  Canad,  p.  57. 


AMERICA.  145 

extraordinary  number  of  individuals  who  are  deformed,  dwarfish,  mutilated, 
blind,  or  deaf.* 

How  feeble  soever  the  constitution  of  the  Americans  may  be,  it  is  re 
markable  that  there  is  less  variety  in  the  human  form  throughout  the  New 
World  than  in  the  ancient  continent.  When  Columbus  and  the  other 
discoverers  first  visited  the  different  countries  of  America  which  lie  within 
the  torrid  zone,  they  naturally  expected  to  find  people  of  the  same 
complexion  with  those  in  the  corresponding  regions  of  the  other  hemi 
sphere.  To  their  amazement,  however,  they  discovered  that  America 
contained  no  negroes  ;|  and  the  cause  of  this  singular  appearance  became 
as  much  the  object  of  curiosity  as  the  fact  itself  was  of  wonder.  In  what 
part  or  membrane  of  the  body  that  humour  resides  which  tinges  the 
complexion  of  the  negro  with  a  deep  black,  it  is  the  business  of  anatomists 
to  inquire  and  describe.  The  powerful  operation  of  heat  appears  mani 
festly  to  be  the.  cause  which  produces  this  striking  variety  in  the  human 
species.  All  Europe,  a  great  part  of  Asia,  and  the  temperate  countries  of 
Africa,  are  inhabited  by  men  of  a  white  complexion.  All  the  torrid  zone 
in  Africa,  some  of  the  warmer  regions  adjacent  to  it,  and  several  countries 
in  Asia,  are  filled  with  people  of  a  deep  black  colour.  If  we  survey  the 
nations  of  our  continent,  making  our  progress  from  cold  and  temperate 
countries  towards  those  parts  which  are  exposed  to  the  influence  of  vehe 
ment  and  unremitting  heat,  we  shall  find  that  the  extreme  whiteness  ot 

gradually  as  we 
lations  of  shade, 

„  rica,  where  the 

agency  of  heat  is  checked  and  abated  by  various  causes,  which  I  have 
already  explained,  the  climate  seems  to  be  destitute  of  that  force  which 
produces  such  wonderful  effects  on  the  human  frame.  The  colour  of  the 
natives  of  the  torrid  zone  in  America  is  hardly  of  a  deeper  hue  than  that 
of  the  people  in  the  more  temperate  parts  of  their  continent.  Accurate 
observers,  who  had  an  opportunity  of  viewing  the  Americans  in  very 
different  climates,  and  in  provinces  far  removed  from  each  other,  have 
been  struck  with  the  amazing  similarity  of  their  figure  and  aspect  [47]. 

But  though  the  hand  of  nature  has  deviated  so  little  from  one  standard 
in  fashioning  the  human  form  in  America,  the  creation  of  fancy  hath  been 
various  and  extravagant.  The  same  fables  that  were  current  in  the  ancient 
continent,  have  been  revived  with  respect  to  the  New  World,  and  America 
too  has  been  peopled  with  human  beings  of  monstrous  and  fantastic 
appearance.  The  inhabitants  of  certain  provinces  were  described  to  be 
pigmies  of  three  feet  high  ;  those  of  others  to  be  giants  of  an  enormous 
size.  Some  travellers  published  accounts  of  people  with  only  one  eye  : 
others  pretended  to  have  discovered  men  without  heads,  whose  eyes  and 
mouths  were  planted  in  their  breasts.  The  variety  of  Nature  in  her  pro 
ductions  is  indeed  so  great,  that  it  is  presumptuous  to  set  bounds  to  her 
fertility,  and  to  reject  indiscriminately  every  relation  that  does  not  perfectly 
accord  with  our  own  linjited  observation  and  experience.  But  the  other 
extreme,  of  yielding  a  hasty  assent  on  the  slighest  evidence  to  whatever 
has  the  appearance  of  being  strange  and  marvellous,  is  still  more  unbe 
coming  a  philosophical  inquirer  ;  as,  in  every  period,  men  are  more  apt  to 
be  betrayed  into  error  by  their  weakness  in  believing  too  much,  than  by 
their  arrogance  in  believing  too  little.  In  proportion  as  science  extends^ 
and  nature  is  examined  witn  a  discerning  eye,  the  wonders  which  amused 
ages  of  ignorance  disappear.  The  tales  of  credulous  travellers  concerning 
America  are  forgotten  ;  the  monsters  which  they  describe  have  been 
searched  for  in  vain ;  and  those  provinces  where  they  pretend  to  have 

*  Voy.  de  Ulloa,  i.  232.  t  P.  Martyr,  dec.  p.  71. 

VOL.  I.— 10 


146  HISTORY  OF  [Boos  IV, 

found  inhabitants  of  singular  forms,  are  now  known  to  be  possessed  by  a 
people  nowise  different  from  the  other  Americans. 

Though  those  relations  may,  without  discussion,  be  rejected  as  fabulous, 
there  are  other  accounts  of  varieties  in  the  human  species  in  some  parts  of 
the  New  World,  which  rest  upon  better  evidence,  and  merit  more  attentive 
examination.  This  variety  has  been  particularly  observed  in  three  different 
districts.  The  first  of  these  is  situated  in  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  near  the 
centre  of  America.  Lionel  Wafer,  a  traveller  possessed  of  more  curiosity 
and  intelligence  than  we  should  have  expected  to  find  in  an  associate  of 
Buccaneers,  discovered  there  a  race  of  men  few  in  number,  but  of  a 
singular  make.  They  are  of  low  stature,  according  to  his  description^  of 
a  teeble  frame,  incapable  of  enduring  fatigue.  Their  colour  is  a  dead 
milk  white  ;  not  resembling  that  of  fair  people  among  the  Europeans,  but 
without  any  tincture  of  a  blush  or  sanguine  complexion.  Their  skin  is 
covered  with  a  fine  hairy  down  of  a  chalky  white  ;  the  hair  of  their  heads, 
their  eyebrows,  and  eye-lashes,  are  of  the  same  hue.  Their  eyes  are  of 
a  singular  form,  and  so  weak  that  they  can  hardly  bear  the  light  of  the 
sun ;  Taut  they  see  clearly  by  moonlight,  and  are  most  active  and  gay  in 
the  night.*  No  race  similar  to  this  has  been  discovered  in  any  other  part 
of  America.  Cortes,  indeed,  found  some  persons  exactly  resembling  the 
white  people  of  Darien  among  the  rare  and  monstrous  animals  which 
Montezuma  had  collected.!  But  as  the  power  of  the  Mexican  empire 
extended  to  the  provinces  bordering  on  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  they  were 
probably  brought  thence.  Singular  as  the  appearance  of  those  people  may 
be,  they  cannot  be  considered  as  constituting  a  distinct  species.  Among 
the  negroes  of  Africa,  as  well  as  the  natives  of  the  Indian  islands,  nature 
sometimes  produces  &  small  number  of  individuals;' with  all  the  characteristic 
features  and  qualities  of  the  white  people,  of  Darien.  The  former  are 
called  Albinos  by  the  Portuguese,  the  latter  Kadkerlakes  by  the  Dutch.  In 
Darien  the  parents  of  those  Whites  are  of  the  same  colour  with  the  other 
natives  of  the  country  ;  and  this  observation  applies  equally  to  the  anomalous 
progeny  of  the  Negroes  and  Indians.  The  same  mother  who  produces 
some  children  of  a  colour  that  does  not  belong  to  the  race,  brings  forth  the 
rest  with  a  complexion  peculiar  to  her  country.!  One  conclusion  may  then 
be  formed  with  respect  to  the  people  described  by  Wafer,  the  Albinos  and 
the  Kackerlakes;  they  are  a  degenerated  breed,  not  a  separate  class  of 
men  ;  and  from  some  disease  or  defect  of  their  parents,  the  peculiar  colour 
and  debility  which  mark  their  degradation  are  transmitted  to  them.  As  a 
decisive  proof  of  this,  it  has  been  observed,  that  neither  the  white  people 
of  Darien,  nor  the-  Albinos  of  Africa,  propagate  their  race  :  their  children 
are  of  the  colour  and  temperament  peculiar  to  the  natives  of  their  respective 
countries§  [48]. 

The  second  district  that  is  occupied  by  inhabitants  differing  in  appear 
ance  from  the  other  people  0*"  America,  is  situated  in  a  high  northern 
latitude,  extending  from  the  coast  of  Labrador  towards  the  pole,  as  far  as 
the  country  is  habitable.  The  people  scattered  over  those  dreary  regions 
are  known  to  the  European?  by  the  name  of  Esquimaux.  They  them 
selves,  with  that  idea  of  their  own  superiority,  which  consoles  the  rudest 
and  most  wretched  nations,  assume  the  name  of  Keralit  or  Men.  They 
are  of  a  middle  size,  and  robust,  with,  heads  of  a  disproportioned  bulk, 
and  feet  as  remarkably  small.  Their  complexion  though  swarthy,  by  being 
continually  exposed  to  the  rigour  of  a  cold  climate,  inclines  to  the  European 
white  rather  than  to  the  copper  colour  of  America,  and  the  men  have 
beards  which  are  sometimes  oushy  and  long.H  From  these  marks  of 

*  Wafer's  Descript.  of  Isth.  ap.  Dampier,  iii.  p.  346.  f  Cortes  ap.  Rainus.  iii.  p.  241.  E. 

J  Margrav.  Hist.  Rer.  Nat.  Bras.  lib.  viii.  c.  4.  $  Wafer,  p.  348.  Demanet  Hist,  de  FAfrique, 

ii.  234.    Recherch.  Philos.  sur  les  Amer.  ii.  1,  &c.  ||  Ellis  Voy.toHuds.  Bay,  p.  131. 139.    De 

la.  Potherie,  torn.  1.  p.  79.    Wales  Journ.  of  a  Voy.  to  Churchill  River,  Phil.  Trans,  vol  Ix  109. 


AMERICA.  147 

distinction,  as  well  as  from  one  still  less  equivocal,  the  affinity  of  their 
language  to  that  of  the  Greenlanders,  which  I  have  already  mentioned, 
we  may  conclude,  with  some  degree  of  confidence,  that  the  Esquimaux 
are  a  race  different  from  the  rest  of  the  Americans. 

We  cannot  decide  with  equal  certainty  concerning  the  inhabitants  of  the 
third  district,  situated  at  the  southern  extremity  of  America.  These  are 
the  famous  Patagonians,  who,  during  two  centuries  and  a  half,  have 
afforded  a  subject  of  controversy  to  the  learned,  and  an  object  of  wonder 
to  the  vulgar.  They  are  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  wandering  tribes 
which  occupy  the  vast  but  least  known  region  of  America,  which  extends 
from  the  river  de  la  Plata  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  Their  proper 
station  is  in  that  part  of  the  interior  country  which  lies  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  Negro  ;  but,  in  the  hunting  season,  they  often  roam  as  far  as  the  straits 
wnich  separate  Tierra  del  Fuego  from  the-  main  land.  The  first  accounts 
of  this  people  were  brought  to  Europe  by  the  companions  of  Magellan,* 
who  described  them  as  a  gigantic  race,  above  eight  feet  high,  and  of 
strength  in  proportion  to  their  enormous  size.  Among  several  tribes  of 
animals,  a  disparity  in  bulk  as  considerable  may  be  observed.  Some 
large  breeds  of  horses  and  dogs  exceed  the  more  diminutive  races  in 
stature  and  strength,  as  far  as  the  Patasrpnian  is  supposed  to  rise  above  the 
usual  standard  ot"  the  human  body,  put  animals  attain  the  highest  per 
fection  of  their  species  only  in  mild  climates,  or  where  they  find  the  most 
nutritive  food  in  greatest  abundance.  It  is  not  then  in  the  uncultivated 
waste  of  the  Magellanic  regions,  and  among  a  tribe  of  improvident  savages, 
that  we  should  expect  to  find  man  possessing  the  highest  honours  of  his 
race,  and  distinguished  by  a  superiority  of  size  and  vigour,  far  beyond 
what  he  has  reached  in  any  other  part  of  the  earth.  The  most  explicit 
and  unexceptionable  evidence  is  requisite,  in.  order  to  establish  a  fact 
repugnant  to  those  general  principles  and  laws,  which  seem  to  affect  the 
human  frame  in  every  other  instance,  and  to  decide  with  respect  to  its 
nature  and  qualities.  Such  evidence  has  not  hitherto  been  produced. 
Though  several  persons,  to  whose  testimony  great  respect  is  due,  have 
visited  this  part  of  America  since  the  time  of  Magellan,  and  have  had 
interviews  with  the  natives ;  though  some  have  affirmed,  that  such  as  they 
saw  were  of  gigantic  stature,  and  others  have  formed  .the  same  conclusion 
from  measuring  their  footsteps,  or  from  viewing  the  skeletons  of  their  dead ; 
yet  their  accounts  vary  from  each  other  in  so  many  essential  points,  and  are 
mingled  with  so  many  circumstances  manifestly  false  or  fabulous,  as  detract 
much  from  their  credit.  On  the  other  han4,  some  navigators,  and  those 
among  the  most  eminent  of  their  order  for  discernment  and  accuracy,  have 
asserted  that  the  natives  of  Patagonia,  with  whom  they  had  intercourse, 
though  stout  and  well  made,  are  not  of  such  extraordinary  size  as  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  human  species  [49].  The  existence  of 
this  gigantic  race  of  men  seems,  then,  to  be  one  of  those  points  in  natural 
history,  with  respect  to  which  a  cautious  inquirer  will  hesitate,  and  will 
choose  to  suspend  his  assent  until  more  complete  evidence  shall  decide 
whether  he  ought  to  admit  a  fact,  seemingly  inconsistent  with  what  reason 
and  experience  have  discovered  concerning  the  structure  and  condition  of 
man,  in  all  the  various  situations  in  which  he  has  been  observed. 

In  order  to  form  a  complete  idea  with  respect  to  the  constitution  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  and  the  other  hemisphere,  we  should  attend  not  only  to 
the  make  and  vigour  of  their  bodies,  but  consider  what  degree  of  health 
they  enjoy,  and  to  what  period  of  longevity  they  usually  arrive.  In  the 
simplicity  of  the  savage  state,  when  man  is  not  oppressed  with  labour,  or 
enervated  by  luxury,  or  disquieted  with  care,  we  are  apt  to  imagine  that 
this  life  will  flow  on  almost  untroubled  by  disease  or  suffering1,  until  his 

*  Falkncr's  Description  of  Patagonia,  p.  102. 


i&  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  IV. 

days  be  terminated  in  extreme  old  age  by  the  gradual  decays  of  nature^ 
We  find,  accordingly,  among  the  Americans,  as  well  as  among  other  rude 
people,  persons  whose  decrepit  and  shrivelled  form  seems  to  indicate  an 
extraordinary  length  of  life.  But  as  most  of  them  are  unacquainted  with 
the  art  of  numbering,  and  all  of  them  as  forgetful  of  what  is  past,  as  they 
are  improvident  of  what  is  to  come,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  their  age 
with  any  degree  of  precision.*  It  is  evident  that  the  period  of  their 
longevity  must  vary  considerably,  according  to  the  diversity  of  climates, 
ana  their  different  modes  of  subsistence.  They  seem,  however,  to  be 
every  where  exempt  from  many  of  the  distempers  which  afflict  polished 
nations.  None  of  the  maladies,  -whicb  are  the  immediate  offspring  of 
luxury,  ever  visited  them  ;  and  they  have  no  names  in  their  languages  by 
which  to  distinguish  this  numerous  train  of  adventitious  evils. 

But  whatever  be  the  situation  in  which  man  is  placed,  he  is  born  to 
suffer  ;  and  his  diseases  in  the  savage  state,  though  fewer  in  number,  are, 
like  those  of  the  animals  whom  he  nearly  resembles  in  his  mode  ol  life, 
more  violent  and  more  fatal.  If  luxury  engenders  and  nourishes  distempers 
of  one  species,  the  rigour  and  distresses  of  savage  life  bring  on  those  of 
another.  As  men  in  this  state '  are  wonderfully  improvident,  and  their 
means  of  subsistence  precarious,  they  often  pass  from  extreme  want  to 
exuberant  plenty,  according  to  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  in  the  chase,  or 
in  consequence  of  the  various  degrees  of  abundance  with  which  the  earth 
affords  to  them  its  productions  in  different  seasons.  Their  inconsiderate 
gluttony  in  the  one  situation,  and  their  severe  abstinence  in  the  other,  are 
equally  pernicious. '  For  though  the  human  constitution  may  be  accustomed 
by  habit,  like  that  of  animals  of  prey,  to  tolerate  long  famine,  and  then  to- 
gorge  voraciously,  it  is  not  a  little  affected  by  such  sudden  and  violent 
transitions.  The  strength  and  vigour  of  savages  are  at  some  seasons 
impaired  by  what  they  suffer  from  a  scarcity  of  food ;  at  others  they  are 
afflicted  with  disorders  arising  from  indigestion  and  a  superfluity  of  gross 
aliment.  These  are  so  common,  that  they  may  be  considered  as  the 
unavoidable  consequence  of  their  mode  of  subsisting,  and  cut  off  considerable 
numbers  in  the  prime  of  life.  They  are  likewise  extremely  subject  to 
consumptions,  to  pleuritic,  asthmatic,  and  paralytic  disorders,!  brought  on 
by  the  immoderate  hardships  and  fatigue  whicn  they  endure  in  hunting 
and  in  war  ;  or  owing  to  the  inclemency  of  the  seasons  to  which  they  are 
continually  exposed.  In  the  savage  state,  hardships  and  fatigue  violently 
assault  the  constitution.  In  polished  societies,  intemperance  undermines 
it.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  which  of  them  operates  with  most  fatal 
effect,  or  tends  most  to  abridge  human  life.  The  influence  of  the  former  is 
certainly  most  extensive.  The  pernicious  consequences  of  luxury  reach 
only  a  few  members  in  any  community ;  the  distresses  of  savage  life  are  felt 
by  all.  As  far  as  I  can  judge,  after  very  minute  inquiry,  the  general  period 
of  human  life  is  shorter  among  savages  than  in  well  regulated  and  industri 
ous  societies. 

One  dreadful  malady,  the  severest  scourge  with  which,  in  this  life, 
offended  Heaven  chastens  the  indulgence  of  criminal  desire,  seems  to  have 
been  peculiar  to  the  Americans.  By  communicating  it  to  their  conquerors, 
they  have  not  only  amply  avenged  their  own  wrongs,  but,  by  adding  this 
calamity  to  those  which  formerly  imbittered  human  life,  they  have,  perhaps, 
more  than  counterbalanced  all  the  benefits  which  Europe  has  derived  from 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World.  This  distemper,  from  the  country  in 
which  it  first  raged,  or  from  the  people  by  whom  it  was  supposed  to  have 
been  spread  over  Europe,  has  been  sometimes  called  the  .Neapolitan,  and 
sometimes  the  French  disease.  At  its  first  appearance,  the  infection  was 

*  Ulloa  Notkj.  Americ.  323.  Bancroft  Nat.  Hiat.  of  Guiana,  334.  t  Charlev.  I*.  Fr.  iii.  364. 
Lafitau,  ii.  360.  De  la  Potherie,  ii.  37. 


AMERICA.  149 

so  malignant,  its  symptoms  so  violent,  its  operation  so  rapid  and  fatal,  as  to 
baffle  all  the  efforts  of  medical  skill.  Astonishment  and  terror  accompanied 
this  unknown  affliction  in  its  progress,  and  men  began  to  dread  the  extinction 
of  the  human  race  by  such  a  cruel  visitation.  Experience,  and  the 
ingenuity  of  physicians,  gradually  discovered  remedies  of  such  virtue  as  to 
cure  or  to  mitigate  the  evil.  During  the  course  of  two  centuries  and  a 
half,  its  virulence  seems  to  have  abated  considerably.  At  length,  in  the 
same  manner  with  the  leprosy,  which  raged  in  Eorope  for  some  centuries, 
it  may  waste  its  force  and  disappear ;  and  in  some  happier  age,  this 
western  infection,  like  that  from  the  east,  may  be  known  only  by  descrip 
tion  [50]. 

II.  After  considering  what  appears  to  be  peculiar  in  the  bodily  constitution 
of  the  Americans,  our  attention  is  naturally  turned  towards  the  powers 
and  qualities  of  their  minds.  As  the  individual  advances  from  the  igno 
rance  and  imbecility  of  the  infant  state  to  vigour  and  maturity  of  under 
standing,  something  similar  to  this  may  be  observed  in  the  progress  of  the 
species.  With  respect  to  it,  too,  there  is  a  period  of  infancy,  during  which 
several  powers  of  the  mind  are  not  unfolded,  and  all  are  feeble  and  defective 
in  their  operation.  In  the  early  ages  of  society,  while  the  condition  of 
man  is  simple  and  rude,  this  reason  is  but  little  exercised,  and  his  desires 
move  within  a  very  narrow  sphere.  Hence  arise  two  remarkable  charac 
teristics  of  the  human  mind  in  this  state.  •  Its  intellectual  powers  are 
extremely  limited ;  its  emotions  and  efforts  are  few  and  languid.  Both 
these  distinctions  are  conspicuous  among  the  rudest  and  most  unimproved 
of  the  American  tribes,  and  constitute  a  striking  part  of  their  description. 

What,  among  polished  nations,  is  called  speculative  reasoning  or  research, 
is  altogether  unknown  in  the  rude  state  of  society,  and  never  becomes  the 
occupation  or  amusement  of  the  human  faculties,  until  man  be  so  far 
improved  as  to  have  secured,  with  certainty,  the  means  of  subsistence,  as 
well  as  the  possession  of  leisure  and  tranquillity.  The  thoughts  and 
attention  of  a  savage  are  confined  within  the  small  circle  of  objects  imme 
diately  conducive  to  his  preservation  or  enjoyment.  Every  thing  beyond 
that  escapes  his  observation,  or  is  perfectly  indifferent  to  him.  Like  a 
mere  animal,  what  is  before  his  eyes  interests  and  affects  hini  ;  what  is  out 
of  sight,  or  at  a  distance,  makes  little  impression.*  There  are  several 
people  in  America  whose  limited  understandings  seem  not  to  be  capable  of 
forming  an  arrangement  for  futurity  ;  neither  their  solicitude  nor  their 
foresight  extends  so  far.  They  follow  blindly  the  impulse  of  the  appetite 
which  they  feel,  but  are  entirely  regardless  of  distant  consequences,  and 
even  of  those  removed  in  the  least  degree  from  immediate  apprehension. 
While  they  highly  prize  such  things  as  serve  for  present  use,  or  minister 
to  present  enjoyment,  they  set  no  value  upon  those  which  are  not  the 
object  of  some  immediate  want.j  When,  on  the  approach  of  the  evening, 
a  Caribbee  feels  himself  disposed  to  go  to  rest,  no  consideration  will  tempt 
him  to  sell  his  hammock.  But,  in  the  morning,  when  he  is  sallying  out  to 
the  business  or  pastime  of  the  day,  he  will  part  with  it  for  the  slightest  toy 
that  catches  his  fancy.  J  At  the  close  of  winter,  while  the  impression  of 
what  he  has  suffered  from  the  rigour  of  the  climate  is  fresh  in  the  mind  of 
the  North  American,  he  sets  himself  with  vigour  to  prepare  materials  for 
erecting  a  comfortable  hut  to  protect  him  against  the  inclemency  of  the 
succeeding  season  ;  but,  as  soon  as  the  weather  becomes  mild,  he  forgets 
what  is  past,  abandons  his  work,  and  never  thinks  of  it  more  until  the  return 
of  cold  compels  him,  when  too  late,  to  resume  it.§ 

If  in  concerns  the  most  interesting,  and  seemingly  the  most  simple,  the 

*  UHo  Noticias  Americ.  222.  t  Venegas  Hist,  of  Calif,  i.  66.    Supp.  Church.  Coll.  v.  693. 

Borde  Descr.  des  Caraibes,  p.  16.  Ellis  Voy.  194,  J  Labat  Voyages,  ii.  114, 115.  Tertre,  ii. 
385.  §  Adair's  Hist,  of  Amer.  IiiAians,  417 


150  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  IV. 

reason  of  man,  while  rude  and  destitute  of  culture,  differs  so  little  from  the 
thoughtless  levity  of  children,  or  the  improvident  instinct  of  animals,  its 
exertions  in  other  directions  cannot  be  very  considerable.  The  objects 
towards  which  reason  turns,  and  the  disquisitions  in  which  it  engages, 
must  depend  upon  the  state  in  which  man  is  placed,  and  are  suggested 
by  his  necessities  and  desires.  Disquisitions,  which  appear  the  most  ne 
cessary  and.  important  to  men  in  one  state  of  society,  never  occur  to  those  in 
another.  Among  civilized  nations,  arithmetic,  or  the  art  of  numbering,  is 
deemed  an  essential  and  elementary  science :  and  in  our  continent,  the 
invention  and  use  of  it  reaches  back  to  a  period  so  remote  as  is  beyond  the 
knowledge  of  history.  But  among  savages,  who  have  no  property  to 
estimate,  no  hoarded  treasures  to  count,  no  variety  of  objects  or  multiplicity 
of  ideas  to  enumerate,  arithmetic  is  a  superfluous  and  useless  art.  Ac 
cordingly,  among  some  tribes  in  America  it  seems  to  be  quite  unknown. 
There  are  many  who  cannot  reckon  further  than  three ;  and  have  no 
denomination  to  distinguish  any  number  above  it.*  Several  can  proceed  as 
far  as  ten,  others  to  twenty.  When  they  would  convey  an  idea  of  any 
number  beyond  these,  they  point  to  the  hair  of  their  head,  intimating  that 
it  is  equal  to  them,  or  with  wonder  declare  it  to  be  so  great  that  it  cannot 
be  reckoned.!  Not  only  the  Americans,  but  all  nations  while  extremely 
rude,  seem  to  be  unacquainted  with  the  art  of  computation.^  As  soon, 
however,  as  they  acquire  such  acquaintance  or  connexion  with  a  variety  of 
objects,  that  there  is  frequent  occasion  to  combine  or  divide  them,  their 
knowledge  Of  numbers  increases,  so  that  the  state  of  this  art  among  any 
people  may  be  considered  as  one  standard  by  which  to  estimate  the  degree 
of  their  improvement.  The  Iroquoise,in  North  America,  as  they  are  much 
more  civilized  than  the  rude  inhabitants  of  Brazil,  Paraguay,  or  Guiana, 
have  likewise  made  greater  advances  in  this  respect;  though  even  their 
arithmetic  does  not  extend  beyond  a  thousand,  as  in  their  petty  transactions 
they  have  no  occasion  for  any  higher  number.§  The  Cherokee,  a  less 
considerable  nation,  on  the  same  continent,  can  reckon  only  as  far  as  a 
hundred,  and  to  that  extent  have  names  for  the  several  numbers ;  the 
smaller  tribes  in  their  neighbourhood  can  rise  no  higher  than  ten[|  [51J. 

In  other  respects,  the'  exercise  of  the  understanding  among  rude  nations 
is  still  more  limited.  T,he  first  ideas  of  every  human  being  must  be  such 
as  he  receives  by  the  senses.  But  in  the  mind  of  man,  while  in  the  savage 
state,  there  seem  to  be  hardly  any  ideas  but  what  enter  by  this  avenue. 
The  objects  around  him  are  presented  to  his  eye.  Such  as  may  be  sub 
servient  to  his  use,  or  can  gratify  any  of  his  appetites,  attract  his  notice ; 
he  views  the  rest  without  curiosity  or  attention.  Satisfied  with  considering 
them  under  that  simple  mode  in  which  they  appear  to  him,  as  separate  and 
detached,  he  neither  combines  them  so  as  to  form  general  classes,  nor  con 
templates  their  qualities  apart  from  the  subject  in  which  they  inhere,  nor 
bestows  a  thought  upon  the  operations  of  his  own  mind  concerning  them. 
Thus  he  is  unacquainted  with  all  the  ideas  which  have  been  denominated 
universal}  or  abstract,  or  of  reflection.  The  range  of  his  understanding 
must,  of  course,  be  very  confined,  and  his  reasoning  powers  be  employed 
merely  on  what  is  sensible.  This  is  so  remarkably  the  case  with  the  ruder 
nations  of  America,  that  their  languages  (as  we  shall  afterwards  find)  have 
not  a  word  to  express  any  thing  but  what  is  material  or  corporeal.  Time, 
space,  substance,  and  a  thousand  terms,  which  represent  abstract  and 
universal  ideas,  are  altogether  unknown  to  them.i  A  naked  savage, 
cowering  over  the  fire  in  his  miserable  cabin,  or  stretched  under  a  few 

*  Condam.  p.  67.  Stadius  ap.  de  Bry,  ix.  128.  Lery,  ibid.  251.  Biet.  362.  Lettr.  Edif.  23. 
314.  f  Dumont  Louis,  i.  187.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib,  iii.  c.  3.  Biet.  396.  Borde,  6.  J  This  is 
the  case  with  the  Greenlandere,  Crantz,  i.  225,  and  with  Kamchatkadales,  M.  1'AbM  Chappe,  iii. 
17.  $  Charley.  Nouv.  Franc,  iii.  402.  ||  Adair's  Hist,  of  Amer.  Indians,  77.  If  Condara. 
p.  54. 


AMERICA.  151 

branches  which  afford  him  a  temporary  shelter,  has  as  little  inclination  as 
capacity  for  useless  speculation.  His  thoughts  extend  not  beyond  what 
relates  to  animal  life  ;  and  when  they  are  not  directed  towards  some  of 
its  concerns,  his  mind  is  totally  inactive.  In  situations  where  no  extraor 
dinary  effort  either  of  ingenuity  or  labour  is  requisite,  in  order  to  satisfy 
the  simple  demands  of  nature,  the  powers  of  the  mind  are  so  seldom 
roused  to  any  exertion,  that  the  rational  faculties  continue  almost  dormanf 
and  unexercised.  The  numerous  tribes  scattered  over  the  rich  plains  of 
South  America,  the  inhabitants  of  some  of  the  islands,  and  of  several 
fertile  regions  on  the  continent,  come  under  this  description.  Their  vacant 
countenance,  their  staring  unexpressive  eye,  their  listless  inattention,  and 
total  ignorance  of  subjects  which  seemed  to  be  the  first  which  should 
occupy  the  thoughts  of  rational  beings,  made  such  impression  upon  the 
Spaniards,  when  they  first  beheld  those  rude  people,  that  they  considered 
them  as  animals  of  an  inferior  order,  and  could  not  believe  that  they 
belonged  to  the  human  species.*  It  required  the  authority  of  a  papal 
bull  to  counteract  this  opinion,  and  to  convince  them  that  the  Americans 
were  capable  of  the  functions  and  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  humanity.! 
Since  that  time,  persons  more  enlightened  and  impartial  than  the  discoverers 
or  conquerors  of  America,  have  had  an  opportunity  of  contemplating  the 
most  savage  of  its  inhabitants,  and  they  have  been  astonished  and  humbled 
with  observing  how  nearly  man  in  this  condition  approaches  to  the  brute 
creation.  But  in  severer  climates,  where  subsistence  cannot  be  procured 
with  the  same  ease,  where  men  must  unite  more  closely,  and  act  with 
greater  concert,  necessity  calls  forth  their  talents  and  sharpens  their  inven 
tion,  so  that  the  intellectual  powers  are  more  exercised  and  improved. 
The  North  American  tribes,  and  the  natives  of  Chili,  who  inhabit  the  tem 
perate  regions  in  the  two  great  districts  of  America,  are  people  of  cultivated 
and  enlarged  understandings,  when  viewed  jn  comparison  with  some  of 
those  seated  in  the  islands,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  Maragnon  and  Orinoco. 
Their  occupations  are  more  various,  their  system  of  policy,  as  well  as  of 
war,  more  complex,  their  arts  more  numerous.  But  even  among  them, 
the  intellectual  powers  are  extremely  limited  in  their  operations,  and, 
unless  when  turned  directly  to  those  objects  which  interest  a  savage,  are 
held  in  no  estimation.  Both  the  North  Americans  and  Chilese,  when  not 
engaged  in  some  of  the  functions  belonging  to  a  warrior  or  hunter,  loiter 
away  their  time  in  thoughtless  indolence,  unacquainted  with  any  other 
subject  worthy  of  their  attention,  or  capable  of  occupying  their  minds.t 
If  even  among  them  reason  is  so  much  circumscribed  in  its  exertions,  and 
never  arrives,  in  its  highest  attainments,  at  the  knowledge  of  those  general 
principles  and  maxims  which  serve  as  the  foundation  of  science,  we  may 
conclude  that  the  intellectual  powers  of  man  in  the  savage  state  are  destitute 
of  their  proper  object,  and  cannot  acquire  any  considerable  degree  of  vigour 
and  enlargement. 

From  the  same  causes,  the  active  efforts  of  the  mind  are  few,  and  on 
most  occasions  languid.  If  we  examine  into  the  motives  which  rouse 
men  to  activity  in  civilized  life,  and  prompt  them  to  persevere  in  fa 
tiguing  exertions  of  their  ingenuity  or  strength,  we  shall  find  that  they  arise 
chiefly  from  acquired  wants  and  appetites.  These  are  numerous  and  im 
portunate  ;  they  keep  the  mind  in  perpetual  agitation,  and,  in  order  to 
gratify  them,  invention  must  be  always  on  the  stretch,  and  industry  must 
be  incessantly  employed.  But  the  desires  of  simple  nature  are  fewr,  and 
where  a  favourable  climate  yields  almost  spontaneously  what  suffices  to 

S'atify  them,  they  scarcely  stir  the  soul,  or  excite  any  violent  emotion, 
ence  the  people  of  several  tribes  in  America  waste  their  life  in  a  listless 
indolence.     To  be  free  from  occupation,  seems  to  be  all  the  enjoyment 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  15.  f  Torquem.  Mon.  Ind.  Hi.  198.  t  Lafitau,  ii.  2. 


152  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

towards  which  they  aspire.  They  will  continue  whole  days  stretched 
out  in  their  hammocks,  or  seated  on  the  earth  in  perfect  idleness,  without 
changing  their  posture,  or  raising  their  eyes  from  the  ground,  or  uttering 
a  single  word.* 

Such  is  their  aversion  to  labour  that  neither  the  hope  of  future  good 
nor  the  apprehension  of  future  evil  can  surmount  it.  They  appear  equally 
indifferent  to  both,  discovering,  little  solicitude,  and  taking  no  precautions 
to  avoid  the  one  or  to  secure  the  other.  The  cravings  of  hunger  may 
rouse  them  ;  but  as  they  devour,  with  little  distinction,  whatever  will  ap 
pease  its  instinctive  demands,  the  exertions  which  these  occasion  are  of 
short  duration.  Destitute  of  ardour,  as  well  as  .variety  of  desire,  they 
feel  not  the  force  of  those  powerful  springs  which. give  vigour  to  the 
movements  of  the  mind,  and  urge  the  patient  hand  of  industry  to  perse 
vere  in  its  efforts.  Man,  in  some  parts  of  America,  appears  in  a  form  so 
rude  that  we  can  discover  no, effects  of  his  activity,  and  the  principle  ot 
understanding^  which  should  direct  it,  seems  hardly  to  be  unfolded. 
Like  the  other  animals,  he  has  no  fixed  residence  ;  he  has  erected  no  ha 
bitation  to  shelter  him  from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  ;  he  has  taken 
no  measures  for  securing  certain  subsistence  ;  he  neither  sows  nor  reaps  ; 
but  roams  about  as  led  in  search  of  the  plants  and  fruits  which  the  earth 
brings  forth  in  succession  ;  and  in  quest  of  the  game  which  he  kills  in  the 
forest,  or.  of  the  fish  which  he  catches  in  the  rivers. 

This  description,  however,  applies  only  to  some  tribes.  Man  cannot 
continue  long  in  this  state  of  feeble  ana  uninformed  infancy.  He  was 
made  for  industry  and  action,  and  the  powers  of  his  nature,  as  well  as  the 
necessity  of  his  condition,  urge  him  to  fulfil  his  destiny.  Accordingly, 
among  most  of  the  American  nations,  especially  those  seated  in  rigorous 
climates,  some  efforts  are  employed,  and  some  previous  precautions  are 
taken,  for  securing  subsistence.  The  career  of  regular  industry  is  begun, 
and  the  laborious  arm  has  made  the  -first  essays  of  its  power.  Still,  how 
ever,  the  improvident  and  slothful  genius  of  the  savage  state  predomi 
nates.  Even  among  those  more  improved  tribes,  labour  is  deemed  igno 
minious  and  degrading.  It  is  only  to  work  of  a  certain  kind  that  a  man 
will  deign  to  put  his  hand.  The  greater  part  is  devolved  entirely  upon 
the  women.  One-half  of  the  community  remains  inactive,  while  the 
other  is  oppressed  with  the  multitude  and  variety  of  its  occupations. 
Thus  their  industry  is  partial,  and  the  foresight  which  regulates  it  is  no 
less  limited.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  occurs  in  the  chief  arrange 
ment  with  respect  to  their  manner  of  living.  They  depend  for  their  sub 
sistence,  during  one  part  of  the  year,  on  fishing  ;  during  another,  on  hunt 
ing;  during  a  third,  on  the  produce  of  their  agriculture.  Though  expe 
rience  has  taught  them  to  foresee  the  return  of  those  various  seasons,  and 
to  make  some  provision  for  the  respective  exigencies  of  each,  they  either 
want  sagacity  to  proportion  this  provision  to  their  consumption,  or  are  so 
incapable  of  any  command  over  their  appetites,  that,  from  their  inconsi 
derate  waste,  they  often  feel  the  calamities  of  famine  as  severely  as  the 
rudest  of  the  savage  tribes.  What  they  suffer  one  year  does  not  augment 
their  industry,  or  render  them  more  provident  to  prevent  similar  distresses.! 
This  inconsiderate  thoughtlessness  about  futurity,  the  effect  of  ignorance 
and  the  cause  of  sloth,  accompanies  and  characterizes  man  in  every  stage 
of  savage  life  ;J  and,  by  a  capricious  singularity  in  his  operations,  he  is 
then  least  solicitous  about  supplying  his  wants,  when  the  means  of  satis 
fying  them  are  most  precarious,  and  procured  with  the  greatest  diffi 
culty  [52]. 

III.   After  viewing  the  bodily  constitution  of  the  Americans,  and  con- 

*  Bouguer  Voy.  au  P£rou,  102.  Borde,  15  t  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  338.  Lettr.  Edif.  23.  998. 
Descript.  of  N.  France,  Osborn's  Collect,  ii.  880.  De  la  Potherie.  iL  63.  J  Bancroft's  Nat.  Hist, 
of  Guiana,  326.  333, 


AMERICA.  155 

tempting  the  powers  of  their  minds,  we  are  led,  in  the  natural  order  of 
inquiry,  to  consider  them  as  united  together  in  society.  Hitherto  our  re 
searches  have  been  confined  to  the  operations  of  understanding  respecting 
themselves  as  individuals ;  now  they  will  extend  to  the  degree  of  their 
sensibility  and  affection  towards  their  species. 

The  domestic  state  is  the  first  and  most  simple  form  of  human  associa 
tion.  The  union  of  the  sexes  among  different  animals  is  of  longer  or 
shorter  duration  in  proportion  to  the  ease  or  difficulty  of  rearing  their  off 
spring.  Among  those  tribes  where  the  season  of  infancy  is  short,  and  the 
young  soon  acquire  vigour  or  agility,  no  permanent  union  is  formed.  Na 
ture  commits  the  care  of  training  up  the  offspring  to  the  mother  alone,  and 
her  tenderness,  without  any  other  assistance,  is  equal  to  the  task.  But 
where  the  state  of  infancy  is  long  and  helpless,  and  the  joint  assiduity  of 
ooth  parents  is  requisite  in  tending  their  feeble  progeny,  there  a  more  inti 
mate  connexion  takes  place,  and  continues  until  the  purpose  of  nature  be 
accomplished,  and  the  new  race  grow  up  to  full  maturity.  As  the  infancy 
of  man  is  more  feeble  and  helpless  than  that  of  any  other  animal,  and  he 
is  dependent  during  a  much  longer  period  on  the  care  and  foresight^of  his 
parents,  the  union  between  husband  and  wife  came  early  to  be  considered 
not  only  as  a  solemn  but  as  a  permanent  contract.  A  general  state  of  pro 
miscuous  intercourse  between  the  sexes  never  existed  but  in  the  imagi 
nation  of  poets.  In  the  infancy  of  society,  when  men,  destitute  of  arts 
and  industry,  lead  a  hard  precarious  life,  the  rearing  of  their  progeny  de 
mands  the  attention  and  efforts  of  both  parents  ;  and  if  their  union  had 
not  been  formed  and  continued  with  this  view,  the  race  could  not  have 
been  preserved.  Accordingly  in  America,  even  among  the  rudest  tribes, 
a  regular  union  between  husband  and  wife  was  universal,  and  the  rights 
of  marriage  were  understood  and  recognised.  In  those  districts  where 
subsistence  was  scanty,  and  the  difficulty  cf  maintaining  a  family  was 
great,  the  man  confined  himself  to  one  wife.  In  warmer  and  more  fertile 
provinces,  the  facility  of  procuring  food  concurred  with  the  influence  of 
climate  in  inducing  the  inhabitants  to  increase  the  number  of  their  wives.* 
In  some  countries  the  marriage-union  subsisted  during  life  ;  in  others,  the 
impatience  of  the  Americans  under  restraint  of  any  species,  together  with 
their  natural  levity  and  caprice,  prompted  them  to  dissolve  it  on  very 
slight  pretexts,  and  often  without  assigning  any  cause. j 

But  in  whatever  light  the  Americans  considered  the  obligation  of  this 
contract,  either  as  perpetual  or  only  as  temporary,  the  condition  of  women 
was  equally  humiliating  and  miserable.  Whether  man  has  been  improved 
by  the  progress  of  arts  and  civilization  in  society,  is  a  question  which,  in 
ihe  wantonness  of  disputation,  'has  been  agitated  among  philosophers. 
That  women  are  indebted  to  the  refinements  of  polished  manners,  for  a 
happy  change  in  their  state,  is  a  point  which  can  admit  of  no  doubt.  To 
despise  and  to  degrade  the  female  sex  is  a  characteristic  of  the  savage  state 
in  every  part  of  the  globe.  Man,  proud  of  excelling  in  strength  and  in 
courage,  the  chief  marks  of  pre-eminence  among  rude  people,  treats  woman, 
as  an  inferior,  with  disdain.  The  Americans,  perhaps  from  that  coldness 
and  insensibility  which  has  been  considered  as  peculiar  to  their  constitution, 
add  neglect  and  harshness  to  contempt.  The  most  intelligent  travellers 
nave  been  struck  with  this  inattention  of  the  Americans  to  their  women. 
It  is  not,  as  I  have  already  observed,  by  a  studied  display  of  tenderness 
and  attachment  that  the  American  endeavours  to  gain  the  heart  of  the 
woman  whom  he  wishes  to  marry.  Marriage  itself,  instead  of  being  a 
union  of  affection  and  interests  between  equals,  becomes  among  them  the 
unnatural  conjunction  of  a  master  with  his  slave.  It  is  the  observation  of 

*  Lettr.  Edif.  23.  318.  Lafitau  Moeurs,  i.  554.  Lery  ap.  dc  Bry,  iii.  234.  Journal  de  Grille!  et 
Bechamel,  p.  88.  t  Lafitau,  i.  580 .  Joutel  Journ.  Historr  345.  Lozano  Desc.  del  Gran  Chaco, 
70.  Henuepin  Moeurs  des  Sauvages,  p.  30.  33. 

VOL.  I. —20 


154  HISTORY  OF  [BooKlV 

an  author  whose  opinions  are  deservedly  of  great  weight,  that  wherever 
wives  are  purchased  their  condition  is  extremely  depressed.*  They 
become  the  property  and  the  slaves  of  those  who  buy  them.  In  whatever 
part  of  the  globe  this  custom  prevails,  the  observation  holds.  In  countries 
where  refinement  has  made  some  progress,  women  when  purchased  are 
excluded  from  society,  shut  up  in  sequestered  apartments,  "and  kept  under 
the  vigilant  guard  of  their  masters.  In  ruder  nations  they  are  degraded 
to  the  meanest  functions.  Among  many  people  of  America  the  marriage 
contract  is  properly  a  purchase.  The  man  buys  his  wife  of  her  parents. 
Though  unacquainted  with  the. use  of  money,  or  with  such  commercial 
transactions  as  take  place  in  more  improved  society,  he  knows  how  to  give 
an  equivalent  for  any  object  which  he  desires  to  possess.  -  In  some  places, 
the  suitor  devotes  his  service  for  a  certain  time  to  the  parents  of  the  maid 
whom  he  courts ;  in  others  he  hunts  for  them  occasionally',  or  assists  in 
cultivating  their  fields  and  forming  their  canoes  ;  in  others,  he  offers  presents 
of  such  things  as  are  deemed  most  valuable  on  account  of  their  usefulness 
or  rarity.j  In  return  for  these  he  receives  his  wife  ;  and  this  circumstance, 
added  to  the  low  estimation  of  women  among  savages,  leads  him  to  con 
sider  her  as  a  female  servant  whom  he  has  purchased,  and  whom  he  has 
a  title  to  treat  as  an  inferior.  In  all  unpolishsd  nations,  it  is  true,  the 
functions  in  domestic  economy  which  fall  naturally  to  the  share  of  women 
are  so  many,  that  they  are  subjected  to  hard  labour,  and  must  bear  more 
than  their  mil  portion  of  the  common  burden.  But  in  America  their  con 
dition  is  so  peculiarly  grievous,  and  their  depression  so  complete,  that 
servitude  is  a  name  too  mild  to  describe  their  wretched  state.  A  wife 
among  most  tribes  is  no  better  than  a  beast  of  burden,  destined  to  every 
office  of  labour  and  fatigue.  While  the  men  loiter  out  the  day  in  sloth,  or 
spend  it  in  amusement,  the  women  are  condemned  to  incessant  toil. 
Tasks  are  imposed  upon  them  without  pity,  and  services  are  received 
without  complacence  or  gratitude.];  Every  circumstance  reminds  women 
of  this  mortifying  inferiority.  They  must  approach  their  lords  with  rever 
ence  ;  they  must  regard  them  as  more  exalted  beings,  and  are  not  permitted 
to  eat  in  their  presence. §  There  are  districts  in  America  where  this  domi 
nion  is  so  grievous,  and  so  sensibly  felt,  that  some  women,  in  a  wild  emo 
tion  of  maternal  tenderness,  have  destroyed  their  female  children  in  their 
infancy,  in  order  to  deliver  them  from  that  intolerable  bondage  to  which 
they  knew  they  were  doomed.il  Thus  the  first  institution  of  social  life  is 
perverted.  That  state  of  domestic  union  towards  which  nature  leads  the 
human  species,  in  order  to  soften  the  .heart  to  gentleness  and  humanity,  is 
rendered  so  unequal  as  to  establish  a  cruel  distinction  between  the  sexes, 
which  forms  the  one 'to  be  harsh  and  unfeeling,  and  humbles  the  other  to 
servility  and  subjection. 

It  is  owing,  perhaps,  in  some  measure,  to  this  state  of  depression,  that 
women  in  rude  nations  are  far  from  being  prolific.  IT  The  vigour  of  their 
constitution  is  exhausted  by  excessive  fatigue,  and  the  wants  and  distresses 
of  savage  life  are  so  numerous  as  to  force  them  to  take  various  precautions 
in  order  to  prevent  top- rapid  an  increase  of  their  progeny.  Among  wandering 
tribes,  or  such  as  depend  chiefly  upon  hunting  for  subsistence,  the  mother 
cannot  attempt  to  rear  a  second  child  until  the  first  has  attained  such  a 
degree  of  vigour  as  to  be  in  some  measure  independent  of  her  care 
From  this  motive,  it  is  the  universal  practice  of  the  American  women  to 
suckle  their  children  during  several  years  ;**  and,  as  they  seldom  marry 
early,  the  period  of  their  fertility  is  over  before  they  can  finish  the  long 

*  Sketches  of  Hist,  of  Man,  i.  184.  f  Lafitau  Moeurs,  &c.  i.  560,  &c.  Charlev.  iii.  285,  &c. 
Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  iv.  c.  7.  Dumont,  ii.  156.  J  Tertre,  ii.  382.  Borde  Relat.  des  Moeurs  des 
Caraibes,  p.  21.  Biet.  357.  Condamine,  p.  110.  Fermin.  i.  79.  §  Gumilla,  i.  153.  Barrere, 
164.  Labat,  Voy.  ii.  78.  Clianvalon,  51.  Tertre,  ii.  300.  ||  Gumilla,  ii.  233.  238.  Herrera, 
dec.  7.  lib.  ix.'c.  iv.  IT  Lafitau,  i.  59D.  Charlevoix,  iii.  304.  **  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  i:  c.  1- 


AMERICA.  155 

but  necessary  attendance  upon  two  or  three  children.*  Among  some  of 
the  least  polished  tribes,  whose  industry  and  foresight  do  not^  extend  so  far 
as  to  make  any  regular  provision  for  their  own  subsistence,  it  is  a  maxim 
not  to  burden  themselves  with  rearing  more  than  two  children  ;|  and  no 
such  numerous  families  as  are  frequent  in  civilized  societies  are  to  be 
found  among  men  in  the  savage  state.];  When  twins  are  born,  one  of  them 
commonly  is  abandoned,  because  the  mother  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of  rearing 
both§  [53].  When  a  mother  dies  while  she  is  nursing  a  child,  all  hope  of 
preserving  its  life  fails,  and  it  is  buried  together  with  her  in  the  same  grave. || 
As  the  parents  are  frequently  exposed  to  want  by  their  own  improvident 
indolence,  the  difficulty  of  sustaining  their  children  becomes  _so  great  that 
it  is  not  uncommon  to  abandon  or  destroy  them. IT  Thus  their  experience 
of  the  difficulty  of  training  up  an  infant  to  maturity,  amidst  the  hardships  of 
savage  life,  often  stifles  the  voice  of  nature  among  the  Americans,  and 
suppresses  the  strong  emotions  of  parental  tenderness. 

But  though  necessity  compels  the  inhabitants  of  America  thus  to  set 
bounds  to  the  increase  of  their  families,  they  are  not  deficient  in  affection 
and  attachment  to  their  offspring.  They  feel  the  power  of  this  instinct  in 
its  full  force,  and  as  long  as  their  progeny  continue  feeble  and  helpless,  no 
people  exceed  them  in  tenderness  and  care.**  But  in  rude  nations  the 
dependence  of  children  upon  their  parents  is  of  shorter  continuance  than 
in  polished  societies.  When  men  must  be  trained  to  the  various  functions  of 
civil  life  by  previous  discipline  and  education,  when  the  knowledge  of  abstruse 
sciences  must  be  taught,  and  dexterity  in  intricate  arts  must  be  acquired, 
before  a  young  man  is  prepared  to  begm  his  career  of  action,  the  attentive  feel 
ings  of  a  parent  are  not  confined  to  the  years  of  infancy,  but  extend  to  what  is 
more  remote,  the  establishment  of  his  child  in  the  worl,d.  Even  then  his 
solicitude  does  not  terminate.  His  protection  may  still  bev  requisite,  and 
his  wisdom  and  experience  still  prove  useful  guides.  Thus  a  permanent 
connection  is  formed ;  parental  tenderness  is  exercised,  and  filial  respect 
returned,  throughout  the  whole  course  of  life.  But  in  the  simplicity  of  the 
savage  state  the  affection  of  parents,  like  the  instinctive  fondness  of  animals, 
ceases  almost  entirely  as  soon  as  their  offspring  attain  maturity.  Little  in 
struction  fits  them  for  that  mode  of  life  to  which  they  are  destined.  The 
parents,  as  if  their  duty  were  accomplished,  when  they  have  conducted 
their  children  through  the  helpless  years  of  infancy*  leave  them  afterwards 
at  entire  liberty.  Even  in  their  tender  age,  they  seldom  advise  or  admonish, 
they  never  chide  or  chastise  them.  They  suffer  them  to  be  absolute  masters 
of  their  own  actions.||  In  an  America^  hut,  a  father,  a  mother,  and  their 
posterity,  live  together  like  persons  assembled  by  accident,  without  seeming 
to  feel  the  obligation  of  the  duties  mutually  arising  from  this  connection. JJ 
As  filial  love  is  not  cherished  by  the  continuance  of  attention  or  good  offices, 
the  recollection  of  benefits  received  in  early  infancy  is  too  faint  to  excite  it. 
Conscious  of  their  own  liberty,  and  impatient  of  restraint,  the  youth  of 
America  are  accustomed  to  act  as  if  they  were  totally  independent.  Their 
parents  are  not  objects  of  greater  regard  than  other  persons.  They  treat 
them  always  with  neglect,  and  often  with  such  harshness  and  insolence  as 
to  fill  those  who  have  been  witnesses  of  their  conduct  with  horror.§§  Thus 
the  ideas  which  seem  to  be  natural  to  man  in  his  savage  state,  as  they  result 
necessarily  from  his  circumstances  and  condition  in  that'periodof  his  progress, 

*  Charlev.  iii.  303.  Dumont,  M£m.  stir  Louisiane,  ii.270.  Deny's  Hist.  Nalur.  de  1'Amerique, 
&.c.  ii.  3G5.  Charlev.  Hist,  de  Farag.  ii.  422.  |  Techo's  Account  of  Paraguay,  &c.  Church. 
Collect,  vi.  108.  Lett.  Edif.  xxxiv.  200.  Lozano  Descr.  92.  }  Maccleur's  Journal,  63.  §  Lett 
Edif.  x.200.  ||  Charlev.  iii.  308.  Lett.  Ediff.  x  200.  P.  Melch.  Hernandez  Memor.  de  Che- 
riqui.  Colbert.  Collect.  Orig.  Pap.  i.  IT  Venega'o  Hist,  of  Californ.  i.  82.  **  Guinilia,  i.211. 
Biet.  390.  |t  Charlev.  iii.  272.  Biet.  390.  Gumilla,  i.  212.  Lafitau.  i.  602  Creuxii  Hist. 
Canad.  p.  71.  Fernandez,  Relac.  Hist,  de  los  Chequit.  33.  ft  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  273. 

£§  Gumilla,  i.  212.  Tertre,  ii.  376.  Charlev.  Hist,  de  N.  France,  iii.  309.  Charlev.  Hist,  de 
JParag.  i.  115.  Lozano  Descript.  del  Gran.  Chaco.  p.  68.  100, 101.  Fernand.  Relac.  Histor  de  Ion 
Chequit.  426. 


156  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

•affect  the  two  capital  relations  in  domestic  life.  They  render  the  union 
between  husband  and  wife  unequal.  They  shorten  the  duration  and  weaken 
the  force  of  the  connection  between  parents  and  children. 

IV.  From  the  domestic  state  of  the  Americans,  the  transition  to  the  con 
sideration  of  their  civil  government  and  political  institutions  is  natural.  In 
every  inquiry  concerning  the  operations  of  men  when  united  together  in 
society,  the  first  object  of  attention  should  be  their  mode  of  subsistence. 
Accordingly  as  that  varies,  their  laws  and  policy  must  be  different.  The 
institution  suited  to  the  ideas  and  exigencies  of  tribes  which  subsist  chiefly 
by  fishing  or  hunting,  and  which  have  as  yet  acquired  but  an  imperfect  con 
ception  of  any  species  of  property,  will  be  much  more  simple  than  those 
which  must  take  place  when- the  earth  is  cultivated  with  regular  industry  ; 
and  a  right  of  property,  not  only  in  its  productions,  but  in  the  soil  itself,  is 
completely  ascertained. 

All  the  people  of  America,  now  under  review,  belong  to  the  former 
class.  But  though  they  may  all  be  comprehended  under  the  general  de 
nomination  of  savage,  the  advances' which  they  had  made  in  the  art  of  pro 
curing  to  themselves  a  certain  and  plentiful  subsistence  were  very  unequal. 
On  the  extensive  plains  of  South  America  man  appears  in  one  of  the  rudest 
states  in  which  he  has  been  ever  observed,  or  perhaps  can  exist.  Several 
tribes  depend  entirely  upon  the  bounty  of  nature  for  subsistence.  They 
discover  no  solicitude,  they  employ  little  foresight,  they  scarcely  exert 
any  industry  to  secure  what  is  necessary  for  their  support.  The  Topdyers, 
of  Brazil,  the  Guaxeros,  of  Tierra  Firme,  the  Caiguas,  the  Moocos,  and 
several  other  people  of  Paraguay,  are  unacquainted  with  every  species  of 
cultivation.  They  neither  sow  nor  plant.  Even  the  culture  of  the  manioc, 
of  which  cassada  bread  is  made,  is  an  art  too  intricate  for  their  ingenuity, 
or  too  fatiguing  to  their  indolence.  The  roots  which  the  earth  produces 
spontaneously  ;  the  fruits,  the  berries,  and  the  seeds  which  they  gather  in 
the  woods  ;  'together  with  lizards  and  other  reptiles,  which  multiply  ama 
zingly  with  the  heat  of  the  climate  in  a  fat  soil  moisteneli  by  frequent 
rains,  supply  them  with  food  during  some  part  of  the  year.*  At  other 
times  they  subsist  by  fishing  ;  and  naturfe  seems  to  have  indulged  the  lazi 
ness  of  the  South  American  tribes  by  the  liberality  with  which  she  minis 
ters  in  this  way  to  their  wants.  The  vast  rivers  of  that  region  in  America 
abound  with  an  infinite  variety  of  the  most  delicate  fish.  The  lakes  and 
marshes  formed  by  the  annual  overflowing  of  the  waters  are  filled  Avith  all 
the  different  species,  where  they  remain  shut  up,  as  in  natural  reservoirs, 
for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants.  They  swarm  in  such  shoals,  that  in  some 
places  they  are  catched  without  art  or  industry  [54].  In  others,  the  na 
tives  have  discovered  a  method  of  infecting  tne  water  with  the  juice  of 
certain  plants,  by  which  the  fish  are  so  intoxicated  that  they  float  on  the 
surface  and  are  taken  with  the  hand  [55].  Some  tribes  have  ingenuity 
enough  to  preserve  them  without  salt,  by  drying  or  smoking  them  upon 
hurdles  over  a  slow  fire.f  The  prolific  quality  of  the  rivers  in  South 
America  induces  many  of  the  natives  to  resort  to  their  banks,  and  to  de 
pend  almost  entirely  for  nourishment  on  what  their  waters  supply  with 
such  profusion,  j  In  this  part  of  the  globe  hunting  seems  not  to  have  been 
the  first  employment  of  men,  or  the  first  effort  6?  their  invention  and  la 
bour  to  obtain  food.  They  were  fishers  before  they  became  hunters  ; 
and  as  the  occupations  of  the  former  do  not  call  for  equal  exertions  of  ac 
tivity  or  talents  with  those  of  the  latter,  people  in  that  state  appear  to 
possess  neither  the  same  degree  of  enterprise  nor  of  ingenuity.  The 

*  Nieuhcff.  Hist,  of  Brazil.  Church.  Coll.  ii.  134.  Simon  Conquista  de  Tierra  Firmd,  p.  166. 
Techo,  Account  of  Paraguay,  &c.  Church,  vi.  78.  Lettr.  Edif.  23.  384. 10.  390.  Lozano,  De- 
scrip,  del.  Gran  Chaco,  p.  81.  Ribas  Histor.  de  los  Triumfos,  &c.  p.  7.  t  Condam.  159.  Gu 
milla,  ii.  37.  Lettr.  Edif.  14.  199.  23.  328.  Acugna,  Relat.  de  la  Riv.  des  Amas.  138.  f  Baf 
rere,  Relat.  de  Fr.  Equin.  p.  155. 


AMERICA.  157 

petty  nations  adjacent  to  the  Maragnon  and  Orinoco  are  manifestly  the 
most  inactive  and  least  intelligent  of  all  the  Americans. 

None  but  tribes  contiguous  to  great  rivers  can  sustain  themselves  in  this 
manner.  The  greater  part  of  the  American  nations,  dispersed  over  the 
forests  with  which  their  country  is  covered,  do  not  procure  subsistence 
with  the  same  facility.  For  although  these  forests,  especially  in  the 
southern  continent  of  America,  are  stored  plentifully  with  game,*  consi 
derable  efforts  of  activity  and  ingenuity  are  requisite  in  pursuit  of  it. 
Necessity  incited  the  natives  to  the  one,  and  taught  them  the  other. 
Hunting  became  their  principal  occupation  ;  and  as  it  called  forth  strenu 
ous  exertions  of  courage,  of  force,  and  of  invention,  it  was  deemed  no 
less  honourable  than  necessary.  This  occupation  was  peculiar  to  the  men. 
They  were  trained  to  it  from  their  earliest  youth.  A  bold  and  dexterous 
nunter  ranked  next  in  fame  to  the  distinguished  warrior,  and  an  alliance 
with  the  former  is  often  courted  in  preference  to  one  with  the  latter.t 
Hardly  any  device,  which  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  discovered  for  en- 
snaring  or  destroying  wild  animals,  was  unknown  to  the .  Americans. 
While  engaged  in  this  favourite  exercise,  they  shake  off  the  indolence 
peculiar  to  their  nature,  the  latent  powers  and  vigour  of  their  minds  are 
roused,  and  they  become  active,  persevering,  and  indefatigable.  Their 
sagacity  in  finding  their  prey  and  their  address  in  killing  it  are  equal. 
Their  reason  and  their  senses  being  constantly  directed  towards  this  one 
object,  the  former  displays  such  fertility  of  invention  and  the  latter  acquire 
such  a  degree  of  acuteness  as  appear  almost  incredible.  They  discern 
the  footsteps  of  a  wild  beast,  which  escape  every  other  eye,  and  can  follow 
them  with  certainty  through  the  pathless  forest.  If  th'ey  attack  their  game 
openly,  their  arrow  seldom  errs  from  the  mark  : J  if  they  endeavour  to 
circumvent  it  by  art,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  avoid  their  toils.  Among 
several  tribes,  their  young  men  were  not  permitted  to  marry  until  they 
had  given  such  proofs  of  their  skill  in  hunting  as  put  it  beyond  doubt  that 
they  were  capable  of  providing  for  a  family.  Their  ingenuity,  always  on 
the  stretch,  and  sharpened  by  emulation  as  well  as  necessity,  has  struck 
out  many  inventions  which  greatly  facilitate  success  in  the  chase.  The 
most  singular  of  these  is  the  discovery  of  a  poison,  in  which  they  dip  the 
arrows  employed  in  hunting.  The  slightest  wound  with  those  envenomed 
shafts  is  mortal.  If  they  only  pierce  the  skin,  the  blood  fixes  and  congeals 
in  a  moment,  and  the  strongest  animal  falls  motionless  to  the  ground. 
Nor  does  this  poison,  notwithstanding  its  violence  and  subtlety,  infect  the 
flesh  of  the  animal  which  it  kills.  That  may  be  eaten  with  perfect  safety, 
and  retain  its  native  relish  and  qualities.  All  the  nations  situated  upon  the 
banksof  the  Maragnon  andOrinocoare  acquainted  with  this  composition,  the 
chief  ingredient  in  which  is  the  juice  extracted  from  the  root  of  the  curare,, 
a  species  of  withe. §  In  other  parts  of  America  they  employ  the  juice  of 
the  manchenille  for  the  same  purpose,  and  it  operates  with  no  less  fatal 
activity.  To  people  possessed  of  those  secrets  the  bow  is  a  more  destruc 
tive  weapon  than  the  musket,  and,  in  their  skilful  hands,  does  great  exe 
cution  among  the  birds  and  beasts  which  abouncTin  the  forests  of  America. 

But  the  me  of  a  hunter  gradually  leads  man  to  a  state  more  advanced. 
The  chase,  even  where  prey  is  abundant,  and  the  dexterity  of  the  hunter 
much  improved,  affords  but  an  uncertain  maintenance,  and  at  some  seasons 
it  myst  be  suspended  altogether.  If  a  savage  trusts  to  his  bow  alone  for 
food,  he  and  his  family  will  be  often  reduced  to  extreme  distress  [56]. 
Hardly  any  region  of  the  earth  furnishes  man  spontaneously  with  what  his 
wants  require.  In  the  mildest  climates,  and  most  fertile  soils,  his  own 

*  P.  Martyr,  Decad.  p.  324.  Gumilia,  ii.  4,  &c.  Acugna,  i.  156.  f  Charlev.  Histoire  de  la 
N.  France,  iii.  115.  }  Biet.  Voy.  do  France  Equin.  357.  Davies'e  Diecov.  of  the  River  of 
Amaz.  Purchas,  iv.  p.  1287.  §  Gumilia,  ii.  1,  &c.  Condam.  208.  Recherch.  Philos.  ii.  239, 
Bancroft's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  231,  &c. 


158  H 1 S  T  O  R  Y    0  F  [Boos  IV, 

industry  and  foresight  must  be  exerted  in  some  degree  to  secure  a  regula?, 
supply  of  food.  Their  experience  of  this  surmounts  the  abhorrence  of 
labour  natural  to  savage  nations,  and  compels  them  to  have  recourse  to 
culture,  as  subsidiary  to  hunting.  In  particular  situations,  some  small 
tribes  may  subsist  by  fishing,  independent  of  any  production  of  the  earth 
raised  by  their  own  industry.  But  throughout  all  America,  we  scarcely 
meet  with  any  nation  of  hunters  which  does  not  practise  some  species  of 
cultivation. 

The  agriculture  of  the  Americans,  however,  is  neither  extensive  nor 
laborious.  As  game  and  fish  are  their  principal  food,  all  they  aim  at  by 
cultivation  is  to  supply  any  occasional  defect  of  these.  In  the  southern 
continent  of  America,  the  natives  confined  their  industry  to  rearing  a  few 
plants,  which,  in  a  rich  soil  and  warm  climate,  were  easily  trained  to  ma 
turity.  The  chief  of  these  is  maize,  well  known  ip  Europe  by  the  name 
of  Turkey  or  Indian  wheat,  a  grain  extremely  prolific,  of  simple  culture, 
agreeable  to  the  taste,  and  affording  a  strong  hearty  nourishment.  The 
second  is  the  manioc,  which  grows  to  the  size  of  a  large  shrub  or  small 
tree,  and  produces  roots  somewhat  resembling  parsnips.  After  carefully 
squeezing  out  the  juice,  these  roots  are  grated  down  to  a  fine  powder,  and 
formed  into  thin  cakes  called  cassada  bread,  which,  though  insipid  to  the 
taste,  proves  no  contemptible  food.*  As  the  juice  of  the  manioc  is  a 
deadly  poison,  some  authors  have  celebrated  the  ingenuity  of  the  Ameri 
cans  in  converting  a  noxious  plant  into  wholesome  nourishment.  But  it 
should  rather  be  considered  as  one  of  the  desperate  expedients  for  pro 
curing  subsistence,  to  which  necessity  reduces  rude  nations  ;  or,  perhaps, 
men  were  led  to  the  use  of  it  by  a  progress  in  which  there  is  nothing 
marvellous.  One  species  of  manioc  is  altogether  free  of  any  poisonous 
(juality,  and  may  be  eaten  without  any  preparation  but  that  01  roasting  it 
in  the  embers.  This,  it  is  probable,  was  first  used  by  the  Americans  as 
food;  and,. necessity  having  gradually  taught  them  the  art  of  separating 
its  pernicious  juice  from  the  other  species,  they  have  by  experience  found 
it  to  be  more  prolific  as  well  as  more  nourishing!  [57].  The  third  is  the 
plantain,  which,  though  it  rises  to  the  height  of  a  tree,  is  of  such  quick 
growth,  that  in  less  than  a  year  it  rewards  the  industry  of  the  cultivator 
with  its  fruit.  This,  when  roasted,  supplies  the  place  of  bread,  and  is 
both  palatable  and  nourishing'  [58].  The  fourth  is  the  potatoe,  whose  cul 
ture  and  qualities  are  too  well  known  to  need  any  description.  The  fifth 
is  pimento,  a  small  tree  yielding  a  strong  aromatic  spice.  The  Americans, 
who,  like  other  inhabitants  of  warm  climates,  delight  in  whatever  is  hot 
and  of  poignant  flavour,  deem  this  seasoning  a  necessary  of  life,  and 
mingle  it  copiously  with  every  kind  of  food  they  take.J 

Such  are  the  various  productions,  which  were  the  chief  object  of  cul 
ture  among  the  hunting  tribes  on  the  continent  of  America  ;  and  with  a 
moderate  exertion  of  active  and  provident  industry  these  might  have 
yielded  a  full  supply  to  the  wants  of  a  numerous  people.  But  men, 
accustomed  to  the  free  and  vagrant  life  of  hunters,  are  incapable  of  regu 
lar  application  to  labour,  and  consider  agriculture  as  a  secondary  and 
inferior  occupation.  Accordingly,  the  provision  for  subsistence,  arising 
from  cultivation,  was  so  limited  and  scanty  among  the  Americans,  that, 
upon  any  accidental  failure  of  their  usual  success  in  hunting,  they  were 
often  reduced  to  extreme  distress. 

In  the  islands,  the  mode  of  subsisting  was  considerably  different.  None 
of  the  large  animals  which  abound  on  the  continent  were  known  there. 
Only  four  species  of  quadrupeds,  besides  a  kind  .of  small  dumb  dog, 

*  Sloane  Hist,  of  Jam,  Introd.  p.  18.  Labat,  i.  394.  Acosta,  Hist.  Ind.  Occid.  Natur.  lib.  Iv.  c. 
17.  Ulloa,  i.  62.  Aublet,  Mem.  sur  le  Ma#nioc.  Hist,  des  Plantes,  torn.  ii.  p.  65,  &c.  f  Martyr, 
Decad.  301.  Labat,  i.  411.  Gumilla.  iii.  192.  Machucha  Milic.  Indiana,  164,  f  Gumilla,  iii. 
171.  Acosta,  lib.  iv.  c.  20. 


AMERICA,  159 

existed  in  the  islands,  the  biggest  of  which  did  not  exceed  the  size  of  a 
rabbit.*  To  hunt  such  a  diminutive  prey  was  an  occupation  which 
required  no  effort  either  of  activity  or  courage.  The  chief  employment 
of  a  hunter  in  the  isles  was  to  kill  birds,  which  on  the  continent  are  deemed 
ignoble  game,  and  left  chiefly  to  the  pursuit  of  bovs.t  This  want  of 
animals,  as  well  as  their  peculiar  situation,  led  the  islanders  to  depend 
principally  upon  fishing  for  their  subsistence. ;{;  Their  rivers,  and  the  sea 
with  which  they  are  surrounded,  supplied  them  with  this  species  of  food. 
At  some  particular  seasons,  turtle,  crabs,  and  other  shellfish  abounded  in 
such  numbers  that  the  natives  could  support  themselves  with  a  facility  in 
which  their  indolence  delighted.§  At  other  times,  they  ate  lizards  and 
various  reptiles  of  odious  forms.||  To  fishing  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands 
added  some  degree  of  agriculture.  Maize  [59],  manioc,  and  other  plants 
were  cultivated  in  the  same  manner  as  on  the  continent.  But  all  the  fruits 
of  their  industry,  together  with  what  their  soil  and  climate  produced  spon 
taneously,  afforded  them  but  a  scanty  maintenance.  Though  their  demands 
for  food  were  very  sparing,  they  hardly  raised  what  was  sufficient  for  their 
own  consumption.  If  a  few  Spaniards  settled  in  any  district,  such  a  small 
addition  of  supernumerary  mouths  soon  exhausted  their  scanty  stores,  and 
brought  on  a  famine. 

Two  circumstances,  common  to  all  the  savage  nations  of  America,  con 
curred  with  those  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  not  only  in  rendering 
their  agriculture  imperfect,  but  in  circumscribing  their  power  in  all  their 
operations.  They  had  no  tame  animals  ;  and  they  were  unacquainted  with 
the  useful  metals. 

In  other  parts  of  the  globe,  man,  in  his  rudest  state,  appears  as  lord  of 
the  creation,  giving  law  to  various  tribes  of  animals,  which  he  has  tamed 
and  reduced  to  subjection.  The  Tartar  follows  his  prey  on  the  horse 
which  he  has  reared  ;  or  tends  his  numerous  herds,  which  furnish  him  both 
with  food  and  clothing  :  the  Arab  has  rendered  the  camel  docile,  arid  avails 
himself  of  its  persevering  strength  :  the  Laplander  has  formed  the  reindeer 
to  be  subservient  to  his  will ;  and  even  the  people  of  Kamchatka  have 
trained  their  dogs  to  labour.  This  command  over  the  inferior  creatures  is 
one  of  the  noblest  prerogatives  of  man,  and  among  the  greatest  efforts  of 
his  wisdom  and  power.  Without  this  his  dominion  is  incomplete.  He  is 
a  monarch  who  has  no  subjects,  a  master  without  servants,  and  must  per 
form  every  operation  by  the  strength  of  his  own  arm.  Such  was  the  con 
dition  of  all  the  rude  nations  in  America.  Their  reason  was  so  little 
improved,  or  their  union  so  incomplete,  that  they  seem  not  to  have  been 
conscious  of  the  superiority  of  their  nature,  and  suffered  all  the  animal 
creation  to  retain  its  liberty,  without  establishing  their  own  authority  over 
any  one  species.  Most  of  the  animals,  indeed,  which  have  been  rendered 
domestic  in  our  continent,  do  not  exist  in  the  New  World  ;  but  those 
peculiar  to  it  are  neither  so  fierce  nor  so  formidable  as  to.have  exempted 
them  from  servitude.  There  are  some  animals  of  the  same  species  on 
both  continents.  But  the  rein-deer,  which  has  been  tamed  and  broken  to 
the  yoke  in  the  one  hemisphere,  runs  wild  in  the  other.  The  bison  of 
America  is  manifestly  of  the  same  species  with  the  horned  cattle  of  the 
other  hemisphere.  11  The  latter,  even  among  the  rudest  nations  in  our  con 
tinent,  have  been  rendered  domestic  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  his  dominion 
over  them,  man  can  accomplish  works  of  labour  with  greater  facility, 
and  has  made  a  great  addition  to  his  means  of  subsistence.  The  inhabit 
ants  of  many  regions  of  the  New  World,  where  the  bison  abounds,  might 
have  derived  the  same  advantages  from  it.  It  is  not  of  a  nature  so 
indocile,  but  that  it  might  have  been  trained  to  be  as  subservient  to  man 

*  Oviedo,  lib.  xii.  in  proem.  t  ftibas  Hist,  de  los  Triumph,  p.  13.    De  la  Potherie,  ii.  33. 

iii.  20.  I  Oviedo,  lib.  xiii.  c.  1.    Gomara,  Hist.  Gener.  c.  28.  $  Gomara,  Hist  Gene/, 

c  9     Labat,  ii.  221,  &c.  ||  Oviedo,  lib.  xiii  c  3  IT  Buffon.  ortic.  Bison, 


160  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

as  our  cattle.*  But  a  savage,  in  that  uncultivated  state  -wherein  the 
Americans  were  discovered,  is  the  enemy  of  the  other  animals,  not  their 
superior.  He  wastes  and  destroys,  but  knows  not  how  to  multiply  or  ta 
govern  them.t 

This,  perhaps,  is  the  most  notable  distinction  between  the-  inhabitants  of 
the  'Ancient  and  New  Worlds,  and  a  high  pre-eminence  of  civilized  men 
above  such  as  continue  rude.  The  greatest  operations  of  man  in  changing 
and  improving  the  face  of  nature,  as  well  as  his  most  considerable  efforts 
in  cultivating  the  earth,  are  accomplished  by  means  of  the  aid  which  he 
receives  from  the  animals  that  he  has  tamed,  and  employs  in  labour.  It  is 
by  their  strength  that  he  subdues, the  stubborn  soil,  and  converts  the  desert 
or  marsh  into  a  fruitful  field.  But  man,  in  his  civilized  state,  is  so 
accustomed  to  the  service  of  the  domestic  animals,  that  he  seldom 
reflects  upon  the  vast  benefits  which  he  derives  from  it.  If  we  were 
to  suppose  him,  even  when  most  improved,  to  be  deprived  of  their  useful 
ministry,  his  empire  over  nature  must  in  some  measure  cease,  and  he  would 
remain  a  feeble  animal,  at  a  loss  how  to  subsist,  and  incapable  of  attempt 
ing  such  arduous  undertakings  as  their  assistance  enables  him  to  execute 
with  ease. 

It  is  a  doubtful  point,  whether  the  dominion  of  man  over  the  animal 
creation,  or  his  acquiring  the  useful  metals,  has  contributed  most  to  extend 
his  power.  The  era  of  this  important  discovery  is  unknown,  and  in  our 
hemisphere  very  remote.  It  is  only  by  tradition,  or  by  digging  up  some 
rude  instruments  of  our  forefathers,  that  we  learn  that  mankind  were 
originally  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  metals,  and  endeavoured  to  supply 
the  want  of  them  by  employing  flints,  shells,  bones,  and  other  hard  sub 
stances,  for  the  same  purposes  which  metals  serve  among  polished  nations. 
Nature  completes  the  formation  of  some  metals.  Gold,  silver,  and  copper, 
are  found  in  their  perfect  state  in  the  clefts  of  rocks,  in  the  sides  of 
mountains,  or  the  channels  of  rivers.  These  were  accordingly  the  metals 
first  known,  and  first  applied  to  use.  But  iron,  the  most  serviceable  of  all, 
and  to  which  man  is  most  indebted,  is  never  discovered  in  its  perfect  form  ; 
its  gross  and  stubborn  ore  must  feel  twice  the  force  of  fire,  and  go  through 
"two  laborious  processes,  before  it  becomes  fit  for  use.  Man  was  long 
acquainted  with  the  other  metals  before  he  acquired  the  art  of  fabricating 
iron,  or  attained  such  ingenuity  as  to  perfect  an  invention,  to  which  he  is 
indebted  for  those  instruments  wherewith  he  subdues  the  earth*  and  com 
mands  all  its  inhabitants.  But  in  this,  as  well  as  in  many  other  respects, 
the  inferiority  of  the  Americans  was  conspicuous.  All  the  savage  tribes, 
scattered  over  the  continent  and  islands,  were  totally  unacquainted  with 
the  metals  which  their  soil  produces  in  great  abundance,  if  we  except 
some  trifling  quantity  of  gold,  which  they  picked  up  in  the  torrents  that 
descended  from  their  mountains,  and  formed  into  ornaments.  Their  devices 
to  supply  this  want  of  the  serviceable  metals  were  extremely  rude  and 
awkward.  The  most  simple  operation  was  to  them  an  undertaking  of 
immense  difficulty  and  labour.  To  fell  a  tree  with  no  other  instruments 
than  hatchets  of  stone,  was  employment  for  a  month.J  To  form  a  canoe 
into  shape,  and  to  hollow  it,  consumed  years ;  and  it  frequently  began  to 
rot  before  they  were  able  to  finish  it.§  Their  operations  in  agriculture 
were  equally  slow  and  defective.  In  a  country  covered  with  woods  of 
the  hardest  timber,  the  clearing  of  a  small  field  destined  for  culture 
required  the  united  efforts  of  a  tribe,  and  was  a  work  of  much  time  and 
great  toil.  This  was  the  business  of  the  men,  and  their  indolence  was 
satisfied  with  performing  it  in  a  very  slovenly  manner.  The  labour  of 
cultivation  was  left  to  the  women,  who,  after  digging,  or  rather  stirring  the 

*  Nouv.  tjtkouverte  par  Hennepin,  p.  192.  Kfilm,  i.  207.  t  Buffon  Hist.  Nat.  ix.  85.  Hist. 
Philos.  et  Polit.  des  Etablissem.  des  Europ.  dans  les  deux  Indes,  vi.  364  J  Gumilla,  iii.  196. 

$  Borde  Relat.  des  Caraibeg,  p.  22. 


AMERICA.  161 

field,  with  wooden  mattocks,  and  stakes  hardened  in  the  fire,  sowed  or 
planted  it ;  but  they  were  more  indebted  for  the  increase  to  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  than  to  their  own  rude  industry.* 

Agriculture,  even  when  the  strength  of  man  is  seconded  by  that  of  the 
animals  which  he  has  subjected  to  the  yoke,  and  his  power  augmented  by  the 
use  of  the  various  instruments  with  which  the  discovery  of  metals  has  fur* 
nished  him,  is  still  a  work  of  great  labour ;  and  it  is  with  the  sweat  of  his  brow 
that  he  renders  the  earth  fertile.  It  is  not  wonderful,  then,  that  people 
destitute  of  both  these  advantages  should  have  made  so  little  progress  in 
cultivation,  that  they  must  be  considered  as  depending  for  subsistence  on 
fishing  and  hunting,  rather  than  on  the  fruits  of  their  own  labour. 

From  this  description  of  the  mode  of  subsisting  among  the  rude  American 
tribes,  the  form  and  genius  of  their  political  institutions  may  be  deduced, 
and  we  are  enabled  to  trace  various  circumstances  of  distinction  between 
them  and  more  civilized  nations. 

1.  They  were  divided  into  small  independent  communities.    While 
hunting  is  the  chief  source  of  subsistence,  a  vast  extent  of  territory  is 
requisite  for  supporting  a  small  number  of  people.     In  proportion  as  men 
multiply  and  unite,  the  wild  animals  on  which  they  depend  for  food 
diminish,  or  fly  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  haunts  of  their  enemy.    The 
increase  of  a  society  in  this  state  is  limited  by  its  own  nature,  and  the 
members  of  it  must  either  disperse,  like  the  game  which  they  pursue,  or 
fall  upon  some  better  method  of  procuring  food  than  by  hunting.  •  Beasts 
of  prey  are  by  nature  solitary  and  unsocial,  they  go  not  forth  to  the  chase 
in  herds,  but  delight  in  those  recesses  of  the  forest  where  they  can  roam 
and  destroy  undisturbed.     A  nation  of  hunters  resembles  them  both  in 
occupation  and  in  genius.     They  cannot  form  into  large  communities,  be 
cause  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  subsistence  ;  and  they  must  drive  to 
a  distance  every  rival  who  may  encroach  on  those  domains,  which  they 
consider  as  their  own.     This  was  the  state  of  all  the  American  tribes  ;  the 
numbers  in  each  were  inconsiderable,  though  scattered  over  countries  of 
great  extent ;  they  were  far  removed  from  one  another,  and  engaged  in 
perpetual  hostilities  or  rivalship.t     In  America,  the  word  nation  is  not  of 
the  same  import  as  in  other  parts  of  the  globe.     It  is  applied  to  small 
societies,  not  exceeding,  perhaps,  two  or  three  hundred  persons,  but  occu 
pying  provinces,  greater  than  some  kingdoms  in  Europe.     The  country  of 
Guiana,  though  of  larger  extent  than  the  kingdom  of  France,  and  divided 
among  a  greater  number  of  nations,  did  not  contain  above  twenty-five 
thousand  inhabitants.!    In  the  provinces  which  border  on  the  Orinoco,  one 
may  travel  several  hundred  miles  in  different  directions,  without  finding  a 
single  hut,  or  observing  the  footsteps  of  a  human  creature.§     In  North 
America,  where  the  climate  is  more  rigorous,  and  the  soil  less  fertile,  the 
desolation  is  still  greater.     There,  journeys  of  some  hundred  leagues  have 
been  made  through  uninhabited  plains  and  forests||  [60],     As  long  as 
hunting  continues  to  be  the  chief  employment  of  man,  to  which  he  trusts 
for  subsistence,  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  occupied  the  earth  [61]. 

2.  Nations  which  depend  upon  hunting  are  in  a  great  measure  strangers 
to  the  idea  of  property.     As  the  animals  on  which  the  hunter  feeds  are  not 
bred  under  his  inspection,  nor  nourished  by  his  care,  he  can  claim  no  right 
to  them  while  they  run  wild  in  the  forest.     Where  game  is  so  plentiful 
that  it  maybe  catched  with  little  trouble,  men  never  dream  of  appropriating 
what  is  of  small  value,  or  of  easy  acquisition.    Where  it  is  so  rare,  that  the 
labour  or  danger  of  the  chase  requires  the  united  efforts  of  a  tribe,  or  village, 
what  is  killed  is  a  common  stock  belonging  equally  to  all,  who,  by  their 

*  Gumifla,  iii.  166,  &c.    Lettr.  Edif.  xii.  10.  t  Lozano  Descrip.  del  Gran  Chaco,  59.  62. 

Fernandez  Relac.  Hist,  de  los  Chequit.  162.  *  Voyages  de  Marchais,  iv.  353.  $  Gumilla, 

ii.  101.  ||  M.  Fabry,  quoted  by  Buffon,  iii.  448.    Lafitau,  ii.  179.    Bossu,  Travels  through 

Louisiana,  i.  111. 

VOL.  I.— 21  9 


165  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

skill  or  their  courage,  have  contributed  to  the  success  of  the  excursion* 
The  forest  or  hunting-grounds  are  deemed  the  property  of  the  tribe,  from 
which  it  has  a  title  to  exclude  every  rival  nation.  JBut  no  individual  arro 
gates  a  right  to  any  district  of  these  in  preference  to  his  fellow-citizens. 
They  belong  alike  to  all ;  and  thither,  as  to  a  general  and  undivided  store, 
all  repair  in  quest  of  sustenance.  The  same  principles  by  which  they 
regulate  their  chief  occupation  extend  to  that  which  is  subordinate.*  Even 
agriculture  has  not  introduced  among  them  a  complete  idea  of  property. 
As  the  men  hunt,  the  women  labour  together,  and  after  they  have  shared  the 
toils  of  the  seed  time,  they  enjoy  the  harvest  in  common.*  Among  some 
tribes,  the  increase  of  their  cultivated  lands  is  deposited  jn  a  public  gra 
nary,  and  divided  among  them  at  stated  times,  according  to  their  wants!  [62]. 
Among  others,  though  they  lay  up  separate  stores,  they  do  not  acquire 
such  an  exclusive  right  of  property,  that  they  can  enjoy  superfluity  while 
those  around  them  suffer  want. J  Thus  the  distinctions  arising  from  the 
inequality  of  possessions  are  unknown.  The  terms  rich  or  poor  enter  not 
into  their  language  ;  and  being  strangers  to  property,  they  are  unacquainted 
with  what  is  the  great  object  of  laws  and  policy,  as  well  as  the  chief  motive 
which  induced  mankind  to  establish  the  various  arrangements  of  regular 
government.^ 

3.  People  in  this  state  retain  a  high  sense  of  equality  and  independence. 
Wherever  the  idea  of  property  is  not  established,  there  can  be  no  distinc 
tion  among  men  but  what  arises  from  personal  qualities.    These  can  be 
conspicuous  only  on  such  occasions  as  call  them  forth  into  exertion.     In  times 
of  danger,  or  in  affairs  of  intricacy,  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  age  are 
consulted,  and  prescribe  the  measures  which  ought  to  .be  pursued.    When 
a  tribe  of  savages  takes  the  field  against  the  enemies  of  their  country,  the 
warrior  of  most  approved  courage  leads  the  youth  to  the  combat. ||     It  they 
go  forth  in  a  body  to  the  chase,  the  most  expert  and  adventurous  hunter  is 
foremost,  and  directs  their  motions.     But  during  seasons  of  tranquillity  and 
inaction,  when  there  is  no  occasion  to  display  those  talents,  all  pre-eminence 
ceases.     Every  circumstance  indicates  that  all  the  members  of  the  commu 
nity  are  on  a  level.     They  are  clothed  in  the  same  simple  garb.     They  feed 
CM  the  same  plain  fare.     Their  houses  and  furniture  are  exactly  similar. 
No  distinction  can  arise  from  the  inequality  of  possessions.    Whatever  forms 
dependence  on  one  part,  or  constitutes  superiority  on  the  other,  is  unknown. 
All  are  freemen,  all  feel  themselves  to  be  such,  and  assert  with  firmness  the 
rights  which  belong  to  that  condition.  IT    This  sentiment  of  independence 
is  imprinted  so  deeply  in  their  nature  that  no  change  of  condition  can  era 
dicate  it,  and  bend  their  minds  to  servitude.    Accustomed  to  be  absolute 
masters  of  their  own  conduct,  they  disdain  to  execute  the  orders  of  another ; 
and  having  never  known  control,  they  will  not  submit  to  correction.  [68] 
Many  of  the  Americans,  when  they  found  that  they  were  treated  as  slaves 
by  the  Spaniards,  died  of  grief ;  many  destroyed  themselves  in  despair.** 

4.  Among  people  in  this  state,  government  can  assume  little  authority, 
and  the  sense  of  civil  subordination  must  remain  very  imperfect.    While 
the  idea  of  property  is  unknown,  or  incompletely  conceived ;  while  the 
spontaneous  productions  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  the  fruits  of  industry,  are 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  public  stock,  there  can  hardly  be  any  such 
subject  of  difference  or  discussion  among  the  members  of  the  same  commu 
nity,  as  will  require  the  hand  of  authority  to  interpose  in  order  to  adjust  it. 
Where  the  right  of  separate  and  exclusive  possession  is  not  introduced,  the 

*  Dr.  Furguson's  Essay,  125.  f  Gumilla,  i.  265.  Brickell,  Hist,  of  N.  Carol.  327.  +  Deny's 
Hist.  Natur.  ii.  392,  393.  $  P.  Martyr,  Decad.  p.  45.  Veneg.  Hist,  of  Californ.  i.  66.  Lery, 
Navig.  in  Brazil,  c.  17.  ||  Acosta  Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  19.  Stadius  Hist.  Brazil,  lib.  ii.  c.  13.  De 
Bry,  iii.  p.  110.  Biet,  361.  IT  Labat,  vi.  124.  Brickell.  Hist,  of  Carol.  310.  **  Ovied0> 
lib.  iii.  c.  6.  p.  97.  Vega  Conquiet.  de  la  Florida,  i.  30.  ii.  416.  Labat,  ii.  138.  Benzo.  Hist.  Nov» 
Orb.  lib.  iv.  c.  25. 

Q  rr,—.l  joY 


AMERICA.  163 

great  object  of  law  and  jurisdiction  does  not  exist.  When  the  members  of 
a  tribe  are  called  into  the  field,  either  to  invade  the  territories  of  their  ene 
mies,  or  to  repel  their  attacks ;  when  they  are  engaged  together  in  the 
toil  and  dangers  of  the  chase,  they  then  perceive  mat  they  are  part  of  a 
political  body.  They  are  conscious  of  their  own  connexion  with  the  com 
panions  in  conjunction  with  whom  they  act ;  and  they  follow  and  reverence 
such  as  excel  in  conduct  and  valour.  But  during  the  intervals  between  such 
common  efforts  they  seem  scarcely  to  feel  the  ties  of  political  union*  [64j. 
No  visible  form  of  government '  is  established.  The  names  of  magis 
trate  and  subject  are  not  in  use.  Every  one  seems  to  enjoy  his  natural 
independence  almost  entire.  If  a  scheme  of  public  utility  be  proposed, 
the  members  of  the  community  'are  left  at  liberty  to  choose  whether  they 
will  or  will  not  assist  in  carrying  it  into  execution.  No  statute  imposes 
any  service  as  a  duty,  no  compulsory  laws  oblige  them  to  perform  it.  All 
their  resolutions  are  voluntary,  and  flow  from  the  impulse  of  their  own 
minds.t  The  first  step  towards  establishing  a  public  jurisdiction  has  not 
been  taken  in  those  rude  societies.  The  right  of  revenge  is  left  in  private 
hands-!  ^  violence  is  committed,  or  blood  is  shed,  the  community  does 
not  assume  the  power  either  of  inflicting  or  of  moderating  the  punishment. 
It  belongs  to  the  family  and  friends  of  the  person  injured  or  slain  to  avenge 
the  wrong,  or  to  accept  of  the  reparation  offered  by  the  aggressor.  If  the 
elders  interpose,  it  is  to  advise,  not  to  decide,  and  it  is  seldom  their  counsels 
are  listened  to  ;  for,  as  it  is  deemed  rjusillanimous  to  suffer  an  offender  to 
escape  with  impunity,  resentment  is  implacable  and  everlasting.§  The 
object  of  government  among  savages  is  rather  foreign  than  domestic. 
They  do  not  aim  at  maintaining  interior  order  and  police  by  public  regula 
tions,  or  the  exertions  of  any  permanent  authority,  but  labour  to  preserve 
such  union  among  the  members  of  their  tribe,  that  they  may  watch  the 
motions  of  their  enemies,  and  act  against  them  with  concert  and  vigour. 

Such  was  the  form  of  political  order  established  among  the  greater  part 
of  the  American  nations.  In  this  state  were  almost  all  the  tribes  spread 
over  the  provinces  extending  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  confines  of  Florida.  In  a  similar  condition  were 
the  people  of  Brazil,  the  inhabitants  of  Chili,  several  tribes  in  Paragua 
and  Guiana,  and  in  the  countries  which  stretch  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Orinoco  to  the  peninsula  of  \  ucatan.  Among  such  an  infinite  number  of 
petty  associations,  there  maybe  peculiarities  which  constitute  a  distinction, 
and  mark  the  various  degrees  of  their  civilization  and  improvement.  But 
an  attempt  to  trace  and  enumerate  these  would  be  vain,  as  they  have  not 
been  observed  by  persons  capable  of  discerning  the  minute  and  delicate 
circumstances  which  serve  to  discriminate  nations  resembling  one  another 
in  their  general  character  and  features.  The  description  which  I  have 
given  of  the  political  institutions  that  took  place  among  those  rude  tribes 
in  America,  concerning  which  we  have  received  most  complete  informa 
tion,  will  apply,  with  little  variation,  to  every  people,  both  in  its  northern 
and  southern  division,  who  have  advanced  no  further  in  civilization  than  to 
add  some  slender  degree  of  agriculture  to  fishing  and  hunting. 

Imperfect  as  those  institutions  may  appear,  several  tribes  were  not  so 
far  advanced  in  their  political  progress.  Among  all  those  petty  nations 
which  trusted  for  subsistence  entirely  to  fishing  and  hunting  without  any 
species  of  cultivation,  the  union  was  so  incomplete,  and  their  sense  of 
mutual  dependence  so  feeble,  that  hardly  any  appearance  of  government 
01  order  can  be  discerned  in  their  proceedings,  Their  wants  are  few,  their 
objects  of  pursuit  simple,  they  form  into  separate  tribes,  and  act  together,  from 

*  Lozano  Desrr.  del  Gran.  Chaco,  93.  Melendez  Teforos  Verdaderos,  ii.  23.  f  Chartev.  Hist. 
N.  France,  iii.  206  208.  }  Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  iv.  c.  8.  §  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  France,  iii.  271, 
272.  Lafit.  i.  486.  Cawani,  Hist,  de  Nucvo  Rfeyno  dc  Granada,  226. 


164  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

instinct,  habit,  or  conveniency,  rather  than  from  any  formal  concert  and 
association.  To  this  class  belong  the  Californians,  several  of  the  small 
nations  in  the  extensive  country  of  Paragua,  some  of  the  people  on  the 
banks  of  the  Orinoco,  and  on  the  river  St.  Magdalene,  in  the  new  kingdom 
of  Granada.* 

But  though  among  these  last  mentioned  tribes  there  was  hardly  any 
shadow  of  regular  government,  and  even  among  those  which  I  first 
described  its  authority  is  slender  and  confined  within  narrow  bounds,  there 
were,  however,  some  places  in  America  where  government  was  carried  far 
beyond  the  degree  of  perfection  which  seems  natural  to  rude  nations.  In 
surveying  the  political  operations  of  man,  either  in  his  savage  or  civilized 
state,  we  discover  singular  and  eccentric  institutions,  which  start  as  it 
were  from  their  station,  and  fly  off  so  wide,  that  we  labour  in  vain  to 
oring  them  within  the  general  laws  of  any  system,  or  to  account  for  them 
by  those  principles  which  influence  other  communities  in  a  similar  situa 
tion.  Some  instances  of  this  occur  among  those  people  of  America  whom 
I  have  included  under  the  common  denomination  of  savage.  These  are 
so  curious  and  important  that  I  shall  descnoe  them,  and  attempt  to  explain 
their  origin. 

In  the  New  World,  as  .well  as  in  other  parts  of  the  globe,  cold  or 
temperate  countries  appear  to  be  the  favourite  seat  of  freedom  and 
independence.  There  the  mind,  like  the  body,  is  firm  and  vigorous. 
There  men,  conscious  of  their  own  dignity,  and  capable  of  the  greatest 
efforts  in  asserting  it,  aspire  to  independence,  and  their  stubborn  spirits 
stoop  with  reluctance  to  the  yoke  of  servitude.  In  warmer  climates,  by 
whose  influence  the  whole  frame  is  so  much  enervated  that  present  pleasure 
is  the  supreme  felicity,  and  mere  repose  is  enjoyment,  men  acquiesce, 
almost  without  a  struggle,  in  the  dominioh  of  a  superior.  Accordingly, 
if  we  proceed  from  north  to  south  along  the  continent  of  America,  we  shall 
find  the  power  of  those  vested  with  authority  gradually  increasing,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  people  becoming  more  tame  and  passive.  In  Florida,  the 
authority  of  the  sachems,  caziques,  or  chiefs,  was  not  only  permanent,  but 
hereditary.  They  were  distinguished  by  peculiar  ornaments,  they  enjoyed 
prerogatives  of  various  kinds,  and  were  treated  by  their  subjects  with  that 
reverence  which  people  accustomed  to  subjection  pay  to  a  master.! 

Among  the  Natchez,  a  powerful  tribe  now  extinct,  formerly  situated  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  a  difference  of  rank  took  place,  with  which 
the  northern  tribes  were  altogether  unacquainted.  Some  families  were 
reputed  noble,  and  enjoyed  hereditary  dignity.  The  body  of  the  people 
was  considered  as  vile,  and  formed  only  for  subjection.  This  distinction 
was  marked  by  appellations  which  intimated  the  high  elevation  of  the 
one  state,  and  the  ignominious  depression  of  the  other.  The  former  were 
called  Respectable ;  the  latter,  the  Stinkards.  The  great  Chief,  in  whom 
the  supreme  authority  was  vested,  is  reputed  to  be  a  being  of  superior 
nature,  the  brother  oi  the  sun,  the  sole  object  of  their  worship.  They 
approach  this  great  Chief  with  religious  veneration,  and  honour  him  as  the 
representative  of  their  deity.  His  will  is  a  law,  to  which  all  submit  with 
implicit  obedience.  The  lives  of  his  subjects  are  so  absolutely  at  his  dis 
posal,  that  if  any  one  has  incurred  his  displeasure,  the  offender  comes  with 
profound  humility  and  offers  him  his  head.  Nor  does  the  dominion  of  the 
Chiefs  end  with  their  lives  ;  their  principal  officers,  their  favourite  wives, 
together  with  many  domestics  of  inferior  rank,  are  sacrificed  at  their  tombs, 
that  they  may  be  attended  in  the  next  world  by  the  same  persons  who 
served  them  in  this  ;  and  such  is  the  reverence  in  which  they  are  held, 

*  Venegas,  1.  68.  Lettr.  Edif.  ii.  176.  Techo  Hist,  of  Parag.  Churchill,  vi.  78.  Hist.  Gen.  dea 
Voyages,  xiv.  74.  t  Cardenas  y  Cano  Ensayo  Chronol.  a  la  Hist,  de  Florida,  p.  46.  Le  Moyne 
rte  Morgues  Icones  Florida,  ap.  de  Dry,  p.  1.  4,  &c.  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  France,  iii.  467,  468. 


AMERICA.  165 

that  those  victims  welcome  death  with  exultation,  deeming  it  a  recompense 
of  their  fidelity  and  a  mark  of  distinction  to  be  selected  to  accompany 
their  deceased  master.*  Thus  a  perfect  despotism,  with  its  full  train  of 
superstition,  arrogance,  and  cruelty,  is  established  among  the  Natchez,  and, 
by  a  singular  fatality,  that  people  has  tasted  of  the  worst  calamities  incident 
to  polished  nations,  though  they  themselves  are  not  far  advanced  bevond 
the  tribes  around  them  in  civility  and  improvement.  In  Hispaniola,  Cuba, 
and  the  larger  islands,  their  caziques  or  chiefs  possessed  extensive  power. 
The  dignity  was  transmitted  by  hereditary  right  from  father  to  son.  Its 
honours  and  prerogatives  were  considerable.  Their  subjects  paid  great 
respect  to  the  caziques,  and  executed  their  orders  without  hesitation  or 
reserve.!  They  were  distinguished  by  peculiar  ornaments,  and  in  order 
to  preserve  or  augment  the  veneration  of  the  people,  they  had  the  address 
to  call  in  the  aid  of  superstition  to  uphold  their  authority.  They  delivered 
their  mandates  as  the  oracles  of  heaven,  and  pretended  to  possess  the 
power  of  regulating  the  seasons,  and  of  dispensing  rain  or  sunshine,  ac 
cording  as  their  subjects  stood  in  need  of  them. 

In  some  parts  of  the  southern  continent,  the  power  of  the  caziques  seems 
to  have  been  as  extensive  as  in  the  isles.  In  Bogota,  which  is  now  a  pro 
vince  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Granada,  there  was  settled  a  nation  more 
considerable  in  number,  and  more  improved  in  the  various  arts  of  life,  than 
any  in  America,  except  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians.  The  people  of 
Bogota  subsisted  chiefly  by  agriculture.  The  idea  of  property  was 
introduced  among  them,  and  its  rights,  secured  by  laws,  handed  down  by 
tradition,  and  observed  with  great  care.J  They  lived  in  towns  which  may 
be  termed  large  when  compared  with  those  in  other  parts  of  America. 
They  were  clothed  in  a  decent  manner,  and  their  houses  may  be  termed 
commodious  when  compared  with  those  of  the  small  tribes  around  them. 
The  effects  of  this  uncommon  civilization  were  conspicuous.  Government 
had  assumed  a  regular  form.  A  jurisdiction  was  established,  which  took 
cognizance  of  different  crimes,  and  punished  them  with  rigour.  A  distinction 
of  ranks  was  known ;  their  chief,  to  whom  the  Spaniards  gave  the  title  of 
monarch,  and  who  merited  that  name  on  account  of  his  splendour  as  well  as 
power,  reigned  with  absolute  authority.  He  was  attended  by  officers  of 
various  conditions  ;  he  never  appeared  in  public  without  a  numerous 
retinue ;  he  was  carried  in  a  sort  of  palanquin  with  much  pomp,  and  har 
bingers  went  before  him  to  sweep  the  road  and  strew  it  with  flowers.  This 
uncommon  pomp  was  supported  by  presents  or  taxes  received  from  his 
subjects,  to  whom  their  prince  was  such  an  object  of  veneration  that 
none  of  them  presumed  to  look  him  directly  in  the  face,  or  ever  approached 
him  but  with  an  averted  countenance.§  There  were  other  tribes  on  the 
same  continent,  among  which,  though  far  less  advanced  than  the  people 
of  Bogota  in  their  progress  towards  refinement,  the  freedom  and  inue 
pendence  natural  to  man  in  his  savage  state  was  much  abridged,  and  their 
caziques  had  assumed  extensive  authority. 

It  is  not  easy  to  point  out  the  circumstances,  or  to  discover  the  causes 
which  contributed  to  introduce  and  establish  among  each  of  those  people  a 
form  of  government  so  different  from  that  of  the  tribes  around  them,  and 
so  repugnant  to  the  genius  of  rude  nations.  If  the  persons  who  had  an 
opportunity  of  observing  them  in  their  original  state  had  been  more  atten 
tive  and  more  discerning,  we  might  have  received  information  from  their 
conquerors  sufficient  to  guide  us  in  this  inquiry.  If  the  transactions  of 
people  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  letters  were  not  involved  in  impene 
trable  obscurity,  we  might  have  derived  come  information  from  this 

*  Dumont  Memoir.  Hist,  sur  Louisiana,  i,  175.  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  France,  iii.  419,  &c.  Lettr. 
Eclif.  20.  106.  111.  t  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  16.  lib.  iii.  c.  44.  p.  88.  Life  of  Columbus,  ch.  32. 
t  Piedrahita  Hist,  de  las  Conquist.  del  Reyno  de  Granada,  p.  46.  $  lierrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  i.  c.  2. 
lib.  v.  c.56.  Piedrahita,  c.  5.  p.  25,  &c.  Gomara,  Hist.  c.  T2. 


166  HISTORY  OF  [Boo*  IV. 

domestic  source.  But  as  nothing  satisfactory  can  be  gathered  either  from 
the  accounts  of  the  Spaniards,  or  from  their  own  traditions,  we  must  have 
recourse  to  conjectures  in  order  to  explain  the  irregular  appearances  in  the 
political  state  of  the  people  whom  I  have  mentioned.  As  all  those  tribes 
which  had  lost  their  native  liberty  and  independence  were  seated  in  the 
torrid  zone,  or  in  countries  approaching  to  it,  the  climate  may  be  supposed 
to  have  had  some  influence  in  forming  •  their  minds  to  that  servitude  which 
seems  to  be  the  destiny  of  man  in  those  regions  of  the  globe.  But  though 
the  influence  of  climate,  more  powerful  than  that  of  any  other  natural 
cause,  is  not  to  be  overlooked,  that  alone  cannot  be  admitted  as  a  solution 
of  the  point  in  question.  The  operations  of  men  are  so  complex  that  we 
must  not  attribute  the  form  which  they  assume  to  the  force  of  a  single 
principle  or  cause.  Although  -despotism  be  confined  in  America  to  the 
torrid  zone,  and  to  the  warm  regions  bordering  upon  it,  1  have  already 
observed  that  these  countries  contain  various  tribes,  some  of  which  possess 
a  high  degree  of  freedom,  and  others  are  altogether  unacquainted  with  the 
restraints  of  government.  The  indolence  and  timidity  peculiar  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  islands,  render  them  so  incapable  of  the  sentiments  or 
efforts  necessary  for  maintaining  independence,  that  there  is  no  occasion  to 
search  for  any  other  cause  of  their  tame  submission  to  the  will  of  a  supe 
rior.  The  subjection  of  the  Natchez,  and  of  the  people  of  Bogota,  seems 
to  have  been  the  consequence  of  a  difference  in  their  state  from  that  of  the 
other  Americans.  They  were  settled  nations,  residing  constantly  in  one 
place.  Hunting  was  not  the  chief  occupation  of  the  former,  and  the  latter 
seem  hardly  to  have  trusted  to  it  for  any  part  of  their  subsistence.  Both 
had  made  such  progress  in  agriculture  and  arts  that  the  idea  of  property 
was  introduced  in  some  degree  in  the  one  community,  and  fully  established 
in  the  other.  Among  people  in  this  state,  avarice  and  ambition  have 
acquired  objects,  and  have  begun  to  exert  their  power  ;  views  of  interest 
allure  the  selfish ;  the  desire  of  pre-eminence  excites  the  enterprising  ; 
dominion  is  courted  by  both  ;  and  passions  unknown  to  man  in  his  savage 
state  prompt  the  interested  and  ambitious  to  encroach  on  the  rights  of  their 
fellow-citizens.  Motives,  with  which  rude  nations  are  equally  unac 
quainted,  induce  the  people  to  submit  tamely  to  the  usurped  authority  of 
their  superiors.  But  even  among  nations  in  this  state,  the  spirit  of  subjects 
could  not  have  been  rendered  so  obsequious,  or  the  power  of  rulers  so 
unbounded,  without  the  intervention  of  superstition.  By  its  fatal  influence 
the  human  mind,  in  every  stage  of  its  progress,  is  depressed,  and  its  native 
vigour  and  independence,  subdued.  Whoever  can  acquire  the  direction 
of  this  formidable  engine,  is  secure  of  dominion  over  his  species.  Unfor 
tunately  for  the  people  whose  institutions  are  the  subject  of  inquiry,  this 
power  was  in  the  hands  of  their  chiefs.  The  caziques  of  the  isles  could 
put  what  responses  they  pleased  into  the  mouths  of  their  Cemis  or  gods ; 
and  it  was  by  their  interposition,  and  in  their  name,  that  they  imposed  any 
tribute  or  burden  on  their  people.*  The  same  power  and  prerogative  was 
exercised  by  the  great  chief  of  the  Natchez,  as  the  principal  minister  as 
well  as  the  representative  of  the  Sun,  their  deity.  The  respect  which 
the  people  of  Bogota  paid  to  their  monarchs  was  likewise  inspired  by 
religion,  and  the  heir  apparent  of  the  kingdom  was  educated  in  the  inner 
most  recess  of  their  principal  temple,  under  such  austere  discipline,  and 
with  such  peculiar  rites,  as  tended  to  fill  his  subjects  with  high  sentiments 
concerning-  the  sanctity  of  his  character  and  the  dignity  of  his  station.") 
Tnus  superstition,  which  in  the  rudest  period  of  society,  is  either  altogethei 
unknown,  or  wastes  its  force  in  childish  unmeaning  practices,  had  acquired 
such  an  ascendant  over  those  people  of  America,  who  had  made  some  little 
progress  towards  refinement,  that  it  became  the  chief  instrument  of  bending 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ill.  c.  3.  f  Piedrahita,  p.  27 


AMERICA.  167 

their  minds  to  an  untimely  servitude,  and  subjected  them,  in  the  beginning: 
of  their  political  career,  to  a  despotism  hardly  less  rigorous  than  that  which 
awaits  nations  in  the  last  stage  of  their  corruption  and  decline. 

V.  After  examining  the  political  institutions  of  the  rude  nations  in 
America,  the  next  object  of  attention  is  their  art  of  war,  or  their  provision 
for  public  security  and  defence.  The  small  tribes  dispersed  over  America 
are  not  only  independent  and  unconnected,  but  engaged  in  perpetual 
hostilities  with  one  another.*  Though  mostly  strangers  to  the  idea  of 
separate  property,  vested  in  any  individual,  the  rudest  of  the  American 
nations  are  well  acquainted  with  the  rights  of  each  community  to  its  own 
domains.  This  right  they  hold  to  be  perfect  and  exclusive,  entitling  the 
possessor  to  oppose  the  encroachment  of  neighbouring  tribes.  As  it  is  of 
the  utmost  consequence  to  prevent  them  from  destroying  or  disturbing  the 
game  in  their  hunting  grounds,  they  guard  this  national  property  with  a 
jealous  attention.  But  as  their  territories  are  extensive,  and  the  boundaries 
of  them  not  exactly  ascertained,  innumerable  subjects  of  dispute  arise, 
which  seldom  terminate  without  bloodshed.  Even  in  this  simple  and 
primitive  state  of  society,  interest  is  a  source  of  discord,  and  often  prompts 
savage  tribes  to  take  arms  in  order  to  repel  or  punish  such  as  encroach  on 
the  forests  or  plains  to  which  they  trust  for  subsistence. 

But  interest  is  not  either  the  most  frequent  or  the  most  powerful  motive 
of  the  incessant  hostilities  among  rude  nations.  These  must  be  imputed  to 
the  passion  of  revenge,  which  rages  with  such  violence  in  the  breast  of 
savages,  that  eagerness  to  gratify  it  may  be  considered  as  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  men  in  their  uncivilized  state.  Circumstances  of  powerful 
influence,  both  in  the  interior  government  of  rude  tribes,  and  in  their 
external  operations  against  foreign  enemies,  concur  in  cherishing  and  adding 
strength  to  a  passion  fatal  to  the  general  tranquillity.  When  the  right  of 
redressing  his  own  wrongs  is  left  in  the  hands  of  every  individual,  injuries 
are  felt  with  exquisite  sensibility,  and  vengeance  exercised  with  unrelenting 
rancour.  No  time  can  obliterate  the  memory  of  an  offence,  and  it  is  seldom 
that  it  can  be  expiated  but  by  the  blood  of  the  offender.  In  carrying  on 
their  public  wars,  savage  nations  are  influenced  by  the  same  ideas,  and 
animated  with  the  same  spirit,  as  in  prosecuting  private  vengeance.  In 
small  communities,  every  man  is  touched  with  the  injury  or  affront  offered 
to  the  body  of  which  he  is  a  member,  as  if  it  were  a  personal  attack  upon 
his  own  honour  or  safety.  The  desire  of  revenge  is  communicated  from 
breast  to  breast,  and  soon  kindles  into  rage.  As  feeble  societies  can  take 
the  field  only  in  small  parties,  each  warrior  is  conscious  of  the  importance 
of  his  own  arm,  and  feels  that  to  it  is  committed  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  public  vengeance.  War,  which  between  extensive  kingdoms  is  carried 
on  with  little  animosity,  is  prosecuted  by  small  tribes  with  all  the  rancour 
of  a  private  quarrel.  The  resentment  of  nations  is  as  implacable  as  that 
of  individuals.  It  may  be  dissembled  or  suppressed,  but  is  never  extin 
guished  ;  and  often,  when  least  expected  or  dreaded,  it  bursts  out  with 
redoubled  fury.f  When  polished  nations  have  obtained  the  glory  of  victory, 
or  have  acquired  an  addition  of  territory,  they  may  terminate  a  war  with 
honour.  But  savages  are  not  satisfied  until  they  extirpate  the  community 
which  is  the  object  of  their  hatred.  They  fight,  not  to  conquer,  but  to 
destroy.  If  they  engage  in  hostilities,  it  is  with  a  resolution  never  to  see 
the  face  of  the  enemy  in  peace,  but  to  prosecute  the  quarrel  with  immortal 
enmity.|  The  desire  of  vengeance  is  the  first  and  almost  the  only  principle 
which  a  savage  instils  into  the  minds  of  his  children. §  This  grows  up 

*  Ribas  Hist,  de  los  Triumph,  p.  9.  f  Boucher  Hist.  Nat.  de  N.  France,  p.  93.    Charlev. 

Hist,  de  N.  France,  iii.  215.  251.  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  204.  Creux.  Hist.  Canad.  p.  72.  Lozano 
Descr.  del  Gran  Chaco,  25.  Hermep.  Mosurs  des  Sauv.  4-0.  J. Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  251. 

Colden.  i.  108.  ii.  126.    Barrere,  p.  170.  173.  §  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  326.    Lery  ap.  da 

Bry,  iii.  236.    Lozano  Hist,  de  Parag.  i.  144. 


168  H1STO-RY    OF  [BOOK  IV. 

with  him  as  he  advances  in  life  ;  and  as  his  attention  is  directed  to  few 
objects,  it  requires  a  degree  of  force  unknown  among  men  whose  passions 
are  dissipated  and  weakened  by  the  variety  of  their  occupations  and 
pursuits.  The  desire  of  vengeance,  which  takes  possession  of  the  heart  of 
savages,  resembles  the  instinctive  rage  of  an  animal  rather  than  the  passion 
of  a  man.  It  turns,  with  undiscerning  fury,  even  against  inanimate  objects. 
If  hurt  accidentally  by  a  stone,  they  often  seize  it  in  a  transport  of  anger, 
and  endeavour  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  it.*  If  struck  with  an 
arrow  in  a  battle,  they  will  tear  it  from  the  wound,  break  and  bite  it  with 
their  teeth,  and  dash  it  on  the  ground.t  With  respect  to  their  enemies 
the  rage  of  vengeance  knows  no  bounds.  When  under  the  dominion  of 
this  passion,  man  becomes  the  most  cruel  of  all  animals.  He  neither  pities, 
nor  forgives,  nor  spares. 

The  force  of  this  passion  is  so  well  understood  by  the  Americans  them 
selves,  that  they  always  apply  to  it  in  order  to  excite  their  people  to  take 
arms.  If  the  elders  of  any  tribe  attempt  to  rouse  their  youth  from  sloth,  if 
a  chief  wishes  to  allure  a  band  of  warriors  to  follow  him  in  invading  an 
enemy's  country,  the  mostpersuasive  topics  of  their  martial  eloquence  are 
drawn  from  revenge.  "  The  bones  of  our  countrymen,"  say  they,  "  lie 
uncovered  ;  their  bloody  bed  has  not  been  washed  clean.  Their  spirits  cry 
against  us  ;  they  must  be  appeased.  Let  us  go  and  devour  the  people  by 
whom  they  were  slain.  Sit  no  longer*  inactive  upon  your  mats  ;  lift  the 
hatchet,  console  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  and  tell  them  that  they  shall  be 


Animated  with  such  exhortations,  the  youth  snatch  their  arms  in  a  trans 
port  of  fury,  raise  the  song  of  war,  and  burn  with  impatience  to  imbrue 
their  hands  in  tire  blood  of  their  enemies.  Private  chiefs  often  assemble 
small  parties  and  invade  a  hostile  tribe  without  consulting  the  rulers  of  the 
community.  A  single  warrior,  prompted  by  caprice  or  revenge,  will  take 
the  field  alone,  and  march  several  hundred  miles  to  surprise  and  cut  off  a 
straggling  enemy  [65].  The  exploits  of  a  noted  warrior,  in  such  solitary 
excursions,  often  form  the  chief  part  in  the  history  of  an  American  cam 
paign  [66]  ;  and  their  elders  connive  at  such,  irregular  sallies,  as  they  tend 
to  cherish  a  martial  spirit,  and  accustom  their  people  to  enterprise  and 
danger.  §  But  when  a  war  is  national,  and  undertaken  by  public  authority, 
the  deliberations  are  formal  and  slow.  The  elders  assemble,  they  deliver 
their  opinions  in  solemn  speeches,  they  weigh  with  maturity  the  nature  of 
the  enterprise,  and  balance  its  beneficial  or  disadvantageous  consequences 
with  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  political  discernment  or  sagacity.  Their 
priests  and  soothsayers  are  consulted,  and  sometimes  they  ask  the  advice 
even  of  their  women.  ||  If  the  determination  be  for  War,  they  prepare  for 
it  with  much  ceremony.  A  leader  offers  to  conduct  the  expedition,  and  is 
accepted.  But  no  man  is  constrained  to  follow  him  ;  the  resolution  of  the 
community  to  commence  hostilities  imposes  no  obligation  upon  any  membc/.' 
to  take  part  in  the  war.  Each  individual  is  still  master  of  his  own  conduct, 
and  his  engagement  in  the  service  is  perfectly  voluntary.  IF 

The  maxims  by  which  they  regulate  their  military  operations,  though 
extremely  different  from  those  which  take  place  among  more  civilized  anol 
populous  nations,  are  well  suited  to  their  own  political  state,  and  the  nature 
of  the  country  in  which  they  act.  They  never  take  the  field  in  numerous 
bodies,  as  it  would  require  a  greater  effort  of  foresight  and  industry  than  is 
usual  among  savages,  to  provide  for  their  subsistence  during  a  march  of 
some  hundred  miles  through  dreary  forests,  or  during  a  long  voyage  upon 
their  lakes  and  rivers.  Their  armies  are  not  encumbered  with  baggage  or 

*  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  190            t  Ibid.  iii.  208.  Herrera,  dec.  i.  lib.  vi.  c.  8.           J  Charlev. 

Hist.  ,N.  Fr.  iii.  216,  217.    Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  204.  $  Bossu,  i.  140.    Lery  ap.  <ie  Bry,  215. 

Hennepin  Mceurs  des  Sauv.  41.    Lafitau,  ii.  169.  ||  Charlev.  Hist,  N.  Fr.  215.  268.    Biet.  367. 
380.              U  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  217,  218, 


AMERICA.  169 

military  stores.  Each  warrior,  besides  his  arms,  carries  a  mat  and  a  small 
bag  of  pounded  maize,  and  with  these  is  completely  equipped  for  any 
service.  While  at  a  distance  from  the  enemy's  frontier,  they  disperse 
through  the  woods,  and  support  themselves  with  the  game  which  they  kill, 
or  the  fish  which  they  catch.  As  they  approach  nearer  to  the  territories  of 
the  nation  which  they  intend  to  attack,  they  collect  their  troops,  and 
advance  with  greater  caution.  Even  in  their  hottest  and  most  active  wars 
they  proceed  wholly  by  stratagem  and  ambuscade.  They  place  not  their 
glory  in  attacking  their  enemies  with  open  force.  To  surprise  and  destroy 
is  the  greatest  merit  of  a  commander,  and  the  highest  pride  of  his  followers. 
War  and  hunting  are  their  only  occupations,  and  they  conduct  both  with 
the  same  spirit  and  the  same  arts.  They  follow  the  track  of  their  enemies 
through  the  forest.  They  endeavour  to  discover  their  haunts,  they  lurk  in 
some  thicket  near  to  these,  and,  with  the  patience  of  a  sportsman  lying  in 
wait  for  game,  will  continue  in  their  station  day  after  day  until  they  can 
rush  upon  their  prey  when  most  secure,  and  least  able  to  resist  them.  If 
they  meet  no  straggling  party  of  the  enemy,  they  advance  towards  their 
villages,  but  with  such  solicitude  to  conceal  their  own  approach,  that  they 
often  creep  on  their  hands  and  feet  through  the  woods,  and  paint  their  skins 
of  the  same  colour  with  the  withered  leaves,  in  order  to  avoid  detection.* 
If  so  fortunate  as  to  remain  unobserved,  they  set  on  fire  the  enemies'  huts 
in  the  dead  of  night,  and  massacre  the  inhabitants  as  they  fly  naked  and 
defenceless  from  the  flames.  If  they  hope  to  effect  a  retreat  without  being 
pursued,  they  carry  off 'some  prisoners,  whom  they  reserve  for  a  more 
dreadful  fate.  But  if,  notwithstanding  all  their  address  and  precautions, 
they  find  that  their  motions  are  discovered,  that  the  enemy  has  taken  the 
alarm,  and  is  prepared  to  oppose  them,  they  usually  deem  it  most  prudent 
to  retire.  They  regard  it  as  extreme  folly  to  meet  an  enemy  who  is  on 
his  guard,  upon  equal  terms,  or  to  give  battle  in  an  open  field.  The  most 
distinguished  success  is  a  disgrace  to  a  leader  if  it  has  been  purchased 
with  any  considerable  loss  of  his  followers  [61],  and  they  never  boast  of  a 
victory  if  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  own  countrymen.!  To  fall  in 
battle,  instead  of  being  reckoned  an  honourable  death,  is  a  misfortune 
which  subjects  the  memory  of  a  warrior  to  the  imputation  of  rashness  or 
imprudencef  [68]. 

This  system  of  war  was  universal  in  America ;  and  the  small  uncivilized 
tribes,  dispersed  through  all  its  different  regions  and  climates,  display 
more  craft  than  boldness  in  carrying  on,  their  hostilities.  Struck  with  this 
conduct,  so  opposite  to  the  iaeas  and  maxims  of  Europeans,  several 
authors  contend  that  it  flows  from  a  feeble  and  dastardly  spirit  peculiar  to 
the  Americans,  which  is  incapable  of  any  generous  or  manly  exertion. § 
But  when  we  reflect  that  many  of  these  tribes,  on  occasions  which  call 
for  extraordinary  efforts,  not  only  defend  themselves  with  obstinate  resolu 
tion,  but  attack  their  enemies  with  the  most  daring  courage,  and  that  they 
possess  fortitude  of  mind  superior  to  the  sense  of  danger  or  the  fear  of 
death,  we  must  ascribe  their  habitual  caution  to  some  other  cause  than 
constitutional  timidity. ||  The  number  of  men  in  each  tribe  is  so  small, 
the  difficulty  of  rearing  new  members  amidst  the  hardships  and  dangers 
of  savage  life  is  so  great,  that  the  life  of  a  citizen  is  extremely  precious, 
and  the  preservation  of  it  becomes  a  capital  object  in  their  policy.  Had 
the  point  of  honour  been  the  same  among  the  feeble  American  tribes  as 
among  the  powerful  nations  of  Europe,  had  they  been  taught  to  court  fame 
or  victory  in  contempt  of  danger  and  death,  they  must  have  been  ruined 
by  maxims  so  ill  adapted  to  their  condition,  cut  wherever  their  com- 

*  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  237, 238.    Hennep.  Moeurs  des  Sauv.  p.  59  f  Charlev.  Hist. 

N.  Fr.  iii.  238.  307.    Biet,  381.    Lafitau  Moeurs  des  Sauv.  ii.  248.  J  Charlev.  iji.  376. 

$  Recherches  Philos.  sur  les  Ame"ric.  i.  115.    Voyage  de  March,  iv.  410  fl  Lafitau  Mceura  des 

Sauv.  ii.  248,  249.    Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  307. 
VOL.  I.— 22 


170  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

munities  are  more  populous,  so  that  they  can  act  with  considerable  force, 
and  can  sustain  the  loss  of  several  of  their  members  without  being  sensibly 
weakened,  the  military  operations  of  the  Americans  more  nearly  resemble 
those  of  other  nations.  The  Brazilians,  as  well  as  the  tribes  situated  upon 
the  banks  of  the  river  De  la  Plata,  often  take  the  field  in  such  numerous 
bodies  as  deserve  the  name  of  armies.*  They  defy  their  enemies  to  the 
combat,  engage  in  regular  battles,  and  maintain  the  conflict  with  that 

J  _  A  £  •* I        •  I  •  Jlj  1          .  1  •  *    J  I* 


frequent  battles  were  fought,  and  the  theory  as  well  as  practice  of  war 
were  different  from  what  took  place  in  those  petty  societies  which  assume 
the  name  of  nations. 

But  though  vigilance  and  attention  are  the  qualities  chiefly  requisite 
where  the  object  of  war  is  to  deceive  and  to  surprise ;  and  though  the 
Americans,  when  acting  singly,  display  an  amazing  degree  of  address  in 
concealing  their  own  motions,  and  discovering  those  of  an  enemy,  yet  it 
is  remarkable  that,  when  they  take  the  field  in  parties,  they  can  seldom 
be  brought  to  observe  the  precautions  most  essential  to  their  own  security. 
Such  is  the  difficulty  of  accustoming  savages  to  subordination,  or  to  act  in 
concert ;  such  is  their  impatience  under  restraint,  and  such  their  caprice 
and  presumption,  that  it  is  rarely  they  can  be  brought  to  conform  themselves 
to  the  counsels  and  directions  of  their  leaders.  They  never  station  sen 
tinels  around  the  place  where  they  rest  at  night,  and  after  marching  some 
hundred  miles  to  surprise  an  enemy,  are  often  surprised  themselves,  and 
cut  off,  while  sunk  in  as  profound  sleep  as  if  they  were  not  within  reach 
of  danger,  f 

If,  notwithstanding  this  negligence  and  security,  which  often  frustrate 
their  most  artful  schemes,  they  catch  the  enemy  unprepared,  they  rush 
upon  them  with  the  utmost  ferocity,  and  tearing  off  the  scalps  of  all  those 
who  fall  victims  to  their  rage  [70],  they  carry  home  those  strange  trophies 
in  triumph.  These  they  preserve  as  monuments,  not  only  of  their  own 
prowess,  but  of  the  vengeance  which  their  arm  has  inflicted  upon  the 
people  who  were  objects  of  public  resentment.  J  They  are  still  more 
solicitous  to  seize  prisoners.  During  their  retreat,  if  they  hope  to  effect  it 
unmolested,  the  prisoners  are  commonly  exempt  from  any  insult,  and 
treated  with  some  degree  of  humanity,  though  guarded  with  the  most 
strict  attention. 

But  after  this  temporary  suspension,  the  rage  of  the  conquerors  rekindles 
with  new  fury.  As  soon  as  they  approach  their  own  frontier,  some  of 
their  number  are  despatched  to  inform  their  countrymen  with  respect  to 
the  success  of  the  expedition.  Then  the  prisoners  begin  to  feel  the 
wretchedness  of  their  condition.  The  women  of  the  village,  together 
with  the  youth  who  have  not  attained  to  the  age  of  bearing  arms,  assemble, 
and  forming  themselves  into  two  lines,  through  which  the  prisoners  must 
pass,  beat  and  bruise  them  with  sticks  or  stones  in  a  cruel  manner.§  After 
this  first  gratification  of  their  rage  against  their  enemies,  follow  lamenta 
tions  for  the  loss  of  such  of  their  own  countrymen  as  have  fallen  in  the 
service,  accompanied  with  words  and  actions  which  seem  to  express  the 
utmost  anguish  and  grief.  But  in  a  moment,  upon  a  signal  given,  their 
tears  cease ;  they  pass,  with  a  sudden  and  unaccountable  transition,  from 
the  depths  of  sorrow  to  the  transports  of  joy  ;  and  begin  to  celebrate  their 
victory  with  all  the  wild  exultation  of  a  barbarous  triumph. ||  The  fate 
of  the  prisoners  remains  still  undecided.  The  old  men  deliberate  con 
cerning  it.  Some  are  destined  to  be  tortured  to  death,  in  order  to  satiate 

*  Fabri  Veriss.Descrip.  India  ap.  de  Bry,  vli.  p.  42.  t  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  236,  237.    Lettr. 

Edif.  xvii.  308.  xx.  130.    Lafit.  Mceurs,  247.    Lahontan,  ii.  176.  J  Lafitau  Moeurs,  ii.  2511 

$  Lahontan,  ii.  184.  ||  Charlev.  HiM.  N.  Fr.  iii.  241.    Lafitau  Mccurs,  ii.  264. 


AMERICA.  171 

tiie  revenge  of  the  conquerors ;  some  to  replace  the  members  which  the 
community  has  lost  in  that  or  former  wars.  They  who  are  reserved  for 
this  milder  fate,  are  led  to  the  huts  of  those  whose  friends  have  been 
killed.  The  women  meet  them  at  the  door,  and  if  they  receive  them, 
their  sufferings  are  at  an  end.  They  are  adopted  into  the  family,  and, 
according  to  their  phrase,  are  seated  upon  the  mat  of  the  deceased.  They 
assume  his  name,  they  hold  the  same  rank,  and  are  treated  thenceforward 
with  all  the  tenderness  due  to  a  father,  a  brother,  a  husband,  or  a  friend. 
But,  if  either  from  caprice  or  an  unrelenting  desire  of  revenge,  the  women 
of  any  family  refuse  to  accept  of  the  prisoner  who  is  offered  to  them,  his 
doom  is  fixed.  No  power  can  then  save  him  from  torture  and  death. 

While  their  lot  is  in  suspense,  the  prisoners  themselves  appear  altogether 
unconcerned  about  what  may  befall  them.  They  talk,  they  eat,  they 
sleep,  as  if  they  were  perfectly  at  ease,  and  no  danger  impending.  When 
the  fatal  sentence  is  intimated  to  them,  the}r  receive  it  with  an  unaltered 
countenance,  raise  their  death  song,  and  prepare  to  suffer  like  men.  Their 
conquerors  assemble  as  to  a  solemn  festival,  resolved  to  put  the  fortitude 
of  the  captive  to  the  utmost  proof.  A  scene  ensues,  the  bare  description 
of  which  is  enough  to  chill  the  heart  with  horror,  wherever  men  have  been 
accustomed,  by  milder  institutions,  to  respect  their  species,  and  to  melt 
into  tenderness  at  the  sight  of  human  sufferings.  The  prisoners  are  tied 
naked  to  a  stake,  but  so  as  to  be  at  liberty  to  move  round  it.  All  who 
are  present,  men,  women,  and  children,  rush  upon  them  like  furies.  Every 
species  of  torture  is  applied  that  the  rancour  of  revenge  can  invent.  Some 
burn  their  limbs  with  redhot  irons,  some  mangle  their  bodies  with  knives, 
others  tear  their  flesh  from  their  bones,  pluck  out  their  nails  by  the  roots, 
and  rend  and  twist  their  sinews.  They  vie  with  one  another  in  refinements 
of  torture.  Nothing  sets  bounds  to  their  rage  but  the  dread  of  abridging 
the  duration  of  their  vengeance  by  hastening  the  death  of  the  sufferers ; 
and  such  is  their  cruel  ingenuity  in  tormenting,  that,  by  avoiding  indus 
triously  to  hurt  any  vital  part,  they  often  prolong  this  scene  of  anguish  for 
several  days.  In  spite  of  all  that  they  suffer,  the  victims  continue  to  chant 
their  death  song  with  a  firm  voice,  they  boast  of  their  own  exploits,  they 
insult  their  tormentors  for  their  want  of  skill  in  avenging  their  friends  and 
relations,  they  warn  them  of  the  vengeance  which  awaits  them  on  account 
of  what  they  are  now  doing,  and  excite  their  ferocity  by  the  most  pro 
voking  reproaches  and  threats.  To  display  undaunted  fortitude,  in  such 
dreadful  situations,  is  the  noblest  triumph  of  a  warrior.  To  avoid  the 
trial  by  a  voluntary  death,  or  to  shrink  under  it,  is  deemed  infamous  and 
cowardly.  If  any  one  betray  symptoms  of  timidity,  his  tormentors  often 
despatch  him  at  once  with  contempt,  as  unworthy  of  being  treated  like  a 
man.*  Animated  with  those  ideas,  they  endure  without  a  groan  what  it 
seems  almost  impossible  that  human  nature  should  sustain.  They  appear 
to  be  not  only  insensible  of  pain,  but  to  court  it.  "  Forbear, '  said  an 
aged  chief  of  the  Iroquois,  when  his  insults  had  provoked  one  of  his  tor 
mentors  to  wound  him  with  a  knife,  "  forbear  these  stabs  of  vour  knife, 
and  rather  let  me  die  by  fire,  that  those  dogs,  your  allies,  from  oeyond  the 
sea,  may  learn  by  my  example  to  suffer  like  men."f  This  magnanimity, 
of  which  there  are  frequent  instances  among  the  American  warriors, 
instead  of  exciting  admiration,  or  calling  forth  sympathy,  exasperates  the 
fierce  spirits  of  their  torturers  to  fresh  acts  of  cruelty  4  Weary,  at  length 
of  contending  with  men  whose  constancy  of  mind  they  cannot  vanquish, 
some  chief,  in  a  rage,  puts  a  period  to  their  sufferings,  by  despatching  them 
with  his  dagger  or  club.§ 

*  Da  la  Potherie,  ii.  237.  iii.  43.  t  Golden,  Hist,  of  Five  Nations,  i  200.  J  Voyages  de 

Lahont,  i.  236,  $  Charley.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  243,  &c.  385.    Lafitau  Jtfcsuis,  ii.  265.    Creuxij 

Hist.  Canad.  p.  73.    Hennep.  Mceurs  des  Sauv.  p.  64,  &c.    Lahont,  i  233,  &c.    Tertre,  ii.  405. 
I)e  la  Potherie,  ii,  22,  &c. 


17*  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

This  barbarous  scene  is  often  succeeded  by  one  no  less  shocking.  As 
it  is  impossible  to  appease  the  fell  spirit  of  revenge  which  rages  in  the 
heart  of  a  savage,  this  frequently  prompts  the  Americans  to  devour  those 
unhappy  persons  who  have  been  the  victims  of  their  cruelty.  In  the  an 
cient  world,  tradition  has  preserved  the  memory  of  barbarous  nations  of 
cannibals,  who  fed  on  human  flesh.  But  in  every  part  of  the  New  World 
there  were  people  to  whom  this  custom  was  familiar.  It  prevailed  in  the 
southern  continent,*  in  several  of  the  islands,!  and  in  various  districts  of 
North  America.^  Even  in  those  parts  where  circumstances  with  which 
we  are  unacquainted  had  in  a  great  measure  abolished  this  practice,  it 
seems  formerly  to  have  been  so  well  known  that  it  is  incorporated  into  the 
idiom  of  their  language.  Among  the  Iroquois,  the  phrase  by  which  they 
express  their  resolution  of  making  war  against  an  enemy  is,  "  Let  us  go 
and  eat  that  nation."  If  they  solicit  the  aid  of  a  neighbouring  tribe,  they 
invite  it  "  to  eat  broth  made  of  the  flesh  of  their  enemies"§  [71].  Nor 
was  the  practice  peculiar  to  rude  unpolished  tribes ;  the  principle  from 
which  they  took  rise  is  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  minds  of  me  Americans, 
that  it  subsisted  in  Mexico,  one  of  the  civilized  empires  in  the  New  World, 
and  relics  of  it  may  be  discovered  among  the  more  mild  inhabitants  of 
Peru.  It  was  not  scarcity  of  food,  as  some  authors  imagine,  and  the 
importunate  cravings  of  hunger,  which  forced  the  Americans  to  those 
horrid  repasts  on  their  fellow-creatures.  Human  flesh  was  never  used  as 
common  food  in  any  country,  and  the  various  relations  concerning  people 
who  reckoned  it  among  the  stated  means  of  subsistence,  flow  from  the 
credulity  and  mistakes  of  travellers.  The  rancour  of  revenge  first 
prompted  men  to  this  barbarous  action.ll  The  fiercest  tribes  devoured 
none  butprisoners  taken  in  war,  or  such  as  they  regarded  as  enemies  [72]. 
Women  and  children  who  were  not  the  objects  of  enmity,  if  not  cut  off 
in  the  fury  of  their  first  inroad  into  a  hostile  country,  seldom  suffered  by 
the  deliberate  effects  of  their  revenge. IT 

The  people  of  South  America  gratify  their  revenge  in  a  manner  some 
what  different,  but  with  no  less  unrelenting  rancour.  Their  prisoners, 
after  meeting  at  their  first  entrance  with  the  same  rough  reception  as 
among  the  North  Americans,**  are  not  only  exempt  from  inj  ury,  but 
treated  with  the  greatest  kindness.  They  are  feasted  and  caressed,  and 
some  beautiful  young  women  are  appointed  to  attend  and  solace  them. 
It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  this  part  of  their  conduct,  unless  we  impute 
it  to  a  refinement  in  cruelty.  For,  while  they  seem  studious  to  attach  the 
captives  to  life,  by  supplying  them  with  every  enjoyment  that  can  render 
it  agreeable,  their  doom  is  irrevocably  fixed.  On  a  day  appointed  the 
victorious  tribe  assembles,  the  prisoner  is  brought  forth  with  great  solem 
nity,  he  views  the  preparations  for  the  sacrifice  with  as  much  indifference 
as  if  he  himself  were  not  the  victim,  and  meeting  his  fate  with  undaunt 
ed  firmness,  is  despatched  with  a  single  blow.  The  moment  he  falls,  the 
women  seize  the  body  and  dress  it  for  the  feast.  They  besmear  their 
children  with  the  blood,  in  order  to  kindle  in  their  bosoms  a  hatred  of 
their  enemies,  which  is  never  extinguished,  and  all  join  in  feeding  upon 
the  flesh  with  amazing  greediness  and  exultation.lt  To  devour  the  body 
of  a  slaughtered  enemy  they  deem  the  most  complete  and  exquisite  grati 
fication  of  revenge.  Wherever  this  practice  prevails,  captives  never 
escape  death,  but  they  are  not  tortured  with  the  same  cruelty  as  among 
tribes  which  are  less  accustomed  to  such  horrid  feasts  [73], 

*  Stadius  ap;  de  Bry,  iii.  123.  Lery,  ibid.  210.  Biet.  384.  Lettr.  Edif.  xxiii.  341.  Piso,  8, 
Condam,  84. 97.  Ribas,  Hist,  de  los  Triumph.  473.  t  Life  of  Columb.  529.  Mart.  Dec.  p.  18. 
Tertre,  ii.  405.  J  Dumont.  Mem.  i.  254.  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  France,  i.  259.  ii.  14.  iii.  21.  De  la 
Potherie,  iii.  50.  §  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  208,  209.  Lettr.  Edif.  xxiii.  p.  277.  De  la  Pothe- 
rie,  ii.  298.  ||  Biet,  383.  Blanco,  Conversion  de  Piritu,  p.  28.  Bancroft,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana, 
p.  259,  &c.  1f  Biet,  382.  Bandini,  Vita  di  Americo,  84.  Tertre,  405  Fermin.  Descrip.  de 
Surin.  i.  54.  **  Stadius  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  40. 123.  ft  Stadius  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  128,  &c.  Lery 
ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  210. 


AMERICA.  173 

As  the  constancy  of  every  American  warrior  may  be  put  to  such  severe 
proof,  the  great  object  of  military  education  and  discipline  in  the  New 
World  is  to  form  the  mind  to  sustain  it.  When  nations  carry  on  war  with 
open  force,  defy  their  enemies  to  the  combat,  and  vanquish  them  by  the 
superiority  of  their  skill  or  courage,  soldiers  are  trained  to  be  active, 
vigorous,  and  enterprising.  But  in  America,  where  the  genius  and  maxims 
of  war  are  extremely  different,  passive  fortitude  is  the  quality  in  highest 
estimation.  Accordingly,  it  is  early  the  study  of  the  Americans  to  acquire 
sentiments  and  habits  which  will  enable  them  to  behave  like  men  when 
their  resolution  shall  be  put  to  the  proof.  As  the  youth  of  other  nations 
exercise  themselves  in  feats  of  activity  and  force,  those  of  America  vie 
with  one  another  in  exhibitions  of  their  patience  under  sufferings.  They 
harden  their  nerves  by  those  voluntary  trials,  and  gradually  accustom  them 
selves  to  endure  the  sharpest  pain  without  complaining.  A  boy  and  girl 
will  bind  their  naked  arms  together,  and  place  a  burning  coal  between 
them,  in  order  to  try  who  first  discovers  such  impatience  as  to  shake  it  off.* 
All  the  trials  customary  in  America,  when  a  youth  is  admitted  into  the 
class  of  warriors,  or  when  a  warrior  is  promoted  to  the  dignity  of  captain 
or  chief,  are  accommodated  to  this  idea  of  manliness.  They  are  not  dis 
plays  of  valour,  but  of  patience  ;  they  are  not  exhibitions  or  their  ability 
to  offend,  but  of  their  capacity  to  suffer.  Among  the  tribes  on  the  banks 
of  the  Orinoco,  if  a  warrior  aspires  to  the  rank  of  captain,  his  probation 
begins  with  a  long  fast,  more  rigid  than  any  ever  observed  by  the  most 
abstemious  hermit.  At  the  close  of  this  the  chiefs  assemble,  each  gives 
him  three  lashes  with  a  large  whip,  applied  so  vigorously  that  his  body  is 
almost  flayed,  and  if  he  betrays  the  least  symptoms  of  impatience  or  even 
sensibility,  he  is  disgraced  for  ever,  and  rejected  as  unworthy  of  the 
honour  to  which  he  aspires.  After  some  interval,  the  constancy  01  the  can 
didate  is  proved  by  a  more  excruciating  trial.  He  is  laid  in  a  hammoc 
with  his  hands  bound  fast,  and  an  innumerable  multitude  of  venomous  ants, 
whose  bite  occasions  exquisite  pain,  and  produces  a  violent  inflammation, 
are  thrown  upon  him.  The  judges  of  his  merit  stand  around  the  ham 
moc,  and,  while  these  cruel  insects  fasten  upon  the  most  sensible  parts 
of  his  body,  a  sigh,  a  groan,  an  involuntary  motion,  expressive  of  what  he 
suffers,  would  exclude  him  for  ever  from  the  rank  of  captain.  Even  after 
this  evidence  of  his  fortitude,  it  is  not  deemed  to  be  completely  ascer 
tained,  but  must  stand  another  test  more  dreadful  than  any  he  has  hitherto 
undergone.  He  is  again  suspended  in  his  hammoc,  and  covered  with 
leaves  of  the  palmetto.  A  fire  of  stinking  herbs  is  kindled  underneath,  so 
as  he  may  feel  its  heat  and  be  involved  in  its  smoke.  Though  scorched 
and  almost  suffocated,  he  must  continue  to  endure  with  the  same  patient 
insensibility.  Many  perish  in  this  rude  essay  of  their  firmness  and  courage, 
but  such  as  go  through  it  with  applause,  receive  the  ensigns  of  their  new 
dignity  with  much  solemnity,  and  are  ever  after  regarded  as  leaders  of 
approved  resolution,  whose  behaviour  in  the  most  trying  situations  will  do 
honour  to  their  country.!  In  North  America  the  previous  trial  of  a  war 
rior  is  neither  so  formal  nor  so  severe.  Though  even  there,  before  a  youth 
is  permitted  to  bear  arms,  his  patience  and  fortitude  are  proved  by  blows, 
by  fire,  and  by  insults  more  intolerable  to  a  haughty  spirit  than  both.]; 

The  amazing  steadiness  with  which  the  Americans  endure  the  most 
exquisite  torments,  has  induced  some  authors  to  suppose  that,  from  the 
peculiar  feebleness  of  their  frame,  their  sensibility  is  not  so  acute  as  that 
of  other  people  ;  as  women,  and  persons  of  a  relaxed  habit,  are  observed 
to  be  less  affected  with  pain  than  robust  men,  whose  nerves  are  more 
firmly  braced.  But  the  constitution  of  the  Americans  is  not  so  different 

*  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  307.  t  Gumilla.  ii.  286,  &c.  Biet,  376,  «fcc.  J  Charter.  Hist. 
N.  Fr.  iii.  219. 


174  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV, 

in  its  texture  from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  human  species,  as  to  account  for 
this  diversity  in  their  behaviour.  It  flows  from  a  principle  of  honour, 
instilled  early  and  cultivated  with  such  care,  as  to  inspire  man  in  his  rudest 
state  with  an  heroic  magnanimity,  to  which  philosophy  hath  endeavoured 
<  in  vain  to  form  him,  when  more  highly  improved  and  polished.  This 
invincible  constancy  he  has  been  taught  to  consider  as  the  chief  distinction 
of  a  man,  and  the  highest  attainment  of  a  warrior.  The  ideas  which 
influence  his  conduct,  and  the  passions  which  take  possession  of  his  heart, 
are  few.  They  operate  of  course  with  more  decisive  effect  than  when  the 
mind  is  crowded  with  a  multiplicity  of  objects,  or  distracted  by  the  variety 
of  its  pursuits  ;  and  when  every  motive  that  acts  with  any  force  in  forming 
the  sentiments  of  a  savage,  prompts  him  to  suffer  with  dignity,  he  will  bear 
what  might  seem  to  be  impossible  for  human  patience  to  sustain.  But 
wherever  the  fortitude  of  the  Americans  is  not  roused  to  exertion  by  their 
ideas  of  honour,  their  feelings  of  pain  are  the  same  with  those  of  the  rest 
of  mankind  [74].  Nor  is  that  patience  under  sufferings  for  which  the 
Americans  have  been  so  justly  celebrated,  a  universal  attainment.  The 
constancy  of  many  of  the  victims  is  overcome  by  the  agonies  of  torture. 
Their  weakness  and  lamentations  complete  the  triumph  of  their  enemies, 
and  reflect  disgrace  upon  their  own  country.* 

The  perpetual  hostilities  carried  on  among  the  American  tribes  are  pro 
ductive  of  very  fatal  effects.  Even  in  seasons  of  public  tranquillity,  their 
imperfect  industiy  does  not  supply  them  with  any  superfluous  store  of 
provisions ;  but  when  the  irruption  of  an  enemy  desolates  their  cultivated 
lands,  or  disturbs  them  in  their  hunting  excursions,  such  a  calamity  reduces 
a  community,  naturally  unprovident  and  destitute  of  resources,  to  extreme 
want.  All  the  people  of  the  district  that  is  invaded  are  frequently  forced 
to  take  refuge  in  woods  and  mountains,  which  can  afford  them  little  sub 
sistence,  and  where  many  of  them  perish.  Notwithstanding  their  exces 
sive  caution  in  conducting  their  military  operations,  and  the  solicitude 
of  every  leader  to  preserve  the  lives  of  his  followers,  as  the  rude  tribes  in 
America  seldom  enjoy  any  interval  of  peace,  the  loss  of  men  among  them 
is  considerable  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  population.  Thus  famine 
and  the  sword  combine  in  thinning  their  numbers.  All  their  communities 
we  feeble,  and  nothing  now  remains  of  several  nations  which  were  once 
considerable,  but  the  name.f 

Sensible  of  this  continual  decay,  there  are  tribes  which  endeavour  to 
ecruit  their  national  force  when  exhausted,  by  adopting  prisoners  taken  in 
;var,  and  by  this  expedient  prevent  their  total  extinction.  The  practice, 
aowever,  is  not  universally  received.  Resentment  operates  more  power 
fully  among  savages  than  considerations  of  policy.  Far  the  greater  part 
of  their  captives  was  anciently  sacrificed  to  their  vengeance,  and  it  is  only 
since  their  numbers  began  to  decline  fast,  that  they  have  generally  adopted 
milder  maxims.  But  such  as  they  do  naturalize  renounce  for  ever  their 
native  tribe,  and  assume  the  manners  as  well  as  passions  of  the  people  by 
whom  they  are  adoptedj  so  entirely,  that  they  often  join  them  in  expedi 
tions  against  their  own  countrymen.  Such  a  sudden  transition,  and  so 
repugnant  to  one  of  the  most  powerful  instincts  implanted  by  nature,  would 
be  deemed  strange  among  many  people  ;  but  among  the  members  of  small 
communities,  where  national  enmity  is  violent  and  deep  rooted,  it  has  the 
appearance  of  being  still  more  unaccountable.  It  seems,  however,  to  result 
naturally  from  the  principles  upon  which  war  is  carried  on  in  America. 
When  nations  aim  at  exterminating  their  enemies,  no  exchange  of  prisoners 
can  ever  take  place.  From  the  moment  one  is  made  a  prisoner,  his  country 
and  his  friends  consider  him  as  dead  [75].  He  has  incurred  indelible 

*  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  248.  385.  De  la  Pothetie.  iii.  48.  t  Charlev.  Hist.  IS.  Fr.  iii.  202, 
203.  429.  Gumilla,  ii.  227,  &c.  J  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  245,  &c.  Lafit.  ii.  308. 


AMERICA.  175 

disgrace  by  suffering  himself  to  be  surprised  or  to  be  taken  by  an  enemy ; 
and  were  he  to  return  home,  after  such  a  stain  upon  his  honour,  his  nearest 
relations  would  not  receive  or  even  acknowledge  that  they  knew  him.* 
Some  tribes  were  still  more  rigid,  and  if  a  prisoner  returned,  the  infamy 
which  he  had  brought  on  his  country  was  expiated,  by  putting  him  instantly 
to  death.f  As  the  unfortunate  captive  is  thus  an  outcast  from  his  own 
country,  and  the  ties  which  bound  him  to  it  are  irreparably  broken,  he 
feels  less  reluctance  in  forming  a  new  connexion  with  people,  who,  as  an 
evidence  of  their  friendly  sentiments,  not  only  deliver  him  from  a  cruel 
death,  but  offer  to  admit  him  to  all  the  rights  of  a  fellovy-citizen.  The 
perfect  similarity  of  manners  among  savage  nations  facilitates  and  com 
pletes  the  union,  and  induces  a  captive  to  transfer  not  only  his  allegiance, 
but  his  affection  to  the  community  into  the  bosom  of  which  he  is  received. 

But  though  war  be  the  chief  occupation  of  men  in  their  rude  state?  and 
to  excel  in  it  their  highest  distinction  and  pride,  their  inferiority  is  al ways 
manifest  when  they  engage  in  competition  with  polished  nations.  Destitute 
of  that  foresight  which  discerns  and  provides  for  remote  events,  strangers 
to  the  union  and  mutual  confidence  requisite  in  forming  any  extensive  plan 
of  operations,  and  incapable  of  the  subordination  no  less  requisite  in  car 
rying  such  plans  into  execution,  savage  nations  may  astonish  a  disciplined 
enemy  by  their  valour,  but  seldom  prove  formidable  to  him  by  their  con 
duct ;  and  whenever  the  contest  is  of  long  continuance,  must  yield  to 
superior  art  £76].  The  empires  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  though  their  pro 
gress  in  civilization,  when  measured  by  the  European  or  Asiatic  standards, 
was  inconsiderable,  acquired  such  an  ascendency  over  the  rude  tribes 
around  them,  that  they  subjected  most  of  them  with  great  facility  to  their 
power.  When  the  people  of  Europe  overran  the  various  provinces  of 
America,  this  superiority  was  still  more  conspicuous.  Neither  the  courage 
nor  number  of  the  natives  could  repel  a  handful  of  invaders.  The  aliena 
tion  and  enmity,  prevalent  among  barbarians,  prevented  them  from  uniting 
in  any  common  scheme  of  defence,  and  while  each  tribe  fought  separately, 
all  were  subdued. 

VI.  The  arts  of  rude  nations  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  metals, 
hardly  merit  any  attention  on  their  own  account,  but  are  worthy  of  some 
notice,  as  far  as  they  serve  to  display  the  genius  and  manners  of  man  in  this 
stage  of  his  progress.  The  first  distress  a  savage  must  feel,  will  arise  from 
the  manner  in  which  his  body  is  affected  by  the  heat,  or  cold,  or  moisture  of 
the  climate  under  which  he  lives  ;  and  his  first  care  will  be  to  provide  some 
covering  for  his  own  defence.  In  the  warmer,  and  more  mild  climates  of 
America,  none  of  the  rude  tribes  were  clothed.  To  most  of  them  nature 
had  not  even  suggested  any  idea  of  impropriety  in  being  altogether  unco 
vered.  J  As  under  a  mild  climate  there  was  little  need  of  any  defence  from 
the  injuries  of  the  air,  and  their  extreme  indolence  shunned  every  species 
of  labour  to  which  it  was  not  urged  by  absolute  necessity,  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  isles,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  people  on  the  continent, 
remained  in  this  state  of  naked  simplicity.  Others  were  satisfied  with 
some  slight  covering,  such  as  decency  required.  But  though  naked,  they 
were  not  unadorned.  They  dressed,  their  hair  in  many  different  forms. 
They  fastened  bits  of  gold,  or  shells,  or  shining  stones,  in  their  ears,  their 
noses,  and  cheeks. §  They  stained  their  skins  with  a  great  variety  of 
figures ;  and  they  spent  much  time,  and  submitted  to  great  pain,  in  orna 
menting  their  persons  in  this  fantastic  manner.  Vanity,  however,  which 
finds  endless  occupation  for  ingenuity  and  invention  in  nations  where 
dress  has  become  a  complex  and  intricate  art,  is  circumscribed  within  so 

*  Lahont,  ii.  185, 186.  t  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  16.  p.  173:  i  Lery  Navigat.  ap.  de  Bry, 
hi.  p.  164.  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  34.  Venegas  Hist,  of  Californ.  p.  70*  §  Lery  ap.  dc  Bry,  iii, 
j.'.  165.  Lettr.  Edifiantes,  xx.  p.  323. 


176  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

narrow  bounds,  and  confined  to  so  few  articles  among  naked  savages,  that 
they  are  not  satisfied  with  those  simple  decorations,  and  have  a  wonderful 
propensity  to  alter  the  natural  form  of  their  bodies,  in  order  to  render  it 
(as  they  imagine)  more  perfect  and  beautiful.  This  practice  was  universal 
among  the  rudest  of  the  American  tribes-  Their  operations  for  that 
purpose  begin  as  soon  as  an  infant  is  born.  By  compressing  the  bones  of 
the  skull,  while  still  soft  and  flexible,  some  flatten  the  crown  of  their  heads ; 
seme  squeeze  them  into  the  shape  of  a  cone  ;  others  mould  them  as  much 
as  possible  into  a  square  figure  ;*  and  they  often  endanger  the  lives  of 
their  posterity  by  their  violent  and  absurd  efforts  to  derange  the  plan  of 
nature,  or  to  improve  upon  her  designs.  But  in  all  their  attempts  either 
to  adorn  or  to  new  model  their  persons,  it  seems  to  have  been  less  the 
object  of  the  Americans  to  please,  or  to  appear  beautiful,  than  to  give  an 
air  of  dignity  and  terror  to  their  aspect.  Their  attention  to  dress  had 
more  reference  to  war  than  to  gallantry.  The  difference  in  rank  and 
estimation  between  the  two  sexes  was  so  great,  as  seems  to  have  extin 
guished,  in  some  measure,  their  solicitude  to  appear  mutually  amiable. 
The  man  deemed  it  beneath  him  to  adorn  his  person,  for  the  sake  of  one 
on  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  look  down  as  a  slave.  It  was  when  the 
warrior  had  in  view  to  enter  the  council  of  his  nation,  or  to  take  the  field 
against  its  enemies,  that  he  assumed  his  choicest  ornaments,  and  decked 
his  person  with  the  nicest  care.j  The  decorations  of  the  women  were 
few  and  simple;  whatever  was  precious  or  splendid  was  reserved  for  the 
men.  In  several  tribes  the  women  were  obliged  to  spend  a  considerable 
part  of  their  time  every  day  in  adorning  and  painting  their  husbands,  and 
could  bestow  little  attention  upon  ornamenting  themselves.  Among  a  race 
of  men  so  haughty  as  to  despise,  or  so  cold  as  to  neglect  them,  the  women 
naturally  became  careless  and  slovenly,  and  the  love  of  finery  and  show, 
which  had  been  deemed  their  favourite  passion,  was  confined  chiefly  to  the 
other  sex.  J  To  deck  his  person  was  the  distinction  of  a  warrior,  as  well 
as  one  of  his  most  serious  occupations  [77].  In  one  part  of  their  dress, 
which  at  first  sight  appears  the  most  singular  and  capricious,  the  Americans 
have  discovered  considerable  sagacity  in  providing  against  the  chief  incon 
veniences  of  their  climate,  which  is  often  sultry  and  moist  to  excess.  All 
the  different  tribes,  which  remain  unclothed,  are  accustomed  to  anoint  and 
rub  their  bodies  with  the  grease  of  animals,  with  viscous  gums,  and  with 
oils  of  different  kinds.  By  this  they  check  that  profuse  perspiration, 
which  in  the  torrid  zone  wastes  the  vigour  of  the  frame,  and  abridges  the 
period  of  human  life.  By  this,  too,  they  provide  a  defence  against  the 
extreme  moisture  during  the  rainy  season  [78].  They  likewise,  at  certain 
seasons,  temper  paint  of  different  colours  with  those  unctuous  substances, 
and  bedaub  themselves  plentifully  with  that  composition.  Sheathed  with 
this  impenetrable  varnish,  their  skins  are  not  only  protected  from  the  pene 
trating  heat  of  the  sun,  but  as  all  the  innumerable  tribes  of  insects  have  an 
antipathy  to  the  smell  or  taste  of  that  mixture,  they  are  delivered  from  their 
teasing  persecution,  which  amidst  forests  and  marshes,  especially  in  the 
warmer  regions,  would  have  been  altogether  intolerable  in  a  state  of  perfect 
nakedness.^ 

The  next  object  to  dress  that  will  engage  the  attention  of  a  savage,  is  to 
prepare  some  habitation  which  may  afford  him  shelter  by  day,  and  a  retreat 
at  night.  Whatever  is  connected  with  his  ideas  of  personal  dignity,  what 
ever  Ipears  any  reference  to  his  military  character,  the  savage  warrior  deems 
an  object  of  importance.  Whatever  relates  only  to  peaceable  and  inactive 

*  Oviedo  Hist.  lib.  iii.  c.  5.  Ulloa,  i.  329.  Voyage  de  Labal,  ii.  72,  Charlevoix,  iii.  323. 
Gumilla,  i.  197,  &c.  Acugna  Relat.  de  la  Riv.  des  Amaz.  ii.  83.  Lawson's  Voyage  to  Carolina, 
p.  33.  t  Wafer's  Voyage,  p.  142.  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  167.  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fran.  iii.  216. 
222.  +  Charlev.  Hist,  de  la  Nouv.  France,  iii.  278.  327.  Lafitau,  ii.  53.  Kalm's  Voyage,  iii. 
273.  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  169, 170.  Purcn.  Pilgr.  iv.  1287.  Ribas  Hist,  de  los  Triumph,  &c.  472 
$  Labat,  ii.  73.  Gumilla,  i.  190.  202.  Bancroft  Nat,  Hist,  of  Guiana,  81.  280. 


AMERICA.  177 

life,  he  views  with  indifference.  Hence,  though  finically  attentive  to  dress, 
be  is  little  solicitous  about  the  elegance  or  disposition  of  his  habitation 
Savage  nations,  far  from  that  state  of  improvement,  in  which  the  mode  of 
living  is  considered  as  a  mark  of  distinction,  and  unacquainted  with  those 
wants,  which  require  a  variety  of  accommodation,  regulate  the  construction 
of  their  houses  according  to  their  limited  ideas  of  necessity.  Some  of  the 
American  tribes  were  so  extremely  rude,  and  had  advanced  so  little  beyond 
the  primaeval  simplicity  of  nature,  that  they  had  no  houses  at  all.  During 
the  day,  they  take  shelter  from  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun  under  thick 
trees ;  at  night  they  form  a  shed  with  their  branches  and  leaves  [79].  In 
the  rainy  season  they  retire  into  coves,  formed  by  the  hand  of  Nature,  or 
hollowed  out  by  their  own  industry.*  Others,  who  have  'no  fixed  abode, 
and  roam  through  the  forest  in  quest  of  game,  sojournjn  temporary  huts, 
which  they  erect  with  little  labour,  ana  abandon  without  any  concern. 
The  inhabitants  of  those  vast  plains,  which  are  deluged  by  the  overflowing 
of  rivers  during  the  heavy  rains  that  fall  periodically  between  the  tropics, 
raise  houses  upon  piles  fastened  in  the  ground,  or  place  them  among  the 
boughs  of  trees,  and  are  thus  safe  amidst  that  wide  extended  inundation 
which  surrounds  them.f  Such  were  the  first -essays  of  the  rudest  Ameri 
cans  towards  providing  themselves  with  habitations.  But  even  among 
tribes  which  are  more  improved,,  and  whose  residence  is  become  altogether 
fixed,  the  structure  of  their  houses  is  extremely  mean  and  simple.  They 
are  wretched  huts,  sometimes  of  an  oblong  and  sometimes  of  a  circular 
form,  intended  merely  for  shelter,  with  no  view  to  elegance,  and  little 
attention  to  conveniency.  The  doors  are  so  low  that  it  is  necessary  to 
bend  or  to  creep  on  the  hands  and  feet  in  order  to  enter  them.  They  are 
without  windows,  and  have  a  large  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  root,  to  convey 
out  the  smoke.  To  follow  travellers  in  other  minute  circumstances  of 
their  descriptions,  is  not  only  beneath  the  dignity  of  history,  but  would 
be  foreign  to  the  object  of.  my  researches.  One  circumstance  merits 
attention,  as  it  is  singular,  and  illustrates  the  character  of  the  people. 
Some  of  their  houses  are  so  large  as  to  contain  accommodation  for  four 
score  or  a  hundred  persons.  These  are  built  for  the  reception  of  different 
families,  which  dwell  together  under  the  same  roof  [80],  and  often  around 
a  common  fire,  without  separate  apartments,  or  any  kind  of  screen  or  parti 
tion  between  the  spaces  which  they  respectively  occupy.  As  soon  as  men 
have  acquired  distinct  ideas  of  property;  or  when  they  are  so  much 
attached  to  their  females,  as  to  watch  them  with  care  and  jealousy ; 
families  of  course  divide  and  settle  in  separate  houses,  where  they  can 
secure  and  guard  whatever  they  wish  to  preserve.  This  singular  mode  of 
habitation,  among  several  people  of  America,  may  therefore  be  considered 
not  only  as  the  effect  of  their  imperfect  notions  concernipg  property,  but 
as  a  proof  of  inattention,  and  indifference  towards  their  women.  It  they 
had  not  been  accustomed  to  perfect  equality,  such  an  arrangement  could 
not  have  taken  place.  If  their  sensibility  had  been  apt  to  have  taken 
alarm,  they  would  not  have  trusted  the  virtue  of  their  women  amidst  the 
temptations  and  opportunities  of  such  a  promiscuous  intercourse.  At  the 
same  time,  the  perpetual  concord,  which  reigns  in  habitations  where  so 
many  families  are  crowded  together,,  is  surprising,  and  affords  a  striking 
evidence  that  they  must  be  people  of  either  a  very  gentle,  or  of  a  very 
phlegmatic  temper,  who  in  such  a  situation,  are  unacquainted  with  animo 
sity,  brawling,  and  discord.J 
After  making  some  provision  for  his  dress  and  habitation,  a  savage 

*  Lettres  Edif,  v.  273.  Venegas  Hist,  of  Califor.  i.  76,  Lozano,  Descrip.  del  Gran.  Chaco,  p. 
55.  Lettres  Edif.  ii.  176,  Camilla,  i.  383,  Bancroft,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  277.  T  Gumilla,  i. 
225.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  G.  Oviedo  Somar.  p.  53.  C.  $  Journ.  de  Grillet  et  Bechamel 

dans  la  Goyane,  p.  65.    Lafitau  Mosurs,  ii.  4.    Torquem.  Monarq.  i,  247,    Journal  Hist,  de  JoutaH, 
317.    Lery  Hist.  Brazil,  ap..de  Bry,  iii.  238.    Lozano  Descr.  del  Gran.  Chaco,  67. 

VOL.  I.-  -V 


H8  HISTORY  OF  (BOOK  IV, 

arms  with  which  to 
early  exercised  the 
ingenuity  and  invention  of  all  rude  nations.  "  Hie  first  offensive  weapons 
were  doubtless  such  as-  chance  presented,  and  the  first  efforts  of  art  to 
improve  upon  these,  were  extremely  awkward  and  simple.  Clubs  made 
of  some  heavy  wood,  stakes  hardened  in  the  fire,  lances  whose  heads  were 
armed  with  flint  or  the  bones  of  some  animal,  are  weapons  known  to  the 
rudest  nations.  All  these,  however,  are  of  use  only  in  close  encounter. 
But  men  wished  to  annoy  their  enemies  while  at  a  distance,  and  -the  bow 
and  arrow  is  the  most  early  invention  for  this  purpose.  This  weapon  is  in 
•the  hands  of  people  whose  advances  in  improvement  are  extremely  incon 
siderable,  and  is  familiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  some  tribes  in  America  were  so  destitute 
of  art  and  ingenuity,  that  they  had  not  attained  to  the  discovery  of  this 
simple  invention,*  and  seem  to  have  been  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  any 
missile  weapon.  The  sling,  though  in  its  construction  not  more  complex 
than  the  bow,  and  among  many  nations  of  equal  antiquity,  was  little  known 
to  the  people  of  North  America,!  or  the  islands,  but  appears  to  have  been 
used  by  a  few  tribes  in  the  southern  continent J  [81] .  The  people,  in  some 
provinces  of  Chili,  and  those  of  Patagonia,  towards  the  southern  extremity 
of  America,  use  a  weapon  peculiar  to  themselves.  They  fasten  stones, 
about  the  size  of  a  fist,  to  each  end  of  a  leather  thong  of  eight  feet  in 
length;  and  swing  these  round  their  heads,  throw  them  with  such  dexterity, 
that  they  seldom  miss  the  object  at  which  they  aim.§ 

Among  people  who  had  hardly  any  occupation  but  war*  or  hunting,  the 
chief  exertions  of  their  invention  [82J,  as  well  as  industry,  were  naturally 
directed  towards  these  objects.  With  respect  to  every  thing  else,  their 
wants  and  desires  were  so  limited,  that  their  invention  was  not  upon  the 
stretch.  As  their  food  and  habitations  are  perfectly  simple,  their  domestic 
utensils  are  few  and  rude.  Some  of  the  southern  tribes  had  discovered 
the  art  of  forming-  vessels  of  earthen  ware,  and  Baking  them  in  the  sun,  so 
as  they  could  endure  the  fire.  In  North  America,  they  hollowed  a  piece 
of  hard  wood  in  the  form  of  a  kettle,  and  filling  it  with  water,  brought  it 
to  boil,  by  putting  red-hot  stones  into  it  [83],  These  vessels  they  used  in 
preparing  part  of  their  provisions  ;  and  this  may  be  considered  as  a  step 
towards  refinement  and  luxury  ;  for  men  in  their  rudest  state  were  not 
acquainted  with  any  method  of  dressing  their  victuals  but  by  roasting  them 
on  the  fire  ;  and  among  several  tribes  in  America,  this  is  the  only  species 
of  cookery  yet  known.  ||  But  the  masterpiece  of  art,  among  the  savages 
of  America,  is  the  construction  of  the  canoes.  An  Esquimaux,  shut  up  in 
his  boat  of  whalebone, -covered  with  the  skins  of  seals,  can  brave  that 
stormy  ocean  on  which  the  barrenness  of  his  country  compels  him  to  depend 
for  the  chief  part  of  his  subsistence. IT  The  people  of  Canada  venture  upon 
their  rivers  and  lakes  in  boats  made  of  the  bark  of  trees,  and  so  light  that 
two  men  can  carry  them,  wherever  shallows  or  cataracts  obstruct  the 
navigation  [84].  In  these  frail  vessels  they  undertake  and  accomplish 
long  voyages."**  The  inhabitants  of  the  isles  and  of  the  southern  continent 
form  their  canoes  by  hollowing  the  trunk  of  a  large  tree,  with  infinite  labour ; 
and  though  in  appearance  they  are  extremely  awkward  and  unwieldy, 
they  paddle  and  steer  them  with  such  dexterity,  that  Europeans,  well  ac 
quainted  with  all  the  improvements  in  the  science  of  navigation,  have  been 
astonished  at  the  rapidity  of  their  motion,  and  the  quickness  of  their  evo 
lutions.  Their  pirogues,  or  war  boats,  are  so  large  as  to  carry  forty  or  fifty 
men  ;  their  canoes,  employed  in  fishing  and  in  short  voyages  are  less  capa- 

*  Piedrahita  Conq.  del  Nuevo  Reyno,  ix.  12.  t  Nauf.  de  Alv.  Nun.  Cabeca  de  Vaca,  c.  x. 

p.  12.  J  Piedrah.  p.  16.  $  Ovalle's  Relation  of  Chili.  Church.  Collect,  iii.  82.  Falkner'a 
Descript.  of  Patagon.p.  130.  |[0hariev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  332.  tf  Ellis  Voy.  133.  **  Lafijau 
Mceurs,  &c.  ii.  213. 


AMERICA.  179 

cious.*  The  form  as  well  as  materials  of  all  these  Various  kinds  of  vessels, 
is  well  adapted  to  the  service  for  which  they  are  destined ;  and  the  more 
minutely  they  are  examined,  the  mechanism  of  their  structure,  as  well  as 
neatness  of  their  fabric,  will  appear  the  more  surprising. 

But,  in  every  attempt  towards  industry  among  the  Americans,  one 
striking  quality  in  their  character  is  conspicuous.  They  apply  to  work 
without  ardour,  carry  it  on  with  little  activity,  and,  like  children,  are  easily 
diverted  from  it.  Even  in  operations  which  seem  the  most  interesting, 
and  where  the  most  powerful  motives  urge  them  to  vigorous  exertions, 
they  labour  with  a  languid  listlessness.  Their  work  advances  under  their 
hand  with  such  slowness,  that  an  eyewitness  compares  it  to  the  impercep 
tible  progress  of  vegetation.!  They  will  spend  so  many  years  in  forming 
a  canoe,  that  it  often  begins  to  rot  with  age  before  they  finish  it.  They 
will  suffer  one  part  of  a  roof  to  decay  and  perishy  before  they  complete 
the  other. J  The  slightest  manual  operation  consumes  an  amazing  length 
of  time,  and  what  in  polished  nations  would  hardly  be  an  effort  of  industry, 
is  among  savages  an  arduous  undertaking.  This  slowness  of  the  Ameri 
cans  in  executing  works  of  every  kind  may  be  imputed  to  various  causes. 
Among  savages,  who  do  not  depend  for  subsistence  upon  the  efforts  of 
regular  industry,  time  is  of  so  little  importance  that  they  set  no  value 
upon  it ;  and  provided  they  can  finish  a  design,  they  never  regard  how  long 
they  are  employed  about  it.  The  tools  which  they  employ  are  so  awkward 
ana  defective  that  every  work  in  which  they  engage  must  necessarily  be 
tedious.  The  hand  of  the  most  industrious  and  skilful  artist,  were  it  fur 
nished  with  no  better  instrument  than  a  stone  hatchet,  a  shell,  or  the  bone 
of  some  animal,  would  find  it  difficult  to  perfect  the  most  simple  work.  It  is 
by  length  of  labour  that  he  must  endeavour  to  supply  his  defect  of  power. 
But  above  all,  the  cold  phlegmatic  temper  peculiar  to  the  Americans,  ren 
ders  their  operations  languid.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  rouse  them  from 
that  habitual  indolence  to  which  they  are  sunk  ;  and  unless  when  engaged 
in  war  or  in  hunting,  they  seem  incapable  of  exerting  any  vigorous  effort. 
Their  ardour  of  application  is  not  so  great  as  to  call  forth  that  inventive 
spirit  which  suggests  expedients  for  facilitating  and  abridging  labour. 
They  will  return  to  a  task  day  after  day,  but  all  their  methods  of  executing 
it  are  tedious  and  operose  [85],  Even  since  the  Europeans  have  commu 
nicated  to  them  the  knowledge  of  their  instruments,  and  taught  them  to 
imitate  their  arts,  the  peculiar  genius  of  the  Americans  is  conspicuous  in 
every  attempt  they  make.  They  may  be  patient  and  assiduous  in  labour, 
they  can  copy  with  a  servile  and  minute  accuracy,  but  discover  little 
invention  and  no  talents  for  despatch.  In  spite  of  instruction  and  example, 
the  spirit  of  the  race  predominates ;  their  motions  are  naturally  tardy,  and 
it  is  in  vain  to  urge  them  to  quicken  their  pace.  Among  the  Spaniards  in 
America,  the  work  of  an  Indian  is  a  phrase  by  which  they  describe  any 
thing,  in  the  execution  of  which  an  immense  time  has  been  employed  and 
much  labour  wasted.^ 

VII.  No  circumstance  respecting  rude  nations  has  been  the  object  of 
greater  curiosity  than  their  religious  tenets  and  rites  ;  and  none,  perhaps, 
has  been  so  imperfectly  understood,  or  represented  with  so  little  fidelity. 
Priests  and  missionaries  are  the  persons  who  have  had  the  best  opportunities 
of  carrying  on  this  inquiry  among  the  most  uncivilized  of  the  American  tribes. 
Their  minds,  engrossed  by  the  doctrines  of  their  own  religion,  and  habituated 
to  its  institutions,  are  apt  to  discover  something  which  resembles  those 
objects  of  their  veneration,  ki  the  opinions  and  rites  of  every  people. 
Whatever  they  contemplate  they  View  through  one  medium,  and  draw 
and  accommodate  it  to  their  own  system. "  They  study  to  reconcile  the 

*  Labat,  Voyages,  ii.  91,  &c.  131.  f  Gumilla,  ii.  297.  +  Borcle  Relat.  des  Caraibes. 

p.  22.  $  Voyages  de  tlloa,  i.  335.     Lettr.  Edif.  &c.  xv.  348. 


180  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

.institutions  which  fall  under  their  observation  to  their  own  creed,  not  to 
explain  them  according  to  the  rude  notions  of  the  people  themselves. 
They  ascribe  to  them  ideas  which  they  are  incapable  of  forming,  and  sup 
pose  them  to  be  acquainted  with  principles  and  facts,  which  it  is  impossible 
that  they  should  know.  Hence,  some  missionaries  have  been  induced  to 
believe,  that  even  among  the  most  barbarous  nations  in  America,  they  had 
discovered  traces,  no  less  distinct  than  amazing1,  of  their  acquaintance  with 
the  sublime  mysteries  and  peculiar  institutions  of  Christianity.  From  their 
own  interpretation  of  certain  expressions  and  ceremonies,  they  have  con 
cluded  that  these  people  had  some  knowledge  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  of  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  of  his  expiatory  sacrifice,  of 
the  virtue  of  the  cross,  and  of  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments.*  In  such 
unintelligent  and  credulous  guides  we  can  place  little  confidence. 

But  even  when  we  make  our  choice  of  conductors  with'  the  greatest 
care,  we  must  not  follow  them  with  implicit  faith.  An  inquiry  into  the 
religious  notions  of  rude  nations  is  involved  in  peculiar  intricacies,  and  we 
must  often  pause  in  order  to  separate  the  facts  which  our  informers  relate 
from  the  reasonings  with  which  they  are  accompanied,  or  the  theories 
which  they  build  upon  them.  Several  pious  writers,  more  attentive  to  the 
importance  of  the  subject  than  to  the  condition  of  the  people  whose  senti 
ments  they  were  endeavouring  to  discover,  have  bestowed  much  unprofit 
able  labour  in  researches  of  this  nature  [86]. 

There  are  two  fundamental  doctrines,  upon  which  the  whole  system  of 
religion,  as  far  as  it  can  be  discovered  by  the  light  of  nature,  is  established. 
The  one  respects  the  being  of  a  God,  the  other  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
To  discover  the  ideas  of  the  uncultivated  nations  under  our  review,  with 
regard  to  those  important  points,  is  not  only  an  object  of  curiosity,  but 
may  afford  instruction.  To  these  two  articles  1  shall  confine  my  researches, 
leaving  subordinate  opinions,  and  the  detail  of  local  superstitions,  to  more 
minute  inquirers.  Whoever  has  had  any  opportunity  of  examining  into  the 
religious  opinions  of  persons  in  the  inferior  ranks  of  life,  even  in  the  most 
enlightened  and  civilized  nations,  will  find  that  their  system  of  belief  is  de 
rived  from  instruction,  not  discovered  by  inquiry.  That  numerous  part  of  the 
human  species,  whose  lot  is  labour,  whose  principal  and  almost  sole  occu 
pation  is  to  secure  subsistence,  views  the  arrangement  and  operations  of 
nature  with  little  reflection,  and  has  neither  leisure  nor  capacity  for  enter 
ing  into  that  path  of  refined  and  intricate  speculation  which  conducts  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  natural  religion.  In'  the  early  and  most 
rude  periods  of  savage  life,  such, disquisitions  are  altogether  unknown. 
When  the  intellectual  powers  are  just  beginning  to  unfold,  and  their  first 
feeble  exertions  are  directed  towards  a  few  objects  of  primary  necessity 
and  use  ;  when  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  so  limited  as  not  to  have 
formed  abstract  or  general  ideas ;  when  language  is  so  barren  as  to  be 
destitute  of  names  to  distinguish  any  thing  that  is  not  perceived  by  soifie 
of  the  senses  ;  it  is  preposterous  to  expect  that  man  should  be  capable  of 
tracing  with  accuracy  the  relation  between  cause  and  effect ;  or  to  suppose 
that  he  should  rise  from  the  contemplation  of  the  one  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  other,  and  form  just  conceptions  of  a  Deity,  as  the  Creator  and  Governor 
of  the  universe.  The  idea  of  creation  is  so  familiar,  wherever  the  mind  is 
enlarged  by  science  and  illuminated  with  revelation,  that  we  seldom  reflect 
how  profound  and  abstruse  this  idea  is,  or  consider  what  progress  man 
must  nave  made  in  observation  and  research,  before  he  could  arrive  at  any 
knowledge  of  this  elementary  principle  in  religion.  Accordingly,  several 
tribes  have  been  discovered  in  America,  whicn  have  no  idea  whatever  of 
a  Supreme  Being,  and  no  rites  of  religious  worship.  Inattentive  to  that 

*  Venegas,  i.  88.  92.  Torquemada,  ii.  445.  Garcia  Origen,  122.  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  ix.  c, 
7.  dec.  5.  lib.  iv.  c.  7. 


AMERICA.  181 

magnificent  spectacle  of  beauty  and  order  presented  to  their  view,  unac 
customed  to  reflect  either  upon  what  they  themselves  are,  or  to  inquire 
who  is  the  author  of  their  existence,  men,  in  their  savage  state,  pass  their 
days  like  the  animals  around  them,  without  knowledge  or  veneration  of  any 
superior  power.  Some  rude  tribes  have  not  in  their  language  any  name  for 
the  Deity,  nor  have  the  most  accurate  observers  been  able  to  discover  any 
practice  or  institution  which  seemed  to  imply  that  they  recognised  his 
authority,  or  were  solicitous  to  obtain  his  favour*  [87].  It  is  however  only 
among  men  in  the  most  uncultivated  state  of  nature,  and  while  their  intel 
lectual  faculties  are  so  feeble  and  limited  as  hardly  to  elevate  them  above 
the  irrational  creation,  that  we  discover  this  total  insensibility  to  the  im 
pressions  of  any  invisible  power. 

But  the  human  mind,  formed  for  religion,  soon  opens  to  the  reception  of 
ideas,  which  are  destined,  when  corrected  and  refined,  to  be  the  great 
source  of  consolation  amidst  the  calamities  of  life.  Among  some  of  the 
American  tribes,  still  in  the  infancy  of  improvement,  we  discern  apprehen 
sions  of  some  invisible  and  powerful  beings.  These  apprehensions  are 
originally  indistinct  and  perplexed,  and  seem  to  be  suggested  rather  by 
the  dread  of  impending  evils  than  to  flow  from  gratitude  for  blessings 
received.  While  nature  holds  on  her  course  with  uniform  and  undis 
turbed  regularity,  men  enjoy  the  benefits  resulting  from  it,  without  inquir 
ing  concerning  its  cause,  feut  every  deviation  from  this  regular  course 
rouses  and  astonishes  them.  When  they  behold  events  to  which  they  are 
not  accustomed,  they  search  for  the  reasons  of  them  with  eager  curiosity. 
Their  understanding  is  unable  to  penetrate  into  the.se;  but/ imagination, 
a  more  forward  and  ardent  faculty  of  the  mind,  decides  without  hesitation. 
It  ascribes  the  extraordinary  occurrences  in  nature  to  the.  influence  of  invi 
sible  beings,  and  supposes  that  the  thunder,  the  hurricane,  and  the  earthquake 
are  effects  of  their  interposition.  Some  such  confused  notion  of  spiritual  or 
invisible  power,  superintending  over  those  natural  calamities  which  frequently 
desolate  the  earth,  and  terrify  its  inhabitants,  may  be  traced  among  many 
rude  nations  [88].  But  besides  this,  the  disasters  and  dangers  of  savage 
life  are  so  many,  and  men  often  find  themselves  in  situations  so  formidable, 
that  the  mind,  sensible  of  its  own  weakness,  has  no  resource  but  in  the 
guidance  and  protection  of  wisdom  and  power  superior  to  what  is  human. 
Dejected  with  calamities  which  oppress  him,  and  exposed  to  dangers 
which  he  cannot  repel,  the  savage  no  longer  relies  upon  himself ;  he  feels 
his  own  impotence,  and  sees  no  prospect  of  being  extricated,  but  by  the 
interposition  of  some  unseen  arm.  Hence,  in  all  unenlightened  nations, 
the  first  rites  or  practices  which  bear  any  resemblance  to  acts  of  religion, 
have  it  for  their  object  to  avert  evils  which  men  suffer  or  dread.  The 
Manitous  orOkkis  of  the  North  Americans  were  amulets  or  charms,  which 
they  imagined  to  be  of  such  virtue  as  to  preserve  the  persons  who  reposed 
confidence  in  them  from  any  disastrous  event,  or  they  were  considered  as 
tutelary  spirits,  whose  aid  they  might  implore  in  circumstances  of  distress.! 
The  Cemis  of  the  islanders  were  reputed  by  them  to  be  the  authors  of 
every  calamity  that  afflicts  the  human  race  ;  they  were  represented  under 
the  most  frightful  forms,  and  religious  homage  was  paid  to  them  with  no 
other  view  than  to  appease  these  furious  deities.J  Even  among  those  tribes 
whose  religious  system  was  more  enlarged,  and  who  had  formed  some 
conception  of  benevolent  beings,  which  delighted  in  conferring  benefits,  as 
well  as  of  malicious  powers  prone  to  inflict  evil ;  superstition  still  appears 

*  Biet,  539.  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  221.  Nieuhoff.  Church.  Coll.  ii.  132.  Lcttr.  Edif.  2, 177. 
Id.  12, 13.  Venegas,  i.  87.  Lozano  Descr.  del  Gran  Chaco,  59.  Fernand.  Mission,  de  Chequit.  39. 
Gumilla,  ii.  156.  Rochefort  Hist,  des  Antilles,  p.  468.  Margrave  Hist,  in  Append,  de  Chiliensibus, 
286.  TJlloa,  Notic.  Amer.  335,  &c.  Barrere,  218,  219.  Harcourt  Voy.  to  Guiana,  Purch.  Pilgr.  iv. 
p.  1273.  Account  of  Brazil,  by  a  Portuguese.  Ibid.  p.  1289.  Jones's  Journal,  p.  59.  t  Charlev. 
N.  Fr.  iii.  343,  &c.  Creuxii  Hist.  Canab.  p.  82,  &c.  J  Oviedo,  lib.  iil.  c.  1.  p.  111.  P.  Martyr, 
decad.  p.  102,  &c. 


182  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  IV, 

as  the  offspring1  of  fear,  and  all  its  efforts  were  employed  to  avert  calami 
ties.  They. were  persuaded  that  their  good  deities,  prompted  by  the 
beneficence  of  their  nature,  would  bestow  every  blessing  in  their  power, 
without  solicitation  or  acknowledgment ;  and  their  only  anxiety  was  to 
soothe  and  deprecate  the  wrath  of  the  powers  whom  they  regarded  as 
the  enemies  of  mankind.* 

Such  were  the  imperfect  conceptions  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Americans 
with  respect  to  the  interposition  of  invisible  agents,  and  such,  almost  uni 
versally,  was  the  mean  and  illiberal  object  of  their  superstitions.  Were 
we  to  trace  back  the  ideas~of  other  nations  to  that  rude  state  in  which 
history  first  presents  them  to  our  view,  we  should  discover  a  surprising 
resemblance  in  their  tenets  and  practices;  and  should  be  convinced,  that 
in  similar  circumstances,  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind  hold  nearly^  the 
same  course  in  their  progress,  and  arrive  at  almost  the  same  conclusions. 
The  impressions  of  fear  are  conspicuous  in  all  the  systems  of  superstition 
formed  in  this  situation.  The  most  exalted  notions  of  men  rise  no  higher 
than  to  a  'perplexed  apprehension  of  certain  beings,  whose  power,  though 
supernatural,  is  limited  as  well  as  partial. 

but,  among  o,ther  tribes,  which  have  been  longer  united,  or  have  made 
greater  progress  in  improvement,  we  discern  some  feeble  pointing  towards 
more  just  and  adequate  conceptions  of  the  power  that  presides  in  nature. 
They  seem  to  perceive  that  there  must  be  some  universal  cause  to  whom 
all  things  are  indebted  for  their  being.  If  we1  may  judge  by  some  of  their 
expressions,  they  appear  to  acknowledge  a  divine  power  to  be  the  maker  of 
the  world,  and  the  disposer  of  all  events.  They  denominate  him  tjie  Great 
Spirit.^  But  these  ideas  are  faint  and  confused,  and  when  they  attempt  to 
explain  them,  it  is  manifest  that  among  them  the  word  spirit  has  a  meaning 
very  different  from  that  in  which  we  employ  it,  and  that  they  have  no  concep 
tion  of  any  deity  but  what  is  corporeal.  They  believe  their  gods  to  be  of 
the  human  form,  though  of  a  nature  more  excellent  than  man,  and  retail  such 
wild  incoherent  fables  concerning  their  functions  and  operations,  as  are 
altogether  unworthy  of  a  place  in  history.  Even  among  these  tribes,  there 
is  no  established  form  of  public  worship  ;  there  are  no  temples  erected  in 
honour  of  their  deities ;  and  no  ministers  peculiarly  consecrated  to  their 
service.  They  have  the  knowledge,  however,  of  several  superstitious 
ceremonies  and  practices  handed  down  to  them  by  tradition,  and  to  these 
they  have  recourse  with  a  childish  credulity,  when  roused  by  any  emer 
gence  from  their  usual  insensibility,  and  excited  to  acknowledge  the 
power,  and  to  implore  the  protection  of  superior  beings,  j 

The  tribe  of  the  Natchez,  and  the  people  of  Bogota,  had  advanced 
beyond  the  other  uncultivated  nations  of  America  in  their  ideas  of  religion, 
as  well  as  in  their  political  institutions ;  and  it  is  no  less  difficult  to  explain 
the  cause  of  this  distinction  than  of  that  which  we  have  already  consi 
dered.  The  Sun  was  the  chief  object  of  religious  worship  among  the 
Natchez.  In  their  temples,  which  were  constructed  with  some  magnifi 
cence,  and  decorated  with  various  ornaments,  according  to  their  mode  of 
architecture,  they  preserved  a  perpetual  fire,  as  the  purest  emblem  of  their 
divinity.  Ministers  were  appointed  to  watch  and  Feed  this  sacred  flame. 
The  first  function  of  the  great  chief  of  the  nation,  every  morning,  was  an 
act  of  obeisance  to  the  Sun ;  and  festivals  returned  at  stated  seasons,  which 
were  celebrated  by  the  whole  'community  with  solemn  but  unbloody  rites.§ 
This  is  the  most  refined  species  of  superstition  known  in  America,  and 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  natural  as  well  as  most  seducing.  The  Sun  is  the 
apparent  source  of  the  joy ,  fertility,  and  life,  diffused  through  nature ;  and 

*  Tertre,  ii.  365.  Borde,  p.  14.  State  of  Virginia,  by  a  Native,  book  iii.  p.  32,  33.  Dqmont,  i. 
165.  Bancroft  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  309.  t  Charlev.  N.  FT.  iii.  343.  Sagard,  Voy.  du  Pays 
des  Hurons,  226.  t  Charlev.  N,  Fr.  iii.  345.  Colden.  i.17.  §  Dumont.  i.  158,  &c.  Charle.v 
N.  Fr.  iii.  417,  &c.  429.  Lafitau,  i.  167, 


AMERICA.  183 

while  the  human  mind,  in  its  earlier  essays  towards  inquiry,  contemplates 
and  admires  his  universal  and  animating  energy,  its  admiration  is  apt  to 
stop  short  at  what  is  visible,  without  reaching  to  the  unseen  cause ;  and 
pays  that  adoration  to  the  most  glorious  and  beneficial  work  of  God,  which 
is  due  only  to  him  who  formed  it.  As  fire  is  the  purest  and  most  active  of 
the  elements,  and  in  some  of  its  qualities  and  effects  resembles  the  Sun,  it 
was,  not  improperly,  chosen  to  be  the  emblem  of  his  powerful  operation. 
The  ancient  Persians,  a  people  far  superior,  in  every  respect,  to  that  rude 
tribe  whose  rites  I  am  describing,  founded  their  religious  system  on  similar 
principles,  and  established  a  form  of  public  worship,  less  gross  and  excep 
tionable  than  that  of  any  people  destitute  of  guidance  from  revelation. 
This  surprising  coincidence  in  sentiment  between  two  nations,  in  such 
different  states  of  improvement,  is  one  of  the  many  singular  and  unaccount 
able  circumstances  which  occur  in  the  history  of  human  affairs. 

Among  the  people  of  Bogota,  the  Sun  and  Modn  were,  likewise,  the 
chief  objects  of  veneration.  Their  system  of  religion  was  more  regular 
and  complete,  though  Jess  pure,  than  that  of  the  Natchez.  They  had 
temples,  altars,  priests,  sacrifices,  and  that  long  train  of  ceremonies,  which 
superstition  introduces  wherever  she  has  fully  established  her  .dominion 
over  the  minds  of  men.  But  the  rites  of  their  worship  were  cruel  and 
bloody.  They  offered  human  victims  to  their  deities,  and  many  of  their 
practices  nearly  resembled  the  barbarous  institutions  of  the  Mexicans,  the 
genius  of  which  we  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  considering  more  atten 
tively  in  its  proper  place.* 

With  respect  to  the  other  great  doctrine  of  religion,  concerning  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  the  sentiments  of  the  Americans  were  more 
united :  the  human  mind,  even  when  least  improved  and  invigorated  by 
culture,  shrinks  from  the  thoughts  of  annihilation,  and  looks  forward  with 
hope  and  expectation  to  a  state  of  future  existence.  This  sentiment, 
resulting  from  a  secret  consciousness  of  its  own  dignity,  from  an  instinctive 
longing  after  immortality,  is  universal,  and  may  be  deemed  natural. 
Upon  this  are  founded  the  most  exalted  hopes  of  man  in  his  highest  state 
of  improvement ;  nor  has  nature  withheld  from  him  this  soothing  consola 
tion,  in  the  most  early  and  rude  period  of  his  progress.  We  can  trace  this 
opinion  from  one  extremity  of  America  to  the  other,  in  some  regions  more 
faint  and  obscure,  in  others  more  perfectly  developed,  but  nowhere 
unknown.  The  most  uncivilized  of  its  savage  tribes  do  not  apprehend 
death  as  the  extinction  of  being.  All  entertain  hopes  of  a  future  and  more 
happy  state,  where  they  shall  be  for  ever  exempt  from  the  calamities  which 
imbitter  human  life  in  its  present  condition.  This  future  state  they  con 
ceive  to  be  a  delightful  country,  blessed  with  perpetual  spring,  whose 
forests  abound  with  game,  whose  rivers  swarm  with  fish,  where  famine  is 
never  felt,  and  uninterrupted  plenty  shall  be  enjoyed  without  labour  or  toil. 
But  as  men,  in  forming  their  first  imperfect  ideas  concerning  the  invisible 
world,  suppose  that  there  they  shall  continue  to  feel  the  same  desires,  and 
to  be  engaged  in  the  same  occupations,  as  in  the  present  world ;  they  natu 
rally  ascribe  eminence  and  distinction,  in  that  state,  to  the  same  qualities 
and  talents  which  are  here  the  object  of  their  esteem.  The  Americans, 
accordingly,  allotted  the  highest  place,  in  their  country  of  spirits,  to  the 
skilful  hunter,  to  the  adventurous  and  successful  warrior,  and  to  such  as  had 
tortured  the  greatest  number  of  captives,  and  devoured  their  flesh.t  These 
notions  were  so  prevalent  that  they  gave  rise  to  a  universal  custom,  which 
is  at  once  the  strongest  evidence  that  the  Americans  believe  in  a  future 
state,  and  the  best  illustration  of  what  they  expect  there.  As  they  imagine, 
that  departed  spirits  begin  their  career  anew  in  the  world  whither  they  are 
gone,  that  their  friends  may  not  enter  upon  it  defenceless  and  unprovided, 

*  Piedrahita,  Conq.  del  N.  Reyno,  p.  17.  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  v.  c.  6.  t  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  Hi. 
222.  Charley.  N.  Fr.  iii.  351,  &c.  De  la  Potherie,  ii.  45,  &c.  iii.  5. 


184  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  IV. 

they  bury  together  with  the  bodies  of  the  dead  their  bow,  their  arrows, 
and  other  weapons  used  in  hunting  or  war  ;  they  deposit  in  their  tombs  the 
skins  or  stuffs  of  which  they  make  garments,  Indian  corn,  manioc,  venison, 
domestic  utensils,  and  whatever  is  reckoned  among  the  necessaries  in  their 
simple  mode  of  life.*  In  some  provinces,  upon  the  decease  of  a  cazique 
or  chief,  a  certain  number  of  his  wives,  of  his  favourites,  and  of  his  slaves, 
were  put  to  death,  and  interred  together  with  him,  that  he  might  appear 
with  the  same  dignity  in  his  future  station,  and  be  waited  upon  by  the  same 
attendants.!  This  persuasion  is  so  deep  rooted  that  many  of  the  deceased 
person's  retainers  offer  themselves  as  voluntary  victims,  and  court  the 
privilege  of  accompanying  their  departed  master,  as  a  high  distinction. 
It  has  been  found  difficult,  on  some  occasions,  to  set  bounds  to  this  enthu 
siasm  of  affectionate  duty,  and  to  reduce  the  train  of  a  favourite  leader  to 
such  a  number  as  the  tribe  could  afford  to  spare  [89]. 

Among  the  Americans,  as  well  as  other  uncivilized  nations,  many  of  the 
rites  and  observances  which  bear  some  resemblance  to  acts  of  religion, 
have  no  connection  with  devotion,  but  proceed  from  a  fond  desire  of  prying 
into  futurity.  The  human  mind  is  most  apt  to  feel  and  to  discover  this  vain 
curiosity,  when  its  own  powers  are  most  feeble  and  uninformed.  Aston 
ished  with  occurrences  of  -which  it  is  unable  to  comprehend  the  cause,  it 
naturally  fancies  that  there  is  something  mysterious  and  wonderful  in  their 
origin.  Alarmed  at  events  of  which  it  cannot  discern  the  issue  or  the  con 
sequences,  it  has  recourse  to  other  means  of  discovering  them  than  the 
exercise  of  its  own  sagacity.  Wherever  superstition  is  so  established  as  to 
form  a  regular  system,  this  desire  of  penetrating  into  the  secrets  of  futurity 
is  connected  with  it.  Divination  becomes  a  religious  act.  Priests,  as  the 
ministers  of  heaven,  pretend  to  deliver  its  oracles  to  men.  They  are  the 
only  soothsayers,  augurs,  and  magicians,  who  profess  the  sacred  and 
important  art  of  disclosing  what  is  hid  from  other  eyes. 

But,  among  rude  nations,  'who  pay  no  veneration  to  any  superintending 
power,  and  who  have  no  established  rites  or  ministers  of  religion,  their 
curiosity,  to  discover  what  is  future  and  unknown,  is  cherished  by  a 
different  principle,  and  derives  strength  from  another  alliance.  As  the 
diseases  of  men,  in  the  savage  state,  are  (as  has  been  already  observed) 
like  those  'of  the  animal  creation,  few,  "bnt  extremely  violent,  their  im 
patience  under  what  they  suffer,  and  solicitude  for  the  recovery  of  health, 
soon  inspired  them  with  extraordinary  reverence  for  such  as  pretended  to 
understand  the  nature  of  their  maladies,  and  to'  be  possessed  of  knowledge 
sufficient  to  preserve  or  deliver  them  from  their  sudden  and  fatal  effects. 
These  ignorant  pretenders,  however,  were  such  utter  strangers  to  the 
structure  of  the  human  frame,  as  to  be  equally  unacquainted  with  the 
causes  of  its  disorders,  and  the  manner  in  wrhich  they  will  terminate. 
Superstition,  mingled  frequently  with  some  portion  of  craft,  supplied  what 
they  wanted  in  science.  They  imputed  the  origin  of  diseases  to  superna 
tural  influence,  and  prescribed  or  performed  a  variety  of  mysterious  rites, 
which  they  gave  out  to  be  of  such  efficacy  as  to  remove  the  most  dangerous 
and  inveterate  maladies.  The  credulity  and  love  of  the  marvellous, 
natural  to  uninformed  men,  favoured  the  deception,  and  prepared  them  to 
be  the  dupes  of  those  impostors.  Among  savages,  their  first  physicians  are 
a  kind  of  conjurers  or  wizards,  who  boast  that  they  know  what  is  past, 
and  can  foretell  what  is  to  come.  Incantations,  sorcery,  and  mummeries  of 
diverse  kinds,  no  less  strange  than  frivolous,  are  the  means  which  they 
employ  to  expel  the  imaginary  causes  of  malignity  ;|  and,  relying  upon 

*  Chronica  de  Cieca  de  Leon,  c.  28.  Sagard,  288.  Creux.  Hist.  Canad.  p.  91.  Rochefort, 
Hist,  des  Antiles,  568.  Biet,  391.  De  la  Potherie,  ii.  44.  iii.  g.  Blanco  Convers.  de  Piritu,  p.  35. 
t  Dumont  Louisiane,  i.  208,  &c.  Oviedo,  lib.  v.  c.  3.  Gomara  Hist.  Gen.  c.  28.  P.  Mart,  decad. 
304.  Charter.  N.  Fr,  iii.  421.  Herrera,  dec.  1,  lib.  iii.  c.  3.  P.  Melchior  Hernandez  Memor.  d* 
Cheriqui.  Coll.  Orig.  Papers,  i.  Chron.  de  Cieca  die  Leon.  c.  33.  J  P.  Melch.  Hernandez  Memo 
rialde  Cheriqui.  Collect.  Orig.  Pap.  i. 


AMERICA.  185 

the  efficacy  of  these,  they  predict  with  confidence  what  will  be  the  fate 
of  their  deluded  patients.  Thus  superstition,  in  its  earliest  form,  flowed 
from  the  solicitude  of  man  to  be  delivered  from  present  distress,  not  from 
his  dread  of  evils  awaiting  him  in  a  future  life,  and  was  originally  ingrafted 
on  medicine,  not  on  religion.  One  of  the  first  and  most  intelligent  historians 
of  America,  was  struck  with  this  alliance  between  the  art  of  divination  and 
that  of  physic,  among  the  people  of  Hispaniola.*  But  this  was  not  peculiar 
10  them.  The  Mexis,  the  Piayas,  the  Autmoins,  or  whatever  was  the 
distinguishing  name  of  their  aiviners  and  charmers  in  other  parts  of 
America,  were  all  the  physicians  of  their  respective  tribes,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Bubitos  of  Hispaniola.  As  their  function  led  them  to  apply 
to  the  human  mind  when  enleebled  by  sickness,  and  as  they  found  it,  in 
that  season  of  dejection,  prone  to  be  alarmed  with  imaginary  fears,  or 
amused  with  vain  hopes,  they  easily  induced  it  to  rely  with  implicit  con 
fidence  on  the  virtue  of  their  spells*  and  the  certainty  of  their  predictions.! 

Whenever  men  acknowledge  the  reality  of  supernatural  power  and  dis 
cernment  in  one  instance,  they  have  a  propensity  to  admit  it  in  others. 
The  Americans  did  not  long  suppose  the  efficacy  of  conjuration  to  be  con 
fined  to  one  subject.  They  had  recourse  to  it  in  every  situation  of  danger 
or  distress.  When  the  events  of  war  were  peculiarly  disastrous,  when 
they  met  with  unforeseen  disappointment  in  hunting,  when  inundations  or 
drought  threatened  their  crops  with  destruction,  they  called  upon  .their 
conjurors  to  begin  their  incantations,  in  order  to  discover  the  causes  of 
those  calamities,  or  to  foretell  what  would  be  their  issue.t  Their  con 
fidence  in  this  delusive  art  gradually  increased,, and  manifested  itself  in 
all  the  occurrences  of  life.  When  involved  in  any  difficulty,  or  about  to 
enter  upon  any  transaction  of  moment,  every  individual  regularly  consulted 
the  sorcerer,  and  depended  upon  his  instructions  to  extricate  him  from  the 
former,  as  well  as  to  direct  his  conduct  in  the  latter.  Even  among  the 
rudest  tribes  in  America,  superstition  appears  in  this  form,  and  divination 
is  an  art  in  high  esteem.  Long  before  man  had  acquired  such  knowledge 
of  a  deity  as  inspires  reverence,  and  leads  to  adoration,  we  observe  him 
stretching  out  a  presumptuous  hand  to  draw  aside  that  veil  with  which 
Providence  kindly  conceals  its  purposes  from  human  knowledge  ;  and  we 
find  him  labouring  with  fruitless  anxiety  to  penetrate  into  the  mysteries  of 
the  divine  administration.  To  discern  and  to  worship  a  superintending 
power  is  an  evidence  of  the  enlargement  and  maturity  of  the  human 
understanding  ;  a  vain  desire  of  prying  into  futurity  is  the  error  of  its 
infancy,  and  a  proof  of  its  weakness. 

From  this  weakness  proceeded  likewise  the  faith  of  the  Americans  in 
dreams,  their  observation  of  omens,  their  attention  to  the  chirping  of  birds, 
and  the  cries  of  animals,  all  which  they  suppose  to  be  indications  of  future 
events  ;  and  if  any  one  of  these  prognostics  is  deemed  unfavourable,  they 
instantly  abandon  the  pursuit  of  those  measures  on  which  they  are  most 
eagerly  bent.§ 

VIII.  But  if  we  would  form  a  complete  idea  of  the  uncultivated  nations 
of  America,  we  must  not  pass  unobserved  some  singular  Customs,  which, 
though  universal  and  characteristic,  could  not  be  reduced,  with  propriety, 
to  any  of  the  articles  into  which  I  have  divided  my  inquiry  concerning 
their  manners. 

Among  savages,  in  every  part  of  the  globe,  the  love  of  dancing  is  a 
favourite  passion.  As,  during  a  great  part  of  their  time,  they  languish  in 

*  Oviedo,  lib.  v.  c.  1.  t  Herrera,  dec,  1.  lib.  iii.  c.  4,     Osborne  Coll.  ii.  860,    Dumont,  i. 

169,  &c.  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  361.  364,  &c.  Lavvson,  N.  Cariol.  21,4.  Ribas,  Triumf.  p.  17.  Biet, 
386.  De  !a  Potherie,  ii.  35,  &c.  t  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  3.  Dumont,  i.  173.  Fernand.  Relac. 

de  los  Chequit.  p.  40.    Lozano,  84,    Margrave,  279.  §  Charlev.  N,' Fr,  iii,  262. 353.    Stadius 

ap  do  Bry,  iii.  120.  Creuxi.  Hist.  Canad,  84.  Techo  Hist,  of  Parag.  Church.  Coll.  vi.  37.  De  la 
Votherio,  iii.  6. 

VOL.  [.—24  10 


186  HISTORY  OF  [Boo*  IV 

a  state  of  inactivity  and  indolence,  without  any  occupation  to  rouse  or 
interest  them,  they  delight  universally  in  a  pastime  which  calls  forth  the 
active  powers  of  their  nature  into  exercise.  The  Spaniards,  when  they  first 
visited  America,  were  astonished  at  the  fondness  of  the  natives  for  dancing, 
and  beheld  with  wonder  a  people,  cold  and  unanimated  in  most  of  their 
other  pursuits,  kindle  into  lite,  and  exert  themselves  with  ardour,  as  often 
as  ,this  favourite  amusement  recurred.  Among  them,  indeed,  dancing 
ought  not  to  he  denominated  an  amusement.  It  is  a  serious  and  important 
occupation  which  mingles  in  every  occurrence  of  public  or  private  life. 
If  any  intercourse  be  necessary  between  two  American  tribes,  the  ambas 
sadors  of  the  one  approach  in  a  solemn  dance,  and  present  the  calumet  or 
emblem  of  peace  ;  the  sachems  of  the  other  receive  it  with  the  same 
ceremony.*  If  war  is  denounced  against  an  enemy,  it  is,  by  a  dance  ex 
pressive  of  the  resentment  which  they  feel,  and  of  the  vengeance  which 
they  meditate.t  •  If  the  wrath  of  their  gods  is  to  be  appeased,  or  their  bene 
ficence  to  be  celebrated ;  if  they  rejoice  at  the  birth  of  a  child,  or  mourn 
the  death  of  a  friendj  they  have  dances  appropriated  to  each  of  these 
situations,  and  suited,  to  the  different  sentiments  with  which  they  are  then 
animated.  If  a  person  i$  indisposed,  a,  dance  is  prescribed  as  the  most 
effectual  means  of  restoring  him  to  healtli ;  and  if  he  himself  cannot  endure 
the  fatigue  of  such  an  exercise,  the  physician  or  conjuror  performs  it  in 
his  name,  as  if  the  virtue  of  his  activity  could  be  transferred  to  his 
patient.§ 

All  their  dances  are  imitations  of  some  action ;  and  though  the  music 
by  which  they  are  regulated  is  extremely  simple,  and  tiresome  to  the  ear 
by  its  dull  monotony,  some  of  their  dances  appear  wonderfully  expressive 
and  animated.  Tne  war  dance  is,  perhaps,  the  most  striking.  It  is  the 
representation  of  a  complete  American  cajnpaign.  The  departure  of  the 
warriors  from  their  village,  their  march  into  the  enemy's  country,  the 
caution  with  which  they  encamp,  the  address  with  which  they  station 
some  of  their  party  in  ambush,  the  manner 'of  surprising  the  enemy,  the 
noise  and  ferocity  of  the  combat,  the  scalping  of  those  who  are  slain,  the 
seizing  of  prisoners,  the  triumphant  return  ofthe  conquerors,  and  the  tor 
ture  of  the  victims,  are  successively  exhibited.  The  performers  enter 
with  such  enthusiastic  ardour  into  their  several  parts  ;  their  gestures,  their 
countenance,  their  voice,  are  so  wild  and  so  well  adapted  to  their  various 
situations,  that  Europeans  can  hardly  believe  it  to  be  a  mimic  scene,  or 
view  it  without  emotions  of  fear  and  horror.H 

But  however  expressive  some  of  the  American  dances  may  be,  there  is 
one  circumstance  in  them  remarkable,  and  connected  with  the  character 
of  the  race.  *  The  songs,  the  dances,  the  amusements  of  other  nations,  ex 
pressive  of  the  sentiments  which  animate  their  hearts,  are  often  adapted 
to  display  or  excite  that  sensbility  which  mutually  attaches  the  sexes. 
Among  some  people,  such  is  the  ardour  of  this  passion,  that  love  is  almost 
the  sole  object  of  festivity  and  joy  ;  and  as  rude  nations  are  strangers  to 
delicacy,  and  unaccustomed  to  disguise  any  emotion  of  their  minds,  their 
dances  are  often  extremely  wanton  and  indecent.  Such  is  the  Calenda,  of 
which  the  natives  of  Africa  are  so  passionately  fond  ;1F  and  such  the  feats 
of  the  dancing  girls  which  the  Asiatics  contemplate  with  so  much  avidity 
of  desire.  But  among  the  Americans,  more  cold  and  indifferent  to  their 
females,  from  causes  which  I  have  already  explained,  the  passion  of  love 
mingles  but  little  with  their  festivals  and  pastimes.  Their  songs  and 

*  De  la  Potherie  Hist:  ii.  17,  &c:  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  211. 297.  La  Hontan,  il  100  137.  Hen- 
nepin  Deeou.  146,  &c.  T  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  298.  Lafitau,  i.  523.  %  Joutel,  343.  Gomara 
Hist.  Gen.  c.  196.  $  Denys  Hist.  Nat.  189.  Brickell,  372.  De  la  Potherie,  ii.  36.  ||  De  la 
Potherie,  ii.  116.  Charlev.  N.  F.  iii-  297.  Lafitau,  i.  523.  IT  Adanson  Voyage  to  Senegal,  iii. 
287.  Labat,  Voyages,  iv.  463.  Sloane  Hist.  Nat  of  Jam.  Introd.  p.  48.  Fermin  Descript.  de 
Sunn,  i.  139. 


AMERICA.  137 

dances  are  mostly  solemn  and  martial ;  they  are  connected  with  some  of 
the  serious  and  important  affairs  of  life  ;*  and,  having  no  relation  to  love  or 
gallantry,  are  seldom  common  to  the  two  sexes,  but  executed  by  the  men 
and  women  apartf  [90].  If,  on  some  occasions,  the  women  are  permitted 
to  join  in  the  festival,  the  character  of  the  entertainment  is  still  the  same, 
and  no  movement  or  gesture  is  expressive  of  attachment,  or  encourages 
familiarity.J 

An  immoderate  love  of  play,  especially  at  games  of  hazard,  which 
seems  to  be  natural  to  all  people  unaccustomed  to  the  occupations  of 
regular  industry,  is  likewise  universal  among  the  Americans.  The  same 
causes,  which  so  often  prompt  persons  in  civilized  life,  who  are  at  their 
ease,  to  have  recourse  to  this  pastime,  render  it  the  delight  of  the  savage. 
The  former  are  independent  of  labour,  the  latter,  do  not  feel  the  necessity 
of  it ;  and  as  both  are  unemployed,  they  run  with  transport  to  whatever 
is  interesting  enough  to  stir  and  to  agitate  their  minds.  Hence  the  Ameri 
cans,  who  at  other  times  are  so  indifferent,  so  phlegmatic,  so  silent,  and 
animated  with  so  few  desires,  as  soon  as  they  engage  in  play  become 
rapacious,  impatient,  noisy,  and  almost  frantic  with  eagerness.  Their 
furs,  their  domestic  untensils,  their  clothes,  their  arms,  are  staked  at  the 
gaming  table,  and  when  all  is  lost,  high  as  their  sense  of  independence  is,  in 
a  wild  emotion  of  despair  or  of  hope,  they  will  often  risk  their  personal 
liberty  upon  a  single  cast.§  Among  several  tribes,  such  gaming  parties 
frequently  recur,  and  become  their  most  acceptable  entertainment  at  every 
great  festival.  Superstition,  which  is  apt  to  take  hold  of  those  passions 
which  are  most  vigorous,,  frequently  lends  its  aid  'to  confirm  and  strengthen 
this  favourite  inclination.  Their  conjurors  are  accustomed  to  prescribe  a 
solemn  match  at  play  as  one  of  the  most  efficacious  methods  of  appeasing 
their  gods,  or  of  restoring  the  sick  to  health.|| 

From  causes  similar  to  those  which  render  them  fond  of  play,  the 
Americans  are  extremely  addicted  to  drunkenness.  It  seems  to  have  been 
one  of  the  first  exertions  of  human  ingenuity  to  discover  some  composition 
of  an  intoxicating  quality  ;  and  there  is  hardly  any  nation  so  rude,  or  so 
destitute  of  invention,  as  not  to  have  succeeded  in  this  fatal  research.  The 
most  barbarous  of  the  American  tribes  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to 
attain  this  art ;  and  even  those  which  are  so  deficient  in  knowledge,  as  to 
be  unacquainted  with  the  method  of  giving  an  inebriating  strength  to 
liquors  by  fermentation,  can  accomplish  the  same  end  by  other  means. 
The  people  of  the  islands  of  North  America,  and  of  California,  used,  for 
this  purpose,  the  smoke  of  tobacco,  drawn  up  with  a  certain  instrument 
into  the  nostrils,  the  fumes  of  which  ascending  to  the  brain,  they  felt  all 
the  transports  and  phrensy  of  intoxication^!  [91].  In  almost  every  other 
part  of  the  New  World,  the  natives  possessed  the  art  of  extracting  an 
intoxicating  liquor  from  maize  or  the  manioc  root,  the  same  substances 
which  they  convert  into  bread.  The  operation  by  which  they  effect  this 
nearly  resembles  the  common  one  of  brewing,  but  with  this  difference, 
that,  in  place  of  yeast,  they  use  a  nauseous  infusion  of  a  certain  quantity 
of  maize  or  manioc  chewed  by  their  women.  The  saliva  excites  a  vigorous 
fermentation,  and  in  a  few  days  the  liquor  becomes  fit  for  drinking.  It  Is 
not  disagreeable  to  the  taste,  and,  when  swallowed  in  large  quantities,  is 
of  an  intoxicating  quality.**  This  is  the  general  beverage  of  the  Ameri 
cans,  which  they  distinguish  by  various  names,  and  for  which  they  feel 
such  a  vjolent  and  insatiable  desire  as  it  is  not  easy  either  to  conceive  or 

*  Descript.  of  N.  France.  Osbome  Coll.  ii.  883.  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  84.  f  Wafer's  Account 
of  Isthmus,  &c.  169.  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  177.  Lozano  Hist,  de  Parag.  i.  149.  Herrera,  dec.  2. 
lib.  vii.  c.  8.  dec.  4.  lib.  x.  c.  4.  {  Barrere,  Fr.  Equin.  p.  191.  $  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii  261. 

318.    Lafitau,  ii.  338.  &c.    Ribas  Triumf.  13.    Brickell,  335.  f|  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  2f>2. 

IT  Oviedo  Hist.  ap.  Ramus,  iii.  113.    Venegas,  i.  68.     Naufrag.  de  Cabeca  de  Vaca,  cap.  .afi. 
**  Stadius  ap.  de  Bry,  Hi.  111.    Lery,  ibid.  175. 


188  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV. 

describe.    Among  polished  nations,  where  a  succession  of  various  functions 
<*nd  amusements  keeps  the  mind  in  continual  occupation,  the  desire  for 
strong-  drink  is  regulated  in  a  great  measure  by  the  climate,  and  increases 
or  diminishes;  according  to  the  variations  of  its  temperature.    In  warm 
regions,  the  delicate  and  sensible  frame  of  the  inhabitants  does  not  require 
the  stimulation  of  fermented  liquors.    In  colder  countries,  the  constitution 
of  the  natives,  more  robust  and  more  sluggish,  stands  in  need  of  generous 
liquors  to  quicken  and  animate  it.'    But  among  savages,  the  desire  of 
something  that  is  of  power  to  intoxicate  is '•in  every  situation  the  same. 
All  the  people  of 'America,  if  we  except  some  small  tribes  near  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  whether  natives  of  the  torrid  zofle>  or  .inhabitants  of  its  more 
temperate  regions,  or  placed  by^  a  harder  fate  in  the  severe  climates  towards 
its  northern  or  southern  extremity,  appear  to  be  equally  under  the  dominion 
of  this  appetite.*    Such  a  similarity  of  taste,  among  people  in  such  differ 
ent  situations,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  some  moral  cause,  and 
cannot  be' considered  as  the  effect  of  any  physical  or  constitutional  want. 
While  engaged  in  war  or  in  the  chase*  the  savage  is  often  in  the  most 
interesting  situations,  ,and  all  the  powers  of  his  nature  are  roused  to  the 
most  vigorous  exertions.     But  those  animating  scenes  are  succeeded  by 
Jong  intervals  of  repose,  during  which  the  warrior  meets  with  nothing  that 
he  deems  of  sufficient  dignity  or  importance  to  merit  his  attention.    He 
languishes  and  mopes  in  this  season  of  indolence.     The  posture  of  his  bpdy 
is  an  emblem  of  the  state  of , his  mind.    In. one  climate,  cowering  over  the 
fire  in  his  cabin ;  in  another,  stretched  under  the  shade  of  some  tree,  he 
dozes  away  his  time  in  sleep,  or  in  an  unthinking  joyless  inactivity  not  far 
removed  from  it.     As  strong  liquors  awake  him  from  this  torpid  state,  give  a 
brisker  motion  to  his  spirits,  and  enliven  him  more  thoroughly  than  either 
dancing  or  gaming,  his  love  of  them  is  excessive.    A  savage,  when  not 
engaged  .in  action,- is  a  pensive  melancholy  animal  ;  but  as  soon  as  he 
tastes,  or  has  a  prospect  of  tasting,  the  intoxicating  draught,  he  becomes 
gay  and  frolicsome. t    Whatever  be  the  occasion  or  pretexts  on  which  the 
Americans  assemble,  the  meeting  always  terminates  in  a'  debauch.    Many 
of  their^  festivals  have  no  other  object,  and  they  welcome  the  return  of 
them  with  transports  of  joy.    As  they  are  not  accustomed  to  restrain  any 
appetite,  they  set  no  bounds  to  this.     The  riot  often  continues  without 
intermission  several  days  ;  and  whatever" may  be  the  fatal  effects  of  their 
excess,  they  never  cease  from  drinking  as  long  as  one  drop  of  liquor 
remains.     The  persons  of  greatest  eminence,  the  most  distinguished  war 
riors,  and,  the  chiefs  most  renowned  for  their  wisdom,  have  no  greater 
command  of  themselves  than  the  most  obscure  members  of  the  community. 
Their  eagerness  for  present  enjoyment  renders  them  blind  to  its  fatal  con 
sequences  ;  and  those  very  men?  who  in  other  situations  seem  to  possess  a 
force  of  mind  more  than'  human,  are  in  this  instance  inferior  to  children,  in 
foresight  as  well  as  consideration,  and  mere  slaves  of  brutal  appetite.| 
When  their,  passions,  naturally  strong,  are  heightened  and  inflamed  by 
drink,  they  are  guilty  of  the  most  enormous  outrages,  and  the  festivity 
seldom  concludes  without  deeds  of  violence  or  bloodshed. § 

But,  amidst  this  wild  debauch,  there  is  one  circumstance  remarkable ; 
the  women,  in  most  of  the  American  tribes,  are  not  permitted  to  partake 
of  it  [92].  Their  .province  is  to  prepare  the  liquor,  to  serve  it  about  to  the 
guests,  and  to  take  care  of  their  husbands  and  friends  when  their  reason  is 
overpowered.  This  exclusion  of  the  women  from  an  enjoyment. so  highly 
valued  by  savages,  may  be  justly  considered  as  a  mark  of  their  inferiority, 
and  as  an  additional  evidence  of  that  contempt  with  which  they  were 

'*  Gumilla,  i.257.  Lozano  Descrip.  del  Gran.  Chaco,,56.  103.  Ribas,  8.  Ullba,  i.  249.  337. 
Marchais,  iv.  436.  Fernandez  Mission,  de  las  Chequit.  35.  Barrere,  p.  203.  Blanco  Convers.  de 
Piritu,  31.  t  Melendez  Tesores  Vteidad.  iii.  369.  J  Ribas,  9.  Ulloa,  i  338.  $  Lettr, 
Edif.  ii.  178.  Torquemada  IKond.  Ind.  i.  339. 


AMERICA.  189 

treated  in  the  New  World.  The  people 'of  North  America,  when  first 
discovered,  were  not  acquainted  with  any  intoxicating  drink  ;  but  as  the 
Europeans  early  found  it  their  interest  to  supply  them  with  spirituous 
liquors,  drunkenness  soon  became  as  universal  among  them  as  among  their 
countrymen  to  the  south ;  and  their  women,  having  acquired  this  new 
taste,  indulge  it  with  as  little  decency  and  moderation  as  the  men/? 

It  were  endless  to  enumerate  all  the  detached  customs  which^  have 
excited  the  wonder  of  travellers  in  .America;  but  I  cannot  omit  one 
seemingly  as  singular  as  any  that  has  been  mentioned.  When  their 
parents  and  other  relations  become  old,  or  labour  under  any  distemper 
which  their  slender  knowledge  of  the  healing  art  cannot  remove,  the 
Americans  cut  short  their  days  with  a  violent  hand,  in  order  to  be  relieved 
from  the  burden  of  supporting  and  tending  them.  This  practice  pre 
vailed  among  the  ruder  tribes  in  every  part  ofthe  continent,  from  Hudson's 
Bay  to  the  river  De  la  Plata ;  and  however  shocking  it  may  be  to  those 
sentiments  of  tenderness  and  attachment,  which,  in  civilized  life,  we  are 
apt  to  consider  as  congenial  with  our  frame,  the  condition  of  man  in  the 
savage  state  leads  and  reconciles  him  to  it.  Tfhe  same  hardships  and 
difficulty  of  procuring  subsistence,  which  deter  savages,  in  some  cases, 
from  rearing  their  children,  prompt  them  to  destroy  the  aged  and  'infirm. 
The  declining  state  of  the  one  is  as  helpless  as  the  infancy  of  the  other. 
The  former  are  no  Jess  unable  than  the  latter  to  perform  the  functions  that 
belong  to  a  warrior  or  hunter,  or  to  endure  those  various  distresses  in 
which  savages  are  so  often  involved  by  their  own  want  of  foresight  and 
industry.  Their  relations  feel  this  ;  and,  incapable  of  attending  to  the 
wants  or  weaknesses  of  others,  their  impatience  under  an  additional  burden 
prompts  them  to  extinguish  that  life  which  they  find  it  difficult  to  sustain. 
This  is  not  regarded  as  a  deed  of  cruelty,  but  as  an  act  of  mercy.  An 
American,  broken  with  years  and  infirmities,  conscious  that  he  can  no 
longer  depend  on  the  aid  of  those  around  him^  places  himself  contentedly 
in  his  grave ;  and  it  is  by  the  hands  of  his  children  or  nearest  relations 
that  the  thong  is  pulled,  or  the  blow  inflicted,  which  releases  him  for  ever 
from  the  sorrows  of  life.f 

IX.  After  contemplating  the  rude  American  tribes  in  such  various  lights ; 
after  taking  a  view  of  their  customs  and  manners  from  so  many  different 
stations,  nothing  remains  but  to  form  a  general  estimate  of  their  character 
compared  with  that  of  more  polished  nations.  A  human  being,  as  he 
comes  originally  from  the  hand  of  nature,  is  every  where  the  same.  At 
his  first  appearance  in  the  state  of  infancy,  whether  it  be  among  the 
rudest  savages  or  in  the  most  civilized  nation,  we  can  discern  no  quality 
which  marks  any  distinction  or  superiority.  The  capacity  of  improve 
ment  seems  to  be  the  same ;  and  the  talents  he  may  afterwards  acquire, 
as  well  as  the  virtues  he  may  be  rendered  capable  of  exercising,  depend, 
in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  state  of  society  in  which  he  is  placed.  To 
this  state  his  mind  naturally  accommodates  itself,  and  from  it  receives 
discipline  and  culture.  In  proportion  to  the  wants  Which  it  accustoms  a 
human  being  to  feel,  and  the  functions  in  which  these  engage  him,  his 
intellectual  powers  are  called  forth.  According  to  the  connexions  which 
it  establishes  between  him  and  the  rest  of  his  species,  the  affections  of  his 
heart  are  exerted.  It  is  only  by  attending  to  this  great  principle  that  we 
can  discover  what  is  the  character  of  man  in  every  different  period  of  his 
progress. 

If  we  apply  it  to  savage  life,  and  measure  the  attainments  of  the 
human  mind  in  that  state  by  this  standard,  we  shall  find,  according  to 
an  observation  which  I  have  already  made,  that  the  intellectual  powers  of 
man  must  be  extremely  limited  in  their  operations.  They  are  confined 

*  Hutchinson  Hist,  of  Massachus.  460.    Lafitau,  ii.  125.    Sagard,  146.  t  Cassani  Histor. 

de  N.  Reyno  rie  Gran.  p.  300.    Piso,  p.  6.  Ellis  Voy.  191.    Gumilla,  i.  333. 


190  HISTORY  OF  [Bo OK  IV, 

withitl  the  narrow  sphere  of  what  he  deems  necessary  for  supplying  his 
own  wants.  Whatever  has  not  some  relation  to  these  neither  attracts  his 
attention,  nor  is  the  object  of  his  inquiries.  But  however  narrow  the 
bounds  may  be  within  which  the  knowledge  of  a  savage  is  .circumscribed, 
he  possesses  thoroughly  that  small  portion  which  he  has  attained.  It  was 
not  communicated  to  him  by  formal  instruction ;  he  does  not  attend  to  it 
as  a  matter  of  mere  speculation  and  curiosity ;  it  is  the  result  of  his  own 
observation,  the  fruit  of  his  own  experience,  and  accommodated  to  his 
condition  and  exigencies.  While  employed  in  the  active  occupations  of 
war  or  of  hunting,  he  often  finds  himself  in  difficult  and  perilous  situations, 
from  which  the  efforts  of  his  own  sagacity  must  extricate  him.  He  is 
frequently  engaged  in  measures,  where  every  step  depends  upon  his  own 
ability  to  decide,  where  he  must  rely  solely  upon  his  own  penetration  to 
discern  the  dangers  to  which  he  is  exposed,  and  upon  his  own  wisdom  in 
providing  against  them.  In  consequence  of  this,  he  feels  the  knowledge 
which  he  possesses,  and  the  efforts  which  he  makes,  and  either  in  delibe 
ration  or  action  rests  on  himself  alone. 

As  the  talents  of  individuals .  are  exercised  and  improved  by  such 
exertions,  much  political  wisdom  is  said  to  be  displayed  in  conducting  the 
affairs  of  their  small  communities.  The  council  of  old  men  in  an  Ameri 
can  tribe,  deliberating  upon  its  interests,  and  determining  with  respect  to 
peace  or  war,  has  been  compared  to  the  senate  in  more  polished  republics. 
The  proceedings  of  the  former,  we  are  told,  are  often  no  less  formal  and 
sagacious  than  those  of  the  latter.  Great  political  wisdom  is  exhibited 
in  pondering  the  various  measures  proposed,  and  in 'balancing  their  pro 
bable  advantages .  against  'the  evils  of  which  they  may  be  productive. 
Much  address  and  eloquence  are  employed  by  the  leaders,  who  aspire  at 
acquiring  such  confidence  with  their  countrymen  as  to  have  an  ascendant 
in  those  assemblies.*  But,  among  savage  tribes,  the  field  for  displaying 
political  talents  cannot  be  extensive.  Wnere  the  idea  of  private  property 
is  incomplete,  and  no  criminal  jurisdiction  is  established,  there  is  hardly 
any  function  of  -internal  government  to  exercise.  Where  there  is  no  com 
merce,  ^  and  scarcely  any  intercourse  among  separate  tribes ;  where 
enmity  is  implacable,  and  hostilities  are  carried  on  almost  without  intermis 
sion;  there  will  be  few  points  of  public  concern  to  adjust  with  their 
neighbours  ;  and  that  department  of  their  affairs  which  may  be  denomi 
nated  foreign,  cannot  be  so  intricate  as  to  require  much  refined  policy  in 
conducting  it.  Where  individuals  are  so  thoughtless  and  improvident  as 
seldom  to  take  effectual  precautions  for  self-preservation,  it  is  vain  to 
expect  that  public  measures  and  deliberations  will  be  regulated  by  the 
contemplation  of  remote  events.  It  is  the  genius  of  savages  to  act  from 
the  impulse  of  present  passion.  They  have  neither  foresight  nor  temper 
to  form  complicated  arrangements  with  respect  to  their  future  conduct. 
The  consultations  of  the  Americans,  indeed,  are  so  frequent,  and  their 
negotiations  are  so  many  [93],  and  so  long  protracted,  as  to  give  their 
proceedings  an  extraordinary  aspect  of  wisdom.  But  this  is  not  owing 
so  much  to  the  depth  of  their  schemes,  as  to  the  coldness  and  phlegm  of 
their  temper,  which  render  them  slow  in  determining. f  If  we  except 
the  celebrated  league,  that 'united  the  Five  Nations  in  Canada,  into  a 
federal  republic,  which  shall  be  considered  in  its  proper  place,  we  can 
discern  few  such  traces  of  political  wisdom,  among  the  rude  American 
tribes,  as  discover  any  great  degree  of  foresight  or  extent  of  intellectual 
abilities.  Even  .among  them,  we  shall  find  public  measures  more  fre 
quently  directed  by  the  impetuous  ferocity  of  their  youth,  than  regulated 
by  the  experience  and  wisdom  of  their  old  men. 

As  the   condition  of  man  in  the  savage  state  is  unfavourable  to  the 

*  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  289,  &c.  f  Ibid.  iii.  271. 


AMERICA.  191 

progress  of  the  understanding,  it  has  a  tendency  likewise,  in  some  respects, 
to  check  the  exercise  of  affection,  and  to  render  the  heart  contracted.  The 
strongest  feeling  in  the  mind  of  a  savage  is  a  sense  of  his  own  independence. 
He  has  sacrificed  so  small  a  portion  of  his  natural  liberty  by  becoming  a 
member  of  society,  that  he  remains,  in  a  great  degree,  the  sole  master  of 
his  own  actions.*  He  often  takes  his  resolutions  alone,  without  consulting 
or  feeling  any  connection  with  the  persons  around  him.  In  many  of  his 
operations  he  stands  as  much  detached  from  the  rest  of  his  species  as  if  he 
had  formed  no  union  with  them.  Conscious  how  little  he  depends  upon 
other  men,  he  is  apt  to  view  them  with  a  careless  indifference.  ,  Even  the 
force  of  his  mind  contributes  to  increase  this  unconcern ;  and  as  he  looks 
not  beyond  himself  in  deliberating  with  respect  to  the  part  which  he  should 
act,  his  solicitude  about  the  consequences  of  it  seldom  extends  further. 
He  pursues  his  own  career,  and  indulges  his  own  fancy,  without  inquiring 
or  regarding  whether  what  he  does  be  agreeable  or  offensive  to  others, 
whether  they  may  derive  benefit  or  receive  hurt  from  it.  Hence  the 
ungovernable  caprice  of  savages,  their  impatience  under  any  species  ot 
restraint,  their  inability  to  suppress  or  moderate  any  inclination,  the  scorn 
or  neglect  with  which  they  receive  advice,  their  high  estimation  of  them- 
selves,  and  their  contempt  of  other  men.  Among  them,  the  pride  of  inde 
pendence  produces  almost  the  same  effects  with  interestedness  in  a  more 
advanced  state  of  society ;  it  refers  everything  to  a  man  himself,  it  leads  him  to 
be  indifferent  about  the  manner  in  which  his  actions  may  affect  other  men,  and 
renders  the  gratification  of  his  own  wishes  the  measure  and  end  of  conduct. 

To  the  same  cause  may  be  imputed  the  hardness  of  heart  and  insensibi 
lity  remarkable  in  all  savage  nations.  Their  minds,  roused  only  by  strong 
emotions,  are  little  susceptible  of  gentle,  delicate,  or  tender  affections.! 
Their  union  is  so  incomplete  that  each  individual  acts  as  if  he  retained  all 
his  natural  rights  entire  and  undiminished.  If  a  favour  is  conferred  upon 
him,  or  any  beneficial  service  is  performed  on  his  account,  he  receives  it 
with  much  satisfaction,  because  it  contributes  to  his  enjoyment ;  but  this 
sentiment  extends  not  beyond  himself,  it  excites  no  sense  of  obligation,  he 
neither  feels  gratitude,  nor  thinks  of  making  any  returnj  [94] .  Even  among 
persons  the  most  closely  connected,  the  exchange  of  those  good  offices 
which  strengthen  attachment,  mollify  the  heart,  and  sweeten  the  intercourse 
of  life,  is  not  frequent.  The  high  ideas  of  independence  among  the  Ame 
ricans  nourish  a  sullen  reserve,  which  keeps  them  at  a  distance  from  each 
other.  The  nearest  relations  are  mutually  afraid  to  make  any  demand, 
or  to  solicit  any  service,^  lest  it  should  be  considered  by  the  other  as 
imposing  a  burden,  or  laying  a  restraint  upon  his  will. 

I  have  already  remarked  the  influence  of  this  hard  unfeeling1  temper 
upon  domestic  life,  with  respect  to  the  connection  between  husband  and 
wife,  as  well  as  that  between  parents  and  children.  Its  effects  are 
no  less  conspicuous,  in  the  performance  of  those  mutual  offices  of  ten 
derness  which  the  infirmities  of  our  nature  frequently  exact.  Among 
some  tribes,  when  any  of  their  number  are  seized  with  any  violent  disease, 
they  are  generally  abandoned  by  all  around  them,  who,  careless  of  their 
recovery,  fly  in  the  utmost  consternation  from  the  supposed  danger  of  infec 
tion.  ||  "But  even  where  they  are  not  thus  deserted,  the  cold  indifference 
with  which  they  are  attended  can  afford  them  little  consolation.  No  look 
of  sympathy,  no  soothing  expressions,  no  officious  services,  contribute  to 
alleviate  the  distress  of  the  sufferers,  or  to  make  them  forget  what  they 
endure. IT  Their  nearest  relations  will  often  refuse  to  submit  to  the  smallest 
Jnconveniency,  or  to  part  with  the  least  trifle,  however  much  it  may  tend 

*  Fernandez  Mission,  de  los  Chcquit.  33.  Charlev.  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii,  309.  *  Oviedo,  Hist. 
1b.  xvi.  c.  2.  §  De  la  Potherie,  iii.  28.  ||  Lettre  de  P,  Cataneo  ap.  Muratori  Christian,  i, 
30  .  Tortre,  ii,  410,  Lozano,  UX),  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  viii.  c.  5.  dec.  5.  lib.  iv.  c,  2.  Falkner's 
rescript,  of  Patagonia,  98  IT  Gumilla,  i.  329  Lozano,  100. 


192  HISTORY  OF  fBooKlV. 

to  their  accommodation  or  relief.*  So  little  is  the  breast  of  a  savage  sus 
ceptible  of  those  sentiments  which  prompt  men  to  that  feeling  attention 
which  mitigates  the  calamities  of  human  life,  that,  in  some  provinces  of 
America,  the  Spaniards  have  found  it  necessary  to  enforce1  the  common 
duties  of  humanity  by  positive  laws,  and  to  oblige  husbands  and  wives, 
parents  and  children,  under  severe  penalties,  to  take  care  of  each  other 
during  their  sickness.!  The  same  harshness  of  temper  is  still  more  con 
spicuous  in  their  treatment  of  the  animal  creation.  Prior  to  their  inter 
course  with  the  people  of  Europe,  the  North  Americans  had  some  tame 
dogs,  which  accompanied  them  in  their  hunting  excursions,  and  served 
them  with  all  the  ardour  and 'fidelity  peculiar  to  the  species.  But, 
instead  of  that  fond  attachment  which  the  hunter  naturally  feels  towards 
those  useful  companions  of  his  toils,  they  -requite  their  services  with 
neglect,  seldom  feed,  and  never  caress  them.J .  In  other  provinces  the 
Americans  have  become  acquainted  with  the  domestic  animals  of  Europe, 
and  availed  themselves  of  their  service ;  but  it  is  universally  observed  that 
they  always  treat  them  harshly ,§  and  never  employ  any  method  either, for 
breaking  or  managing  them,  but  force  and  cruelty.  In  every  part  of  the 
deportment  of  rhan  in  bis  savage  state,  whether  towards  his  equals  of  the 
human  species,  or  towards  the  animals  below  him,  we  recognise  the  same 
character,  and  trace  the  operations  of  a  mind  intent  on  its  own  gratifications, 
and  regulated  by  its  own  caprice,  with  little  attention  or  sensibility  to  the 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  beings  around  him* 

After  explaining  how  unfavourable  the  savage  state  is  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  understanding,  and  to  the  improvement  of  the  heart,  I  should  not 
have  thought  it  necessary  to  mention  what  may  be  deemed  its  lesser 
defects,  if  the  character  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  individuals,  were  not  often 
mare. distinctly  marked  by  circumstances  apparently  trivial  than  by  those 
of  greater  moment.  A  savage  frequently  placed  in  situations  of  danger 
and  distress,  depending  on  himsell  alone,  and  wrapped  up  in  his  own 
thoughts  and  schemes, Is  a  serious  melancholy  animal.  His  attention  to 
others  is  small.  The  range  of  his  own  ideas  is  narrow.  Hence  that  taci 
turnity  which  is  so  disgusting  to  men  accustomed  to  the  open  intercourse  of 
social  conversation.  When  they  are  not  engaged  in  action,  the  Americans 
often  sit  whole  days  in  one  posture,  without  opening  their  lips.R  When 
they  go  forth  to  war,  or  to  the  chase,  they  usually  march  in  aline  at  some 
distance  from  one  another,  and  without  exchanging,  a  word.  The  same 
profound  silence  is  observed  when  they  row  together  in  a  canoe.  IF  It  is 
only  when  they  are  animated  by  intoxicating  liquors,  or  roused  by  the 
jollity  of  the  festival  and  -dance,  that  they  become  gay  and  cqnversible. 

To  the  same  causes  may  be  imputed  the  refined  cunning  with  which 
they  form  and  execute  their  schemes.  Men  who  are  not  habituated  to  a 
liberal  communication  of  their  own  sentiments  and  wishes,  are  apt  to  be  so 
distrustful  as  to  place  little  confidence  in  others,  and  to  have  recourse  to  an 
insidious  craff  in  accomplishing  their  own  puposes.  In  civilized  life,  those 
persons  who  by  their  situations  have  but  a  few  objects  of  pursuit  on  which 
their  minds  incessantly  dwell,  are  most  remarkable  for  low  artifice  in  carry 
ing  on  their  Iktle  projects.  Among  savages,'  whose  views  are  equally 
confined,  and  their  attention  no  less  persevering,  those  circumstances  must 
operate  still  more  powerfully,  and  gradually  accustom  them  to  a  disin 
genuous  subtlety  in  all  their  transactions.  The  force  of  this  is  increased  by 
habits  which  they  acquire  in  carrying  on  the  two  most  interesting  operations 
wherein  they  are  engaged.  With  tnem  war  is  a  system  of  craft,  in  which 
they  trust  for  success  to  stratagem  more  than  to  open  force,  and  have  their 

*  Garcia  Origen.  &c.  90.  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  viii.  c.  5.  t  Cogulludo  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  p.  300. 
|  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  119.  337.  $  Ulloa  Notic.  American:  312.  ||  Voyage  de  Bougucr,  102. 
IT  Charlev.  iii.  340. 


AMERICA.  193 

invention  continually  on  the  stretch  to  circumvent'  and  surprise  their 
enemies.  As  hunters,  it  is  their  constant  object  to  ensnare  in  order  that 
they  may  destroy.  Accordingly,  art  and  cunning  have  been  universally 
observed,  as  distinguishing  characteristics  of  all  savages.  The  people  of 
the  rude  tribes  of  America  are  remarkable  for  their  artifice  and  duplicity. 
Impenetrably  secrect  in  forming  their  measures,  they  pursue  them  wij;h  a 
patient  undevkiting  attention,  and  there  is  no  refinement  of  dissimulation 
which  they  cannot  employ,  in  order  to  ensure  success.  The  natives  of 
Peru  were  engaged  above  thirty  years,  in  concerting  the  plan  of  that 
insurrection  which  took  place  under  the  vice-royalty  of  the  Marquis  de 
Villa  Garcia;  and  though  it  was  communicated  to  a  great  ^  number  of 
persons,  in  all  different  ranks,  no  indication  of  it  ever  transpired  during 
that  long  period ;  no  man  betrayed  his  trust,  or,  by  an  unguarded  look, 
or  rash  word,  gave  rise  to  any  suspicion  of  what  was  intended.*  The 
dissimulation  and  craft  of  individuals  is  no  less  remarkable  than  that  of 
nations.  When  set  upon  deceiving,  they  wrap  themselves  up  so  artificially, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  penetrate  into  their  intentions,  or  to  detect  their 
designs.! 

But  if  there  be  defects  or  vices  peculiar  to  the  savage  state,  there  are 
likewise  virtues  which  it  inspires,  and  good  qualities,  to  the  exercise  of 
which  it  is  friendly.  The  bonds  of  society  sit  so  loose  upon  the  members 
of  the  more  rude  American  tribes,  that  they  hardly  feel  any  restraint. 
Hence  the  spirit  of  independence,  which  is  the  pride  of  a  savage,  and 
which  he  considers  as  the  unalienable  prerogative  of  man.  Incapable  of 
control,  and  disdaining  to  acknowledge  any  superior,  his  mind,  though 
limited  in  its  powers,  and  erring  in  many  of  its  pursuits,  acquires  such 
elevation  by^  the  consciousness  of  its  own  freedom,  that  he  acts  on  .some 
occasions  with  astonishing  force,  and  perseverance,  and  dignity. 

As  independence  nourishes  this  high  spirit  among  savages,  tne  perpetual 
wars  in  which  they  are  engaged  call  it  forth  into  action.  Such  long  inter 
vals  of  tranquillity  as  are  frequent  in  polished  societies  are  unknown  in  the 
savage  state.  Their  enmities,  as  I  have  observed,  are  implacable  and 
immortal.  The  valour  of  the  young  men  is  never  allowed  to  rust  in 
inaction.  The  hatchet  is  always  in  the  hand,  either  for  attack  or  defence. 
Even  in  their  hunting  excursions,  they  must  be  on  their  guard  against 
surprise  from  the  hostile  tribes  by  which  they  are  surrounded.  Accustomed 
to  continual  alarms,  they  grow  familiar  with  danger  ;  courage  becomes  an 
habitual  virtue,  resulting  naturally  from  their  situation,  and  strengthened 
by  constant  exertions.  The  mode  of  displaying  fortitude  may  not  be  the 
same  in  ^rnall  and  rude  communities,  as  in  more  powerful  and  civilized 
states.  Their  system  of  war,  and  standard  of  valour  may  be  formed  upon 
different  principles  ;  but  in  no  situation  does  the  human  mind  rise  more 
superior  to  the  sense  of  danger,  or  the  dread  of  death,  than  in  its  most 
simple  and  uncultivated  state. 

Another  virtue  remarkable  among  savages,  is  attachment  to  the  commu 
nity  of  which  they  are  members.  From  the  nature  of  their  political  union, 
one  might  expect  this  tie  to  be  extremely  feeble.  But'there  are  circum 
stances  which  render  the  influence,  even  of  their  loose  mode  of  association, 
very  powerful.  The  American  tribes  are  small ;  combined  against  theii 
neighbours,  in  prosecution  of  ancient  enmities,  or  in  avenging  recent  injuries, 
their  interests  and  operations  are  neither  numerous  nor  complex.  These 
are  objects  which  the  uncultivated  understanding  of  a  savage  can  compre 
hend.  His  heart  is  capable  of  forming  connections  which  are  so  Jtt\e  i'i£ 
fused.  He  assents  with  warmth  to  public  measures,  dictated  by  passions 
similar  to  those  which  direct  his  own  conduct.  Hence  the  ardour  with 
which  individuals  undertake  the  most  perilous  service,  when  the  commu- 

*  Voyage  de  Ulloa,  ii,  309.  t  Gumilla,  i.  162.  Chark-v. 

VOL.  I.— 25 


194  H I S  T  O  R  Y.  O  F  [Boos  IV, 

nity  deems  it  necessary.  Hence  their  fierce  and  deep  rooted  antipathy  to 
the  public  enemies.  Hence  their  zeal  for  the  honour  of  their  tribe,  and 
that  love  of  their  country,  which  prompts  them  to  brave  danger  that  it  may 
triumph,  and  to  endure  the  most  exquisite  torments,  without  a  groan,  that 
it  may  not  be  disgraced. 

-Thus,  in  every  situation  where  a  human  being  can  be  placed,  even  in  the 
most  unfavourable,  there  are  virtues  which  peculiarly  belong  to  it ;  there 
are  affections  which  it  calls  forth  ;  there  is  a  species  of  happiness  which  it 
yields.  Nature,  with  the  most  beneficent  intention,  conciliates  and  forms 
the  mind  to  its  condition ;  the  ideas  and  wishes  of  man  extend  not  beyond 
that  state  of  society  to  which  he  is  habituated.  "What  it  presents  as  objects 
of  contemplation  or  enjoyment,  fills  and  satisfies  his  mind,  and  he  can 
hardly  conceive- any  other  mode  of  life  to  be  pleasant,  or  even  tolerable. 
The  Tartar,  accustomed  to  roam  over  extensive  plains,  and  to  subsist  on  the 
product  of  his  herds,  imprecates  upon  his  enemy,  as  the  greatest  of  all 
curses,  that  he  may  be  condemned  to  reside  in  one  place,  and  to  be  nourished 
with  the  top  of  a  weed.  The  rude  Americans,  fond  of  their  own  pursuits, 
and  satisfied  with  their  own  lot,  are  .equally  unable  to  comprehend  the 
intention  or  utility  of  the  various  accommodations,  which,  in  more  polished 
society  are  deemed  essential  to  the  comfort  of  life.  Far  frqm  complaining 
of  their  own  situation,  or  viewing  that  of  men  in  a  more  improved  state 
with  admiration  or  envy,  they  regard  themselves  as  the  standard  of  excel 
lence,  as  beings  the  best  entitled,  as  well  as  the  most  perfectly  qualified,  to 
enjoy  real  happiness.  Unaccustomed  to  any  restraint  upon  their  will  or 
their  actions,  they  behold  with  amazement  the  inequality  of  rank,  and  the 
subordination  which  takes  place  in  civilized  life,  and  consider  the  volun 
tary  submission  of  one. man  to  another  as  a  renunciation  no  less  base  than 
unaccountable,  of  the  first  distinction  of  humanity.  Void  of  foresight,  as 
well  as  free  from  care  themselves,  and  delighted  with  that  state  of  indolent 
security,  they  wonder  at  the  anxious  precautions,  the  unceasing  industry, 
and  complicated  arrangements  of  Europeans,  in  guarding  against  distant 
evils,  or  providing  for  future  wants  ;  and  they  often  exclaim  against  their 
preposterous  folly,  in  thus  multiplying  the  troubles  and  increasing  the 
labour  of  life.*  This  preference  of  their  own  manners  is  conspicuous  on 
every  occasion.  Even  the  names,  by  which  the  various  nations  wish  to  be 
distinguished,  are  assumed  from  this  idea  of  their  own  pre-eminence. 
The  appellation  which  the  Iroquois  give  to  themselves  is  the  chief  of  men.^ 
Caraibe,  the  original  name  of  the  fierce  inhabitants  of  the  Windward  Islands, 
signifies  the  warlike  people. %  The  Cherokees,  from  an  idea  of  their  own 
superiority,  call  the  Europeans  Nothings,  or  the  accursed  race,  and  assume 
to  themselves  the  name  of  the  beloved  people.^  The  same  principle  regu 
lated  the  notions  of  the  other  Americans  concerning  the  Europeans  ;  for 
although  at  first  they  were  filled  with  astonishment  at  their  arts,  and  with 
dread  of  their  power,  they  soon  came  to  abate  their  estimation  of  men 
whose .  maxims  of  life  were  so  different  from  their  own.  Hence  they 
called  them  the  froth  of  the  sea,  men  without  father  or  mother.  They 
supposed,  that  either  they  had  no  country  of  their  own,  and  therefore 
invaded  that  which  belonged  to  others  ;||  or  that,  being  destitute  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  at  home,  they  were  obliged  to  roam  over  the  ocean,  in 
order  to  rob  such  as  were  more  amply  provided. 

Men  thus  satisfied  with  their  condition  are  far  from  any  inclination  to 
relinquish  their  own  habits,  or^to  adopt  those  of  civilized  life.  The  transi 
tion  is  too  violent  to  be  suddenly  made.  Even  where  endeavours  have 
been  used  to  weari  a  savage  from  his  own  customs,  and  to  render  the  accom 
modations  of  polished  society  familiar  to  him  ;  even  where  he  has  been 

*  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  338.  Lahontan,  ii.  97.  t  Colden,  i.  3.  }  Rochefort  Hist,  des  Antilles, 
455.  $  Adair  Hist.  Amer.  Indians,  p.  32.  ||  Benzon.  Hist.  Novi  Orbis,  lib.  iii.  c.  2U 


AMERICA.  195 

allowed  to  taste  of  those  pleasures,  and  has  been  honoured  with  those 
distinctions,  which  are  the  chief  objects  of  our  desire,  he  droops  and  lan 
guishes  under  the  restraint  of  laws  and  forms,  he  seizes  the  first  opportunity 
of  breaking  loose  from  them,  and  returns  with  transport  to  the  forest  or  the 
wild,  where  he  can  enjoy  a  careless  and  uncontrolled  freedom.* 

Thus  I  have  finished  a  laborious  delineation  of  the  character  and  man 
ners  of  the  uncivilized  tribes  scattered  over  the  vast  continent  of  America. 
In  this,  I  aspire  not  at  rivalling  the  great  masters  who  have  painted  and 
adorned  savage  life,  either  in  boldness  of  design,  or  in  the  glow  and  beauty 
of  their  colouring.  I  am  satisfied  with  the  more  humble  merit  of  having 
persisted  with  patient  industry,  in  viewing  my  subject  in  many  various 
lights,  and  collecting  from  the  most  accurate  observers  such  detached,  and 
often  minute  features,  as  might  enable  me  to  exhibit  a  portrait  that  resembles 
ihe  original. 

Before  I  close  this  part  of  my  work,  one  observation  more  is  necessary, 
in  order  to  justify  the  conclusions  which  I  have  formed,  or  to  prevent  the 
mistakes  into  which  such  as  examine  them  may  fall.  In  contemplating  the 
inhabitants  of  a  country  so  widely  extended  as  America,  great  attention 
should  be  paid  to  the  diversity^  of  climates  under  which  they  are  placed. 
The  influence  of  this  I  have  pointed  out  with  respect  to  several  important 
particulars  which  have  been  the  object  of  research ;  but  even  where  it 
has  not  been  mentioned,  it  ought  not  to  be  overlooked.  The  provinces  of 
America  are  of  such  different  temperament,  that  this  alone  is  sufficient  to 
constitute  a  distinction  between  their  inhabitants.  In  every  part  of  the 
earth  where  man  exists,  the  power  of  climate  operates,  with  decisive 
influence,  upon  his  condition  and  character.  In  those  countries  which 
approach  near  to  the  extremes  of  heat  or  cold,  this  influence  is  so  conspi 
cuous  as  to  strike  every  eye.  Whether  we  consider  man  merely  as  an 
animal,  or  as  being  endowed  with  rational  powers  which  fit  him  for  activity 
and  speculation,  we  shall  find  that  he  has  uniformly  attained  the  greatest 
perfection  of  which  his  nature  is  capable,  in  the  temperate  regions  of  the 
globe.  There  his  constitution  is  most  vigorous,  his  organs  most  acute,  and 
his  form  most  beautiful.  There,  too,  he  possesses  a^  superior  extent  of 
capacity,  greater  fertility  of  imagination,  more  enterprising  courage,  and  a 
sensibility  of  heart  which  gives  birth  to  desires,  not  only  ardent,  but  perse 
vering.  In  this  favourite  situation  he  has  displayed  the  utmost  efforts  of 
his  genius,  in  literature,  in  policy,  in  commerce,  in  war,  and  in  all  the  arts 
which  improve  or  embellish  life.f 

This  powerful  operation  of  climate  is  felt  most  sensibly  by  rude  nations, 
and  produces  greater  effects  than  in  societies  more  improved.  The  talents 
of  civilized  men  are  continually  exerted  in  rendering  their  own  condition 
more  comfortable ;  and  by  their  ingenuity  and  inventions,  they  can  in  a 
great  measure  supply  the  defects,  and  guard  against  the  inconveniences  of 
any  climate.  But  the  improvident  savage  is  affected  by  every  circum 
stance  peculiar  to  his  situation.  He  takes  no  precaution  either  to  mitigate 
or  to  improve  it.  Like  a  plant  or  an  animal,  he  is  formed  by  the  climate 
under  which  he  is  placed,  and  feels  the  full  force  of  its  influence.  . 

In  surveying  the  rude  nations  of  America,  this  natural  distinction  between 
the  inhabitants  of  the  temperate  and  torrid  zones  is  very'  remarkable. 
They  may,  accordingly,  be  divided  into  two  great  classes.  The  one  com 
prehends  all  the  North  Americans  from  the  river  St.  Laurence  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  together  with  the  people  of  Chili,  and  a  few  small  tribes 
towards  the  extremity  of  the  southern  continent.  To  the  other  belong 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands,  and  those  settled  in  the  various  provinces 
which  extend  from  the  isthmus  of  Darien  almost  to  the  southern  confines 

*  Charlev.  N.  FT.  iii.  322.  t  Dr.  Ferguson's  Essay  on  the  Hist,  of  Civil  Society. 

art.  iii.  oh.  1. 


1%  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IV, 

of  Brasil,  along  the  east  side  of  the  Andes.  In  the  former,  which  compre 
hends  all  the  regions  of  the  temperate  zone  that  in  America  are  inhabited? 
the  human  species  appears  manifestly  to  be  more  perfect.  The  natives 
are  more  robust,  more  active,  more  intelligent,  and  more  courageous. 
They  possess,  ins  the  most  eminent  degree,  that  force  of  mind,  and  love  of 
independence,  which  I  have  pointed  out  as  the  chief  virtues  of  man  in  his 
savage  state.  They  have  defended  their  liberty  with  persevering  fortitude 
against  the  Europeans,  who  subdued  the  .other  rude  nations  ot  America 
with  the  greatest  ease.  The  natives  of  the  temperate  zone  -are  the  only 
people  in  the  New  World  who  are  indebted'  for  their  freedom  to  their  own 
valour.  -The  .North  Americans,  though  lon^'encoitijpassed  by  three  formi 
dable  European  powers,  still  retain  part  of  their  original  possessions,  and 
continue  to  exist  as  independent  nations.  The  people  of  Chili,  though 
early  invaded,  still  maintain  a  gallant  contest  with  the  Spaniards,  and 
have  set  bounds  to  their  encroachments  ;  whereas,  in  the  warmer  regions, 
men  are  more  feeble  in  their  frame,  less  vigorous  in  the  efforts  of  their 
minds,  of  a  gentle  but  dastardly  spirit,  more  enslaved  by  pleasure,  and 
more  sunk  in  indolence.  Accordingly,  it  is  in  the  torrid  zone  that  the 
Europeans  have  most  completely  established  their  dominion  over  Ame 
rica  ;  the  most  fertile  and  desirable  provinces  in  it  are  subjected  to  their 
yoke;  and  if  several  tribes  there  still  enjoy  independence,  it  is  either 
because  they  have  never  been  attacked  by  an  enemy  already  satiated  with 
conquest,  and  possessed,  of  larger  territories  than  he  was  able  to  occupy,  or 
because  they  have  been  saved  from  oppression  by  their  remote  and  inac 
cessible  situation. 

Conspicuous  as  this  distinction  may  appear  between  the  inhabitants  of 
those  different  regions,  it  is  .not,  however,  universal.  Moral  and  political 
causes,  as  I  have  formerly  observed,  affect  the  disposition  and  character  of 
individuals,  as  well  as  nations,  still  more  powerfully  than  the  influence  of 
climate.  There  are,  accordingly,  some  tribes,  in  various  parts  of  the 
torrid  zone,  possessed  of  courage,  high  spirit,  and  the  love  of  independence, 
in  a  degree  hardly  inferior  to  the  natives  of  more  temperate  climates.  We 
are  too  little  acquainted  with  the  history  of  those  people,  to  be  able  to  trace 
the  several  circumstances  m  their  progress  and  condition,  to  which  they 
are  indebted  for  this  remarkable  pre-eminence.  The  fact,  nevertheless,  is 
certain.  As  early  as  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus,  he  received  information 
that  several  of  the  islands  were  inhabited  by  the  Caribbees,  a  fierce  race  of 
men,  nowise  resembling  their  feeble  and  timid  neighbours.  In  his  second 
expedition  to  the  New  World,  he  found  this  information  to  be  just,  and  was 
himself  a  witness  of  their  intrepid  valour*  [95].  The  same  character 
they  have  maintained  invariably  in  all  subsequent  contests  with  the  people 
of  Europe  ;|  and  even  in  our  own  times  we  have  seen  them  make  a  gal 
lant  stand  in  defence  of  the  last  territory  which  the  rapacity  of  the  invaders 
had  left  in  their  possession  [96],  Some  nations  in  Brasil  were  no  less 
eminent  for  vigour  of  mind  and  bravery  in  war.J  The  people  of  the 
isthmus  of  Darien  boldly  met  the  Spaniards  in  .the  field,  and  frequently 
repelled  those  formidable  invaders.§  Other  instances  might  be  produced. 
It  is  not  by  attending  to  any  single  cause  or  principle,  how  powerful  and 
extensive  soever  its  influence  may  appear,  that  we  can  explain  the  actions, 
or  account  for  the  character  of  men.  Even  the  law  of  climate,  more 
universal,  perhaps,  in  its  operation  than  any  that  affects  the  human  species, 
cannot  be  applied,  in  judging  of  their  conduct,  without  many  exceptions, 

*  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  47,  48.  T  Rochcfort  Hist,  des  Antilles,  531.  J  Lery  ap.  de  Bry,  iii* 
307,  &c.  $  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  x.  c.  15,  &c.  dec.  2.  passim. 


AMERICA.  197 


BOOK  V. 

WHEN  Grijalva  [1518.]  returned  to  Cuba,  he  found  the  armament 
destined  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  that  rich  country  which  he  had  discovered 
almost  complete.  Not  only  ambition,  but  avance,  had  urged  Velasquez 
to  hasten  his  preparations ;  and  having  such  a  prospect  of  gratifying  both, 
he  had  advanced  considerable  sums  out  of  nis  private  fortune  towards 
defraying  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  At  the  same  time,  he  exerted 
his  influence  as  governor,  in  engaging  the  most  distinguished  persons  in  the 
colony  to  undertake  the  service  [97].  At  a  time  when  the  spirit  of  the 
Spanish  nation  was  adventurous  to  excess,  a  number  of  soldiers,  eager  to 
embark  in  any  daring  enterprise,  soon  appeared.  But  it  was  not  so  easy 
to  find  a  person  qualified  to  take  the  command  in  an  expedition  of  so 
much  importance ;  and  the  character  of  Velasquez,  who  had  the  right  of 
nomination,  greatly  increased  the  difficulty  of  the  choice.  Though  oi  most 
aspiring  amBition,  and  not  destitute  of  talents  for  government,  he  possessed 
neither  such  courage,  nor  such  vigour  and  activity  of  mind,  as  to  undertake 
in  person  the  conduct  of  the  armament  which  he  was  preparing.  In  this 
embarrassing  situation,  he  formed  the  chimerical  scheme,  not  only  of 
achieving  great  exploits  by  a  deputy,  but  of  securing  to  himself  the  glory 
of  conquests  whicn  were  to  be  made  by  another.  In  the  execution  oi  this 
plan,  he  fondly  aimed  at  reconciling  contradictions.  He  was  solicitous 
to  choose  a  commander  of  intrepid  resolution,  and  of  superior  abilities, 
because  he  knew  these  to  be  requisite  in  order  to  ensure  success  ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  from  the  jealousy  natural  to  little  minds,  he  wished  this 
person  to  be  of  a  spirit  so  tarne  and  obsequious  as  to  be  entirely  dependent 
on  his  will.  But  when  he  came  to  apply  those  ideas  in  forming  an  opinion 
concerning  the  several  officers  who  occurred  to  his  thoughts  as  worthy  of 
being  intrusted  with  the  command,  he  soon  perceived  that  it  was  impos 
sible  to  find  such  incompatible  qualities  united  in  one  character.  Such  as 
were  distinguished  for  courage  and  talents  were  too  high  spirited  to  be 
passive  instruments  in  his  hands.  Those  who  appeared  more  gentle  and 
tractable  were  destitute  of  capacity,  and  unequal  to  the  charge.  This 
augmented  his  perplexity  and  his  fears.  He  deliberated  long  and  with 
much  solicitude,  and  was  still  wavering  in  his  choice  when  Amador  de 
Lares,  the  royal  treasurer  in  Cuba,  and  Andres  Duero,  his  own  secretary, 
the  two  persons  in  whom  he  chiefly  confided,  were  encouraged  by  this 
irresolution  to  propose  a  new  candidate ;  and  they  supported  their  recom 
mendation  with  such  assiduity  and  address,  that,  no  less  fatally  for  Velas 
quez  than  happily  for  their  country,  it  proved  successful.* 

The  man  whom  they  pointed  out  to  him  was  Fernando  Cortes.  He  was 
born  at  Medellin,  a  small  town  in  Estremadura,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
iour  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  descended  from  a  family  of  noble  blood, 
but  of  very  moderate  fortune.  Being  originally  destined  by  his  parents  to 
the  study  of  law,  as  the  most  likely  method  of  bettering  his  condition,  he 
was  sent  early  to  the  university  of  Salamanca,  where  he  imbibed  some 
tincture  of  learning.  But  he  was  soon  disgusted  with  an  academic  life, 
which  did  not  suit  his  ardent  and  restless  genius,  and  retired  to  Medellin, 
where  he  gave  himself  up  entirely  to  active  sports  and  martial  exercises. 
At  this  period  of  life  he  was  so  impetuous,  so  overbearing,  and  so  dissipated, 
that  his  father  was  glad  to  comply  with  his  inclination,  afld  sent  him  abroad 
as  an  adventurer  in  arms.  There  were  in  that  age  two  conspicuous 
theatres,  on  which  such  of  the  Spanish  youth  as  courted  military  glory 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  19.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  7.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iii.  c.  11. 


198  HISTORY    OF  [BoosV. 

might  display  their  valour  ;  one  in  Italy,  under  the  command  of  the  Great 
Captain ;  the  other  in  the  New  World.  Cortes  preferred  the  former,  but 
was  prevented  by  indisposition  from  embarking  with  a  reinforcement  of 
troops  sent  to  Naples.  Upon  this  disappointment  he  turned  his  views 
towards  America,  whither  he  was  allured  by  the  prospect  of  the  advan 
tages  which  he  might  derive  from  the  patronage  of  Ovando  [98],  the 
governor  of  Hispaniola,  who  was  his  kinsman.  When  he  landed  at  St.. 
Domingo,  in  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  four,  his  reception  was  such  as 
equalled  his  most  sanguine  hopes,  and  he  was  employed  by  the  Governor 
in 'several  honourable  and  lucrative  stations*  These,  however,  did  not 
satisfy  his  ambition;  and,  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
eleven,  he  obtained  permission  to  accompany  Diego  Velasquez  in  his 
expedition  to '  Cuba.  In  this  service  he  distinguished  himself  so  much, 
that,  notwithstanding  some  violent  contests  with  Velasquez,  occasioned  by 
trivial  events  unworthy  of  remembrance,  he  was  at  length  taken  into 
favour,  and  received  an  ample  concession  of  lands  and  of  Indians,  the 
recompense  usually  bestowed  upon  adventurers  in  the  New  World.* 

Though  Cortes  had  not  hitherto  acted  in  high  command,  he  had  dis 
played  such  qualities  in  several  scenes  of  difficulty  and  danger,  as  raised 
universal  expectation,  and  turned  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen  towards  him 
as  one  capable  of  performing  great  things.  The  turbulence  of  youth,  as 
soon  as  he  found  objects  and  occupations  suited  to  the  ardour  of  his  mind, 
gradually  subsided  and  settled  into  a  habit  of  regular  indefatigable 
activity.  The  impetuosity  of  his  temper,  when  he  came  to  act  with  his 
equals,  insensibly  abated,  by  being  kept  under  restraint,  and  mellowed 
into  a  cordial  soldierly  frankness.  These  qualities  were  accompanied 
with  calm  prudence  in  concerting  his  schemes,  with  persevering  vigour  in 
executing  them,  and  with,  what  is  peculiar  to  superior  genius,  the  art  of 
gaining  the  confidence  and  governing  the  minds  of  men.  To  all  which 
were  added  the  inferior  accomplishments  that  strike  the  vulgar,  and  com 
mand  their  respect ;  a  graceful  person,  a  winning  aspect,  extraordinary 
address  in  martial  exercises,  and  a  constitution  of  such  vigour  as  to  be 
capable  of  enduring  any  fatigue. 

As  soon  as  Cortes  was  mentioned  to  Velasquez  by  his  two  confidants, 
he  flattered  himself  that  he  had  at  length  found  what  he  had  hitherto 
sought  in  vain,  a  man  with  talents  for  command,  but  not  an  object  for 
jealousy.  Neither  the  rank  nor  the  fortune  of  Cortes,  as  he  imagined,-  was 
such  that  he  could  aspire  at  independence.  He  had  reason  to  believe  that 
by  his  own  readiness  to  bury  ancient  animosities  in  oblivion,  as  well  as  his 
liberality  in  conferring  several  recent  favours,  he  had  already  gained  the 
good  will  of  Cortes,  and  hoped,  by  this  new  and  unexpected  mark  of  con 
fidence,  that  he  might  attach  him  for  ever  to  his  interest. 

Cortes,  ret  eiving  his  commission  [Oct.  23],  with  the  warmest  expressions 
of  respect  and  gratitude  to  the  governor,  immediately  erected  his  standard 
before  his  own  house,  appeared  in  a  military  dress,  and  assumed  all  the 
ensigns  of  his  new  dignity.  His  utmost  influence  and  activity  were  exerted 
in  persuading  many  of  his  friends  to  engage  in  the  service,  and  in  urging 
forward  the  preparations  for  the  voyage.  All  his  own  funds,  together  with 
what  money  he  could  raise  by  mortgaging  his  lands  and  Indians,  were 
expended  in  purchasing  military  stores  and  provisions,  or  in  supplying  the 
wants  of  such  of  his  officers  as  were  unable  to  equip  themselves  in  a  manner 
suited  to  their  rank  [99].  Inoffensive  and  even  laudable  as  this  conduct 
was,  his  disappointed  competitors  were  malicious  enough  to  give  it  a  turn 
to  his  disadvantage.  They  represented  him  as  aiming  already,  with  little 
disguise,  at  establishing  an  independent  authority  over  his  troops,  and 
endeavouring  to  secure"  their  respect  or  love  by  his  ostentatious  and  inteiv 

*  'Gomara  Cron.  c.  1,  2,  3. 


AMERICA.  199 

ssted  liberality.  They  reminded  Velasquez  of  his  former  dissensions  with 
the  man  in  whom  he  now  reposed  so  much  confidence,  and  foretold  that 
Cortes  would  be  more  apt  to  avail  himself  of  the  power  which  the 
governor  was  inconsiderately  putting  in  his  hands,  to  avenge  past  injuries 
than  to  requite  recent  obligations.  These  insinuations  made  such  impres 
sion  upon  the  suspicious  mind  of  Velasquez,  that  Cortes  soon  observed 
some  symptoms  of  a  growing  alienation  and  distrust  in  his  behaviour,  and 
was  advised  by  Lares  and  Duero  to  hasten  his  departure  before  these 
should  become  so  confirmed  as  to  break  out  with  open  violence.  Fully 
sensible  of  this  danger,  he  urged  forward  his  preparations  with  such  rapidity 
that  he  set  sail  from  St.  /ago  de  Cuba  on  the  eighteenth  of  November. 
Velasquez  accompanying  him  to  the  shore,  and  taking  leave  of  him  with 
an  appearance  of  perfect  friendship  and  confidence,  though  he  had  secretly 
given  it  in  charge  to  some  of  Cortes'  officers,  to  keep  a  watchful  eyeprpon 
every  part  of  their  commander's  conduct.* 

Cortes  proceeded  to  Trinidad,  a  small  settlement  on  the  same  side  of  the 
island,  where  he  was  joined  by  several  adventurers,  and  received  a  supply 
of  provisions  and  military  stores,  of  which  his  stock  was  still  very  incom 
plete.  He  had  hardly  left  St.  Jago,  when  the  jealousy  which  _had  been 
working  in  the  breast  of  Velasquez  grew  so  violent  that  it  was  impossible 
to  suppress  it.  The  armament  was  no  longer  under  his  own  eye  and  direc 
tion  ;  and  he  felt  that  as  his  power  over  it  ceased,  that  of  Cortes  would 
become  more  absolute.  Imagination  now  aggravated  every  circumstance 
which  had  formerly  excited  suspicion  :  the  rivals  of  Cortes  industriously 
threw  in  reflections  which  increased  his  fear ;  and  with  no  less  art  than 
malice  they  called  superstition  to  their  aid,  employing  the  predictions  of 
an  astrologer  in  order  to  complete  the  alarm.  All  these,  by  their  united 
operation,  produced  the  desired  effect.  Velasquez  repented  bitterly  of  his 
own  imprudence,  in  having  committed  a  trust  of  so  much  importance  to  a 
person  whose  fidelity  appeared  so  doubtful,  and  hastily  despatched  in 
structions  to  Trinidad,  empowering  Verdugo,  the  chief  magistrate  there, 
to  deprive  Cortes  of  his  commission.  But  Cortes  had  already  made  such 
progress  in  gaining  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  troops,  that,  finding 
officers  as  well  as  soldiers  equally  zealous  to  support  his  authority,  he 
soothed  or  intimidated  Verdugo,  and  was  permitted  to  depart  from  Trinidad 
without  molestation. 

From  Trinidad  Cortes  sailed  for  the  Havana,  in  order  to  raise  more 
soldiers,  and  to  complete  the  victualling  of  his  fleet.  There  several  persons 
of  distinction  entered  into  the  service,  and-  engaged  to.  supply  what 
provisions  were  still  wanting ;  but  as  it  was  necessary  to  allow  them  some 
rime  for  performing  what  they  had  promised,  Velasquez,  sensible  that  he 
ought  no  longer  to  rely  on  a  man  of  whom  he  had  so  openly  discovered  his 
distrust,  availed  himself  of  the  interval  which  this  unavoidable  delay 
afforded,  in  order  to  make  one  attempt  more  to  wrest  the  command  out  of 
the  hands  of  Cortes.  He  loudly  complained  of  Verduga's  conduct,  accusing 
him  either  of  childish  facility,  or  of  manifest  treachery,  in  suffering  Cortes 
to  escape  from  Trinidad.  Anxious  to  guard  against  a  second  disappoint 
ment,  he  sent  a  person  of  confidence  to  the  Havana,  with  peremptory 
injunctions  to  Pedro  Barba,  his  lieutenant-governor  in  that  colony,  instantly 
o  arrest  Cortes,  to  send  him  prisoner  to  St.  Jago  under  a  strong  guard,  and 
o  countermand  the  sailing  of  the  armament  until  he  should  receive  further 
orders.  He  wrote  likewise  to  the  principal  officers,  requiring  them  to 
assist  Barba  in  executing  what  he  had  given  him  in  charge.  But  before 
the  arrival  of  this  messenger,  ^  Franciscan  friar  of  St.  Jago  had  secretly 
conveyed  an  account  of  this  interesting  transaction  to  Bartholomew  de 
Olmedo,  a  monk  of  the  same  order,  who  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  expedition. 

*  Gomara,  Cron.  c.  7.    B.  Diaz,  c.  20. 


200  HISTORY  OF  [Boon  V. 

Cortes,  forewarned  of  the  danger,  had  time  to  take  precautions  for  his 
own  safety.  His  first  step  was  to  find  some  pretext  for  removing  from  the 
Havana  Diego  de  Ordaz^  an  officer  of  great  merit,  but  in  whom,  on  account 
of  his  known  attachment  to  Velasquez,  he  could  not  confide  in  this  trying 
and  delicate  juncture.  He  gave  him  the  command  of  a  vessel  destined  to 
take  on  board  some  provisions  in  a  small  harbour  beyond  Cape  Antonio, 
and  thus  made  sure  of  his  absence  without  seeming  to  suspect  his  fidelity. 
When  he  was  gone,  Cortes  no  longer  concealed  the  intentions  of  Velasquez 
from  his  troops :  and  as  officers  and  soldiers  were  equally  impatient  to  set 
out  on  an  expedition,  in  preparing  for  which  most  ol  them  had  expended 
all  their  fortunes,  they  expressed  their  astonishment  and  indignation  at  that 
illiberal  jealousy  to  which  the  governor  was  about  tp  sacrifice,  not  only 
the  honour  of.  their  general,  but  all  their  sanguine  hopes  of  glory  and 
wejAh.  With,  one  voice  they  entreated  that  he  would  not  abandon  the 
important  station  to  which  he  had  such  a  good  title.  They  conjured  him 
not  to  deprive  them  of  a  leader  whom  they  followed  with  such  well 
founded  confidence,  and  offered  10  sned  the  iasi  drop  of  their  blood  in 
maintaining  his  authority.  Cortes  was  easily  induced  to  comply  with 
what  he  himself  so  ardently  desired.  He  swore  that  he  would  never 
desert  soldiers  who  had  given  him  such  a  signal  proof  of  their  attachment, 
and  promised  instantly  to  condmct  them  to  that  rich  country  which  had 
been  so  long  the  object  of  their  thoughts  and  wishes.  This  declaration 
was  received  with  transports  of  military  applause,  accompanied  with 
threats  and  imprecations  against  all  who  should  presume  to  call  in  question 
thejurisdiction  of  their  general,  or  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  his  designs. 

Every  thing  was  now  ready  for  their  departure  ;  but  though  this  expe 
dition  was  fitted  out  by  the  united  effort  of  the  Spanish  power  in  Cuba  ; 
though  every  settlement  had  contributed  its  quota  of  men  and  provisions  ; 
though  the  governor  had  laid  out  considerable  sums,  and  each  adventurer 
had  exhausted  his  stock,  or  strained  his  credit,  the  poverty  of  the  prepara 
tions  was  such  as  must  astonish  the  present  age,  andr  bore,  indeed,  no 
resemblance  to  an  armament  destined  for  the  conquest  of  a  .great  empire. 
The  fleet  consisted  of  eleven  vessels  ;  the  largest  of  a  hundred  tons,  which 
was  dignified  by  the  name  of  Admiral ;  three  of  seventy  or  eighty  tons, 
and  the  rest  small  open  barks.  On  board  of  these  were  six  hundred  and 
seventeen  men ;  of  which  five  hundred  and  eight  belonged  to  the  land 
service,  and  a  hundred  and  nine  were  seamen  or  artificers.  The  soldiers 
were  divided  into  eleven  companies,  according  to  the  number  of  the  ships ; 
to  each  of  which  Cortes  appointed  a  captain,  and  committed  to  him  the 
command  of  the  vessel  while  at  sea,  and  of  the  men  when  on  shore  [100]. 
As  the  use  of  fire  arms  among  the  nations  of  Europe  was  hitherto  confined 
to  a  few  battalions  of  regularly  disciplined  infantry,  only  thirteen  soldiers 
were  armed  with  muskets,  thirty-two  were  cross-bow  men,  and  the  rest 
had  swords  and  spears.  Instead  of  the  usual  defensive  armour,  which 
must  have  been  cumbersome  in  a  hot  climate,  the  soldiers  wore  jackets 
quilted  with  cotton,  which  experience  had  taught  the  Spaniards  to  be  a 
sufficient  protection  against  the  weapons  of  the  Americans.  They  had 
only  sixteen  horses,  ten  small  field  pieces,  and  four  falconets.* 

With  this  slender  and  ill  provided  train  did  Cortes  set  sail  [Feb.  10, 
1519],  to  make  war  upon  a  monarch  wjiose  dominions  were  more  extensive 
than  all  the  kingdoms  subject  to  the  Spanish  crown.  As  religious  enthu 
siasm  always  mingled  with  the  spirit  of  adventure  in  the  New  World,  and, 
by  a  combination  still  more  strange,  united  with  avarice,  in  prompting  the 
Spaniards  to  all  their  enterprises,  a  large  cross  was  displayed  in  their 
standards,  with  this  inscription,  Let  us  follow  the  cross,  for  under  this  sign 
we  shall  conquer. 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  19. 


AMERICA.  201 

So  powerfully  were  Cortes  and  his  followers  animated  with  both  these 
passions,  that  no  less  eag-er  to  plunder  the  opulent  country  whither  they 
were  bound,  than  zealous  to  propagate  the  Christian  faith  among  its  inha 
bitants,  they  set  out,  not  with  the  solicitude  natural  to  men  goiqg  upon 
dangerous  services,  but  with  that  confidence  which  arises  from  security  of 
success,  and  certainty  of  the  divine  protection. 

As  Cortes  had  determined  to  touch  at  every  place  where  Grijalva  had 
visited,  he  steered  directly  towards  the  island  of  Cozumel ;  there  he  had 
the  good  fortune  to  redeem  Jerome  de  Aguilar,  a  Spaniard,  who  had  been 
eight  years  a  prisoner  among  the  Indians.  This  man  was  perfectly  ac 
quainted  with  a  dialect  of  their  language  understood  through  a  large  extent 
of  country,  and  possessing  besides  a  considerable  share  of  prudence  and 
sagacity,  proved  extremely  useful  as  an  interpreter.  From  Cozumel, 
Cortes  proceeded  to  the  river  of  Tabasco  [March  4],  in  hopes  of  a  rec^>- 
tion  as  friendly  as  Grijalva  had  met  with  there,  and  of  finding  gold  in  the 
same  abundance ;  but  the  disposition  of  the  natives,  from  some  unknown 
cause,  was  totally  changed.  After  repeated  endeavours  to  conciliate  their 
good  will,  he  was  constrained  to  have  recourse  to  violence.  Though  the 
Forces  of  the  enemy  were  numerous,  and  advanced  with  extraordinary 
courage,  they  were  route/l  with  great  slaughter  in  several  successive  actions 
The  loss  which  they  had  sustained,  and  still  more  the  astonishment  and  terror 
excited  by  the  destructive  effect  of  the  fire  arms,  and  the  dreadful  appear 
ance  of  the  horses,  humbled  their  fierce  spirits,  and  induced  them  to  sue 
for  peace.  They  acknowledged  the  King  of  Castile  as  their  sovereign,  and 
granted  Cortes  a  supply  of  provisions  with  a  present  of  cotton  garments, 
some  gold,  and  twenty  female  slaves  [101]. 

Cortes  continued  his  course  to  the  westward,  keeping  as  near  the  shore 
as  possible,  in  order  to  observe  the  country  ;  but  could  discover  no  proper 
place  for  landing  until  he  arrived  at  St.  Juan  de  Ulua.*  As  he  entered 
this  harbour  [April  2],  a  large  canoe  full  of  people,  among  whom  were 
two  who  seemed  to  oe  persons  of  distinction,  approached  his  ship  with 
signs  of  peace  and  amity.  They  came  on  board  without  fear  or  distrust, 
and  addressed  him  in  a  most  respectful  manner,  but  in  a  language  altogether 
unknown  to  Aguilar.  Cortes  was  in  the  utmost  perplexity  and  distress  at 
an  event  of  which  he  instantly  foresaw  the  consequences,  and  already  felt 
the  hesitation  and  uncertainty  with  which  he  should  carry  on  the  great 
schemes  which  he  meditated,  if,  in  his  transactions  with  the  natives,  he 
must  depend  entirely  upon  such  an  imperfect,  ambiguous,  and  conjectural 
mode  of  communication  as  the  use  of  signs.  But  he  did  not  remain  long 
in  his  embarrassing  situation  ;  a  fortunate  accident  extricated  him  when 
his  own  sagacity  could  have  contributed  little  towards  his  relief.  One  of 
the  female  slaves,  whom  he  had  received  from  the  cazique  of  Tabasco, 
happened  to  be  present  at  the  first  interview  between  Cortes  and  his  new 
guests.  -  She  perceived  his  distress,  as  well  as  the  confusion  of  Aguilar  -y 
and,  as  she  perfectly  understood  the  Mexican  language,  she  explained 
what  they  had  said  in  the  Yucatan  tongue,  with  which  Aguilar  was  ac 
quainted.  This  woman,  known  afterwards  by  the  name  of  Donna  Marina, 
and  who  makes  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  history  of  the  New  World, 
where  great  revolutions  were  brought  about  by  small  causes  and  incon 
siderable  instruments,  was  born  in  one  of  the  provinces  of  the  Mexican 
Empire.  Having  been  sold  as  a  slave  in  the  early  part  of  her  life,  after 
a  variety  of  adventures  she  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Tabascans,  and  had 
resided  long  enough  among  them  to  acquire  their  language  without  losing 
the  use  of  her  own.  Though  it  was  both  tedious  and  troublesome  to 
converse  by  the  intervention  of  two  different  interpreters,  Cortes  was  so 
highly  pleased  with  having  discovered  this  method  of  carrying  on  some 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  31—36.    Gomara  Cron.  c,  18—23.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iv.  c.  11.  &c. 

VOL.  I.— 26 


*02  HISTORY  OF  [BoosV. 

intercourse  with  the  people  of  a  country  into  which  he  was  determined 
to  penetrate,  that  in  the  transports  of.  his  joy  he  considered  it'  as  a  visible 
interpositioa  of  Providence  in  his  favour.* 

He  now  learned  that  the  twopersons  whom  he  had  received  on  board 
of  his  ship  were  deputies  from  Teutile  and  Pilpatoe,  two  officers  intrusted 
with  the  government  of  that  province  by  a  great  monarch  whom  they 
called  Montezuma  ;  and  that  they  were  sent  to,  inquire  what  his  intentions 
were  in  visiting  their  coast,  and  to  offer  him  what  assistance  he  might 
need,  in  order  to  continue  his  voyage.  Cortes,  struck  with  the  appearance 
of  those  people,  as  well  as  the  tenor  of  the  message,  assured  them,  in 
respectful  terms,  that- he  approached  their  country  with  most  friendly 
sentiments,  and  came  to  propose  matters  of  great  importance  to  the  welfare 
oLtheir  prince  and  his  kingdom,  which  he  would  unfold  more  fully,  in 
pwson,  to  the  governor  and  the  general.  Next  morning,  without  waiting 
for  any  answer,  he  landed  his  troops,  his  horses,  and  artillery  ;  and,  having 
chosen  proper  ground,  began  to  erect  huts  for  his  men,  and  to  fortify  his 
camp.  The  natives,  instead  of  opposing  the  entrance  of  those  fatal  guests 
into  their  country,  assisted  them  in  all  their  operations  with  an  alacrity  of 
which  they  had  ere  long  good  reason  to  repent.' 

Next  day  Teutile  and  rilpatoe  entered  the  Spanish  camp  with  a  numerous 
retinue  ;  and  Cortes,  considering  them  as  the  ministers  of  a  great  monarch 
entitled  to  a  degree  of  attention  very  different  from  that  which  the  Spaniards 
were  accustomed  to  pay  the  petty  caziques  with  whom  they  had  intercourse 
in  the  isles,  received  them  with  much  formal  ceremony.  He  informed 
them,  that  he  came  as  ambassador  from  Don  Carlos  01  Austria,  King  of 
Castile,  the  greatest  monarch  of  the  East,  and  was  intrusted  with 
propositions  of  such  moment,  that  he  could  impart  them  to  none  but  the 
Emperor  Montezuma  himself,  and  therefore  required  them  to  conduct  him, 
without  loss  of  time,  into  the  presence  of  their  master.  The  Mexican 
officers  could  not  conceal  their  uneasiness  at  a  request  which  they  knew 
would  be  disagreeable,  and  which  they  foresaw  might  prove  extremely 
embarrassing  to  their  sovereign,  whose  mind  had  been  filled  with  many 
disquieting  apprehensions  ever  since  the  former  appearance  of  the  Spaniards 
on  his  coasts.  But  before  they  attempted  to  dissuade  Cortes  from  insisting 
on  his  demand,  they  endeavoured  to  conciliate  his  good  will  by  entreating 
him  to  accept  of  certain  presents,  which,  as  humble  slaves  of  Montezuma, 
they  laid  at  his  feet.  They  were  introduced  with  great  parade,  and  con 
sisted  of  finer  cotton  cloth,  of  plumes  of  various  colours,  and  of  ornaments 
of  gold  and  silver  to  a  considerable  value ;  the  workmanship  of  which 
appeared  to  be  as  curious  as  the  materials  were  rich.  The  display  oi 
these  produced  an  effect  very  different  from  what  the  Mexicans  intended. 
Instead  of  satisfying,  it  increased  the  avidity  of  the  Spaniards,  and  rendered 
them  so  eager  and  impatient  to  become  masters  of  a  country  which 
abounded  with  such'  precious  productions,  that  Cortes  could  hardly  listen 
with  patience  to  the  arguments  which  Pilpatoe  and  Teutile  employed  to 
dissuade  him  from  visiting  the  capital,  and  in  a  haughty  determined  tone 
he  insisted  on  his  demand  of  being  admitted  to  a  personal  audience 
of  their  sovereign.  During  this  interview,  some  painters,  in  the  train 
of  the  Mexican  chiefs,  had  been  diligently  employed  in  delineating,  upon 
white  cotton  cloths,  figures  of  the  ships,  the  horses,  the  artillery,  the  soldiers, 
and  whatever  else  attracted  their  eyes  as  singular.  When  Cortes  observed 
this,  and  was  informed  that  these  pictures  were  to  be  sent  to  Montezuma, 
in  order  to  convey  to  him  a  more  lively  idea  of  the  strange  and  wonderful 
objects  now  presented  to  their  view  man  any  words  could  communicate, 
he  resolved  to  render  the  representation  still  more  animating  and  interest* 
ing,  by  exhibiting  such  a  spectacle  as  might  give  both  them  and  their 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  37,  38,  39.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  25,  26.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  4, 


AMERICA.  203 

^monarch  an  awful  impression  of  the  extraordinary  prowess  of  his  followers, 
and  the  irresistible  force  of  their  arms.  The  trumpets,  by  his  order, 
sounded  an  alarm  ;  the  troops,  in  a  moment,  formed  in  order  of  battle, 
the  infantry  performed  such  martial  exercises  as  were  best  suited  to  display 
the  effect  of  their  different  weapons ;  the  horse,  in  various  evolutions, 
gave  a  specimen  of  their  agility  and  strength  ;  the  artillery,  pointed  towards 
the  thick  woods  which  surrounded  the  camp,  were  fired,  and  made  dread 
ful  havoc  among  the  trees.  The  Mexicans  looked  on  with  that  silent 
amazement  which  is  natural  when  the  mind  is  struck  with  objects  which 
are  both  awful  and  above  its  comprehension.  But,  at  the  explosion  of  the 
cannon,  many  of  them  fled,  some  fell  to  the  ground,  and  all  were  so  much 
confounded  at  the  sight  of  men  whose  power  so  nearly  resembled  that  of 
the  gods,  that  Cortes  found  it  difficult  to  compose  and  reassure  them.  The 
painters  had  now  many  new  objects  on  which  to  exercise  their  art,  and 
they  put  their  fancy  on  the  stretch  in  order  to  invent  figures  and  symbols 
to  represent  the  extraordinary  things  which  they  had  seen. 

Messengers  were  immediately  despatched  to  Montezuma  with  those 
pictures,  and  a  full  account  of  every  thing  that  had  passed  since  the  arrival 
of  the  Spaniards,  and  by  them  Cortes  sent  a  present  of  some  European 
curiosities  to  Montezuma,  which,  though  of  no  great  value,  he  believed 
would  be  acceptable  on  account  of  their  novelty.  The  Mexican  monarchs, 
iw  order  to  obtain  early  information  of  every  occurrence  in  all  the  corners 
of  their  extensive  empire,  had  introduced  a  refinement  in  police  unknown 
at  that  time  in  Europe.  They  had  couriers  posted  at  proper  stations  along 
the  principal  roads ;  and  as  these  were  trained  to  agility  by  a  regular 
education,  and  relieved  one  another  at  moderate  distances,  they  conveyed 
intelligence  with  surprising  rapidity.  Though  the  capital  in  which  Mon 
tezuma  resided  was  above  a  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  St.  Juan  de 
Ulua,  Cortes's  presents  were  carried  thither,  and  an  answer  to  his  demands 
was  received  in  a  few  days.  The  same  officers  who  had  hitherto  treated 
with  the  Spaniards  were  employed  to  deliver  this  answer ;  but  as  they 
knew  how  repugnant  the  determination  of  their  master  was  to  all  the 
schemes  and  wishes  of  the  Spanish  commander,  they  would  not  venture 
to  make  it  known  until  they  had  previously  endeavoured  to  soothe  and 
mollify  him.  For  this  purpose  they  renewed  their  negotiation,  by  intro 
ducing  a  train  of  a  hundred  Indians  loaded  with  presents  sent  to  him  by 
Montezuma.  The  magnificence  of  these  was  such  as  became  a  great 
monarch,  and  far  exceeded  any  idea  which  the  Spaniards  had  hitherto 
formed  of  his  wealth.  They  were  placed  on  mats  spread  on  the  ground 
in  such  order  as  showed  them  to  the  greatest  advantage.  Cortes  and  his 
officers  viewed  with  admiration  the  various  manufactures  of  the  country  ; 
cotton  stuffs  so  fine,  and  of  such  delicate  texture  as  to  resemble  silk ; 
pictures  of  animals,  trees,  and  other  natural  objects,  formed  with  feathers 
of  different  colours,  disposed  and  mingled  with  such  skill  and  elegance  as 
to  rival  the  works  of  the  pencil  in  truth  and  beauty  of  imitation.  But 
what  chiefly  attracted  their  eyes  wrere  two  large  plates  of  a  circular  form, 
one  of  massive  gold  representing  the  sun,  the  other  of  silver,  an  emblem 
of  the  moon  [102].  These  were  accompanied  with  bracelets,  collars, 
rings,  and  other  trinkets  of -gold  ;  and  that  nothing  might  be  wanted  which 
could  give  the  Spaniards  a  complete  idea  of  what  the  country  afforded, 
with  some  boxes  filled  with  pearls,  precious  stones,  and  grains  of  gold 
unwrought,  as  they  had  been  found  in  the  mines  or  rivers.  CorteS  received 
all  these  with  an  appearance  of  profound  veneration  for  the  monarch  by 
whom  they  were  bestowed.  But  when  the  Mexicans,  presuming  upon 
this,  informed  him  that  their  master,  though  he  had  desired  him  to  accept 
of  what  he  had  sent  as  a  token  of  regard  for  that  monarch  whom  Cortes 
represented,  would  not  give  his  consent  that  foreign  troops  should  approach 
nearer  to  his  capital,  or  even  allow  them  to  continue  longer  in  his  dominions, 


204  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

the  Spanish  general  declared,  in  a  manner  more  resolute  and  peremptory 
than  formerly,  that  he  must  insist  on  his  first  demand,  as  he  could  not  without 
dishonour,  return  to  his  own  country,  until  he  was  admitted  into  the  pre 
sence  of  the  prince  whom  he  was  appointed  to  visit  in  the  name  of  his 
sovereign.  The  Mexicans,  astonished  at  seeing  any  man  dare  to  oppose 
that  will  which  they  were  accustomed  to  consider  as  supreme  and  irre 
sistible,  yet  afraid  ot  precipitating  their  country  into  an  open  rupture  with 
such  formidable  enemies,  prevailed  with  Cortes  to  promise  that  he  would 
not  remove  from  his  present  camp  until  the  return  of  a  messenger  whom 
they  sent  to  Montezuma  for  further  instructions.* 

The  firmness  with  which  Cortes  adhered  to  his  original  proposal  should 
naturally  have  brought  the  negotiation  between  him  and  Montezuma  to  a 
speedy  issue,  as  it  seemed  to  leave  the  Mexican  monarch  no  choice,  but 
either  to  receive  him  with  confidence  as  a  friend,  or  to  oppose  him  openly 
as  an  enemy.  The  latter  was  what  might  have  been  expected  from  a 
haughty  prince  in  possession  of  extensive  power.  The  Mexican  empire 
at  this  period  was  at  a  pitch  of  grandeur  to  whicn  no  society  ever  attained 
in  so  short  a  period.  Though  it  had  subsisted,  according  to  their  own 
traditions,  only  a  hundred  and  thirty  years,  its  dominion  extended  from  the 
North  to  the  South  Sea,  over  territories  stretching,  with  some  small  inter 
ruption,  above  five  hundred  leagues  from  east  to  west,  and  more  than  two 
hundred  from  north  to  south,  comprehending  provinces  not  inferior  in  fer 
tility,  population,  and  opulence,  to  any  in  the  torrid  zone.  The  people 
were  warlike  and  enterprising ;  the  authority  of  the  monarch  unbounded, 
and  his  revenues  considerable.  If,  with  the  forces  which  might  have  been 
suddenly  assembled  in  such  an  empire,  Montezuma  had  fallen  upon  the 
Spaniards  while  encamped  on  a  barren  unhealthy  coast,  unsupported  by 
any  ally,  without  a  place  of  retreat,  and  destitute  of  provisions,  it  seems 
to  be  impossible,  even  with  all  the  advantages  of  their  superior  discipline 
and  arms,  that  they  could  have  stood  the  shock,  and  they  must  either  have 
perished  in  such  an  unequal  contest,  or  have  abandoned  the  enterprise. 

As  the  power  of  Montezuma  enabled  him  to  take  this  spirited  part,  his 
own  dispositions  were  such  as  seemed  naturally  to  prompt  him  to  it.  Of 
all  the  princes  who  had  swayed  the  Mexican  sceptre,  he  was  the  most 
haughty,  the  most  violent,  and  the  most  impatient  of  control.  His  subjects 
looked  up  to  him  with  awe,  and  his  enemies  with  terror.  The  former  he 
governed  with  unexampled  rigour  ;  but  they  were  impressed  with  such  an 
opinion  of  his  capacity  as  commanded  their  respect ;  and,  by  many  victo 
ries  over  the  latter,  he  had  spread  far  the  dread  of  his  arms,  and  had 
added  several  considerable  provinces  to  his  dominions.  But  though  his 
talents  might  be  suited  to  the  transactions  of  a  state  so  imperfectly  polish 
ed  as  the  Mexican  empire,  and  sufficient  to  conduct  them  while  in  their 
accustomed  course,  they  were  altogether  inadequate  to  a  conjuncture  so 
extraordinary,  and  did  not  qualify  him  either  to  judge  with  the  discern 
ment  or  to  act  with  the  decision  requisite  in  such  trying  emergence. 

From  the  moment  that  the  Spaniards  appeared  on  his  coast,  he  disco 
vered  symptoms  of  timidity  and  embarrassment.  Instead  of  taking  such 
resolutions  as  the  consciousness  of  his  own  power,  or  the  memory  of  his 
former  exploits,  might  have  inspired,  he  deliberated  with  an  anxiety  and 
hesitation  which  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  his  meanest  courtiers.  The 
perplexity  and  discomposure  of  Montezuma's  mind  upon  this  occasion,  as 
well  as  the  general  dismay  of  his  subjects,  were  not  owing  wholly  to  the 
impression  which  the  Spaniards  had  made  by  the  novelty  of  their  appear 
ance  and  the  terror  of  their  arms.  Its  origin  may  be  traced  up  to  a  more 
remote  source.  There  was  an  opinion,  if  we  may  believe  the  earliest  and 
most  authentic  Spanish  historians,  almost  universal  among  the  Americans, 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  39     Gcmara  Cron.  c.  27     Herrera,  de:.  2  lib.  v.  c.  5,  6. 


AMERICA.  205 

that  some  dreadful  calamity  was  impending  over  their  heads,  from  a  race 
of  formidable  invaders,  who  should  come  from  regions  towards  the  rising 
sun,  to  overrun  and  desolate  their  country.  Whether  this  disquieting  ap 
prehension  flowed  from  the  memory  of  some  natural  calamity  which  had 
afflicted  that  part  of  the  globe,  and  impressed  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants 
with  superstitious  fears  and  forebodings,  or  whether  it  was  an  imagination 
accidentally  suggested  by  the  astonishment  which  the  first  sight  of  a  new 
race  of  men  occasioned,  it  is  impossible  to  determine.  But  as  the  Mexi 
cans  were  more  prone  to  superstition  than  any  people  in  the  New  World, 
they  were  more  deeply  affected  by  the  appearance  of  the  Spaniards, 
whom  their  credulity  instantly  represented  as  the  instrument  destined  to 
bring  about  this  fatal  revolution  which  they  dreaded.  Under  those  cir 
cumstances  it  ceases  to  be  incredible  that  a  handful  of  adventurers  should 
alarm  the  monarch  of  a  great  empire,  and  all  his  subjects.* 

Notwithstanding  the  influence  of  this  impression,  when  the  messenger 
arrived  from  the  Spanish  camp  with  an  account  that  the  leader  of  the 
strangers,  adhering  to  his  original  demand,  refused  to  obey  the  order  en 
joining  him  to  leave  the  country,  Montezuma  assumed  some  degree  of 
resolution ;  and  in  a  transport  or  rage  natural  to  a  fierce  prince  unaccus 
tomed  to  meet  with  any  opposition  to  his  will,  he  threatened  to  sacrifice 
those  presumptuous  men  to  his  gods.  But  his  doubts  and  fears  quickly 
returned ;  and  instead  of  issuing  orders  to  carry  his  threats  into  execution, 
he  again  called  his  ministers  to  confer  ancl  offer  their  advice.  Feeble  and 
temporising  measures  will  always  be  the  result  when  men  assemble  to 
deliberate  in  a  situation  where  they  ought  to  act.  The  Mexican  counsel 
lors  took  no  effectual  measure  for  expelling  such  troublesome  intruders, 
and  were  satisfied  with  issuing  a  more  positive  injunction,  requiring  them 
to  leave  the  country ;  but  this  they  preposterously  accompanied  with  a 
present  of  such  value  as  proved  afresh  inducement  to  remain  there. 

Meanwhile,  the  Spaniards  were  not  without  solicitude,  or  a  variety  of 
sentiments,  in  deliberating  concerning  their  own  future  conduct.  From 
what  they  had  already  seen,  many  of  them  formed  such  extravagant  ideas 
concerning  the  opulence  of  the  country,  that,  despising  danger  or  hard 
ships  when  they  had  in  view  treasures  which  appeared  to  be  inexhausti 
ble,  they  were  eager  to  attempt  the  conquest.  Others,  estimating  the 
power  of  the  Mexican  empire  by  its  wealth,  and  enumerating  the  various 
proofs  which  had  occurred  of  its  being  under  a  well  regulated  administra 
tion,  contended,  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  the  wildest  frenzy  to  attack 
such  a  state  with  a  small  body  of  men,  in  want  of  provisions,  unconnected 
with  any  ally,  and  already  enfeebled  by  the  diseases  peculiar  to  the  cli 
mate,  and  the  loss  of  several  of  their  number,  f  Cortes  secretly  applaud 
ed  the  advocates  for  bold  measures,  and  cherished  their  romantic  hopes, 
as  such  ideas  corresponded  with  his  own,  and  favoured  the  execution  of 
the  schemes  which  he  had  formed.  From  the  time  that  the  suspicions  of 
Velasquez  broke  out  with  open  violence  in  the  attempts  to  deprive  him 
of  the  command,  Cortes  saw  the  necessity  of  dissolving  a  connection  which 
would  obstruct  and  embarrass  all  his  operations,  and  watched  for  a  proper 
opportunity  of  coming  to  a  final  rupture  with  him.  Having  this  in  view, 
he  had  lauoured  by  every  art  to  secure  the  esteem  and  affection  of  his 
soldiers.  With  his  abilities  for  command,  it  was  easy  to  gain  their  esteem 
and  his  followers  were  quickly  satisfied  that  they  might  rely,  with  perfect 
confidence,  on  the  conduct  and  courage  of  their  leader.  Nor  was  it  more 
difficult  to  acquire  their  affection.  Among  adventurers  nearly  of  the  same 
rank,  and  serving  at  their  own  expense,  the  dignity  of  command  did  not 
elevate  a  general  above  mingling  with  those  who  acted  under  him.  Cortes 

*  Cortes  Relations  Seconda,  ap.  Ramus,  iii.  234, 235.  Herrera.  dec.  2.  lib.  ill.  c.  1.  lib.  v.  c.  11. 
lib.  vii.  c.  6.  Goraara  Cron.  c.  66.  92.  144.  |  B.  Diaz,  c.  40. 


306  HISTORY  OF  [BooK  V. 

availed  himself  of  this  .freedom  of  intercourse  to  insinuate  himself  int© 
their  favour,  and  by  his  affable  manners,  by  well  timed  acts  of  liberality 
to  some,  by  inspiring  all  with  vast  hopes,  and  by  allowing  them  to  trade 
privately  with  the  natives  [103],  he  attached  the  greater  part  of  his  sol 
diers  so  firmly  to  himself,  that  they  almost  forgot  that  the  armament  had 
been  fitted  out  by  the  authority  and  at  the  expense  of  another.  ' 

During  these  intrigues,  Teutile  arrived  with  the  present  from  Monte- 
zuma,  and,  together  with  it,  delivered  the  ultimate  order  of  that  monarch 
to  depart  instantly  out  of  his  'dominions  ;  and  when  Cortes,  instead  of 
complying,  renewed  his  request  of  an  audience,  the  Mexican  turned  from 
him  abruptly,  and  quitted  the  camp  with  looks  and  gestures  which  strongly 
expressed  his  surprise  and  resentment.  Next  morning,  none  of  the  natives, 
who  used  to  frequent  the  camp  in  great  numbers  in"  order  to  barter  with 
the  soldiers,  and  to  bring  in  provisions,  appeared.  .  All  friendly  corres 
pondence  seemed  now  to  be  at  an  end,  and  it  was  expected  every  moment 
that  hostilities  would  commence.  -  ,This,  though  an  event  that  might  have 
been  foreseen,  occasioned  a  sudden  consternation  among  the  Spaniards, 
which  emboldened  the  adherents  of  Velasquez  not  only  to  murmur  and 
cabal  against  their  general,  but  to  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  remon 
strate  openly  against  his  imprudence  in  attempting  the  conquest  of  a 
mighty  empire  with  such  inadequate  force,  and  to  urge  the  necessity  of 
returning  to  Cuba,  in  order  to  refit  the  fleet  and  augment  the  army. 
Diego  de  Ordaz,  one  of  his  principal  officers,  whom  the  malecontents 
charged  with  this  commission,  delivered  it  with  a  soldierly  freedom  and 
bluntness,  assuring  CoTtes  that  he  spoke  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  army. 
He  listened  to  this  remonstrance  without  any  appearance  of  emotion  ;  and 
as  he  well  knew,  the  temper  and  wishes  of  his  soldiers,  and  foresaw  how 
they  would  receive  a  proposition  fatal  at  once  to  all  the  splendid  hopes 
and  schemes  which  they  had  been  forming  with  such  complacency,  he 
carried  his  dissimulation  so  far  as  to  seem  to  relinquish  his  own  measures 
in  compliance  with  the  request  of  Ordaz,  and  issued  orders  that  the  army 
should  be  in  readiness  next  day  to  re-embark  for  Cuba.  As  soon  as  this 
was  known,  the  disappointed  adventurers  exclaimed  and  threatened  ;  the 
emissaries  of  Cortes,  mingling  with  them,  inflamed  their  rage  ;  the  fer 
ment  became  general  ;  the  whole  camp  was  almost  in  open  mutiny  ;  all 
demanding  with  eagerness  to  see  their  commander.  Cortes  was  not  slow- 
in  appearing  ;  when,  with  one  voice,  officers  and  soldiers  expressed  their 
astonishment  and  indignation  at  the  orders  which  they  had  received.  It 
was  unworthy,  they  cried,  of  the  Castilian  courage  to  be  daunted  at  the  first 
aspect  of  danger,  and  infamous  to  fly  before  any  enemy  appeared.  For 
their  parts,  they  were  determined,  not  to  relinquish  an  enterprise  that  had 
hitherto  been  successful,  and  which  tended  so  visibly  to  spread  the  know 
ledge  of  trife  religion,  and  to  advance  the  glory  and  interest  of  their  coun 
try.  Happy  under  his  command,  they  would  follow  him  with  alacrity 
through  every  danger  in  quest  of  those  settlements  and  treasures  which  he 
had  so  long  held  out  to  their  view  ;  but  if  he  chose  rather  to  return  to 
Cuba,  and  tamely  give  up  all  his  hopes  of  distinction  and  opulence  to  an 
envious  rival,  they  would  instantly  choose  another  general  to  conduct  them 
in  that  path  of  glory  which  he  had  not  spirit  to  enter. 

Cortes,  delighted  with  their  ardour,  took  no  offence  at  the  boldness  with 
which  it  was  uttered.  The  sentiments  were  what  he  himself  had  inspired, 
and  the  warmth  of  expression  satisfied  him  that  his  followers  had  imbibed 
them  thoioughly.  He  affected,  however,  to  be  surprised  at  what  he  heard, 
declaring  that  his  orders  to  prepare  for  embarking  were  issued  from  a  per 
suasion  that  this  was  agreeable  to  his  troops  ;  that,  from  deference  to  what 
he  had  been  informed  was  their  inclination,  he  had  sacrificed  his  own  pri 
vate  opinion,  which  was  firmly  bent  on  establishing  immediately  a  settle 
ment  on  the  sea  coast,  and  then  on  endeavouring  to  penetrate  into  the  inte- 


AMERICA.  207 

rior  part  of  the  country  ;  that  now  he  was1  convinced  of  his  error  j  and  as 
he  perceived  that  they  were  animated  with  the  generous  spirit  which 
breathed  in  every  true  Spaniard,  he  would  resume,  with  fresh  ardour,  his 
original  plan  of  operation,  and  doubted  not  to  conduct  them,  in  the  career 
of  victory,  to  such  independent  fortunes  as  their  valour  merited.  Up°n 
this  declaration,  shouts  of  applause  testified  the  excess  of  their  joy.  The 
measure  seemed  to  be  taken  with  unanimous  consent ;  such  as  secretly 
condemned  it  being  obliged  to  join  in  the  acclamations,  partly  to  conceal 
their  disaffection  from  their  general,  and  partly  to  avoid  the  imputation  of 
cowardice  from  their  fellow-soldiers.* 

Without  allowing  his  men  time  to  cool  or  to  reflect,  Cortes  set  about  car 
rying-  his  design  into  execution.  In  order  to  give  a  beginning  to  a  colony, 
he  assembled  the  principal  persons  in  his  army,  and  by  their  suffrage  elect 
ed  a  council  and  magistrates,  in  whom  the  government  was  to  be  vested. 
As  men  naturally  transplant  the  institutions  and  forms  of  the  mother  country 
into  their  new  settlements,  this  was  framed  upon  the  model  of  a  Spanish 
corporation.  The  magistrates  were  distinguished  by  the  same  names  and 
ensigns  of  office,  and  were  to  exercise  a  similar  jurisdiction.  All  the  per 
sons  chosen  were  most  firmly  devoted  to  Cortes,  and  the  instrument  of 
their  election  was  framed  in  the  king's  name^  without  any  mention  of  their 
dependence  on  Velasquez.  The  two  principles  of  avarice  and  enthusiasm, 
which  prompted  the  Spaniards  to  all  their  enterprises  in  the  New  World, 
seem  to  have  concurred  in  suggesting  the  name  which  Cortes  bestowed  on 
his  infant  settlement.  He  called  it,  The  Rich  Town  of  the  True  Cross.] 

The  first  meeting  of  the  new  council  was  distinguished  by  a  transaction 
of  great  moment.  As  soon  as  it  assembled,  Cortes  applied  for  leave  to 
enter" ;  and  approaching  with  many  marks  of  profound  respect,  which 
added  dignity  to  the  tribunal,  and  set  an  example  of  reverence  for  its  au 
thority,  he  began  a  long  harangue,  in  which,  with  much  art,  and  in  terms 
extremely  flattering  to  persons  just  entering  upon  their  new  function,  he 
observed,  that  as  the  supreme  jurisdiction  over  the  colony  which  they  had 
planted  was  now  vested  in  this  court,  he  considered  them  as  clothed  with 
the  authority  and  representing  the  person  of  their  sovereign  ;  that  accord 
ingly  he  would  communicate  to  them  what  he  deemed  essential  to  the 
public  safety,  with  the  same  dutiful  fidelity  as  if  he  were  addressing  his 
royal  master ;  that  the  security  of  a  colony  settled  in  a  great  empire,  whose 
sovereign  had  already  discovered  his  hostile  intentions,  depended  upon 
arms,  and  the  efficacy  of  these  upon  the  subordination  and  discipline  pre 
served  among  the  troops  ;  that  his  right  to  command  was  derived  from  a 
commission  granted  by  the  governor  of  Cuba  ;  and  as  that  had  been  long 
since  revoked,  the  lawfulness  of  his  jurisdiction  might  well  be  questioned  ; 
that  he  might  be  thought  to  act  upon  a  defective  or  even  a  dubious  title  ; 
nor  could  they  trust  an  army  which  might  dispute  the  powers  of  its  gene 
ral,  at  a  juncture  when  it  ought  implicitly  to  obey  his  orders ;  that,  moved 
by  these  considerations,  he  now  resigned  all  his  authority  to  them,  that 
they,  having  both  right  to  choose,  and  power  to  confer  full  jurisdiction, 
might  appoint  one  in  the  king's  name  to  command  the  army  in  its  future 
operations  ;  and  as  for  his  own  part,  such  was  his  zeal  for  the  service  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  that  he  would  most  cheerfully  take  up  a  pike 
with  the  same  hand  that  laid  down  the  general's  truncheon,  and  convince 
his  fellow-soldiers,  that  though  accustomed  to  command,  he  had  not  forgot 
ten  how  to  obey.  Having  finished  his  discourse,  he  laid  the  commission 
from  Velasquez  upon  the  table,  and,  after  kissing  his  truncheon,  delivered 
it  to  the  chief  magistrate,  and  withdrew. 

The  deliberations  of  the  council  Were  not  long,  as  Cortes  had  concert 
ed  this  important  measure  with  his  confidants,  and  had  prepared  the  other 

*  J5»  Diaz;  c.  40, 41,  42.    Herrera>  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  6-  7i         |  Villa  Rica  de  la  Vera  Cruz. 


208  HISTORY  OF  [BoofcV. 

members  with  great  address  for  the  part  which  he  wished  them  to  take. 
His  resignation  was  accepted ;  and  as  the  uninterrupted  tenor  of  their 
prosperity  under  his  conduct  afforded  the  most  satisfying  evidence  of  his 
abilities  for  command,  they,  by  their  unanimous  suffrage,  elected  him  chief 
justice  of  the  colony,  and  captain-general  of  its  army,  and  appointed  his 
commission  to  be  made  dut  in  the  king's  name,  with  most  ample  powers, 
which  were  to  continue  in  force  until  the  royal  pleasure  should  be  further 
known.  That  this  deed  might  not  be  deemed  the  machination  of  a  junto, 
the  council  called  together  the  troops,  and  acquainted  them  with  what  had 
been  resolved.  The  soldiers,  with  eager  applause,  ratified  the  choice 
which  the  council  had  made  ;  the  air  resounded  with  the  name  of  Cortes, 
and  all  vowed  to  shed  their  blood  in  support  of  his  authority. 

Cortes,  having  now  brought  his  intrigues  to  the  desired  issue,  and  shaken 
off  his  mortifying  dependence  on  the  governor  of  Cuba,  accepted  of  the 
commission,  which  vested  in  him  supreme  jurisdiction,  civil  as  well  as 
military,  over  the  colony,  with  many  professions  of  respect  to  me  council 
and  gratitude  to  the  army.  Together  with  this  new  command,  he  assumed 
greater  dignity,  arid  began  to  exercise  more  extensive  powers.  Formerly 
he  had  felt  himself  to  be  only  the  deputy  of  a  subject ;  now  he  acted  as 
the  representative  of  his  sovereign.  The  adherents  of  Velasquez,  fully 
aware  of  what  would  be  the  effect  of  this  change  in  the  situation  of 
Cortes,  could  no  longer  continue  silent  and  passive  spectators  of  his  actions. 
They  exclaimed  openly  against  the  proceedings  of  the  council  as  illegal, 
and  against  those  of  the  army  as  mutinous.  Cortes,  instantly  perceiving 
the  necessity  of  giving  a  timely  check  to  such  seditious  discourse  by  some 
vigorous  measure,  arrested  Ordaz,  Escudero,  and  Velasquez  de  Leon,  the 
ringleaders  of  this  faction,  and  sent  them  prisoners  aboard  the  fleet,  loaded 
with  chains.  Their  dependants,  astonished  and  overawed,  remained 
quiet ;  and  Cortes,  more  desirous  to  reclaim  than  to  punish  his  prisoners, 
who  were  officers  of  great  merit,  courted  their  friendship  with  such  assi 
duity  and  address,  that  the  reconciliation  was  perfectly  cordial ;  and  on 
the  most  trying  occasions,  neither  their  connection  with  the  governor  of 
Cuba,  nor  the  memory  of  the  indignity  with  Which  they  had  been  treated, 
tempted  them  to  swerve  from  an  inviolable  attachment  to  his  interest* 
In  this,  as  well  as  his  other  negotiations  at  this  critical  conjuncture,  which 
decided  with  respect  to  his  future  fame  and  fortune,  Cortes  owed  much  of 
his  success  to  the  Mexican  gold,  which  he  distributed  with  a  liberal  hand 
both  among  his  friends  and  his  opponents.! 

Cortes,  having  thus  rendered  the  union  between  himself  and  his  army 
indissoluble,  by  engaging  it  to  join  him  in  disclaiming  any  dependence  on 
the  governor  01  Cuba,  and  in  repeated  acts  of  disobedience  to  his  authority  r 
thought  he 'now  might  venture  to  quit  the  camp  in  which  he  had  hitherto 
remained,  and  advance  into  the  country.  To  this  he  was  encouraged  by 
an  event  no  less  fortunate  than  seasonable.  Some  Indians  having  ap 
proached  his  camp  in  a  mysterious  manner,  were  introduced  into  his  pre 
sence.  He  found  that  they  were  sent  with  a  proffer  of  friendship  from  the 
cazique  of  Zempoalla,  a  considerable  town  at  no  great  distance ;  and  from 
their  answers  to  a  variety  of  questions  which  he  put  to  them,  according  to 
his  usual  practice  in  every  interview  with  the  people  of  the  country,  he 
gathered,  that  their  master,  though  subject  to  the  Mexican  empire,  was 
impatient  of  the  yoke,  and  filled  with  such  dread  and  hatred  of  Monte- 
zuma,  that  nothing  could  be  more  acceptable  to  him  than  any  prospect  of 
deliverance  from  the  oppression  under  which  he  groaned.  On  hearing 
this,  a  ray  of  light  and  hope  broke  in  upon  the  mind  of  Cortes.  He  saw 
that  the  great  empire  which  he  intended  to  attack  was  neither  perfectly 
united,  nor  its  sovereign  universally  beloved.  He  concluded,  that  the 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  42, 43.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  30,  31.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  7.          t  B.  Diaz.  c.  44, 


AMERICA.  209 

causes  of  disaffection  could  not  be  confined  to  one  province,  but  that  in 
other  corners  there  must  be  malecontents,  so  weary  of  subjection,  or  so 
desirous  of  change,  as  to  be  ready  to  follow  the  standard  of  any  protector. 
Full  of  those  ideas,  on  which  he  began  to  form  a  scheme  that  time  and 
more  perfect  information  concerning  the  state  of  the  country  enabled  him 
to  mature,  he  gave  a  most  gracious  reception  to  the  Zempoallans,  and 
promised  soon  to  visit  their  cazique.* 

In  order  to  perform  this  promise,  it  was  not  necessary  to  vary  the  route 
which  he  had  already  fixed  for  his  march.  Some  officers,  whom  he  had 
employed  to  survey  the  coast,  having  discovered  a  village  named  Quiabis 
lan,  about  forty  miles  to  the  northward,  which,  both  on  account  of  the  fer 
tility  of  the  soil  and  commodiousness  of  the  harbour,  seemed  to  be  a  more 
proper  station  for  a  settlement  than  that  where  he  was  encamped,  Cortes 
determined  to  remove  thither.  Zempoalla  lay  in  his  way,  where  the 
cazique  received  him  in  the  manner  which  he  had  reason  to  expect ;  with 
gifts  and  caresses,  like  a  man  solicitous  to  gain  his  good  will ;  with  respect 
approaching  almost  to  adoration,  like  one  who  looked  up  to  him  as  a  deli 
verer.  From  him  he  learned  many  particulars  with  respect  to  the  charac 
ter  of  Montezuma,  and  the  circumstances  which  rendered  his  dominion 
odious.  He  was  a  tyrant,  as  the  cazique  told  him  with  tears,  haughty, 
cruel,  and  suspicious  ;  who  treated  his  OAvn  subjects  with  arrogance,  ruined 
the  conquered  provinces  by  excessive  exactions,  and  often  tore  their  sons 
and  daughters  irom  them  by  violence  ;  the  former  to  be  offered  as  victims 
to  his  gods ;  the  latter  to  be  reserved  as  concubines  for  himself  or  favourites. 
Cortes,  in  reply  to  him,  artfully  insinuated,  that  one  great  object  of  the 
Spaniards  in  visiting  a  country  so  remote  from  their  own,  was  to  redress 
grievances,  and  to  relieve  the  oppressed  ;  and  having  encouraged  him  to 
hope  for  this  interposition  in  due  time,  he  continued  his  march  to  Quia- 
bisian. 

The  spot  which  his  officers  had  recommended  as  a  proper  situation, 
appeared  to  him  to  be  so  well  chosen,  that  he  immediately  marked  out 
ground  for  a  town.  The  houses  to  be  erected  were  only  huts ;  but  these 
were  to  be  surrounded  with  fortifications  of  sufficient  strength  to  resist  the 
assaults  of  an  Indian  army.  As  the  finishing  of  those  fortifications  was 
essential  to  the  existence  of  a  colony,  and  of  no  less  importance  in  prose 
cuting  the  designs  which  the  leader  and  his  followers  meditated,  both  in 
order  to  secure  a  place  of  retreat,  and  to  preserve  their  communication 
with  the  sea,  every  man  in  the  army,  officers  as  well  as  soldiers,  put  his 
hand  to  the  work,  Cortes  himself  setting  them  an  example  of  activity  and 
perseverance  in  labour.  The  Indians  of  Zempoalla  and  Quiabislan  lent 
their  aid ;  and  this  petty  station,  the  parent  of  so  many  mighty  settlements, 
was  soon  in  a  state  of  defence. t 

While  engaged  in  this  necessary,  work,  Cortes  had  several  interviews 
with  the  caziques  of  Zempoalla  and  Quiabislan  ;  and  availing  himself  of 
their  wonderand  astonishment  at  the  new  objects  which  they  daily  beheld, 
he  gradually  inspired  them  with  such  a  high  opinion  of  the  Spaniards,  as 
beings  of  a  superior  order,  and  irresistible  in  arms,  that,  relying  on  their 
protection,  they  ventured  to  insult  the  Mexican  power,  at  the  very  name  of 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  tremble.  Some  of  Montezuma's  officers 
having  appeared  to  levy  the  usual  tribute,  and  to  demand  a  certain  number 
of  human  victims,  as  an  expiation  for  their  guilt  in  presuming  to  hold 
intercourse  with  those  strangers  whom  the  emperor  had  commanded  to 
leave  his  dominions ;  instead  of  obeying  the  order,  the  caziques  made 
them  prisoners,  treated  them  with  great  indignity,  and  as  their  superstition 
was  no  less  barbarous  than  that  of  the  Mexicans,  they  prepared  to  sacri- 

*  B.  Diaz.  c.  41.     Gomara  Cron.  c.  28.          f  B,  Diaz,  c.  45,  46.  48,    Gomara  Cron.  c.  32,  33-  37. 
Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  8,  9 

VOL    I.— 27  11 


«10  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV, 

fice  them  to  their  gods.  From  this  last  danger  they  were  delivered  by  the 
interposition  of  Cortes,  who  manifested  the  utmost  horror  at  the  mention  of 
such  a  deed.  The  two  caziques  having  now  been  pushed  to  an  act  of  such 
open  rebellion,  as  left  them  no  hope  of  safety  but  in  attaching  themselves 
inviolably  to  the  Spaniards,  they  soon  completed  their  union  with  them,  by 
formally  acknowledging  themselves  to  be  vassals  of  the  same  monarch. 
Their  example  was  followed  by  the  Totonaques,  a  fierce  people  who 
inhabited  the  mountainous  part  of  the  country.  They  willingly  subjected 
themselves  to  the  crown  of  Castile,  and  offered  to  accompany  Cortes,  with 
all  their  forces,  in  his  march  towards  Mexico.* 

Cortes  had  now  been  above  three  months  in  New  Spain ;  and  though 
this  period  had  not  been  distinguished  by  martial  exploits,  every  moment 
had  been  employed  in  operations  which,  though  less  splendid,  were  more 
important.  By  his  address  in  conducting  his  intrigues  with  his  own  army, 
as  well  as  his  sagacity  in  carrying  on  his  negotiations  with  the  natives,  he 
had  already  laid  the  foundations  of  his  future  success.  But  whatever  con 
fidence  he  might  place  in  the  plan  which  he  had  formed,  he  could  not  but 
perceive,  that  as  his  title  to  command  was  derived  from  a  doubtful  autho 
rity,  he  held  it  by  a  precarious  tenure.  The  injuries  which  Velasquez 
had  received  were  such  as  would  naturally  prompt  him  to  apply  for 
redress  to  their  common  sovereign  ;  and  such  a  representation,  he  foresaw, 
might  be  given  of  his  conduct  that,  he  had  reason  to  apprehend,  not  only 
that  he  might  be  degraded  from  his  present  rank,  but  subjected  to  punish 
ment.  Before  he  began  his  march,  it  was  necessary  to  take  the  most 
effectual  precautions  against  this  impending  danger.  With  this  view  he 
persuaded  the  magistrates  of  the  colony  at  Vera  Cruz  to  address  a  letter 
to  the  king,  the  chief  object  of  which  was  to  justify  their  own  conduct  in 
establishing  a  colony  independent  on  the  jurisdiction  of  Velasquez.  In 
order  to  accomplish  this,  they  endeavoured  to  detract  from  his  merit  in 
fitting  out  the  two  former  armaments  under  Cordova  and  Grijalva,  affirming 
that  these  had  been  equipped  by  the  adventurers  who  engaged  in  the 
expeditions,  and  not  by  the  governor.  They  contended  that  the  sole 
object  of  Velasquez  was  to  trade  or  barter  with  the  natives,  not  to  attempt 
the  conquest  of  New  Spain,  or  to  settle  a  colony  there.  They  asserted 
that  Cortes  and  the  officers  who  served  under  him  had  defrayed  the 
greater  part  of  the  expense  of  fitting  out  the  armament.  On  this  account, 
they  humbly  requested  their  sovereign  to  ratify  what  they  had  done  in  his 
name,  and  to  confirm  Cortes  in  the  supreme  command  by  his  royal  com 
mission.  That  Charles  might  be  induced  to  grant  more  readily  what  they 
demanded,  they  gave  him  a  pompous  description  of  the  country  which 
they  had  discovered ;  of  its  riches,  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  their 
civilization  and  arts  ;  they  related  the  -progress  which  they  had  already 
made  in  annexing  some  parts  of  the  country  situated  on  the  sea  coast  to  the 
crown  of  Castile  :  and  mentioned  the  schemes  which  they  had  formed,  as 
well  as  the  hopes  which  they  entertained,  of  reducing  the  whole  to  sub- 
jection.f  Cortes  himself  wrote  in  a  similar  strain  ;  and  as  he  knew  that 
the  Spanish  court,  accustomed  to  the  exaggerated  representations  of  every 
new  country  by  its  discoverers,  would  give  little  credit  to  their  splendid 
accounts  of  New  Spain,  if  these  were  not  accompanied  with  such  a  speci 
men  of  what  if  contained  as  would  excite  a  high  idea  of  its  opulence,  he 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  47.    Gomara  Cron.  35,  36.    Hcrrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  9, 10, 11. 

t  'n  this  letter  it  is  asserted,  that  though  a  considerable  number  of  Spaniards  have  been  wounded 
in  their  various  encounters  with  the  people  of  Tobasco,  riot  one  of  them  died,  and  all  had  recovered 
In  a  very  short  time.  This  seems  to  confirm. what  I  observe  in  p.  214,  concerning  the  imperfection 
of  the  offensive  weapons  used  by  the  Americans.  In  this  letter,  the  human  sacrifices  offered  by 
the  Mexicans  to  their  deities  are  described  minutely,  and  with  great  hprror ;  some  of  the  Spaniards, 
it  is  said,  had  been  eye-witnesses  of  those  barbarous  rites.  To  the  letter  is  subjoined  a  catalogue 
and  description  of  the  presente  sent  to  the  emperor.  That  published  by  Gomara,  Cron.  c.  29,  seems 
to  have  been  copied  from  it.  Pet.  Martyr  describes  many  of  trie  articles  in  his  treatise,  '  De  Insulia 
nuper  inventis,'  p.  354,  &c. 


AMERICA.  211 

solicited  his  soldiers  to  relinquish  what  they  might  claim  as  their  part  of 
the  treasures  which  had  hitherto  been  collected,  in  order  that  the  whole 
might  be  sent  to  the  king.  Such  was  the  ascendant  which  he  had  acquired 
over  their  minds,  and  such  their  own  romantic  expectations  of  future 
wealth,  that  an  army  of  indigent  and  rapacious  adventurers  was  capable 
of  this  generous  effort,  and  offered  to  their  sovereign  the  richest  present 
that  had  hitherto  been  transmitted  from  the  New  World  [104].  Portpcar- 
rero  and  Montejo,  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  colony,  were  appointed 
to  carry  this  present  to  Castile,  with  express  orders  not  to  touch  at  Cuba 
in  their  passage  thither.* 

While  a  vessel  was  preparing  for  their  departure  an  unexpected  event 
occasioned  a  general  alarm.  Some  soldiers  and  sailors,  secretly  attached 
to  Velasquez,  or  intimidated  at  the  prospect  of  the  dangers  unavoidable  in 
attempting  to  penetrate  into  the  heart  of  a  great  empire  with  such  unequal 
force,  formed  the  design  of  seizing  one  of  the  brigantines,  and  making 
their  escape  to  Cuba,  in  order  to  give  the  governor  such  intelligence  as 
might  enable  him  to  intercept  the  ship  which  was  to  carry  the  treasure  and 
despatches  to  Spain.  This  conspiracy,  though  formed  by  persons  of  low 
rank,  was  conducted  with  profound  secrecy ;  but  at  the  moment  when 
every  thing  was  ready  for  execution,  they  were  betrayed  by  one  of  their 
associates. 

Though  the  good  fortune  of  Cortes  interposed  so  seasonably  on  this 
occasion,  the  detection  of  this  conspiracy  filled  his  mind  with  most  dis 
quieting  apprehensions,  and  prompted  him  to  execute  a  scheme  which  he 
had  long  revolved.  He  perceived  that  the  spirit  of  disaffection  still  lurked 
among  his  troops ;  that  though  hitherto  checked  by  the  uniform  success  of 
his  schemes,  or  suppressed  by  the  hand  of  authority,  various  events  might 
occur  which  would  encourage  and  call  it  forth.  He  observed,  that  many 
of  his  men,  weary  of  the  fatigue  of  service,  longed  to  revisit  their  settle 
ments  in  Cuba  ;  and  that  upon  any  appearance  of  extraordinary  danger 
or  any  reverse  of  fortune,  it  would  be  impossible  to  restrain  them  from 
returning  thither.  He  was  sensible  that  his  forces,  already  too  feeble, 
could  bear  no  diminution,  and  that  a  very  small  defection  of  his  followers 
would  oblige  him  to  abandon  the  enterprise.  After  ruminating  often,  and 
with  much  solicitude,  upon  those  particulars,  he  saw  no  hope  of  success 
but  in  cutting  off  all  possibility  of  retreat,  and  in  reducing  his  men  to  the 
necessity  of  adopting  the  same  resolution  with  which  he  himself  was 
animated,  either  to  conquer  or  to  perish.  With  this  view  he  determined 
to  destroy  his  fleet ;  but  as  he  durst  not  venture  to  execute  such  a  bold 
resolution  by  his  single  authority,  he  laboured  to  bring  his  soldiers  to  adopt 
his  ideas  with  respect  to  the  propriety  of  this  measure.  His  address  in 
accomplishing  this  was  not  inferior  to  the  arduous  occasion  in  which  it  was 
employed.  He  persuaded  some  that  the  ships  had  suffered  so  much  by 
having  been  long  at  sea,  as  to  be  altogether  unfit  for  service  ;  to  others  he 
pointed  out  what  a  seasonable  reinforcement  of  strength  they  would  derive 
from  the  junction  of  a  hundred  men,  now  unprofitably  employed  as  sailors  ; 
and  to  all  he  represented  the  necessity  of  fixing  their  eyes  and  wishes  upon 
what  was  before  them,  without  allowing  the  idea  of  a  retreat  once  to 
enter  their  thoughts.  With  universal  consent  the  ships  were  drawn  ashore, 
and  after  stripping  them  of  their  sails,  rigging,  iron  works,  and  whatever 
else  might  be  of  use,  they  were  broke  in  pieces.  Thus,  from  an  effort  of 
magnanimity,  to  which  there  is  nothing  parallel  in  history,  five  hundred 
men  voluntarily  consented  to  be  shut  up  in  a  hostile  country,  filled  with 
powerful  and  unknown  nations ;  and,  having  precluded  every  means  of 
escape,  left  themselves  without  any  resource  but  their  own  valour  and 
perseverance.f 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  54.    Gomara,  Cron.  c.  40  t  Relat.  di  Cortes.    Ramus.  iii.  225.    B.  Diaz,  c, 

57,  58.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  14. 


212  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  V. 

Nothing  now  retarded  Cortes ;  the  alacrity  of  his  troops  and  the  dis 
position  of  his  allies  were  equally  favourable.  AH  the  advantages,  how 
ever,  derived  from  the  latter,  though  procured  by  much  assiduity  and 
address,  were  well  nigh  lost  in  a  moment,  by  an  indiscreet  sally  of  religious 
zeal,  which  on  many  occasions  precipitated  Cortes  into  actions  inconsistent 
with  the  prudence  that  distinguishes  his  character.  Though  hitherto  he 
had  neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  explain  to  the  natives  the  errors  of 
their  own  superstition,  or  to  instruct  them  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith,  he  commanded  his  soldiers  to  overturn  the  altars  and  to  destroy  the 
idols  in  the  chief  temple  of  Zempoalla,  and  in  their  place  to  erect  a 
crucifix  and  an  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  people  beheld  this  with 
astonishment  and  horror  ;  the  priests  excited  them  to  arms  :  but  such  was 
the  authority  of  Cortes,  and  so  great  the  ascendant  which  the  Spaniards 
had  acquired,  that  the  commotion  was  appeased  without  bloodshed,  and 
concord  perfectly  re-established.* 

Cortes  began  his  march  from  Zempoalla,  on  the  sixteenth  of  August, 
with  five  hundred  men,  fifteen  horse,  and  six  field  pieces.  The  rest  of  his 
troops,  consisting  chiefly  of  such  as  from  age  or  infirmity  were  less  fit  for 
active  service,  he  left  as  a  garrison  in  Villa  Rica,  under  the  command  of 
Escalante,  an  officer  of  merit,  and  warmly  attached  to  his  interest.  The 
cazique  of  Zempoalla  supplied  him  with  provisions,  and  with  two  hundred 
of  those  Indians  called  Tarnemes,  whose  office,  in  a  country  where  tame 
animals  were  unknown,  was  to  carry  burdens,  and  to  perform  all  servile 
labour.  They  were  a  great  relief  to  the  Spanish  soldiers,  who  hitherto 
had  been  obliged  not  omy  to  carry  their  own  baggage,  but  to  drag  along 
the  artillery  by  main  force.  He  offered  likewise  a  considerable  body  of 
his  troops,  but  Cortes  was  satisfied  with  four  hundred ;  taking  care,  how 
ever,  to  choose  persons  of  such  note  as  might  prove  hostages  for  the  fidelity 
of  their  master.  Nothing  memorable  happened  in  his  progress,  until  he 
arrived  on  the  confines  of  Tlascala.  The  inhabitants  of  that  province,  a 
warlike  people,  were  implacable  enemies  of  the  Mexicans,  and  had  been 
united  in  an  ancient  alliance  with  the  caziques  of  Zempoalla.  Though 
less  civilized  than  the  subjects  of  Mpntezuma,  they  were  advanced  in 
improvement  far  beyond  the  rude  nations  of  America  whose  manners  we 
have  described.  They  had  made  considerable  progress  in  agriculture  ; 
they  dwelt  in  large  towns ;  they  were  not  strangers  to  some  species  of 
commerce  ;  and  in  the  imperfect  accounts  of  their  institutions  and  laws, 
transmitted  to  us  by  the  early  Spanish  writers,  we  discern  traces  both  of 
distributive  justice  and  of  criminal  jurisdiction  in  their  interior  police. 
But  still,  as  the  degree  of  their  civilization  was  incomplete,  and  as  they 
depended  for  subsistence  not  on  agriculture  alone,  but  trusted  for  it  in  a 
great  measure  to  hunting,  they  retained  many  of  the  qualities  natural  to 
men  in  this  state.  Like  them  they  were  fierce  and  revengeful ;  like  them, 
too,  they  were  hi^h  spirited  and  independent.  In  consequence  of  the 
former,  they  were  involved  in  perpetual  hostilities,  and  had  but  a  slender 
and  occasional  intercourse  with  neighbouring  states.  The  latter  inspired 
them  with  such  detestation  of  servitude,  that  they  not  only  refused  to 
stoop  to  a  foreign  yoke,  and  maintain  an  obstinate  and  successful  contest 
in  defence  of  their  liberty  against  the  superior  power  of  the  Mexican 
empire,  but  they  guarded  with  equal  solicitude  against  domestic  tyranny; 
and  disdaining  to  acknowledge  any  master,  they  Jived  under  the  mild  and 
limited  jurisdiction  of  a  council  elected  by  their  several  tribes. 

Cortes,  though  he  had  received  information  concerning  the  martial  cha 
racter  of  this  people,  flattered  himself  that  his  professions  of  delivering 
the  oppressed  from  the  tyranny  of  Montezuma,  their  inveterate  enmity  to 
the  Mexicans,  and  the  example  of  their  ancient  allies  the  Zempoalfans, 

*  8.  Diaz,  c.  41 ,  42.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  3,  4. 


AMERICA.  213 

might  induce  the  Tlascalans  to  grant  him  a  friendly  reception.  In  order 
to  dispose  them  to  this,  four  Zempoailans  of  great  eminence  were  sent 
ambassadors,  to  request  in  his  name,  and  in  that  of  their  cazique,  that  they 
would  permit  the  Spaniards  to  pass  through  the  territories  of  the  republic 
in  their  way  to  Mexico.  But  instead  of  the  favourable  answer  which 
was  expected,  the  Tlascalans  seized  the  ambassadors,  and,  without  any 
regard  to  their  public  character,  made  preparations  for  sacrificing  them 
to  their  gods.  At  the  same  time  they  assembled  their  troops,  in  order  to 
oppose  those  unknown  invaders  if  they  should  attempt  to  make  their 
passage  good  by  force  of  arms.  Various  motives  concurred  in  precipi- 
tating the  Tlascalans  into  this  resolution.  A  fierce  people,  shut  up  within 
its  own  narrow  precincts,  and  little  accustomed  to  any  intercourse  with 
foreigners,  is  apt  to  consider  every  stranger  as  an  enemy,  and  is  easily 
excited  to  arms.  They  concluded,  from  Cortes's  proposal  of  visiting 
Montezuma  in  his  capital,  that,  notwithstanding  all  his  professions,  he 
courted  the  friendship  of  a  monarch  whom  they  both  hated  and  feared 
The  imprudent  zeal  of  Cortes  in  violating  the  temples  in  Zempoalla,  filled 
the  Tlascalans  with  horror ;  and  as  they  were  no  less  attached  to  their 
superstition  than  the  other  nations  of  New  Spain,  they  were  impatient  to 
avenge  their  injured  gods,  and  to  acquire  the  merit  of  offering  up  to  them 
as  victims,  those  impious  men  who  had  dared  to  profane  their  altars  ;  they 
contemned  the  small  number  of  the  Spaniards,  as  they  had  not  yet  mea- 
sured their  own  strength  with  that  of  these  ,new  enemies,  and  had  no  idea 
of  the  superiority  which  they  derived  from  their  arms  and  discipline. 

Cortes,  after  waiting  some  days,  in  vain,  for  the  return  of  his  ambassa- 
dors, advanced  [Aug.  30,]  into  the  Tlascalan  territories.  As  the  resolutions 
of  people  who  delight  in  war  are  executed  with  no  less  promptitude  than 
they  are  formed,  he  found  troops  in  the  field  ready  to  oppose  him.  They 
attacked  him  with  great  intrepidity,  and,  in  the  first  encounter,  wounded 
some  of  the  Spaniards,  and  killed  two  horses  ;  a  Joss,  in  their  situation,  of 
great  moment,  because  it  was  irreparable.  From  this  specimen  of  their 
courage,  Cortes  saw  the  necessity  of  proceeding  with  caution.  His  army 
marched  in  close  order  ;  he  chose  the  stations  wrhere  he  halted,  with 
attention,  and  fortified  every  camp  with  extraordinary  care.  During  four- 
teen days  he  was  exposed  to  almost  uninterrupted  assaults,  the  Tlascalans 
advancing  with  numerous  armies,  and  renewing  the  attack  in  various  forms, 
with  a  degree  of  valour  and  perseverance  to  which  the  Spaniards  had 
seen  nothing  parallel  in  the  New  World.  The  Spanish  historians  describe 
those  successive  battles  with  great  pomp,  and  enter  into  a  minute  detail  of 
particulars,  mingling  many  exaggerated  and  incredible  circumstances  [105] 
with  such  as  are  real  and.  marvellous.  But  no  power  of  words  can  render 
the  recital  of  a  combat  interesting,  where  there  is  no  equality  of  danger ; 
and  when  the  narrative  closes  with  an  account  of  thousands  slain  on  the 
one  side,  while  not  a  single  person  falls  on  the  other,  the  most  laboured 
descriptions  of  the  previous  disposition  of  the  troops,  or  of  the  various 
vicissitudes  in  the  engagement,  command  no  attention. 

There  are  some  circumstances,  however,  in  this  war,  which  are  memo- 
rable, and  merit  notice,  as  they  throw  light  upon  the  character  both  of 
the  people  of  New  Spain,  and  of  their  conquerors.  Though  the  Tlasca- 
lans brought  into  the  field  such  numerous  armies  as  appear  sufficient  to 
have  overwhelmed  the  Spaniards,  they  were  never  able  to  make  any  im- 
pression upon  their  small  battalion.  Singular  as  this  may  seem,  it  is  not 
inexplicable.  The  Tlascalans,  though  addicted  to  war,  were  like  all 
unpolished  nations,  strangers  to  military  order  and  discipline,  and  lost  in  a 
great  measure  the  advantage  which  they  might  have  derived  from  their 
numbers,  and  the  impetuosity  of  their  attack,  by  their  constant  solicitude 
to  carry  off  the  dead  and  wounded.  This  point  of  honour,  founded  on  a 
sentiment  of  teaderness  natural  to  the  human  mind,  and  strengthened  by 


214  HISTORY  OF  [Boon  V. 

anxiety  to  preserve  the  bodies  of  their  countrymen  from  being  devoured 
by  their  enemies,  was  universal  among  the  people  of  New  Spain.  At- 
tention to  this  pious  office  occupied  them  even  during  the  heat  of  combat,* 
broke  their  union,  and  diminished  the  force  of  the  impression  which  they 
might  have  made  by  a  joint  effort. 

Not  only  was  their  superiority  in  number  of  little  avail,  but  the  imper- 
fection of  their  military  weapons  rendered  their  valour  in  a  great  measure 
inoffensive.  After  three  battles,  and  many  skirmishes  and  assaults,  not 
one  Spaniard  was  killed  in  the  field.  Arrows  and  spears,  headed  with 
flint  or  the  bones  of  fishes,  stakes  hardened  in  the  fire,  and  wooden  swords, 
though  destructive  weapons  among  naked  Indians,  were  easily  turned  aside 
by  the  Spanish  bucklers,  and  could  hardly  penetrate  the  escaupiles,  or 
quilted  jackets,  which  the  soldiers  wore.  The  Tlascalans  advanced 
boldly  to  the  charge,  and  often  fought  hand  to  hand.  Many  of  the  Spa 
niards  were  wounded,  though  all  slightly,  which  cannot  be  imputed  to 
any  want  of  courage  or  strength  in  their  enemies,  but  to  the  defect  of  the 
arms  with  which  they  assailed  them. 

Notwithstanding  the  fury  with  which  the  Tlascalans  attacked  the  Spa- 
niards, they  seemed  to  have  conducted  their  hostilities  with  some  degree 
of  barbarous  generosity.  They  gave  the  Spaniards  warning  of  their 
hostile  intentions  ;  and  as  they  knew  that  their  invaders  wanted  provisions, 
and  imagined,  perhaps,  like  the  other  Americans,  that  they  had  left  their 
own  country  because  it  did  not  afford  them  subsistence,  they  sent  to  their 
camp  a  large  supply  of  poultry  and  maize,  desiring  them  to  eat  plentifully, 
because  they  scorned  to  attack  an  enemy  enfeebled  by  hunger,  and  it 
would  be  an  affront  to  their  gods  to  offer  them  famished  victims,  as  well 
as  disagreeable  to  themselves  to  feed  on  such  emaciated  prey.j 

When  they  were  taught  by  the  first  encounter  with  their  new  enemies, 
that  it  was  not  easy  to  execute  this  threat ;  when  they  perceived,  in  the 
subsequent  engagements,  that  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  their  own 
valour,  of  which  they  had  a  very  high  opinion,  not  one  of  the  Spaniards 
was  slain  or  taken,  they  began  to  conceive  them  to  be  a  superior  order  of 
beings,  against  whom  human  power  could  not  avail.  In  this  extremity, 
they  had  recourse  to  their  priests,  requiring  them  to  reveal  the  mysterious 
causes  of  such  extraordinary  events,  and  to  declare, what  new  means  they 
should  employ  in  order  to  repulse  those  formidable  invaders.  The  priests, 
after  marty  sacrifices  and  incantations,  delivered  this  response  :  That  these 
strangers  were  the  offspring  of  the  sun,  procreated  by  his  animating  energy 
in  the  regions  of  the  east ;  that,  by  day,  while  cherished  with  the  influence 
of  his  parental  beams,  they  were  invincible ;  but  by  night,  when  his  re- 
viving neat  was  withdrawn,  their  vigour  declined  ana  faded  like  the  herbs 
in  the  field,  and  they  dwindled  down  into  mortal  men.J;  Theories  less 
plausible  have  gained  credit  with  more  enlightened  nations,  and  have 
influenced  their  conduct.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  Tlascalans,  with 
the  implicit  confidence  of  men  who  fancy  themselves  to  be  under  the 
guidance  of  Heaven,  acted  in  contradiction  to  one  of  their  most  established 
maxims  in  war,  and  ventured  to  attack  the  enemy,  with  a  strong  body,  in 
the  night  time,  in  hopes  of  destroying  them  when  enfeebled  and  surprised. 
But  Cortes  had  greater  vigilance  and  discernment  than  to  be  deceived  by 
the  rude  stratagems  of  an  Indian  army.  The  sentinels  at  his  outposts, 
observing  some  extraordinary  movement  among  the  Tlascalans,  gave  the 
alarm.  In  a  moment  the  troops  were  under  arms,  and  sallying  out,  dis- 
persed the  party  with  great  slaughter,  without  allowing  it  to  approach  the 
camp.  The  Tlascalans  convinced  by  sad  experience  that  their  priests 
had  deluded  them,  and  satisfied  that  they  attempted  in  vain  either  to 
deceive  or  to  vanquish  their  enemies,  their  fierceness  abated,  and  they 
began  to  incline  seriously  to  peace. 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  65.          f  Herrera,  dec  2.  lib.  vi.  c.  6.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  47,          {  B.  Diaz,  c.  66. 


AMERICA.  215 

They  were  at  a  loss,  however,  in  what  manner  to  address  the  strangers., 
what  idea  to  form  of  their  character,  and  whether  to  consider  them  as 
beings  of  a  gentle  or  of  a  malevolent  nature.  There  were  circumstances 
in  their  conduct  which  seemed  to  favour  each  opinion.  On  the  one  hand, 
as  the  Spaniards  constantly  dismissed  the  prisoners  whom  they  took,  nol 
only  without  injury,  but  often  with  presents  of  European  toys,  and  renewed 
their  offers  of  peace  after  every  victory  ;  this  lenity  amazed  people,  who 
according  to  the  exterminating  system  of  war  known  in  America,  were 
accustomed  to  sacrifice  and  devour  without  mercy  all  the  captives  taken  in 
battle,  and  disposed  them  to  entertain  favourable  sentiments  of  the  huma- 
nity of  their  new  enemies.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  as  Cortes  had  seized 
fifty  of  their  countrymen  who  brought  provisions  to  his  camp,  and  supposing 
them  to  be  spies,  had  cut  off  their  hands  ;*  this  bloody  spectacle,  added  to 
the  terror  occasioned  by  the  fire-arms  and  horses,  filled  them  with  dreadful 
impressions  of  the  ferocity  of  their  invaders  [106].  This  uncertainty  was 
apparent  in  the  mode  of  addressing  the  Spaniards.  "  If,"  said  they, "  you 
are  divinities  of  a  cruel  and  savage  nature,  we  present  to  you  five  slaves, 
that  you  may  drink  their  blood  and  eat  their  flesh.  If  you  are  mild  deities, 
accept  an  offering  of  incense  and  variegated  plumes.  If  you  are  men, 
here  is  meat,  and  bread,  and  fruit  to  nourish  you.f  The  peace,  which 
both  parties  now  desired  with  equal  ardour,  was  soon  concluded.  The 
Tlascalans  yielded  themselves  as  vassals  to  the  crown  of  Castile,  and  en- 
gaged to  assist  Cortes  in  all  his  future  operations.  He  took  the  republic 
under  his  protection,  and  promised  to  defend  their  persons  and  possessions 
from  injury  or  violence. 

This  treaty  was  concluded  at  a  seasonable  juncture  for  the  Spaniards. 
The  fatigue  of  service  among  a  small  body  of  men,  surrounded  by  such  a 
multitude  of  enemies,  was  incredible.  Half  the  army  was  on  duty  every 
night,  and  even  they  whose  turn  it  was  to  rest,  slept  always  upon  their 
arms,  that  they  might  be  ready  to  run  to  their  posts  on  a  moment's  warn- 
ing. Many  of  them  were  wounded  ;  a  good  number,  and  among  these 
Cortes  himself,  laboured  under  the  distempers  prevalent  in  hot  climates,  and 
several  had  died  since  they  set  out  from  Vera  Cruz.  Notwithstanding  the 
supplies  which  they  received  from  the  Tlascalans,  they  were  often  in  want 
of  provisions,  and  so  destitute  of  the  necessaries  most  requisite  in  danger- 
ous service,  that  they  had  no  salve  to  dress  their  wounds,  but  what  was 
composed  with  the  fat  of  the  Indians  whom  they  had  slain. J  Worn  out 
with  such  intolerable  toil  and  hardships,  many  of  the  soldiers  began  to 
murmur,  and  when  they  reflected  on  the  multitude  and  boldness  of  their 
enemies,  more  were  ready  to  despair.  It  required  the  utmost  exertion  of 
Cortes's  authority  and  address  to  check  this  spirit  of  despondency  in  its 
progress,  and  to  reanimate  his  followers  with  their  wonted  sense  of  their 
own  superiority  over  the  enemies  with  whom  they  had  to  contend. §  The 
submission  of  the  Tlascalans,  and  their  own  triumphant  entry  into  the 
capital  city,  where  they  were  received  with  the  reverence  paid  to  beings 
of  a  superior  order,  banished  at  once  from  the  minds  of  the  Spaniards  all 
memory  of  past  sufferings,  dispelled  every  anxious  thought  with  respect  to 
their  future  operations,  and  fully  satisfied  them  that  there  was  not  now 
any  power  in  America  able  to  withstand  their  arms.|| 

Cortes  remained  twenty  days  in  Tlascala,  in  order  to  allow  his  troops 
a  short  interval  of  repose  after  such  hard  service.  During  that  time 
he  was  employed  in  transactions  and  inquiries  of  great  moment  with 
respect  to  his  future  schemes.  In  his  daily  conferences  with  the  Tlas- 
calan  chiefs,  he  received  information  concerning  every  particular  rela- 
tive to  the  state  of  the  Mexican  empire,  or  to  the  qualities  of  its  sovereign, 

*  Cortes  Rolat.  Ramus.  iii.  228.  C.     Gomara  Cron.  c.  48.  f  B.  Diaz,  c.  70.    Gomara  Cron 

c.  47.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  vi,  c.  7.        J  B.  Diaz,  c.  62.  65.  §  Cortes  Relat.  Ramus.  iii.  229 

B.  Diaz,  c.  69.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  51.  li  Cortes  Relat.  Ramue.  iii.  230.    B.  Diaz,  c.  72. 


216  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  V. 

which  could  be  of  use  in  regulating  his  conduct,  whether  he  should  be 
obliged  to  act  as  a  friend  or  as  an  ememy .  As  he  found  that  the  antipathy  of 
his  new  allies  to  the  Mexican  nation  was  no  less  implacable  than  had 
been  represented,  and  perceived  what  benefit  he  might  derive  from  the  aid 
of  such  powerful  confederates,  he  employed  all  his  powers  of  insinuation 
in  order  to  gain  their  confidence.  Nor  was  any  extraordinary  exertion  of 
these  necessary.  The  Tlascalans,  with  the  levity  of  mind  natural  to  un- 
polished men,  were,  of  their  own  accord,  disposed  to  run  from  the  extreme 
of  hatred  to  that  of  fondness.  Every  thing  in  the  appearance  and  conduct 
of  their  guests  was  to  them  matter  of  wonder  [107].  They  gazed  with 
admiration  at  whatever  the  Spaniards  did,  and,  fancying  them  to  be  of 
heavenly  origin,  were  eager  not  only  to  comply  with  their  demands, 
but  to  anticipate  their  wishes.  They  offered,  accordingly,  to  accompany 
Cortes  in  his  march  to  Mexico,  with  all  the  forces  of  the  republic,  under 
the  command  of  their  most  experienced  captains. 

But,  after  bestowing  so  much  pains  on  cementing  this  union,  all  the  bene- 
ficial fruits  of  it  were  on  the  point  of  being  lost  by  a  new  effusion  of  that 
intemperate  religious  zeal  with  which  Cortes  was  animated  no  less  than 
the  other  adventurers  of  the  age.  They  all  considered  themselves  as  in- 
struments employed  by  Heaven  to  propagate  the  Christian  faith,  and  the 
less  they  were  qualified,  either  by  their  Knowledge  or  morals,  for  such  a 
function,  they  were  more  eager  to  discharge  it.  The  profound  veneration 
of  the  Tlascalans  for  the  Spaniards  having  encouraged  Cortes  to  explain 
to  some  of  their  chiefs  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  to  insist 
that  they  should  abandon  their  own  superstitions,  and  embrace  the  faith  of 
their  new  friends,  they,  according  to  an  idea  universal  among  barbarous 
nations,  readily  acknowledged  the  truth  and  excellence  of  what  he  taught ; 
but  contended,  that  the  Teules  of  Tlascala  were  divinities  no  less  than  the 
God  in  whom  the  Spaniards  believed  ;  and  as  that  Being  was  entitled  to 
the  homage  of  Europeans,  so  they  were  bound  to  revere  the  same  powers 
which  their  ancestors  had  worshipped.  Cortes  continued,  nevertheless,  to 
urge  his  demand  in  a  tone  of  authority,  mingling  threats  with  his  arguments, 
until  the  Tlascalans  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and  conjured  him  never  to 
mention  this  again,  lest  the  gods  should  avenge  on  their  heads  the  guilt  of 
having  listened  to  such  a  proposition.  Cortes,  astonished  and  enraged  at 
their  obstinacy,  prepared  to  execute  by  force  what  he  could  not  accomplish 
by  persuasion,  and  was  going  to  overturn  their  altars  and  cast  down  their 
idols  with  the  same  violent  hand  as  at  Zempoalla,  if  Father  Bartholomew 
de  Olmedo,  chaplain  to  the  expedition,  had  not  checked  his  inconsiderate 
impetuosity.  He  represented  the  imprudence  of  such  an  attempt  in  a  large 
city  newly  reconciled,  and  filled  with  people  no  less  superstitious  than 
warlike ;  he  declared,  that  the  proceeding  at  Zempoalla  had  always 
appeared  to  him  precipitate  and  unjust ;  that  religion  was  not  to  be  propa- 
gated by  the  sword,  or  infidels  to  be  converted  by  violence ;  that  other 
weapons  were  to  be  employed  in  this  ministry ;  patient  instruction  must 
enlighten  the  understanding,  and  pious  example  captivate  the  heart,  before 
men  could  be  induced  to  abandon  error,  and  ernbrace  the  truth.*  Amidst 
scenes  where  a  narrow  minded  bigotry  appears'  in  such  close  union  with 
oppression  and  cruelty,  sentiments  so  liberal  and  humane  soothe  the  mind 
with  unexpected  pleasure ;  and  at  a  time  when  the  rights  of  conscience 
were  little  understood  in  the  Christian  world,  and  the  idea  of  toleration 
unknown,  one  is  astonished  to  find  a  Spanish  monk  of  the  sixteenth  century 
among  the  first  advocates  against  persecution,  and  in  behalf  of  religious 
liberty.  The  remonstrances  of  an  ecclesiastic,  no  less  respectable  for 
wisdom  than  virtue,  had  their  proper  weight  with  Cortes.  He  left  the 
Tlascalans  in  the  undisturbed  exercise  of  their  own  rites,  requiring  only  that 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  77.  p.  54,  c.  83.  p.  61. 


AMERICA.  217 

they  should  desist  from  their  horrid  practice  of  offering  human  victims  in 
sacrifice. 

Cortes,  as  soon  as  his  troops  were  fit  for  service,  resolved  to  continue  his 
march  towards  Mexico,  notwithstanding  the  earnest  dissuasives  of  the  Tlas- 
calans,  who  represented  his  destruction  as  unavoidable  if  he  put  himself  in 
the  power  of  a  prince  so  faithless  and  cruel  as  Montezuma.  As  he  was 
accompanied  by  six  thousand  Tlascalans,  he  had  now  the  command  of 
forces  which  resembled  a  regular  army.  They  directed  their  course 
towards  Cholula  [Oct.  13]  ;  Montezuma,  who  had  at  length  consented  to 
admit  the  Spaniards  into  his  presence,  having  informed  Cortes  that  he  had 
given  orders  for  his  friendly  reception  there.  Cholula  was  a  considerable 
town,  and  though  only  five  leagues  distant  from  Tlascala,  was  formerly  an 
independent  state,  but  had  been  lately  subjected  to  the  Mexican  empire. 
This  was  considered  by  all  the  people  of  New  Spain  as  a  holy  place,  the 
sanctuary  and  chief  seat  of  their  gods,  to  which  pilgrims  resorted  from  every 
province,  and  a  greater  number  of  human  victims  were  offered  in  its  prin- 
cipal temple  than  even  in  that  of  Mexico.*  Montezuma  seems  to  have 
invited  the  Spaniards  thither,  either  from  some  superstitious  hope  that  the 

§ods  would  not  suffer  this  sacred  mansion  to  be  defiled,  without  pouring 
own  their  wrath  upon  those  impious  strangers,  who  ventured  to  insult  their 
power  in  the  place  of  its  peculiar  residence  ;  or  from  a  belief  that  he  him- 
self might  there  attempt  to  cut  them  off  with  more  certain  success,  under 
the  immediate  protection  of  his  divinities. 

Cortes  had  been  warned  by  the  Tlascalans,  before  he  set  out  on  his  march, 
to  keep  a  watchful  eye  over  the  Cholulans.  He  himself,  though  received 
into  the  town  with  much  seeming  respect  and  cordiality,  observed  several 
circumstances  in  their  conduct  which  excited  suspicion.  Two  of  the  Tlas- 
calans, who  were  encamped  at  some  distance  from  the  town,  as  the  Cholu- 
Jans  refused  to  admit  their  ancient  enemies  within  its  precincts,  having 
found  means  to  enter  in  disguise,  acquainted  Cortes  that  they  observed  the 
women  and  children  of  the  principal  citizens  retiring  in  great  hurry  eveiy 
night ;  and  that  six  children  had  been  sacrificed  in  the  chief  temple,  a  rite 
which  indicated  the  execution  of  some  warlike  enterprise  to  be  approach- 
ing. At  the  same  time,  Marina  the  interpreter  received  information  from 
an  Indian  woman  of  distinction,  whose  confidence  she  had  gained,  that  the 
destruction  of  her  friends  was  concerted  ;  that  a  body  of  Mexican  troops 
lay  concealed  near  the  town ;  that  some  of  the  streets  were  barricaded, 
and  in  others,  pits  or  deep  trenches  were  dug,  and  slightly  covered  over, 
as  traps  into  which  the  horses  might  fall ;  that  stones  or  missive  weapons 
were  collected  on  the  tops  of  the  temples,  with  which  to  overwhelm  the 
infantry  ;  that  the  fatal  hour  was  now  at  hand,  and  their  ruin  unavoidable. 
Cortes,  alarmed  at  this  concurring  evidence,  secretly  arrested  three  of  the 
chief  priests,  and  extorted  from  them  a  confession,  that  confirmed  the  intel- 
ligence which  he  had  received.  As  not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost,  he  in- 
stantly resolved  to  prevent  his  enemies,  and  to  inflict  on  them  such  dreadful 
vengeance  as  might  strike  Montezuma  and  his  subjects  with  terror.  For 
this  purpose,  the  Spaniards  and  Zempoallans  were  drawn  up  in  a  large 
court,  which  had  been  allotted  for  their  quarters  near  the  centre  of  the  town ; 
the  Tlascalans  had  orders  to  advance  ;  the  magistrates  and  several  of  the 
chief  citizens  were  sent  for,  under  various  pretexts,  and  seized.  On  a  signal 
given,  the  troops  rushed  out  and  fell  upon  the  multitude,  destitute  of  lead- 
ers, and  so  much  astonished,  that  the  weapons  dropping  from  their  hands, 
they  stood  motionless,  and  incapable  of  defence.  While  the  Spaniards 
pressed  them  in  front,  the  Tlascalans  attacked  them  in  the  rear.  The 
streets  were  filled  with  bloodshed  and  death.  The  temples,  which  afford- 
ed a  retreat  to  the  priests  and  some  of  the  leading  men,  were  set  on  fire, 

*  Torquemada  Monar,  Ind.  i.  281, 282.  ii.  291.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  61.    Herrera.  dec.  2.  lib.  vii.  c.  2 

VOL.  I.— 28 


218  HISTORY  OF  [BooKlV. 

and  they  perished  in  the  flames.  This  scene  of  horror  continued  two  days ; 
during  which,  the  wretched  inhabitants  suffered  all  that  the  destructive 
rage  of  the  Spaniards,  or  the  implacable  revenge  of  their  Indian  allies, 
could  inflict.  At  length  the  carnage  ceased,  after  the  slaughter  of  six  thou- 
sand Cholulans,  without  the  loss  of  a  single  Spaniard.  Cortes  then  released 
the  magistrates,  and,  reproaching  them  bitterly  for  their  intended  treachery, 
declared,  that  as  justice  was  now  appeased,  he  forgave  the  offence,  but 
required  them  to  recall  the  citizens  who  had  fled,  and  re-establish  order  in 
the  town.  Such  was  the  ascendant  which  the  Spaniards  had  acquired  over 
this  superstitious  race  of  men,  and  so  deeply  were  they  impressed  with  an 
opinion  of  their  superior  discernment,  as  well  as  power,  that,  in  obedience 
:-  this  command,  the  city  was  in  a  few  days  filled  again  with  people,  who, 
amidst  the  ruins  of  their  sacred  buildings,  yielded  respectful  service  to 
men  whose  hands  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  relations  and  fellow- 
citizens*  [108]. 

From  Cholula,  Cortes  advanced  directly  towards  Mexico  [Oct.  29],  which 
was  only  twenty  leagues  distant.  In  every  place  through  which  he  passed, 
he  was  received  as  a  person  possessed  of  sufficient  power  to  deliver  the 
empire  from  the  oppression  under  which  it  groaned  ;  and  the  caziques  or 
governors  communicated  to  him  all  the  grievances  which  they  felt  under 
the  tyrannical  government  of  Montezuma,  with  that  unreserved  confidence 
which  men  naturally  repose  in  superior  beings.  When  Cortes  first  observed 
the  seeds  of  discontent  in  the  remote  provinces  of  the  empire,  hope  dawned 
upon  his  mind  ;  but  when  he  now  discovered  such  symptoms  of  alienation 
from  their  monarch  near  the  seat  of  government,  he  concluded  that  the  vital 
parts  of  the  constitution  were  affected,  and  conceived  the  most  sanguine 
expectations  of  overturning  a  state  whose  natural  strength  was  thus  divided 
and  impaired.  -  While  those  reflections  encouraged  the  general  to  persist 
in  his  arduous  undertaking,  the  soldiers  were  no  less  animated  by  obser- 
vations more  obvious  to  their  capacity.  In  descending  from  the  mountains 
of  Chalco,  across  which  the  road  lay,  the  vast  plain  of  Mexico  opened 
gradually  to  their  view.  When  they  first  beheld  this  prospect,  one  of  the 
most  striking  and  beautiful  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  when  they  observed 
fertile  and  cultivated  fields  stretching  further  than  the  eye  could  reach ; 
when  they  saw  a  lake  resembling  the  sea  in  extent,  encompassed  with  large 
towns,  and  discovered  the  capital  city  rising  upon  an  island  in  the  middle, 
adorned  with  its  temples  and  turrets ;  the  scene  so  far  exceeded  their 
imagination,  that  some  believed  the  fanciful  descriptions  of  romance  were 
realized,  and  that  its  enchanted  palaces  and  gilded  domes  were  presented 
to  their  sight ;  others  could  hardly  persuade  themselves  that  this  wonderful 
spectacle  was  any  thing  more  than  a  dream  [109].  As  they  advanced, 
their  doubts  were  removed,  but  their  amazement  increased.  They  were 
now  fully  satisfied  that  the  country  was  rich  beyond  any  conception  which 
they  had  formed  of  it,  and  flattered  themselves  that  at  length  they  should 
obtain  an  ample  recompense  for  all  their  services  and  sufferings. 

Hitherto  they  had  met  with  no  enemy  to  oppose  their  progress,  though 
several  circumstances  occurred  which  led  them  to  suspect  that  some  design 
was  formed  to  surprise  and  cut  them  off.  Many  messengers  arrived  suc- 
cessively from  Montezuma,  permitting  them  one  day  to  advance,  requiring 
them  on  the  next  to  retire,  as  his  hopes  or  fears  alternately  prevailed  ;  and 
so  wonderful  was  this  infatuation,  which  seems  to  be  unaccountable  on  any 
supposition  but  that  of  a  superstitious  dread  of  the  Spaniards,  as  beings  ol 
a  superior  nature,  that  Cortes  was  almost  at  the  gates  of  the  capital,  before 
the  monarch  had  determined  whether  to  receive  him  as  a  friend,  or  to 
oppose  him  as  an  enemy.  But  as  no  sign  of  open  hostility  appeared,  the 
Spaniards,  without  regarding  the  fluctuations  of  Montezuma's  sentiments, 

*  Cortes  Relat.  Ramua.  iii.  231.  13.  Diaz,  c.  83.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  64.  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  vii. 
e.  1,2. 


AMERICA.  219 

continued  their  march  along  the  causeway  which  led  to  Mexico  through 
the  lake,  with  great  circumspection  and  the  strictest  discipline,  though 
without  seeming  to  suspect  the  prince  whom  they  were  about  to  visit. 

When  they  drew  near  the  city,  about  a  thousand  persons,  who  appeared 
to  be  of  distinction,  came  forth  to  meet  them,  adorned  with  plumes  and 
clad  in  mantles  of  fine  cotton.  Each  of  these  in  his  order  passed  by 
Cortes,  and  saluted  him  according  to  the  mode  deemed  most  respectful 
and  submissive  in  their  country  They  announced  the  approach  of  Mon- 
tezuma himself,  and  soon  after  his  harbingers  came  in  sight.  There  appear- 
ed first  two  hundred  persons  in  a  uniform  dress,  with  Targe  plumes  of  fea- 
thers, alike  in  fashion,  marching  two  and  two,  in  deep  silence,  barefooted, 
with  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground.  These  were  followed  by  a  company 
of  higher  rank,  in  their  most  showy  apparel,  in  the  midst  of  whom  was 
Montezuma,  in  a  chair  or  litter  richly  ornamented  with  gold,  and  feathers 
of  various  colours.  Four  of  his  principal  favourites  carried  him  on  their 
shoulders,  others  supported  a  canopy  of  curious  workmanship  over  his 
head.  Before  him  marched  three  officers  with  rods  of  gold  in  their  hands, 
which  they  lifted  up  on  high  at  certain  intervals,  and  at  that  signal  all  the 
people  bowed  their  heads  i«d  hid  their  faces,  as  unworthy  to  look  on  so 
great  a  monarch.  When  he  drew  near,  Cortes  dismounted,  advancing  to- 
wards him  with  officious  haste,  and  in  a  respectful  posture.  At  the  same 
time  Montezuma  alighted  from  his  chair,  and,  leaning  on  the  arms  of  two 
of  his  near  relations,  approached  with  a  slow  and  stately  pace,  his  attend- 
ants covering  the  streets  with  cotton  cloths,  that  he  might  not  touch  the 
ground.  Cortes  accosted  him  with  profound  reverence,  after  the  European 
fashion.  He  returned  the  salutation,  according  to  the  mode  of  his  country, 
by  touching  the  earth  with  his  hand,  and  then  jdssing  it.  This  ceremony, 
the  customary  expression  of  veneration  from  inferiors  towards  those  who 
were  above  them  in  rank,  appeared  such  amazing  condescension  in  a  proud 
monarch,  who  scarcely  deigned  to  consider  the  rest  of  mankind  as  of  the 
same  species  with  himself,  that  all  his  subjects  firmly  believed  those  per- 
sons, before  whom  he  humbled  himself  in  this  manner,  to  be  something 
more  than  human.  Accordingly,  as  they  marched  through  the  crowd,  the 
Spaniards  frequently,  and  with  much  satisfaction,  heard  themselves  deno- 
minated Teules,  or  divinities.  Nothing  material  passed  in  this  first  inter- 
view. Montezuma  conducted  Cortes  to  the  quarters  which  he  had  pre- 
pared for  his  reception,  and  immediately  took  leave  of  him,  with  a  polite- 
ness not  unworthy  of  a  court  more  refined.  "  You  are  now,"  says  he, 
"  with  your  brothers,  in  your  own  house  ;  refresh  yourselves  after  your 
fatigue,  and  be  happy  until  I  return."*  The  place  allotted  to  the  Spaniards 
for  their  lodging,  was  a  house  built  by  the  father  of  Montezuma.  It  was 
surrounded  by  a  stone  wall,  with  towers  at  proper  distances,  which  served 
for  defence  as  well  as  for  ornament,  and  its  apartments  and  courts  were  so 
large  as  to  accommodate  both  the  Spaniards  and  their  Indian  allies.  The 
first  care  of  Cortes  was  to  take  precautions  for  his  security,  by  planting  the 
artillery  so  as  to  command  the  different  avenues  which  led  to  it,  by  appoint- 
ing a  large  division  of  his  troops  to  be  always  on  guard,  and  by  posting 
sentinels  'at  proper  stations,  with  injunctions  to  observe  the  same  vigilant 
discipline  as  if  they  were  within  sight  of  an  enemy's  camp. 

In  the  evening,  Montezuma  returned  to  visit  his  guests  with  the  same 
pomp  as  in  their  first  interview,  and  brought  presents  of  such  value,  not 
only  to  Cortes  and  to  his  officers,  but  even  to  the  private  men,  as  proved 
the  liberality  of  the  monarch  to  be  suitable  to  the  opulence  of  his  kingdom. 
A  long  conierence  ensued,  in  which  Cortes  learned  what  was  the  opinion 
of  Montezuma  with  respect  to  the  Spaniards.  It  was  an  established  tra- 

*  Cortes  Relat.  Ram  iii.  232-235.  B.  Diaz,  c.  83-88.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  64, 65.  Herrera,  dec. 
2.  lib.  vii.  c.  3,  4,  5. 


220  HISTORY  OF  [KooKV. 

dition,  he  told  him,  among  the  Mexicans,  that  their  ancestors  came  origin- 
ally from  a  remote  region,  and  conquered  the  provinces  now  subject  to  his 
dominion  ;  that  after  they  were  settled  there,  the  great  captain  who  con- 
ducted this  colony  returned  to  his  own  country,  promising  that  at  some  future 
period  his  descendants  should  visit  them,  assume  the  government,  and  reform 
their  constitution  and  laws  ;  that  from  what  he  had  heard  and  seen  of 
Cortes  and  his  followers,  he  was  convinced  that  they  were  the  very  persons 
whose  appearance  the  Mexican  traditions  and  prophecies  taught  them  to 
expect;  that  accordingly  he  had  received  them,  not  as  strangers,  but  as 
relations  of  the  same  blood  and  parentage,  and  desired  that  they  might  con- 
sider themselves  as  masters  in  his  dominions,  for  both  himself  and  his  sub- 
jects should  be  ready  to  comply  with  their  will,  and  even  to  prevent  their 
wishes.  Cortes  made  a  reply  in  his  usual  style,  with  respect  to  the  dig- 
nity and  power  of  his  sovereign,  and  his  intention  of  sending  him  into 
that  country  ;  artfully  endeavouring  so  to  frame  his  discourse,  that  it  might 
coincide  as  much  as  possible  with  the  idea  which  Montezuma  had  formed 
concerning  the  origin  of  the  Spaniards.  Next  morning,  Cortes  and  some 
of  his  principal  attendants  were  admitted  to  a  public  audience  of  the  em- 
peror. The  three  subsequent  days  were  employed  in  viewing  the  city  ; 
the  appearance  of  which,  so  far  superior  in  the  order  of  its  buildings  and 
the  number  of  its  inhabitants  to  any  place  the  Spaniards  had  beheld  in 
America,  and  yet  so  little  resembling  the  structure  of  a  European  city,  filled 
them  with  surprise  and  admiration. 

Mexico,  or  Tenuchtitlan,  as  it  was  anciently  called  by  the  natives,  is 
situated  in  a  large  plain,  evironed  by  mountains  of  such  height  that,  though 
within  the  torrid  zone,  the  temperature  of  its  climate  is  mild  and  healthful . 
All  the  moisture  which  descends  from  the  high  grounds,  is  collected  in 
several  lakes,  the  two  largest  of  which,  of  about  ninety  miles  in  circuit, 
communicate  with  each  other.  The  waters  of  the  one  are  fresh,  those  of 
the  other  brackish.  On  the  banks  of  the  latter,  and  on  some  small  islands 
adjoining  to  them,  the  capital  of  Montezuma's  empire  was  built.  The 
access  to  the  city  was  by  artificial  causeways  or  streets  formed  of  stones  . 
and  earth,  about  thirty  feet  in  breadth.  As  the  waters  of  the  lake  during 
the  rainy  season  overflowed  the  flat  country,  these  causeways  were  of 
considerable  length.  That  of  Tacuba,  on  the  west,  extended  a  mile  and 
a  half;  that  of  Tepeaca,  on  the  north-west,  three  miles  ;  that  of  Cuoyacan, 
towards  the  south,  six  miles.  On  the  east*  there  was  no  causeway,  and 
the  city  could  be  approached  only  by  canoes.j  In  each  of  these  cause- 
ways were  openings  at  proper  intervals,  through  which  the  waters  flowed, 
and  over  these  beams  of  timber  were  laid,  which  being  covered  with  earth, 
the  causeway  or  street  had  every  where  a  uniform  appearance.  As  the 
approaches  to  the  city  were  singular,  its  construction  was  remarkable. 
Not  only  the  temples  of  their  gods,  but  the  houses  belonging  to  the  monarch, 
and  to  persons  of  distinction,  were  of  such  dimensions,  that,  in  comparison 
with  any  other  buildings  which  hitherto  had  been  discovered  in  America, 
they  might  be  tenned  magnificent.  The  habitations  of  the  common  peo- 
ple were  mean,  resembling  the  huts  of  other  Indians.  But  they  were  all 
placed  in  a  regular  manner,  on  the  banks  of  the  canals  which  passed  through 
the  city,  in  some  of  its  districts,,  or  on  the  sides  of  the  streets  which  inter- 
sected it  in  other  quarters.  In  several  places  were  large  openings  or  squares, 
one  of  which,  allotted  for  the  great  market,  is  said  to  nave  been  so  spacious, 
that  forty  or  fifty  thousand  persons  carried  on  traffic  there.  In  this  city, 

*  I  am  indebted  to  M.  Clavigero  for  correcting  an  error  of  importance  in  my  description  of  Mexico. 
From  the  east,  where  Tezeuco  was  situated,  there  was  no  causeway,  ae  I  have  observed,  and  yet 
by  some  inattention  on  my  part,  or  on  that  sf  the  printer,  in  all  the  former  editions. one  of  the 
causeways  was  said  to  lead  to  Tezeuco.  M.  Clavigero's  measurement  of  the  length  of  these 
causeways  differs  somewhat  from  that  which  I  have  adopted  from  F.  Torribio  Clavig.  ii.  p.  72. 

t  F.  Torribio  MS. 


AMERICA.  221 

the  pride  of  the  New  World,  and  the  noblest  monument  of  the  industry 
and  art  of  man,  while  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  iron,  and  destitute  of 
aid  from  any  domestic  animal,  the  Spaniards,  who  are  most  moderate  in 
their  computations,  reckon  that  there  were  at  least  sixty  thousand  in- 
habitants.* 

But  how  much  soever  the  novelty  of  those  objects  might  amuse  or 
astonish  the  Spaniards,  they  felt  the  utmost  solicitude  with  respect  to 
their  own  situation.  From  a  concurrence  of  circumstances,  no  less  un- 
expected than  favourable  to  their  progress,  they  had  been  allowed  to 
penetrate  into  the  heart  Of  a  powerful  kingdom,  and  were  now  lodged  in 
its  capital  without  having  once  met  with  open  opposition  from  its  monarch. 
The  Tlascalans,  however,  had  earnestly  dissuaded  them  from  placing  such 
confidence  in  Montezuma,  as  to  enter  a  city  of  such  peculiar  situation  as 
Mexico,  where  that  prince  would  have  them  at  mercy,  shut  up  as  it  were 
in  a  snare,  from  which  it  was  impossible  to  escape.  They  assured  them 
that  the  Mexican  priests  had,  in  the  name  of  the  gods,  counselled  their 
sovereign  to  admit  the  Spaniards  into  the  capital,  that  he  might  cut  them  off 
there  at  one  blow  with  perfect  security.!  1  hey  now  perceived  too  plainly, 
that  the  apprehensions  of  their  allies  were  not  destitute  of  foundation  ;  that, 
by  breaking  the  bridges  placed  at  certain  intervals  on  the  causeways,  or  by 
destroying  part  of  the  causeways  themselves,  their  retreat  would  be 
rendered  impracticable,  and  they  must  remain  cooped  up  in  the  centre  of 
a  hostile  city,  surrounded  by  multitudes  sufficient  to  overwhelm  them,  and 
without  a  possibility  of  receiving  aid  from  their  allies.  Montezuma  had, 
indeed,  received  them  with  distinguished  respect.  But  ought  they  to 
reckon  upon  this  as  real,  or  to  consider  it  as  feigned  ?  Even  if  it  were 
sincere,  could  they  promise  on  its  continuance  ?  Their  safety  depended 
upon  the  will  of  a  monarch  in  whose  attachment  they  had  no  reason  to 
confide  ;  and  an  order  flowing  from  his  caprice,  or  a  word  uttered  by  him 
in  passion,  might  decide  irrevocably  concerning  their  fate.| 

These  reflections,  so  obvious  as  to  occur  to  the  meanest  soldier,  did  not 
escape  the  vigilant  sagacity  of  their  general.  Before  he  set  out  from 
Cholula,  Cortes  had  received  advice  from  Villa  Rica,§  that  Qualpopoca, 
one  of  the  Mexican  generals  on  the  frontiers,  having  assembled  an  army 
in  order  to  attack  some  of  the  people  whom  the  Spaniards  had  encouraged 
to  throw  off'  the  Mexican  yoke,  Escalante  had  marched  out  with  part  of 
the  garrison  to  support  his  allies  ;  that  an  engagement  had  ensued,  in  which, 
though  the  Spaniards  were  victorious,  Escalante,  with  seven  of  his  men, 
had  been  mortally  wounded,  his  horse  killed,  and  one  Spaniard  had  been 
surrounded  by  the  enemy  and  taken  alive  ;  that  the  head  of  this  unfortu 
nate  captive,  after  being  carried  in  triumph  to  different  cities,  in  order  to 
convince  the  people  that  their  invaders  were  not  immortal,  had  been  sent 
to  Mexico. ||  Cortes,  though  alarmed  with  this  intelligence,  as  an  indica- 
tion of  Montezuma's  hostile  intentions,  had  continued  his  march.  But  as 
soon  as  he  entered  Mexico  he  became  sensible,  that,  from  an  excess  of 
confidence  in  the  superior  valour  and  discipline  of  his  troops,  as  well  as 
from  the  disadvantage  of  having  nothing  to  guide  him  in  an  unknown 
country,  but  the  defective  intelligence  which  he  had  received  from  people 
with  whom  his  mode  of  communication  was  very  imperfect,  he  had  pushed 
forward  into  a  situation  where  it  was  difficult  to  continue,  and  from  which 
it  was  dangerous  to  retire.  Disgrace,  and  perhaps  ruin,  was  the  certain 
consequence  of  attempting  the  latter.  The  success  of  his  enterprise 
depended  upon  supporting  the  high  opinion  which  the  peoplie  of  New 
Spain  had  formed  with  respect  to  the  irresistible  power  of  his  arms.  Upon 

*  Cortes  Relat.  Ram.  iii.  239.  D.  Relnt.  dolla  gran  Citta  do  Mexico,  par  un  Gentelhuomo  del 
Cortese.  Rain,  ibid,  304.  E.  Herrera,,<1oc.  2.  lilt.  vii.  c.  14,  &c.  f  B.  Diaz,  c.  85,  86.  t  Ibid, 
c.  94.  §  Cortes  Relat.  Ram.  iii.  235.  C.  ||  B.  Diaz,  c.  93,  94.  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  viii.  c.  1. 


222  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

the  first  symptom  of  timidity  on  his  part,  their  veneration  would  cease, 
and  Mpntezuma,  whom  fear  alone  restrained  at  present,  would  let  loose 
upon  him  the  whole  force  of  his  empire.  At  the  same  time,  he  knew  that 
the  countenance  of  his  own  sovereign  was  to  be  obtained  only  by  a  series 
of  victories,  and  that  nothing  but  the  merit  of  extraordinary  success  could 
screen  his  conduct  from  the  censure  of  irregularity.  From  all  these  con- 
siderations, it  was  necessary  to  maintain  his  station,  and  to  extricate  himself 
out  of  the  difficulties  in  which  one  bold  step  had  involved  him,  by  ven- 
turing upon  another  still  bolder.  The  situation  was  trying,  but  his  mind 
was  equal  to  it ;  and  after  revolving  the  matter  with  deep  attention,  he 
fixed  upon  a  plan  no  less  extraordinary  than  daring.  He  determined  to 
seize  Montezuma  in  his  palace,  and  to  carry  him  as  a  prisoner  to  the 
Spanish  quarters.  _  From  the  superstitious  veneration  of  the  Mexicans  for 
the  person  of  their  monarch,  as  well  as  their  implicit  submission  to  his 
will,  he  hoped,  by  having  Montezuma  in  his  power,  to  acquire  the 
supreme  direction  of  their  affairs  ;  or,  at  least,  with  such  a  sacred  pledge 
in  his  hands,  he  made  no  doubt  of  being  secure  from  any  effort  of  their 
violence. 

This  he  immediately  proposed  to  his  officers.  The  timid  startled  at  a 
measure  so  audacious,  and  raised  objections.  The  more  intelligent  and 
resolute,  conscious  that  it  was  the  only  resource  in  which  there  appeared 
any  prospect  of  safety,  warmly  approved  of  it,  and  brought  over  their 
companions  so  cordially  to  the  same  opinion,  that  it  was  agreed  instantly 
to  make  the  attempt.  At  his  usual  hour  of  visiting  Montezuma,  Cortes 
went  to  the  palace,  accompanied  by  Alvarado,  Sandoval,  Lugo,  Velasquez 
de  Leon,  and  Davila,  five  of  ^his  principal  officers,  arid  as  many  trusty 
soldiers.  Thirty  chosen  men  followed,  not  in  regular  order,  but  sauntering 
at  some  distance,  as  if  they  had  no  object  but  curiosity  ;  small  parties 
were  posted  at  proper  intervals,  in  all  the  streets  leading  from  the  Spanish 
quarters  to  the  court ;  and  the  remainder  of  his  troops,  with  the  Tlascalan 
allies,  were  under  arms  ready  to  sally  out  on  the  first  alarm.  Cortes  and 
his  attendants  were  admitted  without  suspicion  ;  the  Mexicans  retiring,  as 
usual,  out  of  respect.  He  addressed  the  monarch  in  a  tone  very  different 
from  that  which  he  had  employed  in  former  conferences,  reproaching  him 
bitterly  as  the  author  of  the  violent  assault  made  upon  the  Spaniards  by 
one  of  his  officers,  and  demanded  public  reparation  for  the  loss  which  they 
had  sustained  by  the  deatk  of  some  of  their  campanions,  as  well  as  for 
the  insult  offered  to  the  great  prince  whose  servants  they  were.  Mon- 
tezuma, confounded  at  this  unexpected  accusation,  and  changing  colour, 
either  from  consciousness  of  guilt,  or  from  feeling  the  indignity  with  which 
he  was  treated,  asserted  his  own  innocence  with  great  earnestness,  and,  as 
a  proof  of  it,  gave  orders  instantly  to  bring  Qualpopoca  and  his  accomplices 
prisoners  to  Mexico.  Cortes  replied  with  seeming  complaisance,  that  a 
declaration  so  respectable  left  no  doubt  remaining  in  his  own  mind,  but 
that  something  more  was  requisite  to  satisfy  his  followers,  who  would 
never  be  convinced  that  Montezuma  did  not  harbour  hostile  intentions 
against  them,  unless,  as  an  evidence  of  his  confidence  and  attachment,  he 
removed  from  his  own  palace,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  Spanish 
quarters,  where  he  should  be  served  and  honoured  as  became  a  great 
monarch.  The  first  mention  of  so  strange  a  proposal  bereaved  Montezuma 
of  speech,  and  almost  of  motion.  At  length  indignation  gave  him  utter- 
ance, and  he  haughtily  answered,  "  That  persons  of  his  rank  were  not 
accustomed  voluntarily  to  give  up  themselves  as  prisoners  ;  and  were  he 
mean  enough  to  do  so,  his  subjects  would  not  permit  such  an  affront  to  be 
offered  to  their  sovereign."  Cortes,  unwilling  to  employ  force,  endeavoured 
alternately  to  soothe  and  to  intimidate  him.  The  altercation  became 
warm;  and  having  continued  above  three  hours,  Velasquez  de  Leon,  an 
impetuous  and  gallant  young  man,  exclaimed  with  impatience,  "  Why 


AMERICA.  223 

waste  more  time  in  vain  ?  Let  us  either  seize  him  instantly,  or  stab  him 
to  the  heart."  Thf  threatening  voice  and  fierce  gestures  with  which  these 
words  were  uttered,  struck  Montezuma.  The  Spaniards,  he  was  sensible, 
nad  now  proceeded  so  far,  as  left  him  no  hope  that  they  would  recede. 
His  own  danger  Was  imminent,  the  necessity  unavoidable.  He  saw  both, 
and,  abandoning  himself  to  his  fate,  complied  with  their  request. 

His  officers  were  called.  He  communicated  to  them  his  resolution. 
Though  astonished  and  afflicted,  they  presumed  not  to  question  the  will  of 
their  master,  but  carried  him  in  silent  pomp,  all  bathed  in  tears,  to  the 
Spanish  quarters.  When  it  was  known  that  the  strangers  were  conveying 
away  the  Emperor,  the  people  broke  out  into  the  wildest  transports  of 
griet  and  rage,  threatening  the  Spaniards  with  immediate  destruction,  as 
the  punishment  justly  due  to  their  impious  audacity.  But  as  soon  as  Mon- 
tezuma appeared,  with  a  seeming  gayety  of  countenance,  and  waved  his 
hand,  the  tumult  was  hushed ;  and  upon  his  declaring  it  to  be  of  his  own 
choice  that  he  went  to  reside  for  some  time  among  his  new  friends,  the  mul- 
titude, taught  to  revere  every  intimation  of  their  sovereign's  pleasure,  quietly 
dispersed.* 

Thus  was  a  powerful  prince  seized  by  a  few  strangers  in  the  midst  of 
his  capital,  at  noonday,  and  carried  off  as  a  prisoner,  without  opposition  or 
bloodshed.  History  contains  nothing  parallel  to  this  event,  either  with 
respect  to  the  temerity  of  the  attempt,  or  the  success  of  the  execution ; 
and  were  not  all  the  circumstances  of  this  extraordinary  transaction  authen- 
ticated by  the  most  unquestionable  evidence,  they  would  appear  so  wild 
and  extravagant  as  to  go  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  that  probability  which 
must  be  preserved  even  in  fictitious  narrations. 

Montezuma  was  received  in  the  Spanish  quarters  with  all  the  ceremo- 
nious respect  which  Cortes  had  promised.  He  was  attended  by  his  own 
domestics,  and  served  with  his  usual  state.  His  principal  officers  had  free 
access  to  him,  and  he  carried  on  every  function  oi  government  as  if  he  had 
been  at  perfect  liberty.  The  Spaniards,  however,  watched  him  with  the 
scrupulous  vigilance  which  was  natural  in  guarding  such  an  important 
prize  [110],  endeavouring  at  the  same  time  to  sooth  and  reconcile  him  to 
his  situation  by  every  external  demonstration  of  regard  and  attachment. 
But  from  captive  princes,  the  hour  of  humiliation  and  suffering  is  never  far 
distant.  Qualpopoca,  his  son,  and  five  of  the  principal  officers  who  served 
under  him,  were  brought  prisoners  to  the  capital  [Dec.  4],  in  consequence 
of  the  orders  which  Montezuma  had  issued.  The  Emperor  gave  them  up 
to  Cortes,  that  he  might  inquire  into  the  nature  of  their  crime,  and  deter- 
mine their  punishment.  They  were  formally  tried  by  a  Spanish  court 
martial ;  and  though  they  had  acted  no  other  part  than  what  became  loyal 
subjects  and  brave  men,  in  obeying  the  orders  of  their  lawful  sovereign, 
ana  in  opposing  the  invaders  of  their  country,  they  were  condemned  to  be 
burnt  alive.  The  execution  of  such  atrocious  deeds  is  seldom  long  sus- 
pended. The  unhappy  victims  were  instantly  led  forth.  The  pile  on 
which  they  were  laid  was  composed  of  the  weapons  collected  in  the  royal 
magazine  for  the  public  defence.  An  innumerable  multitude  of  Mexicans 
beheld,  in  silent  astonishment,  the  double  insult  offered  to  the  majesty  ot 
their  empire,  an  officer  of  distinction  committed  to  the  flames  by  the  author- 
ity of  strangers  for  having  done  what  he  owed  in  duty  to  his  natural  sove- 
reign; and  the  arms  provided  by  the  foresight  of  their  ancestofs  for 
avenging  public  wrongs,  consumed  before  their  eyes. 

But  these  were  not  the  most  shocking  indignities  which  the  Mexicans 
nad  to  bear.  The  Spaniards,  convinced  that  Qualpopoca  would  not  have 
ventured  to  attack  Escalante  without  orders  from  his  master,  were  not 

*  Diaz,  c.  95.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  83.  Cortes  Relat.  Ram.  iii.  p  235, 236  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib. 
viii.  c.  2,  3. 


224  HISTORY   OF  [BooK  V 

satisfied  with  inflicting  vengeance  on  the  instrument  employed  in  commit- 
ting that  crime  while  the  author  of  it  escaped  with  impunity.  Just  before 
Qualpopoca  was  led  out  to  suffer,  Cortes  entered  the  apartment  of  Monte- 
zuma,  followed  by  some  of  his  officers,  and  a  soldier,  carrying  a  pair  of 
fetters  ;  and  approaching  the  monarch  with  a  stern  countenance  told  him, 
that  as  the  persons  who  were  now  to  undergo  the  punishment  which  they 
merited,  had  charged  him  as  the  cause  of  the  outrage  committed,  it  was 
necessary  that  he  likewise  should  make  atonement  for  that  guilt ;  then 
turning  away  abruptly,  without  waiting  for  a  reply,  commanded  the  sol- 
dier to  clap  the  fetters  on  his  legs.  The  orders  were  instantly  executed. 
The  disconsolate  monarch,  trained  up  with  an  idea  that  his  person  was 
sacred  and  inviolable,  and  considering  this  profanation  of  it  as  the  prelude 
of  immediate  death,  broke  out  into  loud  lamentations  and  complaints.  His 
attendants,  speechless  with  horror,  fell  at  his  feet,  bathing  them  with  their 
tears  ;  and,  bearing  up  the  fetters  in  their  hands,  endeavoured  with  officious 
tenderness  to  lighten  their  pressure.  Nor  did  their  grief  and  despondency 
abate,  until  Cortes  returned  from  the  execution,  and  with  a  cheerful  coun- 
tenance ordered  the  fetters  to  be  taken  off.  As  Montezuma's  spirits  had 
sunk  with  unmanly  dejection,  they  now  rose  into  indecent  Joy  ;  and  with 
an  unbecoming  transition,  he  passed  at  once  from  the  anguish  of  despair  to 
transports  of  gratitude  and  expressions  of  fondness  towards  his  deliverer. 

In  those  transactions,  as  represented  by  the  Spanish  historians,  we  search 
m  vain  for  the  qualities  which  distinguish  other  parts  of  Cortes's  conduct. 
To  usurp  a  jurisdiction  which  could  not  belong  to  a  stranger,  who  assumed 
no  higher  character  than  that  of  an  ambassador  from  a  foreign  prince,  and, 
under  colour  of  it,  to  inflict  a  capital  punishment  on  men  whose  conduct 
entitled  them  to  esteem,  appears  an  act  of  barbarous  cruelty.  To  put  the 
monarch  of  a  great  kingdom  in  irons,  and,  after  such  ignominious  treat- 
ment, suddenly  to  release  him,  seems  to  be  a  display  of  power  no  less  in- 
considerate than  wanton.  According  to  the  common  relation,  no  account 
can  be  given  either  of  the  one  action  or  the  other,  but  that  Cortes,  intoxi- 
cated with  success,  and  presuming  on  the  ascendant  which  he  had  acquired 
over  the  minds  of  the  Mexicans,  thought  nothing  too  bold  for  him  to  under- 
take, or  too  dangerous  to  execute.  But,  i-n  one  view,  these  .proceedings, 
however  repugnant  to  justice  and  humanity,  may  have  flowed  from  that 
artful  policy  which  regulated  every  part  of  Cortes's  behaviour  towards  the 
Mexicans.  They  had  conceived  the  Spaniards  to  be  an  order  of  beings 
superior  to  men.  It  was  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  cherish  this  illusion, 
and  to  keep  up  the  veneration  which  it  inspired.  Cortes  wished  that 
shedding  the  blood  of  a  Spaniard  should  be  deemed  the  most  heinous  of 
all  crimes ;  and  nothing  appeared  better  calculated  to  establish  this 
opinion  than  to  condemn  the  first  Mexicans  who  had  ventured  to  commit 
it  to  a  cruel  death,  and  to  oblige  their  monarch  himself  to  submit  to  a  mor- 
tifying indignity  as  an  expiation  for  being  accessary  to  a  deed  so  atro- 
cious [ill] 

1520.]  The  rigour  with  which  Cortes  punished  the  unhappy  persons 
who  first  presumed  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  his  followers,  seems  accord- 
ingly to  have  made  all  the  impression  that  he  desired.  The  spirit  of  Mon- 
tezuma  was  not  only  overawed  but  subdued.  During  six  months  that 
Cortes  remained  in  Mexico,  the  monarch  continued  in  the  Spanish  quarters 
with  an  appearance  of  as  entire  satisfaction  and  tranquillity  as  if  he  had 
resided  there  not  from  constraint,  but  through  choice.  His  ministers  and 
officers  attended  him  as  usual.  He  took  cognisance  of  all  affairs  ;  every 
order  was  issued  in  his  name.  The  external  aspect  of  government  appear- 
ing the  same,  and  all  its  ancient  forms  being  scrupulously  observed,  the 
people  were  so  little  sensible  of  any  change,  that  they  obeyed  the  man- 
dates of  their  monarch  with  the  same  submissive  reverence  as  ever.  Such 
was  the  dread  which  both  Montezuma  and  his  subjects  had  of  the  Span- 


AMERICA.  225 

lards,  or  such  the  veneration  in  which  they  held  them,  that  no  attempt  was 
made  to  deliver  their  sovereign  from  confinement ;  and  though  Cortes,  rely- 
ing on  this  ascendant  which  be  had  acquired  over  their  minds,  permitted 
him  not  only  to  visit  his  temples,  but  to  make  hunting  excursions  beyond 
the  lake,  a  guard  of  a  few  Spaniards  carried  with  it  such  a  terror  as  to 
intimidate  the  multitude,  and  secure  the  captive  monarch.* 

Thus,  by  the  fortunate  temerity  of  Cortes  in  seizing  Montezuma,  the 
Spaniards  at  once  secured  to  themselves  more  extensive  authority  in  the 
Mexican  Empire  than  it  was  possible  to  have  acquired  in  a  long  course  of 
time  by  open  force  ;  and  they  exercised  more  absolute  sway  in  the  name 
of  another,  than  they  could  have  done  in  their  own.  The  arts  of  polished 
nations,  in  subjecting  such  as  are  less  improved,  have  been  nearly  the  same 
in  every  period.  The  system  of  screening  a  foreign  usurpation,  under  the 
sanction  of  authority  derived  from  the  natural  rulers  of  a  country,  the  device 
of  employing  the  magistrates  and  forms  already  established  as  instruments 
to  introduce  a  new  dominion,  of  which  we  are  apt  to  boast  as  sublime  refine- 
ments in  policy  peculiar  to  the  present  age,  were  inventions  of  a  more  early 
period,  and  had  been  tried  with  success  in  the  West  long  before  they  were 
practised  in  the  East. 

Cortes  availed  himself  to  the  utmost  of  the  powers  which  he  possessed 
by  being  able  to  act  in  the  name  of  Montezuma.  He  sent  some  Spaniards, 
whom  he  judged  best  qualified  for  such  commissions,  into  different  parts  of 
the  empire,  accompanied  by  persons  of  distinction,  whom  Montezuma  ap- 
pointed to  attend  them,  both  as  guides  and  protectors.  They  visited  most 
of  the  provinces,  viewed  their  soil  and  productions,  surveyed  with  particular 
care  the  districts  which  yielded  gold  or  silver,  pitched  upon  several  places 
as  proper  stations  for  future  colonies,  and  endeavoured  to  prepare  the  minds 
of  the  people  for  submitting  to  the  Spanish  yoke.  While  they  were  thus 
employed,  Cortes,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Montezuma,  de- 
gradea  some  of  the  principal  officers  in  the  empire,  whose  abilities  or  inde- 

Eendent  spirit  excited  his  jealousy,  and  substituted  in  their  place  persons 
iss  capable  or  more  obsequious. 

One  thing  still  was  wanting  to  complete  his  security.  He  wished  to 
have  such  command  of  the  lake  as  might  ensure  a  retreat  if,  either  from 
levity  or  disgust,  the  Mexicans  should  take  arms  against  him,  and  break 
down  the  bridges  or  causeways.  This,  too,  his  own  address,  and  the 
facility  of  Montezuma,  enabled  him  to  accomplish.  Having  frequently 
entertained  his  prisoner  with  pompous  accounts  of  the  European  marine 
and  art  of  navigation,  he  awakened  his  curiosity  to  see  those  moving 
palaces  which  made  their  way  through  the  water  without  oars.  Under 
pretext  of  gratifying  this  desire,  Cortes  persuaded  Montezuma  to  appoint 
some  of  his  subjects  to  fetch  part  of  the  naval  stores  which  the  Spaniards 
had  deposited  at  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico,  and  to  employ  others  in  cutting 
down  and  preparing  timber.  With  their  assistance,  the  Spanish  carpenters 
soon  completed  two  brigantines,  which  afforded  a  frivolous  amusement  to 
the  monarch,  and  were  considered  by  Cortes  as  a  certain  resource  if  he 
should  be  obliged  to  retire. 

Encouraged  by  so  many  instances  of  the  monarch's  tame  submission  to 
his  will,  Cortes  ventured  to  put  it  to  a  proof  still  more  trying.  He  urged 
Montezuma  to  acknowledge  himself  a  vassal  of  the  king  of  Castile,  to 
hold  his  crown  of  him  as  superior,  and  to  subject  his  dominions  to  the 
payment  of  an  annual  tribute.  With  this  requisition,  the  last  and  most 
numbling  that  can  be  made  to  one  possessed  of  sovereign  authority,  Mon 
tezuma  was  so  obsequious  as  to  comply.  He  called  together  the  chief 
men.  of  his  empire,  and  in  a  solemn  harangue,  reminding  them  of  the  tra- 
ditions and  prophecies  which  led  them  to  expect  the  arrival  of  a  people 

*  Cortes  Relat.  p.  236.  E.    B.  Diaz,  c.  97,  98,  99. 
Voi    I.— 29 


226  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

sprung  from  the  same  stock  with  themselves,  in  order  to  take  possession 
of  the  supreme  power,  he  declared  his  belief  that  the  Spaniards  were  this 
promised  race ;  that  therefore  he  recognised  the  right  of  their  monarch  to 
govern  the  Mexican  empire  •  that  he  would  lay  his  crown  at  his  feet,  and 
obey  him  as  a  tributary.  While  uttering  these  words,  Monte zuma  dis- 
covered how  deeply  he  was  affected  in  making  such  a  sacrifice.  Tears 
and  groans  frequently  interrupted  his  discourse.  Overawed  and  broken 
as  his  spirit  was,  it  still  retained  such  a  sense  of  dignity  as  to  feel  that 
pang  which  pierces  the  heart  of  princes  when  constrained  to  resign  inde- 
pendent power.  The  first  mention  of  such  a  resolution  struck  the. assembly 
dumb  with  astonishment.  This  was  followed  by  a  sudden  murmur  oi 
sorrow,  mingled  with  indignation,  which  indicated  some  violent  irruption 
of  rage  to  be  near  at  hand.  This  Cortes  foresaw,  and  seasonably  inter- 
posed to  prevent  it  by  declaring  that  his  master  had  no  intention  to  deprive 
Montezuma  of  the  royal  dignity,  or  to  make  any  innovation  upon  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  Mexican  empire*  This  assurance,  added  to  their 
dread  of  the  Spanish  power  and  to  the  authority  of  their  monarch's  example, 
extorted  a  reluctant  consent  from  the  assembly  [112]«.  The  act  of  sub- 
mission and  homage  was  executed  with  all  the  formalities  which  the  Spa- 
niards were  pleased  to  prescribe.* 

Montezuma,  at  the  desire  of  Cortes,  accompanied  this  profession  of 
fealty  and  homage  with  a  magnificent  present  to  his  new  sovereign  ;  and 
after  his  example  his  subjects  brought  in  very  liberal  contributions.  The 
Spaniards  now  collected  all  the  treasures  which  had  been  either  voluntarily 
bestowed  upon  them  at  different  times  by  Montezuma,  or  had  been  ex- 
torted from  his  people  under  various  pretexts ;  and  having  melted  the 
gold  and  silver,  the  value  of  these,  without  including  jewels  and  ornaments 
of  various  kinds,  which  were  preserved  on  account  of  their  curious  work- 
manship, amounted  to  six  hundred  thousand  pesos.  The  soldiers  were 
impatient  to  have  it  divided,  and  Cortes  complied  with  their  desire.  A 
fifth  of  the  whole  was  first  set  apart  as  the  tax  due  to  the  king.  Another 
fifth  was  allotted  to  Cortes  as  commander  in  chief.  The  sums  advanced 
by  Velasquez,  by  Cortes,  and  by  some  of  the  officers,  towards  defraying 
the  expense  of  fitting  out  the  armament,  were  then  deducted.  The  re- 
mainder was  divided  among  the  army,  including  the  garrison  of  Vera 
Cruz,  in  proportion  to  their  different  ranks.  After  so  many  defalcations, 
the  share  of  a  private  man  did  not  exceed  a  hundred  pesos.  This  sum 
fell  so  far  below  their  sanguine  expectations,  that  some  soldiers  rejected  it 
with  scorn,  and  others  murmured  so  loudly  at  this  cruel  disappointment  of 
their  hopes,  that  it  required  all  the  address  of  Cortes,  and  no  small  ex- 
ertion of  his  liberality,  to  appease  them.  The  complaints  of  the  army 
were  not  altogether  destitute  of  foundation.  As  the  crown  had  contributed 
nothing  towards  the  equipment  or  success  of  the  armament,  it  was  not 
withoutregret  that  the  soldiers  beheld  it  sweep  away  so  great  a  proportion 
of  the  treasure  purchased  by  their  blood  and  toil.  What  fell  to  the  share 
of  the  genera]  appeared,  according  to  the  ideas  of  wealth  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  an  enormous  sum.  Some  of  Cortes's  favourites  had  secretly 
appropriated  to  their  own  use  several  ornaments  of  gold,  which  neither 
paid  the  royal  fifth,  nor  were  brought  into  account  as  part  of  the  common 
stock.  It  was,  however,  so  manifestly  the  interest  of  Cortes  at  this  period 
to  make  a  large  remittance  to  the  king,  that  it  is  highly  probable  those 
concealments  were  not  of  great  consequence. 

The  total  sum  amassed  by  the  Spaniards  bears  no  proportion  to  the 
ideas  which  might  be  formed,  either  by  reflecting  on  the  descriptions  given 
by  historians  of  the  ancient  splendour  of  Mexico,  or  by  considering  the 
productions  of  its  mines  in  modern  times.  But  among  the  ancient  Mexi- 

*  Cortes  Relat.  238.    D.  B.  Diaz,  c.  101.     Gomara  Cron.  c.  £2.    Herrera,  dec.  2,  lib.  x.  c.  4 


AMERICA.  227 

cans,  gold  and  silver  were  not  the  standards  by  which  the  worth  of  other 
commodities  was  estimated ;  and  destitute  of  the  artificial  value  derived 
from  this  circumstance,  were  no  further  in  request  than  as  they  furnished 
materials  for  ornaments  and  trinkets.  These  were  either  consecrated  to 
the  gods  in  their  temples,  or  were  worn  as  marks  of  distinction  by  their 
princes  and  some  of  their  most  eminent  chiefs.  As  the  consumption  of  the 
precious  metals  was  inconsiderable,  the  demand  for  them  was  not  such  as 
to  put  either  the  ingenuity  or  industry  of  the  Mexicans  on  the  stretch  in 
order  to  augment  tkeir  store.  They  were  altogether  unacquainted  with 
the  art  of  working  the  rich  mines  with  which  their  country  abounded. 
What  gold  they  had  was  gathered  in  the  beds  of  rivers,  native,  and  ripened 
into  a  pure  metallic  state.*  The  utmost  effort  of  their  labour  in  search  of 
it  was  to  wash  the  earth  carried  down  by  torrents  from  the  mountains,  and 
to  pick  out  the  grains  of  gold  which  subsided  ;  and  even  this  simple  ope- 
ration, according  to  the  report  of  the  persons  whom  Cortes  appointed  to 
survey  the  provinces  where  there  was  a  prospect  of  finding  mines,  they 
performed  very  unskilfully.!  From  all  those  causes,  the  whole -mass  of 
gold  in  possession  of  the  Mexicans  was  not  great.  As  silver  is  rarely  found 
pure,  and  the  Mexican  art  was  too  rude  to  conduct  the  process  for  refining 
it  in  a  proper  manner,  the  quantity  of  this  metal  was1  still  less  considerable,  j 
Thus,  though  the  Spaniards  had  exerted  all  the  power  which  they  pos- 
sessed in  Mexico,  and  often  with  indecent  rapacity,  in  order  to  gratify  their 
predominant  passion,  and  though  Montezuma  had  fondly  exhausted  his 
treasures,  in  hopes  of  satiating  their  thirst  for  gold,  the  product  of  both, 
which  probably  included  a  great  part  of  the  bullion  in  the  empire,  did 
not  rise  in  value  above  what  has  been  mentioned  [113]. 

But  however  pliant  Montezuma  might  be  in  other  matters,  with  respect 
to  one  point  he  was  inflexible.  Though  Cortes  often  urged  him,  with  the 
importunate  zeal  of  a  missionary,  to  renounce  bis  false  gods,  and  to  em- 
brace the  Christian  faith,  he  always  rejected  the  proposition  with  horror. 
Superstition,  among  the  Mexicans,  was  formed  into  such  a  regular  and 
complete  system,  that  its  institutions  naturally  took  fast  hold  of  the  mind ; 
and  while  the  rude  tribes  in  other  parts  of  America  were  easily  induced 
to  relinquish  a  few  notions  and  rites,  so  loose  and  arbitrary  as  hardly  to 
merit  the  name  of  a  public  religion,  the  Mexicans  adhered  tenaciously  to 
their  mode  of  worship,  which,  however  barbarous,  was  accompanied  with 
such  order  and  solemnity  as  to  render  it  an  object  of  the  highest  venera- 
tion. Cortes,  finding  all  his  attempts  ineffectual  to  shake  the  constancy  of 
Montezuma,  was  so  much  enraged  at  his  obstinacy,  that  in  a  transport  of 
zeal  he  led  out  his  soldiers  to  throw  down  the  idols  in  the  grand  temple 
by  force.  But  the  priests  taking  arms  in  defence  of  their  altars,  and  the 
people  crowding  with  great  ardour  to  support  them,  Cortes's  prudence 
overruled  his  zeal,  and  induced  him  to  desist  from  his  rash  attempt,  after 
dislodging  the  idols  from  one  of  the  shrines,  and  placing  in  their  stead  an 
image  of  the  Virgin  Mary  [114]. 

From  that  moment  the  Mexicans,  who  had  permitted  the  imprisonment 
of  their  sovereign,  and  suffered  the  exactions  of  strangers  without  a 
struggle,  began  to  meditate  how  they  might  expel  or  destroy  the  Spaniards, 
and  thought  themselves  called  upon  to  avenge  their  insulted  deities.  The 
priests  and  leading  men  held  frequent  consultations  with  Montezuma  for 
this  purpose.  But  as  it  might  prove  fatal  to  the  captive  monarch  to 
attempt  either  the  one  or  the  other  by  violence,  he  was  willing  to  try  more 
gentle  means.  Having  called  Cortes  into  his  presence,  he  observed,  that 
now,  as  all  the  purposes  of  his  embassy  were  fully  accomplished,  the  gods 
had  declared  their  will,  and  the  people  signified  their  desire,  that  he  and 
his  followers  should  instantly  depart  out  ot  the  empire.  With  this  he  re- 

*  Cortes  Eelat.  p.  &S6.  F.    B  Dia-.,  r.  102,  103.    Goinara  Cron  c.  90.  f  B.  Diaz,  c.  103. 

I  Ilerreni,  dec.  2.  lib.  ix.  c.  4. 


228  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

auired  them  to  comply,  or  unavoidable  destruction  would  fall  suddenly  on 
meir  heads.  The  tenour  of  this  unexpected  requisition,  as  well  as  the 
determined  tone  in  which  it  was  uttered,  left  Cortes  no  room  to  doubt,  that 
it  was  the  result  of  some  deep  scheme  concerted  between  Montezuma  and 
his  subjects.  He  quickly  perceived  that  he  might  derive  more  advantage 
from  a  seeming  compliance  with  the  monarch's  inclinations,  than  from  an 
ill-timed  attempt  to  change  or  to  oppose  it ;  and  replied,  with  great  com- 
posure, that  he  had  already  begun  to.  prepare  for  returning  to  his  own 
country ;  but  as  he  had  destroyed  the  vessels  in  which  he  arrived,  some 
time  was  requisite  for  building  other  ships.  This  appeared  reasonable. 
A  number  of  Mexicans  were  sent  to  Vera  Cruz  to  cut  down  timber,  and 
some  Spanish  carpenters  were  appointed  to  superintend  the  work.  Cortes 
flattered  himself  that  during  this  interval  he  might  either  find  means  to 
avert  the  threatened  danger,  or  receive  such  reinforcements  as  would 
enable  him  to  despise  it.  - 

Almost  nine  months  were  elapsed  since  Portocarrero'  and  Montejo  had 
sailed  with  his  despatches  to  Spain ;  and  he  daily  expected  their  return 
with  a  confirmation  of  his  authority  from  the  King.  Without  this,  his  con- 
dition was  insecure  and  precarious  ;  and  after  all  the  great  things  which 
he  had  done,  it  might  be  his  doom  to  bear  the  name  and  suffer  the  punish- 
ment of  a  traitor.  Rapid  and  extensive  as  his  progress  had  been,  he  could 
not  hope  to  complete  the  reduction  of  a  great  empire  with  so  small  a  body 
of  men,  which  by  this  time  diseases  of  various  kinds  considerably  thinned ; 
nor  could  he  apply  for  recruits  to  the  Spanish  settlements  in  the  islands, 
until  he  received  the  royal  approbation  of  his  proceedings. 

While  he  remained  in  this  cruel  situation,  anxious  about  what  was  past, 
uncertain  with  respect  to  the  future,  and,  by  the  late  declaration  of  Monte- 
zuma, oppressed  with  a  new  addition  of  cares,  a  Mexican  courier  arrived 
with  an  account  of  some  ships  having  appeared  on  the  coast.  Cortes,  with 
fond  credulity,  imagining  that  his  messengers  were  returned  from  Spain,  and 
that  the  completion  of  all  his  wishes  and  hopes  was  at  hand,  imparted  the 
glad  tidings  to  his  companions,  who  received  them  with  transports  of  mutual 
gratulation.  Their  joy  was  not  of  long  continuance.  A  courier  from 
Sandoval,  whom  Cortes  had  appointed  to  succeed  Escalante  in  command 
at  Vera  Cruz,  brought  certain  information  that  the  armament  was  fitted 
out  by  Velasquez,  governor  of  Cuba,  and,  instead  of  bringing  the  aid 
which  they  expected,  threatened  them  with  immediate  destruction. 

The  motives  which  prompted  Velasquez  to  this  violent  measure  are 
obvious.  From  the  circumstances  of  Cortes'  departure,  it  was  impossible 
not  to  suspect  his  intention  of  throwing  off'  all  dependence  upon  him. 
His  neglecting  to  transmit  any  account  of  his  operations  to  Cuba, 
strengthened  this  suspicion,  which  was  at  last  confirmed  beyond  doubt  by 
the  indiscretion  of  the  officers  whom  Cortes  sent  to  Spain.  They,  from 
some  motive  which  is  not  clearly  explained  by  the  contemporary  historians, 
touched  at  the  island  of  Cuba,  contrary  to  the  peremptory  orders  of  their 
general.*  By  this  means  Velasquez  not  only  learned  that  Cortes  and  his 
followers,  after  formally  renouncing  all  connection  with  him,  had  esta- 
blished an  independent  colony  in  New  Spain,  and  were  soliciting  the  King 
to  confirm  their  proceedings  by  his  authority ;  but  he  obtained  particular 
information  concerning  the  opulence  of  the  country,  the  valuable  presents 
which  Cortes  had  received,  and  the  inviting  prospects  of  success  that 
opened  to  his  view.  Every  passion  which  can  agitate  an  ambitious  mind  ; 
shame,  at  having  been  so  grossly  overreached ;  indignation,  at  being 
betrayed  by  the  man  whom  he  had  selected  as  the  object  of  his  favour 
and  confidence;  grief,  for  having  wasted  his  fortune  to  aggrandize  an 
enemy  ;  and  despair  of  recovering  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  establishing 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  54,  55.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  C.  14     Gomara  Cron.  c.  96. 


AMERICA.  229 

his  fame  and  extending  his  power,  now  raged  in  the  bosom  of  Velasquez. 
All  these,  with  united  force,  excited  him  to  make  an  extraordinary  effort 
in  order  to  be  avenged  on  the  author  of  his  wrongs,  and  to  wrest  from  him 
his  usurped  authority  and  conquests.  Nor  did  he  want  the  appearance  of 
a  good  title  to  justify  such  an  attempt.  The  agent  whom  he  sent  to  Spain 
with  an  account  of  Grijalva's  voyage,  had  met  with  a  most  favourable 
reception ;  and  from  the  specimens  which  he  produced,  such  high  expec- 
tations were  formed  concerning  the  opulence  of  New  Spain,  that  Velasquez 
was  authorized  to  prosecute  the  discovery  of  the  country,  and  appointed 
governor  of  it  during  life,  with  more  extensive  power  and  privileges  than 
had  been  granted  to  any  adventurer  from  the  time  of  Columbus.*  Elated 
by  this  distinguishing  mark  of  favour,  and  warranted  to  consider  Cortes 
not  only  as  intruding  upon  his  jurisdiction,  but  as  disobedient  to  the  royal 
mandate,  he  determined  to  vindicate  his  own  rights,  and  the  honour  of 
his  sovereign  by  force  of  arms  [115],  His  ardour  in  carrying  on  his  pre- 
parations was  such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  the  violence  of  the 
passions  with  which  he  was  animated ;  and  in  a  short  time  an  armament  was 
completed,  consisting  of  eighteen  ships  which  had  on  board  fourscore 
horsemen,  eight  hundred  foot  soldiers,  of  which  eighty  were  musketeers, 
and  a  hundred  and  twenty  cross-bow  men,  together  with  a  train  of  twelve 
pieces  of  cannon.  As  Velasquez's  experience  of  the  fatal  consequence  of 
committing  to  another  what  he  ought  to  have  executed  himself,  had  not 
rendered  him  more  enterprising,  he  vested  the  command  of  this  formi- 
dable body,  which,  in  the  infancy  of  the  Spanish  power  in  America,  merits 
the  appellation  of  an  army,  in  ramphilo  de  Narvaez,  with  instructions  to 
seize  Cortes  and  his  principal  officers,  to  send  them  prisoners  to  him,  and 
then  to  complete  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  the  country  in  his  name. 

After  a  prosperous  voyage,  Narvaez  landed  his  men  without  opposition 
near  St.  Juan  de  Ulua  [April].  Three  soldiers,  whom  Cortes  had  sent 
to  search  for  mines  in  that  district,  immediately  joined  him.  By  this 
accident  he  not  only  received  information  concerning  the  progress  and 
situation  of  Cortes,  but,  as  these  soldiers  had  made  some  progress  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Mexican  language,  he  acquired  interpreters,  by  whose 
means  he  was  enabled  to  hold  some  intercourse  with  the  people  of  the 
country.  But,  according  to  the  low  cunning  of  deserters,  they  framed  their 
intelligence  with  more  attention  to  what  they  thought  would  be  agreeable 
than  to  what  they  knew  to  be  true ;  and  represented  the  situation  of  Cortes 
to  be  so  desperate,  and  the  disaffection  of  his  followers  to  be  so  general, 
as  increased  the  natural  confidence  and  presumption  of  Narvaez.  His 
first  operation,  however,  might  have  taught  him  not  to  rely  on  their  partial 
accounts.  Having  sent  to  summon  the  governor  of  Vera  Cruz  to  sur- 
render, Guevara,  a  priest  whom  he  employed  in  that  service,  made  the 
requisition  with  such  insolence,  that  Sandoval,  an  officer  of  high  spirit, 
and  zealously  attached  to  Cortes,  instead  of  complying  with  his  demands, 
seized  him  and  his  attendants,  and  sent  them  in  chains  to  Mexico. 

Cortes^  received  them  not  like  enemies,  but  as  friends,  and,  condemning 
the  severity  of  Sandoval,  set  them  immediately  at  liberty.  By  this  well 
timed  clemency,  seconded  by  caresses  and  presents,  he  gained  their  con- 
fidence, and  drew  from  them  such  particulars  concerning  the  force  and 
intentions  of  Narvaez,  as  gave  him  a  view  of  the  impending  danger  in  its 
full  extent.  He  had  not  to  contend  now  with  half  naked  Indians,  no  match 
for  him  in  war,  and  still  more  inferior  in  the  arts  of  policy,  but  to  take  the 
field  against  an  army  in  courage  and  martial  discipline  equal  to  his  own, 
in  number  far  superior,  acting  under  the  sanction  of  royal  authority,  and 
commanded  by  an  officer  of  known  bravery.  He  was  informed  that 
Narvaez,  more  solicitous  to  gratify  the  resentment  of  Velasquez  than 

*  Herrera,  dec  2,  lio.  jii.  c.  11. 


230  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

attentive  to  the  honour  or  interest  of  his  country,  had  begun  his  intercourse 
with  the  natives,  by  representing  him  and  his  followers  as  fugitives  and 
outlaws,  guilty  of  rebellion  against  their  own  sovereign,  and  of  injustice  in 
invading  the  Mexican  empire  ;  and  had  declared  that  his  chief  object  in 
visiting  the  country  was  to  punish  the  Spaniards  who  had  committed  these 
crimes,  and  to  rescue  the  Mexicans  from  oppression.  He  soon  perceived 
that  the  same  unfavourable  representations  of  his  character  and  actions  had 
been  conveyed  to  Montezuma,  and  that  Naryaez  had  found  means  to  assure 
him,  that  as  the  conduct  of  those  who  kept  him  uncjer  restraint  was  highly 
displeasing  to  the  King  his  master,  he  had  it  in  charge  not  only  to  rescue 
an  injured  monarch  from  confinement,  but  to  reinstate  him  in  the  possession 
of  his  ancient  power  and  independence.  Animated  with  this  prospect  of 
being  set  free  from  subjection  to  Strangers,  the  Mexicans  in  several  provinces 
began  openly  to  revolt  from  Cortes,  and  to  regard  Narvaez  as  a  deliverer 
no  less  able  than  willing  to  save  them.  Montezuma  himself  kept  up  a 
secret  intercourse  with  the  new  commander,  and  seemed  tp  court  him  as 
a  person  superior  in  power  and  dignity  to  those  Spaniards  whom  he  had 
hitherto  revered  as  the  first  of  men  [116]. 

Such  were  the  various  aspects  of  danger  and  difficulty  which  presented 
themselves  to  the  view  of  Cortes.  No  situation  can  be  conceived  more 
trying  to  the  capacity  and  firmness  of  a  general,  or  where  the  choice  of  the 
plan  which  ought  to  be  adopted  was  more  difficult.  If  he  should  wait  the 
approach  of  Narvaez  in  Mexico,  destruction  seemed  to  be  unavoidable  ; 
for,  while  the  Spaniards  pressed  him  from  without,  the  inhabitants,  whose 
turbulent  spirit  he  could  hardly  restrain  with  all  his  authority  and  attention, 
would  eagerly  lay  hold  on  such  a  favourable  opportunity  of  avenging  all 
their  wrongs.  Ii  he  should  abandon  the  capital,  set  the  captive  monarch 
at  liberty,  and  march  out  to  meet  the  ,enemy,  he  must  at  once  forego  the 
fruits  of  all  his  toils  and  victories,  and  relinquish  advantages  which  could 
not  be  recovered  without  extraordinary  efforts  and  infinite  danger.  If, 
instead  of  employing  force,  he  should  have  recourse  to  conciliating 
measures,  and-  attempt  an  accommodation  with  Narvaez  ;  the  natural 
haughtiness  of  that  officer,  augmented  by  consciousness  of  his  present 
superiority,  forbade  him  to  cherish  any  sanguine  hope  of  success.  After 
revolving  every  scheme  with  deep  attention,  Cortes  fixed  upon  that  which 
in  execution  was  most  hazardous,  but,  if  successful,  would  prove  most 
beneficial  to  himself  and  to  his  country  ;  and  with  the  decisive  intrepidity 
suited  to  desperate  situations,  determined  to  make  one  bold  effort  for  victory 
under  every  disadvantage,  rather  than  sacrifice  his  own  conquests  and  the 
Spanish  interests  in  Mexico.  v 

But  though  he  foresaw  that  the  contest  must  be  terminated  finally  by 
arms,  it  would  have  been  not  only  indecent  but  criminal  to  have  marched 
against  his  countrymen,  without  attempting  to  adjust  matters  by  an  amicable 
negotiation.  In  this  service  he  employed  Olmedo,  his  chaplain,  to  whose 
character  the  function  was  well  suited,  and  who  possessed,  besides,  such 
prudence  and  address  as  qualified  him  to  carry  on  the  secret  intrigues  in 
which  Cortes  placed  'his  chief  confidence.  Narvaez  rejected  with  scorn 
every  scheme  of  accommodation  that  Olmedo  proposed,  and  was  with 
difficulty  restrained  from  laying  violent  hands  on  him  and  his  attendants. 
He  met,  however,  with  a  more  favourable  reception  among  the  followers  of 
Narvaez,  to  many  of  whom  he  delivered  letters>  either  from  Cortes  or  his 
officers,  their  ancient  friends  and  companions.  Cortes  artfully  accompanied 
these  with  presents  of  rings,  chains  of  gold,  and  other  trinkets  of  value, 
which  inspired  those  needy  adventurers  with  high  ideas  of  the  wealth 
that  he  had  acquired,  and  with  envy  of  their  good  fortune  who  were 
engaged  in  his  service.  Some,  from  hopes  of  becoming  sharers  in  those 
rich  spoils,  declared  for  an  immediate  accommodation  with  Cortes.  Others, 
from  public  spirit,  lab<  ured  to  prevent  a  civil  war,  which,  whatever  party 


AMERICA.  231 

should  prevail,  must  shake,  and  perhaps  subvert  the  Spanish  power  in  a 
country  where  it  was  so  imperfectly  established.  Narvaez  disregarded 
both,  and  by  a  public  proclamation  denounced  Cortes  and  his  adherents 
rebels  and  enemies  to  their  country.  Cortes,  it  is  probable,  was  not  much 
surprised  at  the  untractable  arrogance  of  Narvaez ;  and  after  having  given 
such  a  proof  of  his  own  pacific  disposition  as  might  justify  his  recourse  to 
other  means,  he  determined  to  advance  towards  an  enemy  whom  he  had 
laboured  in  vain  to  appease. 

He  left  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  the  capital  [May],  under  the  com- 
mand of  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  an  officer  of  distinguished  courage,  for  whom 
the  Mexicans  had  conceived  a  singular  degree  of  respect.  To  the  custody 
of  this  slender  garrison  he  committed  a  great  city,  with  all  the  wealth  he 
had  amassed,  and,  what  was  of  still  greater  importance,  the  person  of  the 
imprisoned  monarch.  His  utmost  art  was  employed  in  concealing  from 
Montezuma  the  real  cause  of  his  march.  He  laboured  to  persuade  him,  that 
the  strangers  who  had  lately  arrived  were  his  friends  and  fellow-subjects  ; 
and  that,  after  a  short  interview  with  them,  they  would  depart  together,  and 
return  to  their  own  country.  The  captive  prince,  unable  to  comprehend 
the  designs  of  the  Spaniard,  or  to  reconcile  what  he  now  heard  with  the 
declarations  of  Narvaez,,  and  afraid  to  discover  any  symptom  of  suspicion  or 
distrust  of  Cortes,  promised  to  remain  quietly  in  the  Spanish  quarters,  and  to 
cultivate  the  same  friendship  with  Alvarado  which  he  had  uniformly  main- 
tained with  him  Cortes,  with  seeming  confidence  in  this  promise,  but 
relying  principally  upon  the  injunctions  which  he  had  given  Alvarado  to 
guard  his  prisoner  with  the  most  scrupulous  vigilance,  set  out  from  Mexico. 

His  strength,  even  after  it  was  reinforced  by  the  junction  of  Sandoval  and 
the  garrison  of  Vera  Cruz,  did  not  exceed  two  hundred  and  fifty  men.  As 
he  hoped  for  success  chiefly  from  the  rapidity  of  his  motions,  his  troops 
were  not  encumbered  either  with  baggage  or  artillery.  But  as  he  dreaded 
extremely  the  impression  which  the  enemy  might  make  with  their  cavalry, 
he  had  provided  against  this  danger  with  the  foresight  and  sagacity  which 
distinguish  a  great  commander.  Having  observed  that  the  Indians  in  the 
province  of  Chinantla  used  spears  of  extraordinary  length  and  force,  he 
armed  his  soldiers  with  these,  and  accustomed  them  to  that  deep  and  com- 
pact arrangement  which  the  use  of  this  formidable  weapon,  the  best  per- 
haps that  was  ever  invented  for  defence,  enabled  them  to  assume. 

With  this  small  but  firm  battalion,  Cortes  advanced  towards  Zempoalla, 
of  which  Narvaez  had  taken  possession.  During  his  march,  he  made 
repeated  attempts  towards  some  accommodation  with  his  opponent.  But 
Narvaez  requiring  that  Cortes  and  his  followers  should  instantly  recognise 
his  title  to  be  governor  of  New  Spain,  in  virtue  of  the  powers  which  he 
derived  from  Velasquez  ;  and  Cortes  refusing  to  submit  to  any  authority 
which  was  not  founded  on  a  commission  from  the  Emperor  himself,  under 
whose  immediate  protection  he  and  his  adherents  had  placed  their  infant 
colony ;  all  these  attempts  proved  fruitless.  The  intercourse,  however, 
which  this  occasioned  between  the  two  parties,  proved  of  no  small  advan- 
tage to  Cortes,  as  it  afforded  him  an  opportunity  of  gaining  some  of  Nai- 
raez's  officers  by  liberal  presents,  of  softening  others  by  a  semblance  cf 
moderation,  and  of  dazzling  all  by  the  appearance  of  wealth  among  his 
troops,  most  of  his  soldiers  having  converted  their  share  of  the  Mexican  gold 
into  chains,  bracelets,  and  other  ornaments,  which  they  displayed  with 
military  ostentation.  Narvaez  and  a  little  junto  of  his  creatures  excepted, 
all  the  army  leaned  towards  an  accommodation  with  their  countrymen. 
This  discovery  of  their  inclination  irritated  his  violent  temper  almost  to 
madness.  In  a  transport  of  rage,  he  set  a  price  upon  the  head  of  Cortes, 
and  of  his  principal  officers  ;  and  having  learned  that  he  was  now  advanced 
within  a  league  of  Zempoalla  with  his  small  body  of  men,  he  considered 


232  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

this  as  an  insult  which  merited  immediate  chastisement,  and  marched  out 
with  all  his  troops  to  offer  him  battle. 

But  Cortes  was  a  leader  of  greater  abilities  and  experience  than,  on  equal 
ground,  to  fight  an  enemy  so  far  superior  in  number,  and  so  much  better 
appointed.  Having  taken  his  station  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  de 
Canoas,  where  he  knew  that  he  could  not  be  attacked,  he  beheld  the  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy  without  concern,  and  disregarded  this  vain  bravade. 
it  was  then  the  beginning  of  the  wet  season,*  and  the  rain  had  poured  down, 
during  a  great  part  of  the  day,  with  a  violence  peculiar  to  the  torrid  zone. 
The  followers  of  Narvaez,  unaccustomed  to  the  hardships  of  military  service, 
murmured  so  much  at  being  thus  fruitlessly  exposed,  that,  from  their  unsol- 
dierlike  impatience,  as  well  as  his  own  contempt  of  his  adversary,  their 
general  permitted  them  to  retire  to  Zempoalla.  The  very  circumstance 
which  induced  them  to  quit  the  field,  encouraged  Cortes  to  form  a  scheme 
by  which  he  hoped  at  once  to  terminate  the  war.  He  observed  that  his 
hardy  veterans,  though  standing  under  the  torrents  which  continued  to  fall, 
without  a  single  tent  or  any  shelter  whatsoever  to  cover  them,  were  so  far 
from  repining  at  hardships  which  were  become  familiar  to  them,  that  they 
were  still  fresh  and  alert  for  service.  He  foresaw  that  the  enemy  would 
naturally  give  themselves  up  to  repose  after  their  fatigue,  and  that,  judging 
of  the  conduct  of  others  by  their  own  effeminacy,  they  would  deem  them- 
selves perfectly  secure  at  a  season  so  unfit  for  action.  He  resolved,  there- 
fore, to  fall  upon  them  in  the  dead  of  night,  when  the  surprise  and  terror  of 
this  unexpected  attack  might  more  than  compensate  the  inferiority  of  his 
numbers.  His  soldiers,  sensible  that  no  resource  remained  but  in  some  des- 
perate effort  of  courage,  approved  of  the  measure  with  such  warmth,  that 
Cortes,  in  a  military  oration  which  he  addressed  to  them  before  they  began 
their  march,  was  more  solicitous  to  temper  than  to  inflame  their  ardour, 
He  divided  them  into  three  parties.  At  the  head  of  the  first  he  placed 
Sandoval ;  intrusting  this  gallant  officer  with  the  most  dangerous  and  impor- 
tant service,  that  of  seizing  the  enemy's  artillery,  which  was  planted  before 
the  principal  tower  of  the  temple  where  Narvaez  had  fixed  his  head-quar- 
ters. Christoval  de  Olid  commanded  the  second,  with  orders  to  assault 
the  tower,  and  lay  hold  on  the  general.  Cortes  himself  conducted  the  third 
and  smallest  division,  which  was  to  act  as  a  body  of  reserve,  and  to  support 
the  other  two  as  there  should  be  occasion.  Having  passed  the  river  de 
Canoas,  which  was  much  swelled  with  the  rains,  not  without  difficulty,  the 
water  reaching  almost  to  their  chins,  they  advanced  in  profound  silence, 
without  beat  of  drum,  or  sound  of  any  warlike  instrument ;  each  man 
armed  with  his  sword,  his  dagger,  and  his  Chinantlan  spear.  Narvaez, 
remiss  in  proportion  to  his  security,  had  posted  only  two  sentinels  to  watch 
the  motions  of  an  enemy  whom  he  had  such  good  cause  to  dread.  One  of 
these  was  seized  by  the  advanced  guard  of  Cortes's  troops ;  the  other 
made  his  escape,  and,  hurrying  to  the  town  with  all  the  precipitation  of  fear 
and  zeal,  gave  such  timely  notice  of  the  enemy's  approach,  that  there  was 
full  leisure  to  have  prepared  for  their  reception.  But,  through  the  arro- 
gance and  infatuation  of  Narvaez,  this  important  interval  was  lost.  He 
imputed  this  alarm  to  the  cowardice  of  the  sentinel,  and  treated  with 
derision  the  idea  of  being  attacked  by  forces  so  unequal  to  his  own.  The 
shouts  of  Cortes's  soldiers,  rushing  on  to  the  assault,  convinced  him  at  last 
that  the  danger  which  he  despised  was  real.  The  rapidity  with  which 
they  advanced  was  such  that  only  one  cannon  could  be  fired  before  Sando- 
val s  party  closed  with  the  enemy,  drove  them  from  their  guns,  and  began 
to  force  their  way  up  the  steps  of  the  tower.  Narvaez,  no  less  brave  in 
action  than  presumptuous  in  conduct,  armed  himself  in  haste,  and  by  his 

•  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  467.    De  Laet  Descr.  Ind.  Occid.  221. 


AMERICA.  233 

voice  and  example  animated  his  men  to  the  combat.  Olid  advanced  to 
sustain  his  companions  ;  and  Cortes  himself  rushing  to  the  front,  conducted 
and  added  new  vigour  to  the  attack.  The  compact  order  in  which  this 
small  body  pressed  on,  and  the  impenetrable  front  which  they  presented 
with  their  long  spears,  bore  down  all  opposition  before  it.  They  had  now 
reached  the  gate,  and  were  struggling  to  burst  it  open, -when  a  soldier 
having  set  fire  to  the  reeds  with  which  the  tower  was  covered,  compelled 
Narvaez  to  sally  out.  In  the  first  encounter  he  was  wounded  in  the  eye 
with  the  spear,  and,  falling  to  the  ground,  was  dragged  down  the  steps,  and 
in  a  moment  clapped  in  letters.  The  cry  of  victory  resounded  among  the 
troops  of  Cortes.  Those  who  had  sallied  out  with  their  leader  now  main- 
tained the  conflict  feebly,  and  began  to  surrender.  Among  the  remainder 
of  his  soldiers,  stationed  in  two  smaller  towers  of  the  temple,  terror  and 
confusion  prevailed.  The  darkness  was  so  great,  that  they  could  not  dis- 
tinguish between  their  friends  and  foes.  Their  own  artillery  was  pointed 
against  them.  Wherever  they  turned  their  eyes,  they  beheld  lights  gleam- 
ing through  the  obscurity  of  the  night,  which,  though  proceeding  only  from 
a  variety  of  shining  insects  that  abound  in  moist  and  siiltry  climates,  their 
affrighted  imaginations  represented  as  numerous  bands  of  musketeers  ad- 
vancing with  kindled  matches  to  the  attack.  After  a  short  resistance,  the 
soldiers  compelled  their  officers  to  capitulate,  and  before  morning  all  laid 
down  their  arms,  and  submitted  quietly  to  their  conquerors. 

This  complete  victory  proved  more  acceptable,  as  it  was  gained  almost 
without  bloodshed,  only  two  soldiers  being  killed  on  the  side  of  Cortes,  and 
two  officers,  with  fifteen  private  men  of  the  adverse  faction.  Cortes  treated 
the  vanquished  not  like  enemies,  but  as  countrymen  and  friends,  and  offered 
either  to  send  them  back  directly  to  Cuba,  or  to  take  them  into  his  service, 
as  partners  in  his  fortune,  on  equal  terms  with  his  own  soldiers.  This 
latter  proposition,  seconded  by  a  seasonable  distribution  of  some  presents 
from  Cortes,  and  liberal  promises  of  more,  opened  prospects  so  agreeable  to 
the  romantic  expectations  which  had  invited  them  to  engage  in  this  service, 
that  all,  a  few  partisans  of  Narvaez  excepted,  closed  with  it,  and  vied  with 
each  other  in  professions  of  fidelity  and  attachment  to  a  general,  whose 
recent  success  had  given  them  such  a  striking  proof  of  his  abilities  for  com- 
mand. Thus,  by  a  series  of  events  no  less  fortunate  than  uncommon,  Cortes 
not  only  escaped  from  perdition  which  seemed  inevitable,  but,  when  he 
had  least  reason  to  expect  it,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  thousand 
Spaniards,  ready  to  follow  wherever  he  should  lead  them.  Whoever 
reflects  upon  the  facility  with  which  this  victory  was  obtained,  or  considers 
with  what  sudden  and  unanimous  transition  the  followers  of  Narvaez  ranged 
themselves  under  the  standard  of  his  rival,  will  be  apt  to  ascribe  both 
events  as  much  to  the  intrigues  as  to  the  arms  of  Cortes,  and  cannot  but 
suspect  that  the  ruin  of  Narvaez  was  occasioned  no  less  by  the  treachery 
of  his  own  followers,  than  by  the  valour  of  the  enemy.* 

But  in  one  point  the  prudent  conduct  and  good  fortune  of  Cortes  were 
equally  conspicuous.  It,  by  the  rapidity  of  his  operations  after  he  began 
his  march,  he  had  not  brought  matters  to  such  a  speedy  issue,  even  this 
decisive  victory  would  have  come  too  late  to  have  saved  his  companions 
whom  he  left  in  Mexico.  A  few  days  after  the  discomfiture  of  Narvaez, 
a  courier  arrived  with  an  account  that  the  Mexicans  had  taken  arms,  and, 
having  seized  and  destroyed  the  two  brigantines  which  Cortes  had  built 
in  order  to  secure  the  command  of  the  lake,  and  attacked  the  Spaniards 
in  their  quarters,  had  killed  several  of  them,  and  wounded  more,  had 
reduced  to  ashes  their  magazine  of  provisions,  and  carried  on  hostilities 
with  such  fury,  that  though  Alvarado  and  his  men  defended  themselves 

*  Cortes  Relat.  242.  D.  B.  Diaz,  c.  110-125  Herrera,  dec,  2,  lib.  ix.  c.  18,  Sec.  Gomara  Cron. 
c.  97,  &c. 

VOL.  I.— 30  12 


234  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  V. 

with  undaunted  resolution,  they  must  either  be  soon  cut  off  by  famine,  or 
sink  under  the  multitude  of  their  enemies.  This  revolt  was  excited  by 
motives  which  rendered  it  still  more  alarming.  On  the  departure  of 
Cortes  for  Zempoalla,  the  Mexicans  flattered  themselves,  that  the  long- 
expected  opportunity  of  restoring  their  sovereign  to  liberty,  and  of  vindi- 
cating their  country  from  the  odious  dominion  of  strangers,  was  at  length 
arrived ;  that  while  the  forces  of  their  oppressors  were  divided,  and  the 
arms  of  one  party  turned  against  the  other,  they  might  triumph  with 
greater  facility  over  both.  Consultations  were  held,  and  schemes  formed 
with  this  intention.  The  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  conscious  of  their  own 
feebleness,  suspected  and  dreaded  those  machinations.  Alvarado,  though 
a  gallant  officer,  possessed  neither  that  extent  of  capacity  nor  dignity  of 
manners,  by  which  Cortes  had  acquired  such  an  ascendant  over  the  minds 
of  the  Mexicans,  as  hever  allowed  them  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  his 
weakness  or  of  their  own  strength.  Alvarado  knew  no  mode  of  supporting 
his  authority  but  force.  Instead  of  employing  address  to  disconcert  the 
plans  or  to  soothe  the  spirits  of  the  Mexicans,  he  waited  the  return  of 
one  of  their  solemn  festivals.  When  the  principal  persons  in  the  .empire 
were  dancing,  according  to  custom,  in  the  court  of  the  great  temple,  he 
seized  all  the  avenues  which  led  to  it ;  and  allured  partly  by  the  rich 
ornaments  which  they  wore  in  honour  of  their  gods,  and  partly  by  the 
facility  of  cutting  off  at  once  the  authors  of  that  conspiracy  which  he 
dreaded,  he  fell  upon  them,  unarmed  and  unsuspicious  of  any  danger,  and 
massacred  a  great  number,  none  escaping  but  such  as  made  their  way  over 
the  battlements  of  the  temple.  An  action  so  cruel  and  treacherous  filled 
not  only  the  city,  but  the  whole  empire  with  indignation  and  rage.  All 
called  aloud  for  vengeance ;  and  regardless  of  the  safety  of  their  monarch, 
whose  life  was  at  me  mercy  of  the  Spaniards,  or  of  tneir  own  danger  in 
assaulting  an  enemy  who  had  been  so  long  the  object  of  their  terror,  they 
committed  all  those  acts  of  violence  of  which  Cortes  received  an  account. 

To  him  the  danger  appeared  so  imminent  as  to  admit  neither  of  de- 
liberation nor  delay^.  He  set  out  instantly  with  all  his  forces,  and  returned 
from  Zempoalla  with  no  less  rapidity  than  he  had  advanced  thither.  At 
Tlascala  he  was  joined  by  two  thousand  chosen  warriors.  On  entering 
the  Mexican  territories,  he  found  that  disaffection  to  the  Spaniards  was 
not  confined  to  the  capital.  The  principal  inhabitants  had  deserted  the 
towns  through  which  he  passed  ;  no  person  of  note  appearing  to  meet  him 
with  the  usual  respect ;  no  provision  was  made  for  the  subsistence  of  his 
troops  ;  and  though  he  was  permitted  to  advance  without  opposition,  the 
solitude  .and  silence  which  reigned  in  every  place,  and  the  horror  with 
which  the  people  avoided  all  intercourse  with  him,  discovered  a  deep- 
rooted  antipathy  that  excited  the  most  just  alarm.  But  implacable  as  the 
enmity  of  the  Mexicans  was,  they  were  so  unacquainted  with  the  science 
of  war,  that  they  knew  not  how  to  take  the  proper  measures  either  for  their 
own  safety  or  the  destruction  of  the  Spaniards.  Uninstructed  by  their 
former  error  in  admitting  a  formidable  enemy  into  their  capital,  instead  of 
breaking  down  the  causeways  and  bridges,  by  which  they  might  have 
enclosed  Alvarado  and  his  party,  and  have  effectually  stopped  the  career 
of  Cortes,  they  again  suffered  him  to  march  into  the  city  [June  24]  without 
molestation,  and  to  take  quiet  possession  of  his  ancient  station. 

The  transports  of  joy  with  which  Alvarado  and  his  soldiers  received 
their  companions  cannot  be  expressed.  Both  parties  were  so  much  elated, 
the  one  with  their  seasonable  deliverance,  and  the  other  with  the  great 
exploits  which  they  had  achieved,  that  this  intoxication  of  success  seems 
to  have  reached  Cortes  himself;  and  he  behaved  on  this  occasion  neither 
with  his  usual  sagacity  nor  attention.  He  not  only  neglected  to  visit 
Montezuma,  but  embittered  the  insult  by  expressions  full  of  contempt  for 
that  unfortunate  prince  and  his  people.  The  forces  of  which  he  had  now 


AMERICA.  235 

the  command  appeared  to  him  so  irresistible  that  he  might  assume  a 
higher  tone,  and  lay  aside  the  mask  of  moderation  under  which  he  had 
hitherto  concealed  his  designs.  Some  Mexicans,  who  understood  the 
Spanish  language,  heard  the  contemptuous  words  which  Cortes  uttered, 
and,  reporting  them  to  their  countrymen,  kindled  their  rage  anew.  They 
were  now  convinced  that  the  intentions  of  the  general  were  equally  bloody 
with  those  of  Alvarado,  and  that  his  original  purpose  in  visiting  their 
country  had  not  been,  as  he  pretended,  to  court  the  alliance  of  their 
sovereign,  but  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  his  dominions.  They  resumed 
their  arms  with  the  additional  fury  which  this  discovery  inspired,  attacked 
a  considerable  body  of  Spaniards  who  were  marching  towards  the  great 
square  in  which  the  public  market  was  held,  and  compelled  them  to  retire 
with  some  loss.  Emboldened  by  this  success,  and  delighted  to  find  that 
their  oppressors  were  not  invincible,  they  advanced  the  next  day  with  extra- 
ordinary martial  pomp  to  assault  the  Spaniards  in  their  quarters.  Their 
number  was  formidable,  and  their  undaunted  courage  still  more  so.  Though 
the  artillery  pointed  against  their  numerous  battalions,  crowded  together 
in  narrow  streets,  swept  off  multitudes  at  every  discharge  ;  though  every 
blow  of  the  Spanish  weapons  fell  with  mortal  effect  upori  their  naked 
bodies,  the  impetuosity  of  the  assault  did  not  abate.  Fresh  men  rushed 
forward  to  occupy  the  places  of  the  slain,  and,  meeting  with,  the  same 
fate,  were  succeeded  by  others  no  less  intrepid  and  eager  for  vengeance 
The  utmost  efforts  of  Cortes's  abilities  and  experience,  seconded  by  the 
disciplined  valour  of  his  troops,  were  hardly  sufficient  to  defend  the  forti- 
fications that  surrounded  the  post  where  the  Spaniards  were  stationed,  into 
which  the  enemy  were  more  than  once  on  the  point  of  forcing  their  way. 

Cortes  beheld  with  wonder  the  implacable  ferocity  of  a  people  who 
seemed  at  first  to  submit  tamely  to  the  yoke,  and  had  continued  so  long 
passive  under  it.  The  'soldiers  of  Narvaez,  who  fondly  imagined  that 
they  followed  Cortes  to  share  in  the  spoils  of  a  conquered  empire,  were 
astonished  to  find  that  they  were  involved  in  a  dangerous  war  with  an 
enemy  whose  vigour  was  still  unbroken,  and  loudly  execrated  their  own 
weakness  in  giving  such  easy  credit  to  the  delusive  promises  of  their  new 
leader.*  But  surprise  and  complaints  were  of  no  avail.  Some  immediate  and 
extraordinary  effort  was  requisite  to  extricate  themselves  out  of  their  present 
situation.  As  soon  as  the  approach  of  evening  induced  the  Mexicans  to 
retire  in  compliance  with  their  national  custom  of  ceasing  from  hostilities 
with  the  setting  sun,  Cortes  began  to  prepare  for  a  sally,  next  day,  with 
such  a  considerable  force  as  might  either  drive  the  enemy  but  of  the  city, 
or  compel  them  to  listen  to  terms  of  accommodation. 

He  conducted  in  person  the  troops  destined  for  this  important  service. 
Every  invention  known  in  the  European  art  of  war,  as  well  as  every  pre- 
caution suggested  by  his  long  acquaintance  with  the  Indian  mode  of  fight- 
ing were  employed  to  ensure  success.  But  he  found  an  enemy  prepared 
and  determined  to  oppose  him.  The  force  of  the  Mexicans  was  greatly 
augmented  by  fresh  troops,  which  poured  in  continually  from  the  country, 
and  their  animosity  was  in  no  degree  abated.  They  were  led  by  their 
nobles,  inflamed  by  the  exhortations  of  their  priests,  and  fought  in  defence 
of  their  temples  and  families,  under  the  eye  of  their  gods,  and  in  presence  of 
their  wives  and  children.  Notwithstanding  their  numbers,  and  enthusiastic 
contempt  of  danger  and  death,  wherever  the  Spaniards  could  close  with 
them,  the  superiority  of  their  discipline  and  arms  obliged  the  Mexicans  to 
give  way.  But  in  narrow  streets,  and  where  many  of  the  bridges  of  com- 
munication were  broken  down,  the  Spaniards  could  seldom  come  to  a  fair 
rencounter  with  the  enemy,  and,  as  they  advanced,  were  exposed  to 
showers  of  arrows  and  stones  from  the  tops  of  houses.  After  a  day  of 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  126. 


236  HISTORY  OF  [BooxV. 

incessant  exertion,  though  vast  numbers  of  the  Mexicans  fell,  and  part  of 
the  city  was  burnt,  the  Spaniards  weary  with  the  slaughter,  and  harassed 
by  multitudes  which  successively  relieved  each  other,  were  obliged  at 
length  to  retire,  with  the  mortification  of  having  accomplished  nothing  so 
decisive  as  to  compensate  the  unusual  calamity  of  having  twelve  soldiers 
killed,  and  above  sixty  wounded.  Another  sally,  made  with  greater  force, 
was  not  more  effectual,  and  in  it  the  general  himself  was  wounded  in  the 
hand. 

Cortes  now  perceived,  too  late,  the  fatal  error  into  which  he  had  been 
betrayed  by  his  own  contempt  of  the  Mexicans,  and  was  satisfied  that  he 
could  neither  maintain  his  present  station  in  the  centre  of  a  hostile  city, 
nor  retire  from  it  without  the  most  imminent  danger.  One  resource  still 
remained,  to  try  what  effect  the  interposition  of  Montezuma  might  have 
to  soothe  or  overawe  his  subjects.  When  the  Mexicans  approached  next 
morning  to  renew  the  assault,  that  unfortunate  prince,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  reduced  to  the  sad  necessity  of  becoming  the  instrument  of 
his  own  disgrace,  and  of  the  slavery  of  his  people  [117],  advanced  to  the 
battlements  in  his  royal  robes,  and  with  all  the  pomp  in  which  he  used  to 
appear  on  solemn  occasions.  At  sight  of  their  sovereign,  whom  they  had 
long  been  accustomed  to  honour,  and  almost  to  revere  as  a  god,  the  weapons 
dropped  from  their  hands,  every  tongue  was  silent,  all  bowed  theii  heads, 
and  many  prostrated  themselves  on  the  ground.  Montezuma  addressed 
them  with  every  argument  that  could  mitigate  their  rage,  or  persuade  them 
to  cease  from  hostilities.  When  he  ended  his  discourse,  a  sullen  murmur 
of  disapprobation  ran  through  the  ranks  ;  to  this  succeeded  reproaches  and 
threats ;  and  the  fury  of  the  multitude  rising  in  a  moment  above  every 
restraint  of  decency  or  respect,  flights  of  arrows  and  volleys  of  stones 
poured  in  so  violently  upon  the  ramparts,  that  before  the  Spanish  soldiers, 
appointed  to  cover  Montezuma  with  their  bucklers,  had  time  to  lift  them 
in  his  defence,  two  arrows  wounded  the  unhappy  monarch,  and  the  blow 
of  a  stone  on  his  temple  struck  him  to  the  ground.  On  seeing  him  fall,  the 
Mexicans  were  so  much  astonished,  that  with  a  transition  not  uncommon 
in  popular  tumults,  they  passed  in  a  moment  from  one  extreme  to  the  other, 
remorse  succeeded  to  insult,  and  they  fled  with  horror,  as  if  the  vengeance 
of  heaven  were  pursuing  the  crime  which  they  committed.  The  Spaniards 
without  molestation  carried  Montezuma  to  his  apartments,  and  Cortes  hast- 
ened thither  to  console  him  under  his  misfortune.  But  the  unhappy 
monarch  now  perceived  how  low  he  was  sunk  ;  and  the  haughty  spirit 
which  seemed  to  have  been  so  long  extinct,  returning,  he  scorned  to  survive 
this  last  humiliation,  and  to  protract  an  ignominious  life,  not  only  as  the 
prisoner  and  tool  of  his  enemies,  but  as  the  object  of  contempt  or  detesta- 
tion among  his  subjects.  In  a  transport  of  rage  he  tore  the  bandages  from 
his  wounds,  and  refused,  with  such  obstinacy,  to  take  any  nourishment,  that 
be  soon  ended  his  wretched  days,  rejecting  with  disdain  all  the  solicitations 
of  the  'Spaniards  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith. 

Upon  the  death  of  Montezuma,  Cortes,  having  lost  all  hope  of  bringing 
the  Mexicans  to  an  accommodation,  saw  no  prospect  of  safety  but  in  at- 
tempting a  retreat,  and  began  to  prepare  for  it.  But  a  sudden  motion  ol 
the  Mexicans  engaged  him  in  new  conflicts.  They  took  possession  of  a 
high  tower  in  the  great  temple  which  overlooked  the  Spanish  quarters, 
and  placing  there  a  garrison  of  their  principal  warriors,  not  a  Spaniard 
could  stir  without  being  exposed  to  their  missile  weapons.  From  this  post 
it  was  necessary  to  dislodge  them  at  any  risk  ;  and  Juan  de  Escobar,  with 
a  numerous  detachment  of  chosen  soldiers,  was  ordered  to  make  the  attack. 
But  Escobar,  though  a  gallant  officer,  and  at  the  head  of  troops  accustomed 
to  conquer,  and  wno  now  fought  under  the  eyes  of  their  countrymen,  was 
thrice  repulsed.  Cortes,  sensible  that  not  only  the  reputation  but  the  safety 


AMERICA.  237 

of  his  army  depended  on  the  success  of  this  assault,  ordered  a  buckler  to 
be  tied  to  his  arm,  as  he  could  not  manage  it  with  his  wounded  hand,  and 
rushed  with  his  drawn  sword  into  the  thickest  of  the  combatants.  Encou- 
raged by  the  presence  of  their  general,  the  Spaniards  returned  to  the  charge 
with  such  vigour,  that  they  gradually  forced  their  way  up  the  steps,  and 
drove  the  Mexicans  to  the  platform  at.  the  top  of  the  tower.  There  a 
dreadful  carnage  began ;  when  two  young  Mexicans  of  high  rank,  observing 
Cortes  as  he  animated  his  soldiers  by  his  voice  and  example,  resolved  to 
sacrifice  their  own  lives  in  order  to  cut  off  the  author  of  all  the  calamities 
which  desolated  their  country.  They  approached  him  in  a  suppliant  pos- 
ture, as  if  they  had  intended  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  seizing  him  in  a 
moment,  hurried  him  towards  the  battlements,  over  which  they  threw 
themselves  headlong,  in  hopes  of  dragging  him  along  to  be  dashed  in  pieces 
by  the  same  fall.  But  Cortes,  by  his  strength  and  agility,  broke  loose  from 
their  grasp,  and  the  gallant  youths  perished  in  this  generous  though  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  to  save  their  country.*  As  soon  as  the  Spaniards  became 
masters  of  the  tower,  they  set  fire  to  it,  and,  without  farther  molestation, 
continued  the  preparations  for  their  retreat. 

This  became  the  more  necessary,  as  the  Mexicans  were  so  much  asto- 
nished at  the  last  effort  of  the  Spanish  valour,  that  they  began  to  change 
their  whole  system  of  hostility,  and,  instead  of  incessant  attacks,  endea- 
voured, by  barricading  the  streets  and  breaking  down  the  causeways,  to 
cut  off  the  communication  of  the  Spaniards  with  the  continent,  and  thus  to 
starve  an  enemy  whom  they  could  not  subdue.  The  first  point  to  be  de- 
termined by  Cortes  and  his  followers,  was,  whether  they  should  march  out 
openly  in  the  face  of  day,  when  they  could  discern  every  danger,  and  see 
how  to  regulate  their  own  motions,  as  well  as  how  to  resist  the  assaults  of 
the  enemy  ;  or,  whether  they  should  endeavour  to  retire  secretly  in  the 
night  ?  The  latter  was  preferred,  partly  from  hopes  that  their  national 
superstition  would  restrain  the  Mexicans  from  venturing  to  attack  them  in 
the  night,  and  partly  from  their  own  fond  belief  in  the  predictions  of  a 
private  soldier,  who  having  acquired  universal  credit  by  a  smattering  of 
learning,  and  his  pretensions  to  astrology,  boldly  assured  his  countrymen  of 
success,  if  they  made  their  retreat  in  this  manner.  They  began  to  move, 
towards  midnight,  in  three  divisions.  Sandoval  led  the  van  ;  Pedro  Alva- 
rado  and  Velasquez  de  Leon  had  the  conduct  of  the  rear  ;  and  Cortes  com 
manded  in  the  centre,  where  he  placed  the  prisoners,  among  whom  were 
a  son  and  two  daughters  of  Montezuma,  together  with  several  Mexicans  of 
distinction,  the  artillery,  the  baggage,  and  a  portable  bridge  of  timber  in- 
tended to  be  laid  over  the  breaches  in  the  causeway.  They  marched  in 
profound  silence  along  the  causeway  which  led  to  Tacuba,  because  it  was 
shorter  than  any  of  the  rest,  and,  lying  most  remote  from  the  road  tpwards 
Tlascala  and  the  sea-coast,  had  been  left  more  entire  by  the  Mexicans. 
They  reached  the  first  breach  in  it  without  molestation,  hoping  that  their 
retreat  was  undiscovered. 

But  the  Mexicans,  unperceived,  had  not  only  watched  all  their  motions 
with  attention,  but  had  made  proper  dispositions  for  a  most  formidable 
attack.  While  the  Spaniards  were  intent  upon  placing  their  bridge  in  the 
breach,  and  occupied  in  conducting  their  horses  and  artillery  along  it,  they 
were  suddenly  alarmed  with  a  tremendous  sound  of  warlike  instruments, 
and  a  general  shout  from  an  innumerable  multitude  of  enemies  ;  the  lake 
was  covered  with  canoes  ;  flights  of  arrows  and  showers  of  stones  poured 
in  upon  them  from  every  quarter ;  the  Mexicans  rushing  forward  to  the 

*  M.  Clavigero  has  censured  me  with  asperity  for  relating  this  gallant  action  of  the  two 
Mexicans,  and  for  supposing  that  there  were  battlements  round  the  temple  of  Mexico.  I  related 
the  attempt  to  destroy  Cortes  on  the  authority  of  Her.  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  9.  and  of  Torquemado,  lib. 
iv.  c.  69,  I  followed  them  likewise  in  supposing  the  upperra  cat  platform  of  the  temple  to  be  encom- 
passed by  a  battlement  or  rail. 


238  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

charge  with  fearless  impetuosity,  as  if  they  hoped  in  that  moment  to  be 
avenged  for  all  their  wrongs.  Unfortunately  the  wooden  bridge,  by  the 
weight  of  the  artillery,  was  wedged  so  fast  into  the  stones  and  mud,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  remove  it.  Dismayed  at  this  accident,  the  Spaniards 
advanced  with  precipitation  towards  the  second  breach.  The  Mexicans 
hemmed  them  in  on  every  side ;  and  though  they  defended  themselves 
with  their  usual  courage,  yet  crowded  together  as  they  were  on  a  narrow 
causeway,  their  discipline  and  military  skill  were  of  little  avail,  nor  did 
the  obscurity  of  the  night  permit  them  to  derive  great  advantage  from  their 
fire-arms,  or  the  superiority  of  their  other  weapons.  All  Mexico  was  now 
in  arms  ;  and  so  eager  were  the  people  on  the  destruction  of  their  oppres- 
sors, that  they  who  were  not  near  enough  to  annoy  them  in  person,  impa- 
tient of  the  delay,  pressed  forward  with  such  ardour  as  drove  on  their 
countrymen  in  th"e  front  with  irresistible  violence.  Fresh  warriors  instantly 
filled  the  place  of  such  as  fell.  The  Spaniards,  weary  with  slaughter,  and 
unable  to  sustain  the  weight  of  the  torrent  that  poured  in  upon  them,  began 
to  give  way.  In  a  moment  the  confusion  was  universal ;  horse  and  foot, 
officers  and  soldiers,  friends  and  enemies,  were  mingled  together ;  and  while 
all  fought,  and  many  fell,  they  could  hardly  distinguish  from  what  hand 
the  blow  came. 

Cortes,  with  about  a  hundred  foot  soldiers  and  a  few  horse,  forced  his 
way  over  the  two  remaining  breaches  in  the  causeway,  the  bodies  of  the 
dead  serving  to  fill  up  the  chasms,  and  reached  the  main  land.  Having 
formed  them  as  soon  as  they  arrived,  he  returned  with  such  as  were  yet 
capable  of  service  to  assist  his  friends  in  their  retreat,  and  to  encourage 
them,  by  his  presence  and  example,  to  persevere  in  the  efforts  requisite  to 
effect  it.  He  met- with  part  of  his  soldiers  who  had  broke  through  the 
enemy,  but  found  many  more  overwhelmed  by  the  multitude  of  their  aggres- 
sors, or  perishing  in  the  lake  ;  and  heard  the  piteous  lamentations  of  others, 
whom  the  Mexicans,  having  taken  alive,  were  carrying  off  in  triumph  to 
be  sacrificed  to  the  god  of  war.  Before  day,  all  who  had  escaped  assem- 
bled at  Tacuba.  But  when  the  morning  aawned,  and  discovered  to  the 
view  of  Cortes  his  shattered  battalion  reduced  to  less  than  half  its  num- 
ber, the  survivors  dejected,  and  most  of  them  covered  with  wounds,  the 
thoughts  of  what  they  had  suffered,  and  the  remembrance  of  so  many  faith- 
ful friends  and  gallant  followers  who  had  fallen  in  that  night  of  sorrow,* 
pierced  his  soul  with  such  anguish,  that  while  he  was  forming  their  ranks, 
and  issuing  some  necessary  orders,  his  soldiers  observed  the  tears  trickling 
from  his  eyes,  and  remarked  with  much  satisfaction,  that  while  attentive  to 
the  duties  of  a  general,  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  feelings  of  a  man. 

In  this  fatal  retreat  many  officers  of  distinction  perished  [118],  and  among 
these  Velasquez  de  Leon,  Wrho  having  forsaken  the  party  of  his  kinsman, 
the  governor  of  Cuba,  to  follow  the  fortune  of  his  companions,  was,  on  that 
account,  as  well  as  for  his  superior  merit,  respected  by  them  as  the  second 
person  in  the  army.  All  the  artillery,  ammunition,  ana  baggage,  were  lost ; 
the  greater  part  of  the  horses,  and  above  two  thousand  Tlascalans,  were 
killed,  and  only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  treasure  which  they  had 
amassed  was  saved.  This,  which  had  been  always  their  chief  object, 
proved  a  great  cause  of  their  calamity  ;  for  many  of  the  soldiers  having  so 
overloaded  themselves  with  bars  of  gold  as  rendered  them  unfit  for  action, 
and  retarded  their  flight,  fell  ignominiously,  the  victims  of  their  own  incon- 
siderate avarice.  Amidst  so  many  disasters,  it  was  some  consolation  to  find 
that  Aguilar  and  Marina,  whose  function  as  interpreters  was  of  such  essen- 
tial importance,  had  made  their  escape.t 

The  first  care  of  Cortes  was  to  find  some  shelter  for  his  wearied  troops ; 

*  Noche  Iriste  is  the  name  by  which  it  is  still  distinguished  in  New  Spain.        f  Cortes  Relat.  pt 
848     B.  Diaz,  c.  128.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  109.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  11, 12. 


AMERICA  239 

for,  as  the  Mexicans  infested  them  on  every  side,  and  the  people  of  Tacuba 
began  to  take  arms,  he  could  not  continue  in  his  present  station.  He  di- 
rected his  march  towards  the  rising*  ground,  and,  having  fortunately  disco- 
vered a  temple  situated  on  an  eminence,  took  possession  of  it.  There  he 
found  not  only  the  shelter  for  which  he  wished,  but,  what  was  no  less 
wanted,  some  provisions  to  refresh  his  men ;  and  though  the  enemy  did 
not  intermit  their  attacks  throughout  the  day,  they  were  with  less  difficulty 
prevented  from  making  any  impression.  During  this  time  Cortes  was  en- 
gaged in  deep  consultation  with  his  officers,  concerning  the  route  which 
they  ought  to  take  in  their  retreat.  They  were  now  on  the  west  side  of 
the  lake.  Tlascala,  the  only  place  where  they  could  hope  for  a  friendly 
reception,  lay  about  sixty- four  miles  to  the  east  of  Mexico  ;*  so  that  they 
were  obliged  to  go  round  the  north  end  of  the  lake  before  they  could  fall 
into  the  road  which  led  thither.  A  Tlascalan  soldier  undertook  to  be  their 
guide,  and  conducted  them  through  a  country  in  some  places  marshy,  in 
others  mountainous,  in  all  ill  cultivated  and  thinly  peopled.  They  marched 
for  six  days  with  little  respite,  and  under  continual  alarms,  numerous  bodies 
of  the  Mexicans  hovering  around  them,  sometimes  harassing  them  at  a  dis- 
tance with  their  missile  weapons,  and  sometimes  attacking  them  closely  in 
front,  in  rear,  in  flank,  with  great  boldness,  as  they  now  knew  that  they 
were  not  invincible.  Nor  were  the  fatigue  and  danger  of  those  incessant 
conflicts  the  worst  evils  to  which  they  were  exposed.  As  the  barren  coun- 
try through  which  they  passed  afforded  hardly  any  provisions,  they  were 
reduced  to  feed  on  berries,  roots,  and  the  stalks  of  green  maize  ;  and  at 
the  very  time  that  famine  was  depressing  their  spirits  and  wasting  their 
strength,  their  situation  required  the  most  vigorous  and  unremitting  exer- 
tions of  courage  and- activity.  Amidst  those  complicated  distresses,  one 
circumstance  supported  and  animated  the  Spaniards.  Their  commander 
sustained  this  sad  reverse  of  fortune  with  unshaken  magnanimity.  His 
presence  of  mind  never  forsook  him  ;  his  sagacity  foresaw  every  event, 
and  his  vigilance  provided  for  it.  He  was  foremost  in  every  danger,  and 
endured  every  hardship  with  cheerfulness.  The  difficulties  with  which 
he  was  surrounded  seemed  to  call  forth  new  talents ;  and  his  soldiers, 
though  despairing  themselves,  continued  to  follow  him  with  increasing  con- 
fidence in  his  abilities. 

On  the  sixth  day  they  arrived  near  to  Otumba,  not  far  from  the  road 
between  Mexico  and  Tlascala.  Early  next  morning  they  began  to  advance 
towards  it,  flying  parties  of  the  enemy  still  hanging  on  their  rear  ;  and, 
amidst  the  insults  with  which  they  accompanied  their  hostilities,  Marina 
remarked  that  they  often  exclaimed  with  exultation,  "  Go  on,  robbers  ;  go 
to  the  place  where  you  shall  quickly  meet  the  vengeance  due  to  your 
crimes."  The  meaning  of  this  threat  the  Spaniards  did  not  comprehend, 
until  they  reached  the  summit  of  an  eminence  before  them.  There  a 
spacious  valley  opened  to  their  view,  covered  with  a  vast  army,  extending 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  The  Mexicans,  while  with  one  body  of 
their  troops  they  harassed  the  Spaniards  in  their  retreat,  had  assembled 
their  principal  force  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake  ;  and  marching  along  the 
road  which  led  directly  to  Tlascala,  posted  it  in  the  plain  of  Otumba, 
through  which  they  knew  Cortes  must  pass.  At  the  sight  of  this  incredible 
multitude,  which  they  could  survey  at  once  from  the  rising  ground,  the 
Spaniards  were  astonished,  and  even  the  boldest  began  to  despair.  But 
Cortes,  without  allowing  leisure  for  their  fears  to  acquire  strength  by  reflec- 
tion, after  warning  them  briefly  that  no  alternative  now  remained  but  to 
conquer  or  to  die,  led  them  instantly  to  the  charge.  The  Mexicans  waited 
their  approach  with  unusual  fortitude.  Such,  however,  was  the  superiority 
of  the  Spanish  discipline  and  arms,  that  the  impression  of  this  small  body 

*  Villa  Segnor  Teatro  Americanos,  lib.  ii.  o.  11. 


240  HISTORY  OF  [BooxV. 

was  irresistible  ;  and  whichever  way  its  force  was  directed,  it  penetrated 
and  dispersed  the  most  numerous  battalions.  But  while  these  gave  way 
in  one  quarter,  new  combatants  advanced  from  another,  and  the  Spaniards, 
though  successful  in  every  attack,  were  ready  to  sink  under  those  repeated 
efforts,  without  seeing  any  end  of  their  toil,  or  any  hope  of  victory.  At 
that  time  Cortes  observed  the  great  standard  of  the  empire,  which  was 
carried  before  the  Mexican  general,  advancing ;  and  fortunately  recollecting 
to  have  heard,  that  on  the  fate  of  it  depended  the  event  of  every  battle, 
he  assembled  a  few  of  his  bravest  officers,  whose  horses  were  still  capable 
of  service,  and,  placing  himself  at  their  head,  pushed  forward  towards  the 
standard  with  an  impetuosity  which  bore  down  every  thing  before  it.  A 
chosen  body  of  nobles,  who  guarded  the  standard,  made  some  resistance, 
but  were  soon  broken.  Cortes,  with  a  stroke  of  his  lance,  wounded  the 
Mexican  general,  and  threw  him  on  the  ground.  One  of  the  Spanish 
officers,  alighting,  put  an  end  to  his  life,  and  laid  hold  of  the  imperial 
standard.  The  moment  that  their  leader  fell,  and  the  standard,  towards 
which  all  directed  their  eyes,  disappeared,  a  universal  panic  struck  the 
Mexicans  ;  and,  as  if  the  bond  which  held  them  together  had  been  dis- 
solved, every  ensign  was  lowered,  each  soldier  threw  away  his  weapons, 
and  all  fled  with  precipitation  to  the  mountains.  The  Spaniards  unable  to 
pursue  them  far,  returned  to  collect  the  spoils  of  the  field,  which  were  so 
valuable  as  to  be  some  compensation  for  the  wealth  which  they  had  lost  in 
Mexico ;  for  in  the  enemy's  army  were  most  of  their  principal  warriors 
dressed  out  in  their  richest  ornaments  as  if  they  had  been  inarching  to 
assured  victory.  Next  day  [July  8],  to  their  great  joy,  they  entered  the 
Tlascalan  territories.* 

But  amidst  their  satisfaction  in  having  got  beyond  the  precincts  of  a 
hostile  country,  they  could  not  look  forward  without  solicitude,  as  they 
were  still  uncertain  what  reception  they  might  meet  with  from  allies  to 
whom  they  returned  in  a  condition  very  different  from  that  in  which  they 
had  lately  set  out  from  their  dominions.  Happily  for  them,  the  enmity  of 
the  Tlascalans  to  the  Mexican  name  was  so  inveterate,  their  desire  to  avenge 
the  death  of  their  countrymen  .so  vehement,  and  the  ascendant  which 
Cortes  had  acquired  over  the  chiefs  of  the  republic  so  complete,  that,  far 
from  entertaining  a  thought  of  taking  any  advantage  of  the  distressed 
situation  in  which  they  beheld  the  Spaniards,  they  received  them  with  a 
tenderness  and  cordiality  which  quickly  dissipated  all  their  suspicions. 

Some  interval  of  tranquillity  and  indulgence  was  now  absolutely  neces- 
sary ;  not  only  that  the  Spaniards  might  give  attention  to  the  cure  of  their 
wounds,  which  had  been  too  long  neglected,  but  in  order  to  recruit  theii 
strength,  exhausted  by  such  a  long  succession  of  fatigue  and  hardships. 
During  this,  Cortes  learned  that  he  and  his  companions  were  not  the  only 
Spaniards  who  had  felt  the  effects  of  the  Mexican  enmity.  A  considerable 
detachment  which  was  marching  from  Zempoalla  towards  the  capital,  had 
been  cut  off  by  the  people  of  Tepeaca.  A  smaller  party,  returning  from 
Tlascala  to  Vera  Cruz,  with  the  share  of  the  Mexican  gold  allotted  to  the 
garrison,  had  been  surprised  and  destroyed  in  the  mountains.  At  a  juncture 
when  the  life  of  every  Spaniard  was  of  importance,  such  losses  were  deeply 
felt.  The  schemes  which  Cortes  was  meditating  rendered  them  peculiarly 
afflictive  to  him.  While  his  enemies,  and  even  many  of  his  own  followers, 
considered  the  disasters  which  had  befallen  him  as  fatal  to  the  progress  of 
his  arms,  and  imagined  that  nothing  now  remained  but  speedily  to  abandon 
a  country  which  he  had  invaded  with  unequal  force,  his  mind,  as  eminent 
for  perseverance  as  for  enterprise,  was  still  bent  on  accomplishing  his 
original  purpose,  of  subjecting  the  Mexican  empire  to  the  crown  of  Castile. 
Severe  and  unexpected  as  the  check  was  which  he  had  received,  it  did  not 

*  Cortes  Relat.  p.  219     B  Diaz,  c.  128.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  110.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  12, 13. 


AMERICA.  241 

appear  to  him  a  sufficient  reason  for  relinquishing  the  conquests  which  he 
had  already  made,  or  against  resuming  his  operations  with  better  hopes  of 
success.  The  colony  at  Vera  Cruz  was  not  only  safe,  but  had  remained 
unmolested.  The  people  of  Zempoalla  and  the  adjacent  districts  had 
discovered  no  symptoms' of  defection.  The  Tlascalans  continued  faithful 
to  their  alliance.  On  their  martial  spirit,  easily  roused  to  arms,  and  in- 
flamed with  implacable  hatred  of  the  Mexicans,  Cortes  depended  for 
powerful  aid.  He  had  still  the  command  of  a  body  of  Spaniards,  equal 
in  number  to  that  with  which  he  had  opened  his  way  into  the  centre  of  the 
empire,  and  had  taken  possession  of  the  capital ;  so  that  with  the  benefit 
of  greater  experience,  as  well  as  more  perfect  knowledge  of  the  country, 
he  did  not  despair  of  quickly  recovering  all  that  he  had  been  deprived  of 
by  untoward  events. 

Full  of  this  idea,  he  courted  the  Tlascalan  chiefe  with  such  attention, 
and  distributed  among  them  so  liberally  the  rich  spoils  of  Otumba,  that  he 
was  secure  of  obtaining  whatever  he  snould  require  of  the  republic.  He 
drew  a  small  supply  of  ammunition  and  two;- or  three  fieldpieces  from  his 
stores  at  Vera  Cruz.  He  despatched  an  officer .  of  confidence  with  four 
ships  of  Narvaez's  fleet  to  Hispaniola  and  Jamaica,  to  engage  adventurers,' 
and  to  purchase  horses,  gunpowder,  and  other  military  stores.  As  he  knew 
that  it  would  be  vain  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  Mexico,  unless  he  could 
secure  the  command  of  the  lake,  he  gave  orders  to  prepare  in  the  mountains 
of  Tlascala,  materials  for  building  twelve  brigantines,  so  as  they  might  be 
carried  thither  in  pieces  ready  to  be  put  together,  and  launched  when  he 
stood  in  need  of  their  service.* 

But  while,  with  provident  attention,  he  was  taking  those  necessary  steps 
towards  the  execution  of  his  measures,  an  obstacle  arose  in  a  quarter  where 
it  was  least  expected,  but  most  formidable.  The  spirit  of  discontent  and 
mutiny  broke  out  in  his  own  army.  Many  of  Narvaez's  followers  were 
planters  rather  than  soldiers,  and  had  accompanied  him  to  New  Spain  with 
sanguine  hopes  of  obtaining  settlements,  but  with  little  inclination  to  engage 
in  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  war.  As  the  same  motives  had  induced 
them  to  enter  into  their  new  engagements  with  Cortes,  they  no  sooner 
became  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  service,  than  they  bitterly 
tepenled  of  their  choice.  Such  of  them  as  had  the  good  fortune  to  survive 
the  perilous  adventures  in  which  their  own  imprudence  had  involved  them, 
happy  in  having  made  their  escape,  trembled  at  the  thoughts  of  being 
exposed  a  second  time  to  similar  calamities.  As  soon  as  they  discovered 
the  intention  of  Cortes,  they  began  secretly  to  murmur  and  cabal,  and, 
waxing  gradually  more  audacious,  they,  in  a  body,;  offered  a  remonstrance 
to  their  general  against  the  imprudence  of  attacking  a  powerful  empire 
with  his  shattered  forces,  and  formally  required  him  to  lead  them  back 
directly  to  Cuba.  Though  Cortes,  long  practised  in  the  arts  of  command, 
employed  arguments,  entreaties,  and  presents  to  convince  or  to  soothe  them ; 
though  his  own  soldiers,  animated  with  the  spirit  of  their  leader,  warmly 
seconded  his  endeavours  ;  he  found  their  fears  too  violent  and  deep  rooted 
to  be  removed,  and  the  utmost  he  could  effect  was  to  prevail  with  them 
to  defer  their  departure  for  some  time,  on  a  promise  that  he  would,  at  a 
more  proper  juncture,  dismiss  such  as  should  desire  it. 

That  the  maleconterits  might  have  no  leisure  to  brood  over  the  causes  of 
their  disaffection,  he  resolved  instantly  to  call  forth  his  troops  into  action. 
He  proposed  to  chastise  the  people  of  Tepeaca  for  the  outrage  which  they 
had  committed ;  and  as  the  detachment  which  they  had  cut  off  happened 
to  be  composed  mostly  of  soldiers  who  had  served  under  Narvaez,  their 
companions,  from  the  desire  of  vengeance,  engaged  the  more  willingly  in 
this  war.  He  took  the  command  in  person,  [August]  accompanied  by  a 

*  Cortes  Relat.  p.  253.  E.    Gomara  Cron.  c  117. 

VOL.  !.— 31 


242  HISTORY  OF  [BooicV, 

numerous  body  of  Tlascalans,  and  in  the  space  of  a  few  weeks,  after  rarioof 
encounters,  with  great  slaughter  of  the  Tepeacans,  reduced  that  province 
to  subjection.  During  several  months,  while  he  waited  for  the  supplies  of 
men  and  ammunition  which  he  expected,  and  was  carrying  on  his  prepara- 
tions for  constructing  the  brigantines,  he  kept  his  troops  constantly  em- 
ployed in  various  expeditions  against  the  adjacent  provinces,  all  of  which 
were  conducted  with  a  uniform  tenour  of  success.  By  these,  bis  men 
became  again  accustomed  to  victory,  and  resumed  their  wonted  sense  of 
superiority  ;  the  Mexican  power  was  weakened ;  the  Tlascalan  warriors 
acquired  the  habit  of  acting  in  conjunction  writh  the  Spaniards ;  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  republic  delighted  to  see  their  country  enriched  with  the 
spoils  of  all  the  people  around  them  ;  and  astonished  every  day  with  fresh 
discoveries  of  the  irresistible  prowess  of  their  allies,  they  declined  no  effort 
requisite  to  support  them. 

All  those  preparatory  arrangements,  however,  though  the  most  prudent 
and  efficacious  which  the  situation  of  Cortes  allowed  him  to  make,  would 
have  been  of  little  avail  without  a  reinforcement  of  Spanish  soldiers.  Of 
this  he  was  so  deeply  sensible,  that  it  was  the  chief  object  of  his  thoughts 
and  wishes  ;  and  yet  his  only  prospect  of  obtaining  it  from  the  return  of 
the  officer  whom  he  had  sent  to  the  isles  to  solicit  aid,  was  both  distant  and 
uncertain.  But  what  neither  his  own  sagacity  nor  power  could  have  pro- 
cured, he  owed  to  a  series, of  fortunate  and  unforeseen  incidents.  The 
governor  of  Cuba,  to  whom  the  success  of  Narvaez  appeared  an  event  of 
infallible  certainty,  having  sent  two  small  ships  after  him  with  new  instruc 
tions,  and  a  supply  of  men  and  military  stores,  the  officer  whom  Cortes  had 
appointed  to  command  on  the  coast,  artfully  decoyed  them  into  the  harbour 
of  Vera  Cruz,  seized  the  vessels,  and  easily  persuaded  the  soldiers  to  fol- 
low the  standard  of  a  more  able  leader  than  him  whom  they  were  destined 
to  join.*  Soon  after,  three  ships  of  more  considerable  force  came  into  the 
harbour  separately.  These  belonged  to  an  armament  fitted  out  by  Fran- 
cisco de  Garay,  governor  of  Jamaica,  who,  being  possessed  with  me  rage 
of  discovery  and  conquest  which  animated  every  Spaniard  settled  in 
America,  had  long  aimed  at  intruding  into  some  district  of  New  Spain,  and 
dividing  with  Cortes  the  glory  and  gain  of  annexing  that  empire  to  the 
crown  of  Castile.  They  unadvisedly  made  their  attempt  on  the  northern 
provinces,  where  the  country  was  poor,  and  the  people  nerce  and  warlike  ; 
and  after  a  cruel  succession  of  disasters,  famine  compelled  them  to  venture 
into  Vera  Cruz,  and  cast  themselves  upon  the  mercy  of  their  countrymen 
[Oct.  28].  Their  fidelity  was  not  proof  against  the  splendid  hopes  and 
promises  which  had  seduced  other  adventurers ;  and,  as  if  the  spirit  of 
revolt  had  been  contagious  in  New  Spain,  they  likewise  abandoned  the 
master  whom  they  were  bound  to  serve,  and  enlisted  under  Cortes.f  Nor 
was  it  America  alone  that  furnished  such  unexpected  aid ;  a  ship  arrived 
from  Spain,  freighted  by  some  private  merchants  with  military  stores,  in 
hopes  of  a  profitable  market  in  a  country,  the  fame  of  whose  opulence 
began  to  spread  over  Europe.  Cortes  eagerly  purchased  a  cargo  which  to 
him  was  invaluable,  and  the  crew,  following  the  general  example,  joined 
him  at  Tlascala.J 

From  those  various  quarters,  the  army  of  Cortes  was  augmented  with  a 
hundred  and  eighty  men,  and  twenty  horses,  a  reinforcement  too  incon- 
siderable to  produce  any  consequence  which  would  have  entitled  it  to 
have  been  mentioned  in  the  history  of  other  parts  of  the  globe.  But  in  that 
of  America,  where  great  revolutions  Were  brought  about  by  causes  which 
seemed  to  bear  no  proportion  to  their  effects,  such  small  events  rise  into  im- 
portance, because  they  were  sufficient  to  decide  with  respect  to  the  fate  of 

*B.Dia7,c.  13 J.  t  Cortes  Relat.  253.  F.  B.  Diaz,  c.  183.  |  Cortes  Relat.  253.  F.  B. 
Diaz,  c.  l:«J. 


AMERICA.  243 

kingdoms.  Nor  is  it  the  least  remarkable  instance  of  the  singular  felicity 
conspicuous  in  many  passages  of  Cortes's  story,  that  the  two  persons  chiefly 
instrumental  in  furnishing  him  with  those  seasonable  supplies,  should  be  an 
avowed  enemy  who  aimed  at  his  destruction,  and  an  envious  rival  who 
wished  to  supplant  him. 

The  first  effect  of  the  junction  with  his  new  followers  was  to  enable  him 
to  dismiss  such  of  Narvaez's  soldiers  as  remained  with  reluctance  in  his 
service.  After  their  departure,  he  still  mustered  five  hundred  and  fifty 
infantry,  of  which  fourscore  were  armed  with  muskets  or  crossbows,  forty- 
horsemen,  and  a  train  of  nine  field-pieces.*  At  the  head  of  these,  accom- 
panied by  ten  thousand  Tlascalans  and  other  friendly  Indians,  Cortes  began 
his  march  towards  Mexico,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  December,  six  months 
after  his  disastrous  retreat  from  that  city.f 

Nor  did  he  advance  to  attack  an  enemy  unprepared  to  receive  him. 
Upon  the  death  of  Montezuma,  the  Mexican  chiefs,  in  whom  the  right  of 
electing  the  emperor  was  vested,  had  instantly  raised  his  brother  Quetla- 
vaca  to  the  throne.  His  avowed  and  inveterate  enmity  to  the  Spaniards 
would  have  been  sufficient  to  gain  their  suffrages,  although  he  had  been  less 
distinguished  for  courage  and  capacity.  He  bad  an  immediate  opportunity 
of  showing  that  he  was  worthy  ot  their  choice,  by  conducting  in  person  those 
fierce  attacks  which  compelled  the  Spaniards  to  abandon  his  capital ;  and 
as  soon  as  their  retreat  afforded  him  any  respite  from  action,  he  took 
measures  for  preventing  their  return  to  Mexico,  with  prudence  equal  to  the 
spirit  which  he  had  displayed  in  driving  them  out  of  it.  As  from  the 
vicinity  of  Tlascala,  he  could  not  be  unacquainted  with  the  motions  and 
intentions  of  Cortes,  he  observed  the  storm  that  was  gathering,  and  began 
early  to  provide  against  it.  He  repaired  what  the  Spaniards  had  ruined 
in  the  city,  and  strengthened  it  with  such  new  fortifications  as  the  skill  of 
his  subjects  was  capable  of  erecting.  Besides  filling  his  magazines  with 
the  usual  weapons  of  war,  he  gave  directions  to  make  long  spears  headed 
with  the  swords  and  daggers  taken  from  the  Spaniards,  in  order  to  annoy 
the  cavalry.  He  summoned  the  people  in  every  province  of  the  empire  to 
take  arms  against  their  oppressors,  and  as  an  encouragement  to  exert  them- 
selves with  vigour,  he  promised  them  exemption  from  all  the  taxes  which 
his  predecessors  had  imposed.J  But  what  he  laboured  with  the  greatest 
earnestness  was,  to  deprive  the  Spaniards  of  the  advantages  which  they 
derived  from  the  friendship  of  the  Tlascalans,  by  endeavouring  to  persuade 
that  people  to  renounce  all  connexion  with  men  who  were  not  only  avowed 
enemies  of  the  gods  whom  they  worshipped,  but  who  would  not  fail  to 
subject  them  at  last  to  the  same  yoke  which  they  were  now  inconsiderately 
lending  their  aid  to  impose  upon  others.  These  representations,  no  less 
striking  than  well  founded,  were  urged  so  forcibly  by  his  ambassadors,  that 
it  required  all  the  address  of  Cortes  to  prevent  their  making  a  dangerous 
impression. § 

But  while  Quetlavaca  was  arranging  his  plan  of  defence,  with  a  degree 
of  foresight  uncommon  in  an  American,  his  days  were  cut  short  by  the 
,small-pox.  This  distemper,  which  raged  at  that  time  in  New  Spain  with 
fatal  malignity,  was  unknown  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe  until  it  was 
introduced  by  the  Europeans,  and  may  be  reckoned  among  the  greatest 
calamities  brought  upon  them  by  their  invaders.  In  his  stead  the  Mexicans 
raised  to  the  throne  Guatimozin,  nephew  and  son-in-law  of  Montezuma,  a 
young  man  of  such  high  reputation  for  abilities  and  valour,  that  in  this 
dangerous  crisis,  his  countrymen,  with  one  voice,  called  him  to  the  suprenr.e 
command. || 

*  Cortes  Relat.  255.  E.  t  Relat.  256.  A.    B.  Diaz,  c.  137.  i  Cortes  Relat.  p.  253.  E. 

254.  A.    B.  Diaz,  c.  HO.  §  B.  Diaz,  c.  129.    Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  14. 19.  ||  B.  Diaz, 

c.  130 


244  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

1521.]  As  soon  as  Cortes  entered  the  enemies  territories,  he  discovered 
various  preparations  to  obstruct  his  progress.  But  his  troops  forced  their 
way  with  little  difficulty,  and  took  possession  of  Tezeuco,  the  second  city 
of  the  empire,  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  about  twenty  miles  from 
Mexico.*  Here  he  determined  to  establish  his  head-quarters,  as  the  most 
proper  station  for  launching  his  brigantines,  as  well  as  for  making  his  ap- 
proaches to  the  capital.  In  order  to  render  his  residence  there  more  secure, 
he  deposed  the  cazique,  or  chief,  who  was  at  the  head  of  that  community, 
under  pretext  of  some  defect  in  his  title,  and  substituted  in  his  place  a  per- 
son whom  a  faction  of  the  nobles  pointed  out  as  the  ri^ht  heir  of  that  dig- 
nity. Attached  to  him  by  this  benefit,  the  cazique  and  his  adherents  served 
the  Spaniards  with  inviolable  fidelity.! 

As  the  preparations  for  constructing  the  brigantines  advanced  slowly 
under  the  unskilful  hands  of  soldiers  and  Indians,  whom  Cortes  was  obliged 
to  employ  in  assisting  three  or  four  carpenters  who  happened  fortunately  to 
be  in  his  service  ;  and  as  he  had  not  yet  received  the  reinforcement,  which 
he  expected  from  Hispaniola,  he  was  not  in  a  condition  to  turn  his  arms 
directly  against  the  capital.  To  have  attacked  at  this  period,  a  city  so 
populous,  so  well  prepared  for  defence,  and  in  a  situation  of  such  peculiar 
strength,  must  have  exposed  his  troops  to  inevitable  destruction.  Three 
months  elapsed  before  the  materials  for  the  brigantines  were  finished,  and 
before  he  heard  any  thing  with  respect  to  the  success  of  the  officer  whom 
he  had  sent  to  Hispaniola.  This,  however,  was  not  a  season  of  inaction  to 
Cortes.  He  attacked  successively  several  of  the  towns  situated  around  the 
lake ;  and  though  all  the  Mexican  power  was  exerted  to  obstruct  his 
operations,  he  either  compelled  them  to  submit  to  the  Spanish  crown,  or 
reduced  them  to  ruins.  The  inhabitants  of  other  towns  he  endeavoured 
to  conciliate  by  more  gentle  means;  and  though  he  could  not  hold  any 
intercourse  with  them  but  by  the  intervention  of  interpreters,  yet,  under 
all  the  disadvantages  of  that  tedious  and  imp.erfect  mode  of  communication 
he  had  acquired  such  thorough  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  country,  as 
well  as  of  the  dispositions  of  the  people,  mat  he  conducted  his  negotiations 
and  intrigues  with  astonishing  dexterity  and  success.  Most  of  the  cities 
adjacent  to  Mexico  were  originally  the  capitals  of  small  independent  states  ; 
and  some  of  them  having  been  but  lately  annexed  to  the  Mexican  empire, 
still  retained  the  remembrance  of  their  ancient  liberty,  and  bore  with  im- 
patience the  rigorous  yoke  of  their  new  masters.  Cortes,  having  early 
observed  symptoms  of  their  disaffection,  availed  himself  of  this  knowledge 
to  gain  their  confidence  and  friendship.  By  offering  with  confidence  to 
deliver  them  from  the  odious  dominion  of  the  Mexicans,  and  by  liberal 
promises  of  more  indulgent  treatment  if  they  would  unite  with  him  against 
their  oppressors,  he  prevailed  on  the  people  of  several  considerable  dis- 
tricts, not  only  to  acknowledge  the  King  of  Castile  as  their  sovereign,  but 
to  supply  the  Spanish  camp  with  provisions,  and  to  strengthen  his  army 
with  auxiliary  troops.  Guatimozin,  on  the  first  appearance  of  defection 
among  his  subjects,  exerted  himself  with  vigour  to  prevent  or  to  punish  their 
revolt ;  but,  in  spite  of  his  efforts,  the  spirit  continued  to  spread.  The 
Spaniards  gradually  acquired  new  allies,  and  with  deep  concern  he  beheld 
Cortes  arming  against  his  empire  those  very  hands  which  ought  to  have 
been  active  in  its  defence,  and  ready  to  advance  against  the  capital  at  the 
head  of  a  numerous  body  of  his  own  subjects. J 

While,  by  those  various  methods,  Cortes  was  gradually  circumscribing 
the  Mexican  power  in  such  a  manner  that  his  prospect  of  overturning  it 
seemed  neither  to  be  uncertain  nor  remote,  all  his  schemes  were  well  nigh 

*  Villa  Senor  Theatre  Americano,  i.  156.  t  Cortes  Relat.  256,  &c.    B.  Diaz,  c.  137.    Go- 

mara  Cron.  c.  131.     Herrera,  dec.  3.  c.  1.  J  Cortes  Relat.  256—260.     B.  Diaz,  c,  137—140 

Gomara  Cron.  c.  102, 123.    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  i.  c.  1,  2. 


AMERICA.  245 

defeated  by  a  conspiracy  no  less  unexpected  than  dangerous.  The  soldiers 
of  Karvaez  had  never  united  perfectly  with  the  original  companions  of 
Cortes,  nor  did  they  enter  into  his  measures  with  the  same  cordial  zeal. 
Upon  every  occasion  that  required  any  extraordinary  effort  of  courage  or 
01  patience,  their  spirits  were  apt  to  sink  ;  and  now,  on  a  near  view  of 
what  they  had  to  encounter,  in  attempting  to  reduce  a  city  so  inaccessible 
as  Mexico,  and  defended  by  a  numerous  army,  the  resolution  even  of  those 
among  them  who  had  adhered  to  Cortes  when  he  was  deserted  by  their 
associates,  began  to  fail.  Their  fears  led  them  to  presumptuous  and  un- 
soldierlike  discussions  concerning  the  propriety  of  their  general's  measures, 
and  the  improbability  of  their  success.  From  these  they  proceeded  to 
censure  and  invectives,  and  at  last  began  to  deliberate  how  they  might 
provide  for  their  own  safety,  of  which  they  deemed  their  commander  to 
be  totally  negligent.  Antonio  Villefagna,  a  private  soldier,  but  bold,  in- 
triguing, and  strongly  attached  to  Velasquez,  artfully  fomented  this  growing 
spirit  of  disaffection.  His  quarters  became  the  rendezvous  of  the  male- 
contents,  where,  after  many  consultations,  they  could  discover  no  method 
of  checking  Cortes  in  his  career,  but  by  assassinating  him  and  his  most 
considerable  officers,  and  conferring  the  command  upon  some  person  who 
would  relinquish  his  wild  plans,  and  adopt  measures  more  consistent  with 
the  general  security.  Despair  inspired  them  with  courage.  The  hour 
for  perpetrating  the  crime,  the  persons  whom  they  destined  as  victims, 
the  officers  to  succeed  them  in  command,  were  all  named  :  and  the  con- 
spirators signed  an  association,  by  which  tney  bound  themselves  with 
most  solemn  oaths  to  mutual  fidelity.  But  on  the  evening  before  the  ap- 
pointed day,  one  of  Cortes's  ancient  followers,  who  had  been  seduced  into 
the  conspiracy,  touched  with  compunction  at  the  imminent  danger  of  a 
man  whom  he  had  long  been  accustomed  to  revere,  or  struck  with  horror 
at  his  own  treachery,  went  privately  to  his  general,  and  revealed  to  him 
all  that  he  knew.  Cortes,  though  deeply  alarmed,  discerned  at  once  what 
conduct  was  proper  in  a  situation  so  critical.  He  repaired  instantly  to 
Villefagna's  quarters,  accompanied  by  some  of  his  most  trusty  officers. 
The  astonishment  and  confusion  of  the  man  at  this  unexpected  visit  anti- 
cipated the  confession  of  his  guilt.  Cortes,  while  his  attendants  seized 
the  traitor,  snatched  from  his  bosom  a  paper,  containing  the  association, 
signed  by  the  conspirators.  Impatient  to  know  how  far  the  infection  ex- 
tended, he  retired  to  read  it,  and  found  there  names  which  rilled  him  with 
surprise  and  sorrow.  But  aware  how  dangerous  a  strict  scrutiny  might 
prove  at  such  a  juncture,  he  confined  his  judicial  inquiries  to  Villefagna 
alone.  As  the  proofs  of  his  guilt  were  manifest,  he  was  condemned  after 
a  short  trial,  and  next  morning  he  was  seen  hanging  before  the  door  of  the 
house  in  which  he  had  lodged.  Cortes  called  his  troops  together,  and 
having  explained  to  them  the  atrocious  purpose  of  the  conspirators,  as  well 
as  the  justice  of  the  punishment  inflicted  on  Villefagna,  he  added,  with  an 
appearance  of  satisfaction,  that  he  was  entirely  ignorant  with  respect  to  all 
the  circumstances  of  this  dark  transaction,  as  the  traitor,  when  arrested,  had 
suddenly  torn  and  swallowed  a  paper  which  probably  contained  an. account 
of  it,  and  under  the  severest  tortures  possessed  such  constancy  as  to  con- 
ceal the  names  of  his  accomplices.  This  artful  declaration  restored  tran- 
quillity to  many  a  breast  that  was  throbbing,  while  he  spoke,  with  con- 
sciousness of  guilt  and  dread  of  detection ;  and  by  this  prudent  moderation, 
Cortes  had  the  advantage  of  having  discovered,  and  of  being  able  to 
observe  such  of  his  followers  as  were  disaffected  ;  while  they,  flattering 
themselves  that  their  past  crime  was  unknown,  endeavoured  to  avert  any 
suspicion  of  it  by  redoubling  their  activity  and  zeal  in  his  service.* 
Cortes  did  not  allow  them  leisure  to  ruminate  on  what  had  happened ; 

*  Cortes  Relat.  2b3.  C.    B,  Diaz,  c.  146.    Herrera,  dec  3.  lib.  i.  c.  1. 


246  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  V. 

and  as  the  most  effectual  means  of  preventing  the  return  of  a  mutinous 
spirit,  he  determined  to  call  forth  his  troops  immediately  to  action.  For- 
tunately, a  proper  occasion  for  this  occurred  without  his  seeming  to  court 
it.  He  received  intelligence  that  the  materials  for  building  the  brigantines 
were  at  length  completely  finished,  and  waited  only  for  a  body  of  Spaniards 
to  conduct  them  to  Tezeuco.  The  command  of  this  convoy,  consisting  of 
two  hundred  foot  soldiers,  fifteen  horsemen,  and  two  field-pieces,  he  gave 
to  Sandoval,  who,  by  the  vigilance,  activity,  and  courage  which  he  mani- 
fested on  every  occasion,  was  growing  daily  in  his  confidence,  and  in  the 
estimation  of  his  fellow-soldiers.  The  service  was  no  less  singular  than 
important ;  the  beams,  the  planks,  the  masts,  the  cordage,  the  sails,  the 
ironwork,  and  all  the  infinite  variety  of  articles  requisite  for  the  construction 
of  thirteen  brigantines,  were  to  be  carried  sixty  miles  over  land,  through  a 
mountainous  country,  by  people  who  were  unacquainted  with  the  ministry 
of  domestic  animals,  or  the  aid  of  machines  to  facilitate  any  work  of 
labour.  The  Tlascalans  furnished  eight  thousand  Tamenes,  an  inferior 
order  of  men  destined  for  servile  tasks,  to  carry  the  materials  on  their 
shoulders,  and  appointed  fifteen  thousand  warriors  to  accompany  and  defend 
them.  Sandoval  made  the  disposition  for  their  progress  with  great  pro- 

Eriety,  placing  the  Tamenes  in  the  centre,  one  body  of  warriors  in  the 
•ont,  -another  in  the  rear,  with  considerable  parties  to  cover  the  flanks. 
To  each  of  these  he  joined  some  Spaniards,  not  only  to  assist  them  in  danger, 
but  to  accustom  them  to  regularity  and  subordination.  A  body  so  numerous, 
and  so  much  encumbered,-  advanced  leisurely  but  in  excellent  order ;  and 
in  some  places,  where  it  was  confined  by  the  woods  or  mountains,  the  line 
of  march  extended  above  six  miles,  rarties  of  Mexicans  frequently  ap- 
peared hovering  around  them  on  the  high  grounds  ;  but  perceiving  no 
prospect  of  success  in  attacking  an  enemy  continually  on  his  guard,  and 
prepared  to  receive  them,  they  did  not  venture  to  molest  him  ;  and  Sandoval 
had  the  glorjr  of  conducting  safely  to  Tezeuco,  a  convoy  on  which  all  the 
future  operations  of  his  countrymen  depended.* 

This  was  followed  by  another  event  of  no  less  moment.  Four  ships 
arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  from  Hispaniola,  with  two  hundred  soldiers,  eighty 
horses,  two  battering  cannon,  and  a  considerable  supply  of  ammunition  and 
arms.f  Elevated  with  observing  that  all  his  preparatory  schemes,  either 
for  recruiting  his  own  army,  or  impairing  the  force  of  the  enemy,  had  now 
produced  their  full  effect,  Cortes,  impatient  to  begin  the  siege  in  form, 
hastened  the  launching  of  the  brigantines.  To  facilitate  this,  he  had  em- 
ployed a  vast  number  of  Indians  for  two  months,  in  deepening  the  small 
rivulet  which  runs  by  Tezeuco  into  the  lake,  and  in  forming  it  into  a  canal 
near  two  miles  in  length  [119]  ;  and  though  the  Mexicans,  aware  of  his 
intentions,  as  well  as  of  the  danger  which  threatened  them,  endeavoured 
frequently  to  interrupt  the  labourers,  or  to  burn  the  brigantines,  the  work 
was  at  last  completed.^  On  the  twenty-eighth  of  April,  all  the  Spanish 
troops,  together  with  the  auxiliary  Indians,  were  drawn  up  on  the  banks  of 
the  canal ;  and  with  extraordinary  military  pomp,  rendered  more  solemn 
by  the  celebration  of  the  most  sacred  rites  01  religion,  the  brigantines  were 
launched.  As  they  fell  down  the  canal  in  order,  Father  Olmedo  blessed 
them,  and  gave  each  its  name.  Every  eye  followed  them  with  wonder  and 
hope,  until  they  entered  the  lake,  when  they^  hoisted  their  sails  and  bore 
away  before  the  wind.  A  general  shout  of  joy  was  raised  ;  all  admiring 
that  bold  inventive  genius,  which,  by  means  so  extraordinary  that  their 
success  almost  exceeded  belief,  had  acquired  the  command  of  a  fleet, 
without  the  aid  of  which  Mexico  would  have  continued  to  set  the  Spanish  ' 
power  and  arms  at  defiance.§ 

*  Cortes  Relat  260.  C.  E.    B.  Diaz,  c.  140.          f  Cortes  Relat.  259.  P.  262.  D.    Gomara  Cron. 
c.  129.          J  B.  Diaz,  c.  140.  6  Cortes  Relat.  266*    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  i,  c.  5.    Gomara 

Cron.  c.  129. 


AMERICA.  247 

Cortes  determined  to  attack  the  city  from  three  different  quarters  ;  from 
Tepeaca  on  the  north  side  of  the  lake,  from  Tacuba  on  the  west,  ana  from 
Cuyocan  towards  the  south.  Those  towns  were  situated  on  the  principal 
causeways  which  led  to  the  capital,  and  intended  for  their  defence.  He 
appointed  Sandoval  to  command  in  the  first,  Pedro  de  Alvarado  in  the 
second,  and  Christoyal  de  Olid  in  the  third ;  allotting  to  each  a  numerous 
body  of  Indian  auxiliaries,  together  with  an  equal  division  of  Spaniards, 
who,  by  the  junction  of  the  troops  from  Hispaniola,  amounting  now  to 
eighty-six  horsemen,  and  eight  hundred  and  eighteen  foot  soldiers;  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  eighteen  were  armed  with  muskets  or  crossbows. 
The  train  of  artillery  consisted  of  three  battering  cannon,  and  fifteen  field- 
pieces.*  He  reserved  for  himself,  as  the  station  of  greatest  importance  and 
danger,  the  conduct  of  the  brigantines,  each  armed  with  one  of  his  small 
cannon,  and  manned  with  twenty-five  Spaniards. 

As  Alvarado  and  Olid  proceeded  towards  the  posts  assigned  them  [May 
10],  they  broke  down  the  aqueducts  which  the  ingenuity  of  the  Mexicans 
had  erected  for  conveying  water  into  the  capital,  and,  by  the  distress  to 
which  this  reduced  the  inhabitants,  gave  a  beginning  to  the  calamities  which 
they  were  destined  to  suffer.!  Alvarado  and  Olid  found  the  towns  of  which 
they  were  ordered  to  take  possession  deserted  by  their  inhabitants,  who 
had.  fled  for  safety  to  the  capital,  where  Guatimozin  had  collected  the  chief 
force  of  his  empire,  as  there  alone  he  could  hope  to  make  a  successful 
stand  against  the  formidable  enemies  who  were  approaching  to  assault  him. 

The  first  effort  of  the  Mexicans  was  to  destroy  the  fleet  of  brigantines, 
the  fatal  effects  of  whose  operations  they  foresaw  and  dreaded.  Though 
the  brigantines,  after  all  the  labour  and  merit  of  Cortes  in  forming  them, 
were  of  inconsiderable  bulk,  rudely  constructed,  and  manned  chiefly  with 
landsmen  hardly  possessed  of  skill  enough  to  conduct  them,  they  must  have 
been  objects  ot  terror  to  a  people  unacquainted  with  any  navigation  but 
that  of  their  lake,  and  possessed  of  no  vessel  larger  than  a  canoe.  Neces- 
sity, however,  urged  Guatimozin  to  hazard  the  attack  ;  and  hoping  to  sup- 
ply by  numbers  what  he  wanted  in  force,  he  assembled  such  a  multitude 
of  canoes  as  covered  the  face  of  the  lake.  They  rowed  on  boldly  to  the 
charge,  while  the  brigantines,  retarded  by  a  dead  calm,  could  scarcely  ad- 
vance to  meet  them.  But  as  the  enemy  drew  near,  a  breeze  sudaenly 
sprung  up  ;  in  a  moment  the  sails  were  spread,  the  brigantines,  with  the 
utmost  ease,  broke  through  their  feeble  opponents,  overset  many  canoes, 
and  dissipated  the  whole  armament  with  such  slaughter,  as  convinced  the 
Mexicans,  that  the  progress  of  the  Europeans  in  knowledge  and  arts  ren- 
dered their  superiority  greater  on  this  new  element  than  they  had  hitherto 
found  it  by  land.| 

From  that  time  Cortes  remained  master  of  the  lake,  and  the  brigantines 
not  only  preserved  a  communication  between  the  Spaniards  in  their  differ- 
ent stations,  though  at  considerable  distance  from  each  other,  but  were 
employed  to  cover  the  causeways  on  each  side,  and  keep  off  the  canoes 
when  they  attempted  to  annoy  the  troops  as  they  advanced  towards  the 
city.  Cortes  formed  the  brigantines  in  three  divisions,  appointing  one  to 
cover  each  of  the  stations  from  which  an  attack  was  to  be  carried  on  against 
the  city,  with  orders  to  second  the  operations  of  the  officer  who  command- 
ed there.  From  all  the  three  stations  he  pushed  on  the  attack  against  the 
city  with  equal  vigour  ;  but  in  a  manner  so  very  different  from  the  conduct 
of  sieges  in  regular  war,  that  he  himself  seems  afraid  it  would  appear 
no  less  improper  than  singular  to  persons  unacquainted^with  his  situation.6 
Each  morning  his  troops  assaulted  the  barricades  which  the  enemy  had 
erected  on  the  causeways,  forced  their  way  over  the  trenches  which  they 

*  Cortes  Relat  266.  C.  t  Cortes  Relat.  267.  B.  B.  Diaz,  c.  150.  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  i.  c.  13. 
J  Cortes  Relat.  267.  C.  B.  Diaz,  c.  150.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  131.  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  i.  c.  17 
$  Cortes  Relat.  270.  F. 


248  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  V. 

had  dug,  and  through  the  canals  where  the  bridges  were  broken  down,  and 
endeavoured  to  penetrate  into  the  heart  of  the  city,  in  hopes  of  obtaining 
some  decisive  advantage  which  might  force  the  enemy  to  surrender,  arid 
terminate  the  war  at  once  ;  but  when  the  obstinate  valour  of  the  Mexicans 
rendered  the  efforts  of  the  day  ineffectual,  the  Spaniards  retired  in  the 
evening  to  their  former  quarters  Thus  their  toil  and  danger  were  in  some 
measure  continually  renewed ;  the  Mexicans  repairing  in  the  night  what 
the  Spaniards  had  destroyed  through  the  day,  and  recovering  the  posts 
from  which  they  had  driven  them.  But  necessity  prescribed  this  slow  and 
untoward  mode  of  operation.  The  number  of  his  troops  were  so  small 
that  Cortes  durst  not,  with  a  handful  of  men,  attempt  to  make  a  lodgment 
in  a  city  where  he  might  be  surrounded  and  annoyed  by  such,  a  multitude 
of  enemies.  The  remembrance  of  what  he  had  already  suffered  by  the 
ill  judged  confidence  with  which  he  had  ventured  into  such  a  dangerous 
situation,  was  still  fresh  in  his  mind.  The  Spaniards,  exhausted  with 
fatigue,  were  unable  to  guard  the  various  posts  which  they  daily  gained  ; 
and  though  their  camp  was  filled  with  Indian  auxiliaries,  they  durst  not 
devolve  tnis  charge  upon  them,  because  they  were  so  little  accustomed  to 
discipline,  that  no  confidence  could  be  placed  in  their  vigilance.  Besides 
this,  Cortes  was  extremely  solicitous  to  preserve  the  city  as  much  as  pos- 
sible from  being  destroyed,  both  because  he  destined  it  to  be  the  capital 
of  his  conquests,  and  wished  that  it  might  remain  as  a  monument  01  his 
glory.  From  all  these  considerations,  he  adhered  obstinately,  for  a  month 
after  the  siege  was  opened,  to  the  system  which  he  had  adopted.  The 
Mexicans,  in  their  own  defence,  displayed  valour  which  was  hardly  inferior 
to  that  with  which  the  Spaniards  attacked  them.  On  land,  on  water,  by 
night  and  by  day,  one  furious  conflict  succeeded  to  another.  Several  Span- 
iards were  killed,  more  wounded,  and  all  were  ready  to  sink  under  the 
toils  of  unintermitting  service,  which  were  rendered  more  intolerable  by  the 
injuries  of  the  season,  the  periodical  rains  being  now  set  in  with  their  usual 
violence.* 

Astonished  and  disconcerted  with  the  length  and  difficulties  of  the  siege, 
Cortes  determined  to  make  one  great  effort  to  get  possession  of  the  city, 
before  he  relinquished  the  plan  which  he  had  hitherto  followed,  and  had 
recourse  to  any  other  mode  of  attack.  With  this  view  he  sent  instructions 
to  Alvarado  and  Sandoval  to  advance  with  their  divisions  to  a  general  as- 
sault, and  took  the  command  in  person  [July  3]  of  that  posted  on  the  cause- 
way of  Cuyocan.  Animated  by  his  presence,  and  the  expectation  of  some 
decisive  event,  the  Spaniards  pushed  forward  with  irresistible  impetuosity. 
They  broke  through  one  barricade  after  another,  forced  their  way  over 
the  ditches  and  canals,  and,  having  entered  the  city,  gained  ground  inces- 
santly in  spite  of  the  multitude  and  ferocity  of  their  opponents.  Cortes, 
though  delighted  with  the  rapidity  of  his  progress,  did  not  forget  that  he 
might  still  find  it  necessary  to  retreat ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  it,  appointed 
Julien  de  Alderete,  a  captain  of  chief  note  in  the  troops  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  Hispaniola,  to  fill  up  the  canals  and  gaps  in  the  causeway  as 
the  main  body  advanced.  That  officer,  deeming  it  inglorious  to  be  thus 
employed,  while  his  companions  were  in  the  heat  of  action  and  the  career 
of  victory,  neglected  the  important  charge  committed  to  him,  and  hurried 
on,  inconsiderately,  to  mingle  with  the  combatants.  The  Mexicans,  whose 
military  attention  and  skill  were  daily  improving,  no  sooner  observed  this 
than  they  carried  an  account  of  it  to  their  monarch. 

Guatimozin  instantly  discerned  the  consequence  of  the  error  which  the 
Spaniards  had  committed,  and,  with  admirable  presence  of  mind,  prepared 
to  take  advantage  of  it.  He  commanded  the  troops  posted  in  the  front  to 
slacken  their  efforts,  in  order  to  allure  the  Spaniards  to  push  forward,  while 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  151, 


AMERICA.  249 

he  despatched  a  large  body  of  chosen  warriors  through  different  streets, 
some  by  land,  and  others  by  water,  towards  the  great  breach  in  the  cause- 
way which  had  been  left  open.  On  a  signal  which  he  gave,  the  priests^ 
in  the  principal  temple  struck  the  great  drum  consecrated  to  the  god  of 
war.  No  sooner  did  the  Mexicans  hear  its  doleful  solemn  sound,  calculated 
to  inspire  them  with  contempt  of  death,  and  enthusiastic  ardour,  than  they 
rushed  upon  the  enemy  with  frantic  rage.  The  Spaniards,  unable  to  resist 
men  urged  on  no  less  by  religious  fury  than  hope  of  success,  began  to  re- 
tire, at  first  leisurely,  and  with  a  good  countenance ;  but  as  the  enemy 
pressed  on,  and  their  own  impatience  to  escape  increased^  the  terror  and 
confusion  became  so  general,  that  when  they  arrived  at  the  gap  in  the 
causeway,  Spaniards  and  Tlascalans,  horsemen  and  infantry,  plunged  in 
promiscuously,  while  the  Mexicans  rushed  upon  them  fiercely  from  every 
side,  their  light  canoes  carrying  them  through  shoals  which  the  brigantines 
could  not  approach.  In  vain  did  Cortes  attempt  to  stop  and  rally  his  flying 
troops  ;  fear  rendered  them  regardless  of  his  entreaties  or  commands. 
Finding  all  his  endeavours  to  renew  the  combat  fruitless,  his  next  care  was 
to  save  some  of  those  who  had  thrown  themselves  into  the  water ;  but 
while  thus  employed,  with  more  attention  to  their  situation  than  to  his  own, 
six  Mexican  captains  suddenly  laid  hold  of  him,  and  were  hurrying  him 
off  in  triumph ;  and  though  two  of  his  officers  rescued  him  at  the  expense 
of  their  own  lives,  he  received  several  dangerous  wounds  before  he  could 
break  loose.  Above  sixty  Spaniards  perished  in  the  rout ;  and  what  ren- 
dered the  disaster  more  afflicting,  forty  of  these  fell  alive  into  the  hands 
of  an  enemy  never  known  to  show  mercy  to  a  captive.* 

The  approach  of  night,  though  it  delivered  the  dejected  Spaniards  from 
the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  ushered  in  what  was  hardly  less  grievous,  the 
noise  of  their  barbarous  triumph,  and  of  the  horrid  festival  with  which 
they  celebrated  their  victory.  Every  quarter  of  the  city  was  illuminated  ; 
the  great  temple  shone  with  such  peculiar  splendour,  that  the  Spaniards 
could  plainly  see  the  people  in  motion,  and  the  rmests  busy  in  hastening 
the  preparations  for  the  death  of  the  prisoners.  Through  the  gloom,  they 
fancied  that  they  discerned  their  companions  by  the  whiteness  of  their 
skins,  as  they  were  stript  naked,  and  compelled  to  dance  before  the  image 
of  the  god  to  whom  they  were  to  be  offered.  They  heard  the  shrieks  of 
those  who  were  sacrificed,  and  thought  that  they  could  distinguish  each 
unhappy  .victim  by  the  well  known  sound  of  his  voice.  Imagination  added 
to  what  they  really  saw  or  heard,  and  augmented  its  horror.  The  most 
unfeeling  melted  into  tears  of  compassion,  and  the  stoutest  heart  trembled 
at  the  dreadful  spectacle  which  they  beheld  [120]. 

Cortes,  who,  besides  all  that  he  felt  in  common  with  his  soldiers,  was 
oppressed  with  the  additional  load  of  anxious  reflections  natural  to  a  general 
on  such  an  unexpected  calamity,  could  not,  like  them,  relieve  his  mind  by 
giving  vent  to  its  anguish.  He  was  obliged  to  assume  an  air  of  tranquil- 
lity, in  order  to  revive  the  spirit  and  hopes  of  his  followers.  The  junc- 
ture, indeed,  required  an  extraordinary  exertion  of  fortitude.  The  Alexi- 
cans,  elated  with  their  victory,  sallied  out  next  morning  to  attack  him  in 
his  quarters.  But  they  did  not  rely  on  the  efforts  of  their  own  arms  alone. 
They  sent  the  heads  of  Spaniards  whom  they  had  sacrificed  to  the  leading 
men  in  the  adjacent  provinces,  and  assured  them  that  the  god  of  war,  ap- 
peased by  the  blood  of  their  invaders,  which  had  been  shed  so  plentifully 
on  his  altars,  had  declared  with  an  audible  voice,  that  in  eight  days  time 
those  hated  enemies  should  be  finally  destroyed,  and  peace  and  prosperity 
re-established  in  the  empire. 

A  prediction  uttered  with  such  confidence,  and  in  terms  so  void  of 
ambiguity,  gained  universal  credit  among  a  people  prone  to  superstition. 

*  Cortes  Relat.  p.  273.    B.  Diaz,  c.  152.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  138.    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  i.  c.  23. 
VOL.  I.— 32 


S50  H I S TO R Y  O F  [BOOK  V. 

The  zeal  of  the  provinces,  which  had  already  declared  against  the  Spa- 
niards, augmented  ;  and  several  which  had  hitherto  remained  inactive,  took 
arms,  with  enthusiastic  ardour,  to  execute  the  decree  of  the  gods.  The 
Indian  auxiliaries  who  had  joined  Cortes,  accustomed  to  venerate  the 
same  deities  with  the  Mexicans,  and  to  receive  the  responses  of  their 
priests  with  the  same  implicit  faith,  abandoned  the  Spaniards  as  a  race  of 
men  devoted  to  certain  destruction.  Even  the  fidelity  of  the  Tlascalans 
Was  shaken,  and  the  Spanish  troops  were  left  almost  alone  in  their  stations. 
Cortes,  finding  th'at  he  attempted  in  vain  to  dispel  the  superstitious  fears 
of  his  confederates  by. argument,  took  advantage,  from  the  imprudence  of 
those  who  had  framed  ttie  prophecy  in  fixing  its  accomplishment  so  near 
at  hand,  to  give  a  striking  demonstration  of  its  falsity.  He  suspended  all 
military  operations,  during  the  period  marked  out  by  the  oracle.  Under 
cover  of  the  brigantines,  which  kept  the  enemy  at  a  distance,  his  troops 
lay  in  safety,  and  the  fatal  term  expired  without  any  disaster.* 

Many  of  his  allies,  ashamed  of  their  own  credulity,  returned  to  their 
station.  Other  tribes,  judging  that  the  gods,  who  had  now  deceived  the 
Mexicans,  had  decreed  finally  to  withdraw  their  protection  from  them, 
joined  his  standard ;  and  such  was  the  levity  of  a  simple  people,  moved 
by  every  slight  impression,  that  in  a  short  time  after  such  a  general  defec- 
tion of  his  confederates,  Cortes  saw  himself,  if  we  may  believe  his  own 
account,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Indians.  Even  with 
such  a  numerous  army,  he  found  it  necessary  to  adopt  a  new  and  more 
wary  system  of  operation.  Instead  of  renewing  his  attempts  to  become 
master  of  the  city  at  once,  by  such  bold  but  dangerous  efforts  of  valour  as 
he  had  already  tried,  he  made  his  advances  gradually,  and  with  every 
possible  precaution  against  exposing  his  men  to  any  calamity  similar  to 
that  which  they  still  bewailed.  As  the  Spaniards  pushed  forward,  the 
Indians  regularly  repaired  the  causeways  behind  them.  As  soon  as  they 
got  possession  of  any  part  of  the  town,  the  houses  were  instantly  levelled 
with  the  ground.  Day  by  day,  the  Mexicans,  forced  to  retire  as  their 
enemies  gained  ground,  were  hemmed  in  within  more  narrow  limits. 
Guatimozin,  though  unable  to  stop  the  career  of  the  enemy,  continued  to 
defend  his  capital  with  obstinate  resolution,  and  disputed  every  inch  of 
ground.  The  Spaniards  not  only  varied  their  mode  of  attack,  but,  by 
orders  of  Cortes,  changed  the  weapons  with  which  they  fought.  They 
were  again  armed  with  the  long  Uhinantlan  spears  which  they  had  em- 
ployed with  such  success  against  Narvaez;  and,  by  the  firm  array  in  which 
this  enabled  them  to  range  themselves,  they  repelled,  with  little  danger, 
the  loose  Dassault  of  the  Mexicans  :  incredible  numbers  of  them  fell  in  the 
conflicts  which  they  renewed  every  day.f  While  war  wasted  without, 
famine  began  to  consume  them  within  the  city.  The  Spanish  brigantines 
having  the  entire  Command  of  the  lake,  rendered  it  almost  impossible  to 
convey  to  the  besieged  any  supply  of  provisions  by  water.  The  immense 
number  of  his  Indian  auxiliaries  enabled  Cortes  to  shut  up  the  avenues  to 
the  city  by  land.  The  stores  which  Guatimozin  had  laid  up  were  ex- 
hausted by  the  multitudes  which  had  crowded  into  the  capital  to  defend 
their  sovereign  and  the  temples  of  their  gods.  Not  only  the  people,  but 
persons  of  the  highest  rank,  felt  the  utmost  distresses  of  famine.  What 
they  suffered  brought  on  infectious  and  mortal  distempers,  the  last  calamity 
that  visits  besieged  cities,  and  which  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  woes.f 

But,  under  the  pressure  of  so  many  and  such  various  evils,  the  spirit  of 
Guatimozin  remained  firm  and  unsubdued.  He  rejected  with  scorn  every 
overture  of  peace  from  Cortes ;  and,  disdaining  the  idea  of  submitting 
to  the  oppressors  of  his  country,  determined  not  to  survive  its  ruin.  The 
Spaniards  continued  their  progress.  At  length  all  the  three  divisions 

*  B.  Diaz,  c.  153.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  138.  f  Cortes  Relat.  p.  275.  C.  276.  F.    B.  Diaz,  c. 

153.  }  Cortes  Relat.  276.  E.  277.  F.    B.  Diaz,  155.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  141. 


AMERICA.  251 

penetrated  into  the  great  square  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  made  a 
secure  lodgment  there  [July  27].  Three-fourths  of  the  city;  were  now 
reduced  and  laid  in  ruins.  The  remaining  quarter  was  so  closely  pressed, 
that  it  could  not  long  withstand  assailants,  who  attacked  it  from  their  new 
station  with  superior  advantage,  and  more  assured  expectation  of  success. 
The  Mexican  nobles,  solicitous  to  save  the  life  of  a  monarch  whom  they 
revered,  prevailed  on  Guatimozin  to  retire  from  a  place  where  resistance 
was  now  vain,  that  he  might  rouse  the  more  distant  provinces  of  the  empire 
to  arms,  and  maintain  there  a  more  successful  struggle  with  the  public 
enemy.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  this  measure,  they  endeavoured 
to  amuse  Cortes  with  overtures  of  submission,  that,  while  his  attention 
was  employed  in  adjusting  the  articles  of  pacification,  Guatimozin  might 
escape  unperceived.  But  they  made  this  attempt  upon  a  leader  of  greater 
sagacity  and  discernment  than  to  be  deceived  by  their  arts.  Cortes,  sus- 
pecting their  intention,  and  aware  of  what  moment  it  was  to  defeat  it, 
appointed  Sandoval,  the  officer  on  whose  vigilance  he  could  most  per- 
fectly rely,  to  take  the  command  of  the  brigantines,  with  strict  injunctions 
to  watclTevery  motion  of  the  enemy.  Sandoval,  attentive  to  the  charge, 
observing  some  large  canoes  crowded  with  people  rowing  across  the  lake 
with  extraordinary  rapidity,  instantly  gave  the  signal  to  chase.  Garcia 
Holguin,  who  commanded  the  swiftest  sailing  brigantine,  soon  overtook 
them,  and  was  preparing  to  fire  on  the  foremost  canoe,  which  seemed  to 
carry  some  person  whom  all  the  rest  followed  and  obeyed.  At  once  the 
rowers  dropped  their  oars,  and  all  on  board,  throwing  down  their  arms, 
conjured  him  with  cries  and  tears  to  forbear,  as  the  emperor  was  there. 
Holguin  eagerly  seized  his  prize  ;  and  Guatimozin,  with  a  dignified  com- 
posure, gave  himself  up  into  his  hands,  requesting  only  that  no  insult 
might  be  offered  to  the  empress  or  his  children.  When  conducted  to  Cortes, 
he  appeared  neither  with  the  sullen  fierceness  of  a  barbarian,  nor  with  the 
dejection  of  a  supplicant.  "  I  have  done,"  said  he,  addressing  himself  to 
the  Spanish  general,  "  what  became  a  monarch.  I  have  defended  my 
people  to  the  last  extremity.  Nothing  now  remains  but  to  die.  Take 
this  dagger,"  laying  his  hand  on  one  which  Cortes  wore,  "plant  it  in  my 
breast,  and  put  an  end  to  a  life  which  can  no  longer  be  of  use."* 

As  soon  as  the  fate  of  their  sovereign  was  known,  the  resistance  of  the 
Mexicans  ceased ;  and  Cortes  took  possession  of  that  small  part  of  the 
capital  which  yet  remained  undestroyed  [Aug.  13].  Thus  terminated  the 
siege  of  Mexico,  the  most  memorable  event  in  the  conquest  of  America* 
It  continued  seventy-five  days,  hardly  one  of  which  passed  without  some 
extraordinary  effort  of  one  party  in  the  attack,  or  of  the  other  in  the 
defence  of  a  city,  on  the  fate  of  which  both  knew  that  the  fortune  of  the 
empire  depended.  As  the  struggle  here  was  more  obstinate,  it  was  like- 
wise more  equal  than  any  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  Old  and  New 
Worlds.  The  great  abilities  of  Guatimozin,  the  number  of  his  troops, 
the  peculiar  situation  of  his  capital,  so  far  counterbalanced  the  superiority 
of  the  Spaniards  in  arms  and  discipline,  that  they  must  have  relinquished 
the  enterprise  if  they  had  trusted  for  success  to  themselves  alone.  But 
Mexico  was  overturned  by  the  jealousy  of  neighbours  who  dreaded  its 
power,  and  by  the  revolt  of  subjects  impatient  to  shake  off  its  yoke.  By 
their  effectual  aid,  Cortes  was  enabled  to  accomplish  what,  without  such 
support,  he  would  hardly  have  ventured  to  attempt.  How  much  soever 
this  account  of  the  reduction  of  Mexico  may  detract,  on  the  one  hand, 
from  the  marvellous  relations  of  some  Spanish  writers,  by  ascribing  that 
to  simple  and  obvious  causes  which  they  attribute  to  the  romantic  valour 
of  their  countrymen,  it  adds,  on  the  other,  to  the  merit  and  abilities  of 
Cortes,  who,  under  every  disadvantage,  acquired  such  an  ascendant  over 

*  Cortes  Relat.  279.  B.  Diaz,  c.  156:    Gomara  Cron.  c.  142.    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  7. 


252  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  V. 

unknown  nations,  as  to  render  them  instruments  towards  carrying  his 
schemes  into  execution  [121]. 

The  exultation  of  the  Spaniards,  on  accomplishing  this  arduous  enter- 
prise, was  at  first  excessive.  But  this  was  quickly  damped  by  the  cruel 
disappointment  of  those  sanguine  hopes  which  had  animated  them  amidst 
so  many  hardships  and  dangers.  Instead  of  the  inexhaustible  wealth 
which  they  expected  from  becoming  masters  of  Montezuma's  treasures, 
and  the  ornaments  of  so  many  temples,  their  rapaciousness  could  only 
collect  an  inconsiderable  booty  amidst  ruins  and  desolation.*  Guatimozin, 
aware  of  his  impending  fate,  had  ordered  what  remained  of  the  riches 
amassed  by  his  ancestors,  to  be  thrown  into  the  lake.  The  Indian  auxilia- 
ries, while  the  Spaniards  were  engaged  in  conflict  with  the  enemy,  had 
carried  off  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  spoil.  The  sum  to  be  divided 
among  the  conquerors  was  so  small  that  many  of  them  disdained  to  accept 
of  the  pittance  which  fell  to  their  share,  and  all  murmured  and  exclaimed  ; 
some  against  Cortes  and  his  confidants,  whom  they  suspected  of  having 
secretly  appropriated  to  their  own  use  a  large  portion  of  the  riches  which 
should  have  been  brought  into  the  common  stock  ;  others,  against  Guati- 
mozin, whom  they  accused  of  obstinacy  in  refusing  to  discover  the  place 
where  he  had  hidden  his  treasure. 

Arguments,  entreaties,  and  promises  were  employed  in  order  to  soothe 
them,  but  with  so  little  effect,  that  Cortes,  from  solicitude  to  check  this 
growing  spirit  of  discontent,  gave  way  to  a  deed  which  stains  the  glory 
of  all  his  great  actions.  Without  regarding  the  former  dignity  of  Guati- 
mozin, or  feeling  any  reverence  for  those  virtues  which  he  had  displayed, 
he  subjected  the  unhappy  monarch,  together  with  his  chief  favourite,  to 
torture,  in  order  to  force  from  them  a  discovery  of  the  royal  treasures, 
which  it  was  supposed  they  had  concealed.  Guatimozin  bore  whatever 
the  refined  cruelty  of  his  tormentors  could  infiict,  with  the  invincible  for- 
titude of  an  American  warrior.  His  fellow-sufferer,  overcome  by  the  vio- 
lence of  the  anguish,  turned  a  dejected  eye  towards  his  master,  which 
seemed  to  implore  his  permission  to  reveal  all  that  he  knew.  But  the 
high  spirited  prince,  darting  on  him  a  look  of  authority  mingled  with 
scorn,  checked  his  weakness  by  asking,  "  Am  I  now  reposing  on  a  bed  of 
flowers  ?"  Overawed  by  the  reproach,  the  favourite  persevered  in  his 
dutiful  silence,  and  expired.  Cortes,  ashamed  of  a  scene  so  horrid, 
rescued  the  royal  victim  from  the  hands  of  his  torturers,  and  prolonged  a 
life  reserved  for  new  indignities  and  sufferings.! 

The  fate  of  the  capital,  as  both  parties  had  foreseen,  decided  that  of  the 
empire.  The  provinces  submitted  one  after  another  to  the  conquerors. 
Small  detachments  of  Spaniards  marching  through  them  without  interrup- 
tion, penetrated  in  different  quarters  to  the  great  Southern  Ocean,  which, 
according  to  the  ideas  of  Columbus,  they  imagined  would  open  a  short 
as  well  as  easy  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  and  secure  to  the  crown  of 
Castile  all  the  envied  wealth  of  those  fertile  regions  ;|  and  the  active 
mind  of  Cortes  began  already  to  form  schemes  for  attempting  this  important 
disco  very.§ 

He  did  not  know,  that  during  the  progress  of  his  victorious  arms  in 
Mexico,  the  very  scheme,  of  which  he  began  to  form  some  idea,  had  been 
undertaken  and  accomplished.  As  this  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  events 
in  the  history  of  the  Spanish  discoveries,  and  has  been  productive  of  effects 
peculiarly  interesting  to  those  extensive  provinces  which  Cortes  had  now 
subjected  to  the  crown  of  Castile,  the  account  of  its  rise  and  progress 
merits  a  particular  detail. 

*  The  gold  and  silver  according  to  Cortes,  amounted  only  to  120,000  pesos.  Relat:  280.  A.  a  sun» 
much  inferior  to  that  which  the  Spaniards  had  formerly  divided  in  Mexico.  t  B.  Diaz,  c.  157 

Gomara  Cron.  c.  146.  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  8.  Torquem,  Mon.  Ind.  i.  574.  J  Cortea  Relat. 
980.  D.  &c.  B.  Diaz,  c.  157.  §  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  17.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  149. 


AMERICA.  253 

Ferdinand  Magalhaens,  or  Magellan,  a  Portuguese  gentleman  of  honour- 
able birth,  having  served  several  years  in  the  East  Indies,  with  distin- 
guished valour,  under  the  famous  Albuquerque,  demanded  the  recompense 
which  he  thought  due  to  his  services^  with  the  boldness  natuial  to  a  high 
spirited  soldier.  But  as  his  general  would  not  grant  his  suit,  and  he 
expected  greater  justice  from  his  sovereign,  whom  he  knew  to  be  a  good 
judge  and  a  generous  rewarder  of  merit,  he  quitted  India  abruptly,  and 
returned  to  Lisbon.  In  order  to  induce  Emanuel  to  listen  more  favourably 
to  his  claim,  he  not  only  stated  his  past  services,  but  offered  to  add  to 
them  by  conducting  his  countrymen  to  the  Molucca  of  Spice  Islands,  by 
holding  a  westerly  course  ;  which  he  contended  would  be  both  shorter  and 
less  hazardous  than  that  which  the  Portuguese  now  followed  by  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  through  the  immense  extent  of  the  Eastern  Ocean.  This 
was  the  original  and  favourite  project  of  Columbus,  and  Magellan  founded 
his  hopes  of  success  on  the  ideas  of  that  great  navigator,  confirmed  by 
many  observations,  the  result  of  his  own  naval  experience,  as  well  as  that 
of  his  countrymen  in  their  intercourse  with  the  East.  But  though  the 
Portuguese  monarchs  had  the  merit  of  having  first  awakened  and  encou- 
raged the  spirit  of  discovery  in  that  age,  it  was  their  destiny,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  to  reject  two  grand  schemes  for  this  purpose,  the  execution 
of  which  would  have  been  attended  with  a  great  accession  of  glory  to 
themselves,  and  of  power  to  their  kingdom.  In  consequence  of  some  ill 
founded  prejudice  against  Magellan,  or  of  some  dark  intrigue  which  con- 
temporary historians  have  not  explained,  Emanuel  would  neither  bestow 
the  recompense  which  he  claimed,  nor  approve  of  the  scheme  which  he 
proposed ;  and  dismissed  him  with  a  disdainful  coldness  intolerable  to  a 
man  conscious  of  what  he  deserved,  and  animated  with  the  sanguine  hopes 
of  success  peculiar  to  those  who  are  capable  of  forming  or  of  conducting 
new  and  great  undertakings.  In  a  transport  of  resentment  [1517],  Magellan 
formally  renounced  his  allegiance  to  an  ungrateful  master,  and  fled  to  the 
court  of  Castile,  where  he  expected  that  his  talents  would  be  more  justly 
estimated.  He  endeavoured  to  recommend  himself  by  offering  to  execute, 
under  the  patronage  of  Spain,  that  scheme  which  he  had  laid  before  the 
court  of  Portugal,  the  accomplishment  of  which,  he  knew,  would  wound 
the  monarch  against  whom  he  was  exasperated  in  the  most  tender  part. 
In  order  to  establish  the  justness  of  his  theory,  he  produced  the  same 
arguments  which  he  had  employed  at  Lisbon ;  acknowledging,  at  the 
?ame  time,  that  the  undertaking  was  both  arduous  and  expensive,  as  it  could 
not  be  attempted  but  with  a  squadron  of  considerable  force,  and  victualled 
for  at  least  two  years.  Fortunately,  he  applied  to  a  minister  who  was  not 
apt  to  be  deterred,  either  by  the  boldness  of  a  design,  or  the  expense  of 
carrying  it  into  execution.  Cardinal  Ximenes,  who  at  that  time  directed 
the  affairs  of  Spain,  discerning  at  once  what  an  increase  of  wealth  and 
glory  would  accrue  to  his  country  by  the  success  of  Magellan's  proposal, 
listened  to  it  with  a  most  favourable  ear.  Charles  V.,  on  his  arrival  in  his 
Spanish  dominions,  entered  into  the  measure  with  no  less  ardour,  and  orders 
were  issued  for  equipping  a  proper  squadron  at  the  public  charge,  of  which 
the  command  was  given  to  Magellan,  whom  the  King  honoured  with  the 
habit  of  St.  Jago  and  the  title  of  Captain  general.* 

On  the  tenth  of  August,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  nineteen,  Ma- 
gellan sailed  from  Seville  with  five  ships,  which,  according  to  the  ideas  of 
the  age,  were  deemed  to  be  of  considerable  force,  though  the  burden  of 
the  largest  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  and  twenty  tons.  The  crews  of 
the  whole  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  men,  among  whom 
were  some  of  the  most  skilful  pilots  in  Spain,  and  several  Portuguese 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  ii.  c.  19.  lib.  iv.  c.  9.  Gomara  Hist,  c,  91.  Dalrymple's  Collect,  of  Voyages 
to  the  South  Pacific  Ocean,  vol.  i.  p.  1,  &.G- 


254  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  v. 

sailors,  in  whose  experience,  as  more  extensive,  Magellan  placed  still 
greater  confidence.  After  touching  at  the  Canaries,  he  stood  directly 
south  towards  the  ecfuinoctial  line  along  the  coast  of  America,  but  was  so 
long  retarded  by  tedious  calms,  and  sasent  so  much  time  in  searching  every 
bay  and  inlet  for  that  communication\ith  the  Southern  Ocean  which  he 
wished  to  discover,  that  he  did  not  reach  the  river  De  la  Plata  till  the 
twelfth  of  January  [1520].  That  spacious  opening  through  which  its  vast 
body  of  water  pours  into  the  Atlantic  allured  him  to  enter ;  but  after 
sailing  up  it  for  some  days,  he  concluded  from  the  shallowness  of  the 
stream  and  the  freshness  of  the  water,  that  the  wished-for  strait  was  not 
situated  there,  and  continued  his  course  towards  the  south.  On  the  thirty- 
first  of  March  he  arrived  in  the  Port  of  St.  Julian,  about  forty-eight  degrees 
south  of  the  line,  where  he  resolved  to  winter.  In  this  uncomfortable 
station  he  lost  one  of  his  squadron ;  and  the  Spaniards  suffered  so  much 
from  the  excessive  rigour  of  the  climate,  that  the  crews  of  three  of  his 
ships,  headed  by  their  officers,  rose  in  open  mutiny,  and  insisted  on  relin- 
quishing the  visionary  project  of  a  desperate  adventurer,  and  returning 
directly  to  Spain.  This  dangerous  insurrection  Magellan  suppressed,  by 
an  effort  of  courage  no  less  prompt  than  intrepid,  and  inflicted  exemplary 
punishment  on  the  ringleaders.  With  the  remainder  of  his  followers, 
overawed  but  not  reconciled  to  his  scheme,  he  continued  his  voyage  towards 
the  south,  and  at  length  discovered,  near  the  fifty -third  degree  of  latitude, 
the  mouth  of  a  strait,  into  which  he  entered,  notwithstanding  the  murmurs 
and  remonstrances  of  the  people  under  his  command.  After  sailing  twenty 
days  in  that  winding  dangerous  channel,  to  which  be  gave  his  own  name, 
and  where  one  of  his  ships  deserted  him,  the  great  Southern  Ocean  opened 
to  his  view,  and  with  tears  of  joy  he  returned  thanks  to  Heaven  for  having 
thus  far  crowned  his  endeavours  with  success.* 

But  he  was  still  at  a  greater  distance  than  he  imagined  from  the  object 
of  his  wishes.  He  sailed  during  three  months  and  twenty  days  in  a  uniforrr 
direction  towards  the  north-west,  without  discovering  land,  in  this  voyage, 
the  longest  that  had  ever  been  made  in  the  unbounded  ocean,  he  suffered 
incredible  distress.  His  stock  of  provisions  was  almost  exhausted,  the 
water  became  putrid,  the  men  were  reduced  to  the  shortest  allowance 
with  which  it  was  possible  to  sustain  life,  and  the  scurvy,  the  most  dreadful 
of  all  the  maladies  with  which  seafaring  people  are  inflicted,  began  to 
spread  among  the  crew.  One  circumstance  alone  afforded  them  some 
consolation;  they  enjoyed  an  uninterrupted  course  of  fair  weather,  with 
such  favourable  winds  that  Magellan  bestowed  on  that  ocean  the  name  of 
Pacific^  which  it  still  retains.  When  reduced  to  such  extremity  that  they 
must  have  sunk  under  their  sufferings,  they  fell  in  with  a  cluster  of  small 
but  fertile  islands  [March  6],  which  afforded  them  refreshments  in  such 
abundance,  that  their  health  was  soon  re-established.  From  these  isles, 
which  he  called  De  los  Ladrones,  he  proceeded  on  his  voyage,  and  soon 
made  a  more  important  discovery  of  the  islands  now  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Philippines.  In  one  of  these  he  got  into  an  unfortunate  quarrel 
with  the  natives,  who  attacked  him  with  a  numerous  body  of  troops  well 
armed ;  and  while  he  fought  at  the  head  of  his  men  with  his  usual  valour, 
he  fell  [April  26]  by  the  hands  of  those  barbarians,  together  with  several 
of  his  principal  officers. 

The  expedition  was  prosecuted  under  other  commanders.  After  visiting 
many  of  the  smaller  isles  scattered  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Indian  ocean, 
they  touched  at  the  great  island  of  Borneo  [Nov.  8],  and  at  length  landed 
in  Tidore,  one  of  the  Moluccas,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Portuguese, 
who  could,  not  comprehend  how  the  Spaniards,  by  holding  a  westerly 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iv.  c.  10.  lib.  is.  c.  10,  &c,  Gomara  Hist.  c.  02.  Pigafetta  Viaggio  ap, 
Ramus.  ii.  p.  352,  &c. 


AMERICA.  255 

course,  had  arrived  at  that  sequestered  seat  of  their  most  valuable  com- 
merce, which  they  themselves  had  discovered  by  sailing  in  an  opposite 
direction.  There,  and  in  the  adjacent  isles,  the  Spaniards  found  a  people 
acquainted  with  the  benefits  of  extensive  trade,  and  willing  to  open  an 
intercourse  with  a  new  nation.  They  took  in  a  cargo  of  the  precious 
spices,  which  are  the  distinguished  production  of  these  islands  ;  and  with 
that,  as  well  as  with  specimens  of  the  rich  commodities  yielded  by  the 
other  countries  which  they  had  visited,  the  Victory,  which,  of  the  two  ships 
that  remained  of  the  squadron,  was  most  fit  for  a  long  voyage,  set  sail  ibr 
Europe  [Jan.  1522],  under  the  command  of  Juan  Sebastian  del  Cano.  He 
followed  the  course  of  the  Portuguese,  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
after  many  disasters  and  sufferings  he  arrived  at  St.  Lucar  on-  the  seventh 
of  September,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-two,  having  sailed 
round  the  globe  in  the  space  of  three  years  and  twenty-eight  days.* 

Though  an  untimely  fate  deprived  Magellan  of  the  satisfaction  of 
accomplishing  this  great  undertaking,  his  contemporaries,  just  to  his 
memory  and  talents,  ascribed  to  him  not  only  the  honour  of  having  formed 
the  plan,  but  of  having  surmounted  almost  every  obstacle,  to  the  completion 
of  it ;  and  in  the  present  age  his  name  is  still  ranked  among  the  highest 
in  the  roll  of  eminent  and  successful  navigators.  The  naval  glory  of  Spain 
now  eclipsed  that  of  every  other  nation;  and  by  a  singular  felicity  she  had 
the  merit,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  of  discovering  a  new  continent 
almost  as  large  as  that  part  of  the  earth  which  was  formerly  known,  and 
of  ascertaining  by  experience  the  form  and  extent  of  the  whole  of  the 
terraqueous  globe. 

The  Spaniards  were  not  satisfied  with  the  glory  of  having  first  encom- 
passed the  earth  ;  they  expected  to  derive  great  commercial  advantages 
from  this  new  and  boldest  effort  of  their  maritime  skill.  The  men  of 
science  among  them  contended,  that  the  Spice  Islands,  and  several  of  the 
richest  countries  in  the  East,  were  so  situated  as  to  belong  of  right  to  tlie 
crown  of  Castile,  in  consequence  of  the  partitions  made  by  Alexander  VI. 
The  merchants,  without  attending  to  this  discussion,  engaged  eagerly  in  that 
lucrative  and  alluring  commerce,  which  was  now  open  to  them.  The 
Portuguese,  alarmed  at  the  intrusion  of  such  formidable  rivals,  remonstrated 
and  negotiated  in  Europe,  while  in  Asia  they  obstructed  the  trade  of  the 
Spaniards  by  force  of  arms.  Charles  V.,  not  sufficiently  instructed  with 
respect  to  the  importance  of  this  valuable  branch  of  commerce,  or  distracted 
by  the  multiplicity  of  his  schemes  and  operations,  did  not  afford  his  sub- 
jects proper  protection.  At  last,  the  low  state  of  his  finances,  exhausted 
by  the  efforts  of  his  arms  in  every  part  of  Europe,  together  with  the  dread 
of  adding  a  new  war  with  Portugal  to  those  in  which  he  was  already  en- 
gaged, induced  him  to  make  over  his  claim  of  the  Moluccas  to  the  Portu- 
guese for  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  ducats.  He  reserved,  however, 
to  the  crown  of  Castile  the  right  of  reviving  its  pretensions  on  repayment 
of  that  sum ;  but  other  objects  engrossed  his  attention  and  that  of  his  suc- 
cessors ;  and  Spain  was  finally  excluded  from  a  branch  of  commerce  in 
which  it  was  engaging  with  sanguine  expectations  of  profit.t 

Though  the  trade  with  the  Moluccas  was  relinquished,  the  voyage  of 
Magellan  was  followed  by  commercial  effects  of  great  moment  to  Spain. 
Philip  II.,  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-four,  reduced 
those  islands  which  he  discovered  in  the  Eastern  ocean  to^  subjection,  and 
established  settlements  there  ;  between  which  and  the  kingdom  of  New 
Spain  a  regular  intercourse,  the  nature  of  which  shall  be  explained  in  its 

§  roper  place,  is  still  carried  on.    I  return  now  to  the  transactions  in  New 
pain. 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib,  i.  c.  3.  9.  lib.  iv.  c.  1.     Gomara  Cron.  c.  93,  &c.    Pigafetta  ap.  Ramus.  U 
p.  361,  &c.        t  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iii.  c.  5,  &c.  dec.  4.  lib.  v.  c.  7,  &c. 


'256  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  V. 

At  the  time  that  Cortes  was  acquiring  such  extensive  territories  for  his 
native  country,  and  preparing  the  way  for  future  conquests,  it  was  his 
singular  fate  not  only  to  be  destitute  of  any  commission  or  authority  from 
the  sovereign  whom  he  was  serving  with  such  successful  zeal,  but  to  be 
regarded  as  an  undutiful  and  seditious  subject.  By  the  influence  of  Fon- 
seca,  Bishop  of  Burgos,  his  conduct  in  assuming  me  government  of  New 
Spain  was  declared  to  be  an  irregular  usurpation,  in  contempt  of  the  royal 
authority ;  and  Christoval  de  Tapia  received  a  commission,  empowering 
him  to  supersede  Cortes,  to  seize  his  person,  to  confiscate  his  effects,  to 
make  a  strict  scrutiny  into  his  proceedings,  and  to  transmit  the  result  of 
all  the  inquiries  carried  on  in  New  Spain  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  of 
.which  the  Bishop  of  Burgos  was  president.  A  few  weeks  after  the  reduc- 
tion of  Mexico,  Tapia  landed  at  Vera  Cruz  with  the  royal  mandate  to 
strip  its  conqueror  of  his  power,  and  treat  him  as  a  criminal.  But  Fonseca 
had  chosen  a  very  improper  instrument  to  wreak  his  vengeance  on  Cortes. 
Tapia  had  neither  the  reputation  nor  the  talents  that  suited  the  high  com- 
'jnand  to  which  he  was  appointed.  Cortes,  while  he  publicly  expressed 
the  most  respectful  veneration  for  the  emperor's  authority,  secretly  took 
measures  to  defeat  the  effect  of  his  commission ;  and  having  involved 
Tapia  and  his  followers  in  a  multiplicity  of  negotiations  and  conferences, 
in  which  he  sometimes  had  recourse  to  threats,  but  more  frequently  em- 
ployed bribes  and  promises,  he  at  length  prevailed  upon  that  weak  man 
to  abandon  a  province  which  he  was  unworthy  of  governing.* 

But  notwithstanding  the  fortunate  dexterity  with  which  he  had  eluded 
this  clanger,  Cortes  was  so  sensible  of  the  precarious  tenure  by  which  he 
held  his  power,  that  he  despatched  deputies  to  Spain  [May  15],  with  a 
pompous  account  of  the  success  of  his  arms,  with  further  specimens  of  the 
productions  of  the  country,  and  with  rich  presents  to  the  emperor,  as  the 
earnest  of  future  contributions  from  his  new  conquests  ;  requesting,  in 
recompense  for  all  his  services,  the  approbation  of  his  proceedings,  and 
that  he  might  be  intrusted  with  the  government  of  those  dominions,  which 
his  conduct  and  the  valour  of  his  followers  had  added  to  the  crown  of  Castile. 
The  juncture  in  which  his  deputies  reached  the  court  was  favourable.  The 
internal  commotions  in  Spain,  which  had  disquieted  the  beginning  of 
Charles's  reign,  were  just  appeased. |  The  ministers  had  leisure  to  turn 
their  attention  towards  foreign  affairs.  The  account  of  Cortes's  victories 
filled  his  countrymen  with  admiration.  The  extent  and  value  of  his  con- 
quests became  the  object  of  vast  and  interesting  hopes.  Whatever  stain 
he  might  have  contracted,  by  the  irregularity  of  the  steps  which  he  took 
in  order  to  attain  power,  was  so  fully  effaced  by  the  splendour  and  merit 
of  the  great  actions  which  this  had  enabled  him  to  perform,  that  every 
heart  revolted  at  the  thought  of  inflicting  any  censure  on  a  man  whose 
services,  entitled  him  to  the  highest  marks  of  distinction.  The  public 
voice  declared  warmly  in  favour  of  his  pretensions  ;  and  Charles,  arriving 
in  Spain  about  this  time,  adopted  the  sentiments  of  his  subjects  with  a 
youthful  ardour.  Notwithstanding  the  claims  of  Velasquez,  and  the  partial 
representations  of  the  Bishop  of  Burgos,  the  emperor  appointed  Cortes 
captain  general  and  governor  of  New  Spain,  judging  that  no  person  was 
so  capable  of  maintaining  the  royal  authority,  or  of  establishing  good  order 
both  among  his  Spanish  and  Indian  subjects,  as  the  victorious  leader  whom 
the  former  had  long  been  accustomed  to  obey,  and  the  latter  had  been 
taught  to  fear  and  to  respect,  j 

Even  before  his  jurisdiction  received  this  legal  sanction,  Cortes  ventured 
to  exercise  all  the  powers  of  a  governor,  and,  by  various  arrangements, 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iii.  c.  16.  3.  dec.  4.  c.  1.  Cort.  Relat.  281.  E.  B.  Diaz.  c.  158.  t  Hist, 
of  Charles  V.  b.  iii.  i  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c  3.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  164, 165.  B.  Diaz, 
167, 168. 


AMERICA.  257 

endeavoured  to  render  his  conquest  a  secure  and  beneficial  acquisition 
to  his  country.  He  determined  to  establish  the  seat  of  government  in  its 
ancient  station,  and  to  raise  Mexico'  again  from  its  ruins ;  and  having  con- 
ceived high  ideas  concerning  the  future  grandeur  of  the  state  of  which  he 
was  laying  the  foundation,  he  began  to  rebuild  its  capital  on  a  plan  which 
hath  gradually  formed  the  most  magnificent  city  in  the  New  World.  At 
the  same  time,  he  employed  skilful  persons  to  search  for  mines,  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  and  opened  some  which  were  found  to  be  richer  than 
any  which  the  Spaniards  had  hitherto  discovered  in  America.  He  detached 
his  principal  officers  into  the  remote  provinces,  and  encouraged  them  to 
settle  there,  not  only  by  bestowing  upon  them  large  tracts  of  land,  but  by 
granting  them  the  same  dominion  over  the  Indians,  and  the  same  right  to 
their  service,  which  the  Spaniards  had  assumed  in  the  islands. 

[t  was  not,  however,  without  difficulty  that  the  Mexican  empire  could 
be  entirely  reduced  into  the  form  of  a  Spanish  colony.  Enraged  and  ren- 
dered desperate  by  oppression,  the  natives  often  forgot  the  superiority  of 
their  enemies,  and  ran  to  arms  in  defence  of  their  liberties.  In  every 
contest,  however,  the  European  valour  and  discipline  prevailed.  But 
fatally  for  the  honour  of  their  country,  the  Spaniards  sullied  the  glory 
redounding  from  these  repeated  victories  by  their  mode  of  treating  the 
vanquished  people.  After  taking  Guatimozm,  and  becoming  masters  of 
his  capital,  they  supposed  that  the  king  of  Castile  entered  on  possession  of 
all  the  rights  of  the  captive  monarch,  and  affected  to  consider  every  effort 
of  the  Mexicans  to  assert  their  own  independence,  as  the  rebellion  of 
vassals  against  their  sovereign,  or  the  mutiny  of  slaves  against  their  master. 
Under  the  sanction  of  those  ill  founded  maxims,  they  violated  every  right 
that  should  be  held  sacred  between  hostile  nations.  After  each  insurrec- 
tion, they  reduced  the  common  people,  in  the  provinces  which  they  sub- 
dued, to  the  most  humiliating  of  all  conditions,  that  of  personal  servitude. 
Their  chiefs,  supposed  to  be  more  criminal,  were  punished  with  greater 
severity,  and  put  to  death  in  the  most  ignominious  or  the  most  excruciating 
mode  that  the  insolence  or  the  cruelty  of  their  conquerors  could  devise. 
In  almost  every  district  of  the  Mexican  empire,  the  progress  of  the  Spa- 
nish arms  is  marked  with  blood,  and  with  deeds  so  atrocious  as  disgrace 
the  enterprising  valour  that  conducted  them  to  success.  In  the  country  of 
Panuco,  sixty  caziques  or  leaders,  and  four  hundred  nobles,  were  burned 
at  one  time.  Nor  was  this  shocking  barbarity  perpetrated  in  any  sudden 
sally  of  rage,  or  by  a  commander  of  inferior  note.  It  was  the  act  of  San- 
doval,  an  officer  whose  name  is  entitled  to  the  second  rank  in  the  annals  of 
New  Spain,  and  executed  after  a  solemn  consultation  with  Cortes ;  and  to 
complete  the  horror  of  the  scene,  the  children  and  relations  of  the.  wretched 
victims  were  assembled,  and  compelled  to  be  spectators  of  their  dying 
agonies.*  It  seems  hardly  possible  to  exceed  in  horror  this  dreadful  ex- 
ample of  severity  ;  but  it  was  followed  by  another,  which  affected  the 
Mexicans  still  more  sensibly,  as  it  gave  them  a  most  feeling  proof  of  their 
own  degradation,  and  of  the  small  regard  which  their  haughty  masters 
retained  for  the  ancient  dignity  and  splendour  of  their  state.  On  a  slight 
suspicion,  confirmed  by  very  irnperiect  evidence,  that  Guatimozin  had 
formed  a  scheme  to  shake  off  the  yoke,  and  to  excite  his  former  subjects 
to  take  arms,  Cortes,  without  the  formality  of  a  trial,  ordered  the  unhappy 
monarch,  together  with  the  caziques  of  Tezeuco  and  Tacuba,  the  two 
persons  of  greatest  eminence  in  the  empire,  to  be  hanged ;  and  the 
Mexicans,  with  astonishment  and  horror,  beheld  this  disgraceful  punish 
ment  inflicted  upon  persons  to  whom  they  were  accustomed  to  look  up 
with  reverence  hardly  inferior  to  that  which  they  paid  to  the  gods  them 
selvesf  [122].  The  example  of  Cortes  and  his  principal  officers  encou 

*  Cortes  Relat.  291.  C.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  155.  t  Gomara  Cron:  c.  170.    B.  Diaz,  c.  177i 

Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  viii.  c.  9. 

'VoL.  I.— 33  13 


$5b-  HISTORY  OF  [BooKV. 

raged  and  justified  persons  of  subordinate  rank  to  venture  upon  committing 
greater  excesses.  Nuno  de  Guzman,,  in  particular,  stained  an  illustrious 
name  by  deeds  of  peculiar  enormity  and  rigour,  in  various  expeditions 
which  he  conducted.* 

One  circumstance,  however,  saved  the  Mexicans  from  further  consump- 
tion, perhaps  from  as  complete  as  that  which  had  depopulated  the  islands. 
The  first  conquerors  did  not  attempt  to  search  for  the  precious  metals  in 
the  bowels  of  the  earth.  They  were  neither  sufficiently  wealthy  to  carry 
on  the  expensive  works  which  are  requisite  for  opening  those  deep,  recesses 
where  nature  has  concealed  the'  veins  of  gold  and  silver,  nor  sufficiently 
skilful  to  perform  the  ingenious  operations  by  which  those  precious  metals 
are  separated  from  their  respective  ores.  They  were  satisfied  with  the 
more  simple  method,  practised  by  the  Indians,  of  washing  the  earth  car- 
ried down  rivers  and  torrents  from  the  mountains,  and  collecting  the  grains 
of  native  metal  deposited  there.  The  rich  mines  of  New  Spain,  which 
have  poured  forth  their  treasures  with  such  profusion  on  every  quarter  of 
the  globe<,  were  not  discovered  for  several  years  after  the  conquest.!  By 
that  time  [1552,  &c.],  a  more  orderly  government  and  police  were  intro- 
duced into  the  colony  ;  experience,  derived  from  former  errors,  had  sug- 
gested many  useful  and  humane  regulations  for  the  protection  and  preser- 
vation of  the  Indians  ;  and  though  it  then  became  necessary  to  increase 
the  number  of  those  employed  in  the  mines,  and  they  were  engaged  in  a 
species  df  labour  more  pernicious  to  the  human  constitution,  they  suffered 
less  hardship  or  diminution  than  from  the  ill  judged,  but  less  extensive, 
schemes  of  the  first  conquerors. 

While  it  was  the  lot  of  the  Indians  to  suffer,  their  new  masters  seemed 
not  to  have  derived  any  considerable  wealth  from  their  ill  conducted  re- 
searches. According  to  the  usual  fate  of  first  settlers  in  new  colonies,  it 
was  their  lot  to  encounter  danger  and  to  struggle  with  difficulties ;  the 
fruits  of  their  victories  and  toils  were  reserved  for  times  of  tranquillity, 
and  reaped  by  successors  of  great  industry,  but  of  inferior  merit.  The 
early  historians  of  America  abound  with  accounts  of  the  sufferings  and  of 
the  poverty  of  its  conquerors.^  In  New  Spain,  their  condition  was  ren- 
dered more  grievous  by  a  peculiar  arrangement.  When  Charles  V.  ad- 
vanced Cortes  to  the  government  of  that  country,  he  at  the  same  time 
appointed  certain  commissioners  to  receive  and  administer  the  royal  reve- 
nue there,  with  independent  jurisdiction.^  These  men,  chosen  from  infe- 
rior stations  in  various  departments  of  puolic  business  at  Madrid,  were  so 
much  elevated  with  their  promotion,  that  they  thought  they  were  called 
to  act  a  part  of  the  first  consequence.  But  being  accustomed  to  the 
minute  formalities  of  office,  and  having  contracted  the  narrow  ideas  suited 
to  the  sphere  in  which  they  had  hitherto  moved,  they  were  astonished  on 
arriving  in  Mexico  [1524],  at  the  high  authority  which  Cortes  exercised, 
and  could  not  conceive  that  the  mode  of  administration,  in  a  country 're- 
cently subdued  and  settled,  must  be  different  from  what  took  place  in  one 
where  tranquillity  and  regular  government  had  been  long  established.  In 
their  letters,  they  represented  Cortes  as  an  ambitious  tyrant,  who,  having 
usurped  a  jurisdiction  superior  to  law,  aspired  at  independence,  and,  by 
his  exorbitant  wealth  and  extensive  influence,  might  accomplish  those  dis- 
loyal schemes  which  he  apparently  meditated. ||  These  insinuations  made 
such  deep  impression  upon  the  Spanish  ministers,  most  of  whom  had  been 
formed  to  business  under  the  jealous  and  rigid  administration  of  Ferdi- 
nand, that,  unmindful  of  all  Cortes's  past  services,  and  regardless  of  what 
he  was  then  suffering  in  conducting  that  extraordinary  expedition,  in  which 
he  advanced  from  the  lake  of  Mexico  to  the  western  extremities  of  Hon- 

*  Herrera,  dec.  4  and  5.  passim.         t  Ibid.  dec.  8.  lib.  x.  c.  «l.         }  Cortes  Helat.  283-  F.      B 
Diaz,  c.  209.       §  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  3.        jj  Ibid.  dec.  3.  lib.  v.  c.  14. 


AMERICA.  259 

duras  [123],  they  infused  the  same  suspicions  into  the  minds  of  their  mas- 
ter, and  prevailed  on  him  to  order  a  solemn  inquest  to  be  made  into  his 
conduct  [1525],  with  powers  to  the  licentiate  Ponce  de  Leon,  intrusted 
with  that  commission,  to  seize  his  person,  if  he  should  find  that  expedient, 
and  send  him  prisoner  to  Spain.* 

The  sudden  death  of  Ponce  de  Leon,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  in  New 
Spain,  prevented  the  execution  of  this  commission.  But  as  the  object  ot 
his  appointment  was  known,  the  mind  of  Cortes  was  deeply  wounded 
with  this  unexpected  return  for  services  which  far  exceeded  whatever  any 
subject  of  Spain  had  rendered  to  his  sovereign.  He  endeavoured,  how- 
ever, to  maintain  his  station,  and  to  recover  the  confidence  of  the  court. 
But  every  person  in  office,,  who  had  arrived  from  Spain  since  the  conquest, 
was  a  spy  upon  his  conduct,  and  with  malicious  ingenuity  gave  an  unfa- 
vourable representation  of  all  his  actions.  The  apprehensions  of  Charles 
and  his  ministers  increased.  A  new  commission  of  inquiry  was  issued 
[1528],  with  more  extensive  powers,  and  various  precautions  were  taken 
in  order  to  prevent  or  to  punish  him,  if  he  should  be  so  presumptuous  as 
to  attempt  what  was  inconsistent  with  the  fidelity  of  a  subject.!  Cortes 
beheld  the  approaching  crisis  cf  his  fortune  with  all  the  violent  emotions 
natural  to  a  haughty  mind  conscious  of  high  desert,  and  receiving  unworthy 
treatment.  But  though  some  of  his  desperate  followers  urged  him  to  assert 
his  own  rights  against  his  ungrateful  country,  and  with  a  bold  hand  to  seize 
that  power  which  the  courtiers  meanly  accused  him  of  coveting,|  he  re- 
tained such  self- command,' or  was  actuated  with  such  sentiments  of  loyalty, 
as  to  reject  their  dangerous  counsels,  and  to  choose  the  only  course  in 
which  he  could  secure  his  own  dignity,  without  departing  from  his  duty. 
He  resolved  not  to  expose  himself  to  the  ignominy  of  a  trial  in  that  coun- 
try which  had  been  the  scene  of  his  triumphs  ;  but,  without  waiting  for 
the  arrival  of  his  judges,  to  repair  directly  to  Castile,  and  commit  himself 
and  his  cause  to  the  justice  and  generosity  of  his  sovereign. § 

Cortes  appeared  in  his  native  country  with  the  splendour  that  suited  the 
conqueror  of  a  mighty  kingdom.  He  brought  with  him  a  great  part  of  his 
wealth,  many  jewels  and  ornaments  of  great  value,  several  curious  produc- 
tions of  the  country  [124],  and  was  attended  by  some  Mexicans  of  the  first 
rank,  as  well  as  by  the  most,  considerable  of  his  own  officers.  His  arrival 
in  Spain  removed  at  once  every  suspicion  and  fear  that  had  been  enter- 
tained with  respect  to  his  intentions.  The  emperor,  having  now  nothing 
to  apprehend  from  the  designs  of  Cortes,  received  him  like  a  person  whom 
consciousness  of  his  own  innocence  had  brought  into  the  presence  of  his 
master,  and  who  was  entitled,  by  the  eminence  of  his  services,  to  the 
highest  marks  of  distinction  and  respect.  The  order  of  St.  Jago,  the  title 
of  Marquis  del  Valle  de  Guaxaca,  the  grant  of  an  ample  territory  in  New 
Spain,  were  successively  bestowed  upon  him  ;  and  as  his  manners  were 
correct  and  elegant,  although  he  had  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
among  rough  adventurers,  the  emperor  admitted  him  to  the  same  familiar 
intercourse  with  himself,  that  was  enjoyed  by  noblemen  of  the  first  rank.ll 

But,  amidst  those  external  proofs  of  regard,  symptoms  of  remaining  dis- 
trust appeared.  Though  Cortes  earnestly  solicited  to  be  reinstated  in  the 
government  of  New  Spain,  Charles,  too  sagacious  to  commit  such  an  im- 
portant charge  to  a  man  whom  he  had  once  suspected,  peremptorily  re- 
fused to  invest  him  again  with  powers  which  he  might  find  it  impossible 
to  control.  Cortes,  though  dignified  with  new  titles,  returned  to  Mexico 
[1530],  with  diminished  authority.  The  military  department,  with 
powers  to  attempt  new  discoveries,  was  left  in  his  hands  ;  but  the  supreme 
direction  of  civil  affairs  was  placed  in  a  board  called  The  Audience  of 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  viii.  c.  14, 15.  f  Ibid-  dec.  3.  lib.  viii.  c.  15.  dec.  4.  lib.  ii.  c.  1.  lib.  iv. 

C.  9,  10.     B.  Diaz,  c.  172.  196.      Gomara  Cron.  c.  166.        \  B.  Diaz,  c.  194.        §  lierrera,  dec.  3. 
lib.  iv.  c.  8.        ||  Ibid.  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  1.  lib.  vi.  c.  4.    B.  Diaz,  c.  196.    Gomara  Cron.  c.  192. 


260  HISTORY  OF  pBooKV. 

New  Spain.  At  a  subsequent  period,  when,  upon  the  increase  of  the 
colony,  the  exertion  of  authority  more  united  and  extensive  became  neces- 
sary, Antonio  de  Mendoza,  a  nobleman  of  high  rank,  was  sent  thither  as 
Viceroy,  to  take  the  government  into  his  hands. 

This  division  of  power  in  New  Spain  proved,  as  was  unavoidable,  the 
source  of  perpetual  dissension,  which  imbittered  the  life  of  Cortes,  and 
thwarted  all  his  schemes.  As  he  had  now  no  opportunity  to  display  his 
active  talents  but  in  attempting  new  discoveries,  he  formed  various  schemes 
for  that  purpose,  all  of  which  bear  impressions  of  a  genius  that  delighted 
in  what  was  bold  and  splendid.  He  early  entertained  an  idea,  that,  either 
by  steering  through  the  Gulf  of  Florida  along  the  east  coast  of  North 
America,  some  strait  would  be  found  that  communicated  with  the  western 
ocean  ;  or  that,  by  examining  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  some  passage  would 
be  discovered  between  the  North  and  South  Seas.*  But  having  been  dis- 
appointed in,  his  expectations  with  respect  to  both,  he  now  confined  his 
views  to  such  voyages  of  discovery  as  he  could  make  from  the  ports  of 
New  Spain  in  the  South  Sea.  There  he  fitted  out  successively  several 
small  squadrons,  which  either  perished  in  the  attempt,  or  returned  without 
making  any  discovery  of  moment.  Cortes,,  weary  of  intrusting  the  con- 
duct of  his  operations  to  others,  took  the  commana  of  a  new  armament  in 
person  [1536 j  ;  and,  after  enduring  incredible  hardships,  and  encountering 
dangers  of  every  species,  he  discovered  the  large  peninsula  of  California, 
and  surveyed  the  greater  part  of  the  gulf  which  separates  it  from  New 
Spain.  The  discovery  of  a  country  of  such  extent  would  have  reflected 
credit  on  a  common  adventurer  ;  but  it  could  add  little  new  honour  to  the 
name  of  Cortes,  and  was  far  from  satisfying  the  sanguine  expectations 
which  he  had  formed.!  Disgusted  with  ill  success,  to  which  he  had  not 
been  accustomed,  and  weary  of  contesting  with  adversaries  to  whom  he 
considered  it  as  a  disgrace  to  be  opposed,  he  once  more  sought  for  redress 
in  his  native  country  [1540]. 

But  his  reception  there  was  very  different  from  that  which  gratitude,  and 
even  decency,  ought  to  have  secured  for  him.  The  merit  of  his  ancient 
exploits  was  already,  in  a  great  measure,  forgotten  or  eclipsed  by  the  fame 
of  recent  and  more  valuable  conquests  in  another  quarter  of  America.  No 
service  of  moment  was  now  expected  from  a  man  of  declining  years,  and 
who  began  to  be  unfortunate.  The  emperor  behaved  to  him  with  cold 
civility  ;  his  ministers  treated  him  sometimes  with  neglect,  sometimes  with 
insolence.  His  grievances  received  no  redress  ;  his  claims  were  urged 
without  effect ;  and  after  several  years  spent  in  fruitless  application  to 
ministers  and  judges,  an  occupation  the  most  irksome  and  mortifying  to  a 
man  of  high  spirit,  who  had  moved  in  a  sphere  where  he  was  more  ac- 
customed to  command  than  to  solicit,  Cortes  ended  his  days  on  tHe  second 
of  December,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-seven,  in  the  sixty- 
second  year  of  his  age.  His  fate  was  the  same  with  that  of  all  the  per- 
sons who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  discovery  or  conquest  of  the 
New  World.  Envied  by  his  contemporaries,  and  ill  requited  by  the  court 
which  he  served,  he  has  been  admired  and  celebrated  by  succeeding  ages. 
Which  has  formed  the  most  just  estimate  of  his  character,  an  impartial 
consideration  of  his  actions  must  determine. 

*  Oortea  Relat.  Ram.  iii.  294.  B.  t  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  viil  e.  9, 10.  dec.  a  lib.  tl.  C.  11  V<3- 
negas  Hist,  of  Califoiu.  i.  125.  Lorenziana  Hist.  p.  322,  &c. 


AMERICA.  2f.l 


BOOK  VI. 

1523.]  FROM  the  time  that  Nugnez  de  Balboa  discovered  the  great 
Southern  Ocean,  and  received  the  first  obscure  hints  concerning  the  opulent 
countries  with  which  it  might  open  a  communication,'  the  wishes  and 
schemes  of  every  enterprising  person  in  the  colonies  of  Darien  and  Pa- 
nama were  turned  towards  the  wealth  of  those  unknown  regions.  In  an 
age  when  the  spirit  of  adventure  was  so  ardent  and  vigorous,  that  large 
fortunes  were  wasted,  and  the  most  alarming  dangers  braved,  in  pursuit 
of  discoveries  merely  possible,  the  faintest  ray  of  hope  was  followed  with 
an  eager  expectation,  and  the  slightest  information  was  sufficient  to  inspire 
such  perfect  confidence  as  conducted  men  to  the  most  arduous  under- 
takings [125]. 

Accordingly,  several  armaments  were  fitted  out-  in  order  to  explore  and 
take  possession  of  the  countries  to  the  east  of  Panama,  but  under  the  con-  ' 
duct  of  leaders  whose  talents  and  resources  were  unequal  to  the  attempt.* 
As  the  excursions  of  those  adventurers  did  not  extend  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  province  to  which  the  Spaniards  have  given  the  name  of  Tierra 
Firme,  a  mountainous  region  covered  with  woods,  thinly  inhabited,  and 
extremely  unhealthy,  they  returned  with  dismal  accounts  concerning  the 
distresses  to  which  they  had  been  exposed,  and  the  unpromising  aspect  of 
the  places  which  they  had  visited.  Damped  by  these  tidings,  the  rage 
for  discovery  in  that  direction  abated ;  and  it  became  the  general  opinion 
that  Balboa  had  founded  visionary  hopes,  on  the  tale  of  an  ignorant  Indian, 
ill  understood,  or  calculated  to  deceive. 

1524.]  But  there  were  three  persons  settled  in  Panama,  on  whom  the 
circumstances  which  deterred  others  made  so  little  impression,  that,  at  the 
very  moment  when  all  considered  Balboa's  expectations  of  discovering  a 
rich  country,  by  steering  towards  the  east,  as  chimerical,  they  resolved  to 
attempt  the  execution  of  his  scheme.  The  names  of  those  extraordinary 
men  were  Francisco  Pizarro,  Diego  de  Almagro,  and  Hernando  Luque 
Pizarro  was  the  natural  son  of  a  gentleman  of  an  honourable  family  by  a 
very  low  woman,  and,  according  to  the  cruel  fate  which  often  attends  the 
offspring  of  unlawful  love,  had  been  so  totally  neglected  in  his  youth  by 
the  author  of  his  birth,  that  he  seems  to  have  destined  him  never  to  rise 
beyond  the  condition  of  his  mother.  In  consequence  of  this  ungenerous 
idea,  he  set  him,  when  bordering  on  manhood,  to  keep  hogs.  But  the 
aspiring  mind  of  young  Pizarro  disdaining  that  ignoble  occupation,  he 
abruptly  abandoned  his  charge,  enlisted  as  a  soldier,  and  after  serving 
some  years  in  Italy,  embarked  for  America,  which,  by  opening  such  a 
boundless  range  to  active  talents,  allured  every  adventurer  whose  fortune 
was  not  equal  to  his  ambitious  thoughts.  There  Pizarro  early  distinguished 
himself.  With  a  temper  of  mind  no  less  daring  than  the  constitution  of 
his  body  was  robust,  he  was  foremost  in  every^  danger,  patient  under  the 
greatest  hardships,  and  unsubdued  by  any  fatigue.  Though  so  illiterate 
that  he  could  not  even  read,  he  was  soon  considered  as  a  man  formed  to 
command.  Every  operation  committed  to  his  conduct  proved  successful, 
as,  by  a  happy  but  rare  conjunction,  he  united  perseverance  with  ardour, 
and  was  as  cautious  in  executing  as  he  was  bold  in  forming  his  plans.  By 
engaging  early  in  active  life,  without  any  resource  but  his  own  talents  and 
industry,  and  by  depending  on  himself  alone  in  his  struggles  to  emerge 
from  obscurity,  he  acquired  such  a  thorough  knowledge  of  affairs,  and  oi 

*  Calancha  Coronica,  p.  100. 


262  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VI. 

men,  that  he  was  fitted  to  assume  a  superior  part  in  conducting  the  fprmer, 
and  in  governing  the  latter.* 

Almagro  had  as  little  to  boast  of  his  descent  as  Pizarro.  The  one  was 
a  bastard,  the  other  a  foundling.  Bred,  like  his  companion,  in  the  camp, 
he  yielded  not  to  him  in  any  of  the  soldierly  qualities  of  intrepid  valour, 
indefatigable  activity,  or  insurmountable  constancy  in  enduring  the  hard- 
ships inseparable  from  military  service  in  the  New  World.  But  in  Almagro 
these  virtues  were  accompanied  with  the  openness,  generosity,  and  candour, 
natural  to  men  whose  profession  is  arms  ;  in  Pizarro,  they  were  united  with 
the  address,  the  craft,  and  the  dissimulation  of  a  politician,  with  the  art  of 
concealing  his  own  purposes,  and  with  sagacity  to  penetrate  into  those  of 
other  men. 

Hernando  de  Luque  was  an  ecclesiastic,  who  acted  both  as  priest  and 
schoolmaster  at  Panama,  and,  by  means  which  the  contemporary  writers 
have  not  described,  had  amassed  riches  that  inspired  him  with  thoughts 
of  rising  to  greater  eminence. 

Such  were  the'  men  destined  to  overturn  one  of  the  most  extensive  em- 
pires on  .the  face  of  the  earth.  Their  confederacy  for  this  purpose  was 
authorized  by  Pedrarias,  the  governor  of  Panama.  Each  engaged  to 
employ  his  whole  fortune  in  the  adventure.  Pizarro,  the  least  wealthy  of 
the  three,  as  he  could  not  throw  so  large  a  sum  as  his  associates  into  the 
common  stock,  engaged  to  take  the  department  of  greatest  fatigue  and 
danger,  and  to  command  in  person  the  armament  which  was  to  go  first 
upon  discovery;  Almagrc-  offered  to  conduct  the  supplies  of  provisions 
and  reinforcements  of  troops,  of  which  Pizarro  might  stand  in  need. 
Luque  was  to  remain  at  Panama  to  negotiate  with  the  governor,  and 
superintend  whatever  was  carrying  on  for  the  general  interest.  As  the 
spirit  of  enthusiasm  uniformly  accompanied  that  of  adventure  in  the  New 
World,  and  by  that  strange  union  both  acquired  an  increase  of  force,  this 
confederacy,  formed  by  ambition  and  avarice,  was  confirmed  by  the  most 
solemn  act  of  religion.  Luque  celebrated  mass,  divided  a  consecrated 
host  into  three,  and,  reserving  one  part  to  himself,  gave  the  other  two  to 
his  associates,  of  which  they  partook  ;  and  thus,  in  me  name  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace,  ratified  a  contract  of  which  plunder  and  bloodshed  were  the 
objects.! 

The  attempt  was  begun  with  a  force  more  suited  to  the  humble  con- 
dition of  the  three  associates  than  to  the  greatness  of  the  enterprise  in 
which  they  were  engaged.  Pizarro  set  sail  Irom  Panama  [Nov.  14],  with 
a  single  vessel  of  small  burden  and  a  hundred  and  twelve  men.  But  in 
that  age,  so  little  were  the  Spanish  acquainted  with  the  peculiarities  of 
the  climate  in  America,  that  the  time  which  Pizarro  chose  for  his  departure 
was  the  most  improper  in  the  whole  year ;  the  periodical  winds,  which 
were  then  set  in,  being  directly  adverse  to  the  course  which  he  proposed 
to  steer.J  After  beating  about  for  seventy  days,  with  much  danger  and 
incessant  fatigue,  Pizarro's  progress  towards  the  south-east  was  not  greater 
than  what  a  skilful  navigator  will  now  make  in  as  many  hours.  He 
touched  at  several  places  on  the  coast  of  Tierra  Firme,  but  found  every 
where  the  same  uninviting  country  which  former  adventurers  had  described ; 
the  low  grounds  converted  into  swamps  by  an  overflowing  of  rivers  ;  the 
higher,  covered  with  impervious  woods  ;  few  inhabitants,  and  those  fierce 
and  hostile.  Famine,  fatigue,  frequent  rencounters  with  the  natives,  and, 
above  all,  the  distempers  of  a  moist,  sultry  climate,  combined  in  wasting 
his  slender  band  of  followers.  [1525.J  The  undaunted  resolution  of  their 
leader  continued,  however,  for  some  time,  to  sustain  their  spirits,  although 
no  sign  had  yet  appeared  of  discovering  those  golden  regions  to  which  he 

*  Herrera,  dec.  1  &  2.  passim,  dec.  4.  lib.  vi.  c.  107.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  144.  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c.  9 
t  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  vi.  c.  13.  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  1.  J  Ibid.  dec.  4,  lib.  ii.  c.  8,  Xerez,  p.  179. 


AMERICA.  263 

had  promised  to  conduct  them.  At  length  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  that 
inhospitable  coast,  and  retire  to  Chuchama,  opposite  to  the  pearl  islands, 
where  he  hoped  to  receive  a  supply  of  provisions  and  troops  from  Panama. 

But  Almagro,  having  sailed  from  that  port  with  seventy  men,  stood 
directly  towards  that  part  of  the  continent  where  he  hoped  to  meet  with 
his  associates.  Not  finding  him  there,  he  landed  his  soldiers,  who,  in 
searching  for  their  companions,  underwent  the  same-  distresses,  and  were 
exposed  to  the  same' dangers,  which  had  driven  them  out  of  the  country. 
Repulsed  at  length  by  the  Indians  in  a  sharp  conflict,  in  which  their  leader 
lost  one  of  his  eyes  by  the  wound  of  an  arrow,  they  likewise  were  com 
pelled  to  re-embark.  Chance  led  them  to  the  place  of  Pizarro's  retreat, 
where  they  found  some  consolation  in  recounting  to  each  other  their  ad- 
ventures, and  comparing  their  sufferings.  As  Almagro  had  advanced  as 
far  as  the  river  St.  Juan  [June  24],  in  the  province  of  Popayan,  where 
both  the  country  and  inhabitants  appeared  with  a  more  promising  aspect, 
that  dawn  of  better  fortune  was  sufficient  to  determine  such  sanguine  pro- 
jectors not  to  abandon  their  scheme,  notwithstanding  all  that  they  had 
suffered  in  prosecuting  it*  [126]. 

1526.]  Almagro  repaired  to  Panama  in  hopes  of  recruiting  their  shat 
tered  troops.  But  what  he  and  Pizarro  had  suffered  gave  his  countrymen 
such  an  unfavourable  idea  of  the  service,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  could 
levy  fourscore  men.j  Feeble  as  this  reinforcement  was,  Almagro  took  the 
command  of  it,  and,  having  joined  Pizarro,  they  did  not  hesitate  about 
resuming  their  operations.  After  a  long  series  of  disasters  and  disappoint- 
ments, not  inferior  to  those  which  they  had  already  experienced,  part  of 
the  armament  reached  the  Bay  of  St.  Matthew,  on  the  coast  of  Quito,  and 
landing  at  Tacamez,  to  the  south  of  the  river  of  Emeraulds,  they  beheld 
a  country  more  champaign  and  fertile  than  any  they  had  yet  discovered  in 
the  Southern  Ocean,  the  natives  clad  in  garments  of  woollen  or  cotton  stuff, 
and  adorned  with  several  trinkets  of  gold  and  silver. 

But  notwithstanding  those  favourable  appearances,  magnified  beyond  the 
truth,  both  by  the  vanity  of  the  persons  who  brought  the  report  from  Taca- 
mez, and  by  the  fond  imagination  of  those  who  listened  to  them,  Pizarro 
and  Almagro  durst  not  venture  to  invade  a  country  so  populous  with  a 
handful  01  men  enfeebled  by  fatigue  and  diseases.  They  retired  to  the 
small  island  of  Gallo,  where  Pizarro  remained  with  part  ot  the  troops,  and 
his  associate  returned  to  Panama,  in  hopes  of  bringing  such  a  reinforcement 
as  might  enable  them  to  take  possession  of  the  opulent  territories  whose 
existence  seemed  to  be  no  longer  doubtful.^ 

But  some  of  the  adventurers,  less  enterprising,  or  less  hardy,  than  their 
leaders,  having  secretly  conveyed  lamentable  accounts  of  their  sufferings 
and  losses  to  their  friends  at  Panama,  Almagro  met  with  an  unfavourable 
reception  from  Pedro  de  los  Rios,  who  had  succeeded  Pedrarias  in  the 
government  of  that  settlement.  After  weighing  the  matter  with  that  cold 
economical  prudence  which  appears  the  first  of  all  virtues  to  persons  whose 
limited  faculties  are  incapable  of  conceiving  or  executing  great  designs,  he 
concluded  an  expedition,  attended  with  such  certain  waste  of  men,  to  be  so 
detrimental  to  an  infant  and  feeble  colony,  that  he  not  only  prohibited  the 
raising  of  new  levies,  but  despatched  a  vessel  to  bring  home  *Pizarro  and 
his  companions  from  the  island  of  Gallo.  Almagro  and  Luque,  though 
deeply  affected  with  those  measures,  which  they  could  not  prevent,  and 
durst  not  oppose,  found  means  of  communicating  their  sentiments  privately 
to  Pizarro,  and  exhorted  him  not  to  relinquish  an  enterprise  that  was  the 
foundation  of  all  their  hopes,  and  the  only  means  of  re-establishing  their 
reputation  and  fortune,  which  were  both  on  the  decline.  Pizarro's  mind, 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  viii.  c.  11.  18.  t  Zarate.  lib,  5.  c.  1.  i  Xerez,  181.    Herrera.  dec. 

3.  lib.  viii.  c.  13. 


264  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

bent  with  inflexible  obstinacy  on  all  its  purposes,  needed  no  incentive  to 
persist  in  the  scheme.  He  peremptorily  refused  to  obey  the  governor  of 
Panama's  orders,  and  employed  all  his  address  and  eloquence  in  persuading 
his  men  not  to  abandon  him.  But  the  incredible  calamities  to  which  they 
had  been  exposed  were  still  so  recent  in  their  memories,  and  the  thoughts 
of  revisiting  their  families  and  friends,  after  a  long  absence,  rushed  with 
such  ioy  into  their  minds,  that  when  Pizarro  drew  a  line  upon  the  sand 
with  nis  sword,  permitting  such  as  wished  to  return  home  to  pass  over  it, 
only  thirteen  of  all  the  daring  veterans  in  his  service  had  resolution  to  remain 
with  their  commander.* 

This  small  but  determined  band,  whose  names  the  Spanish  historians 
record  with  deserved  praise,  as  the  persons  to  whose  persevering  fortitude 
their  country  is  indebted  for  the  most  valuable  of  all  its  American  posses- 
sions, fixed  their  residence  in  the  island  of  Gorgona.  This,  as  it  was  further 
removed  from  the  coast  than  Gallo,  and  uninhabited,  they  considered  as  a 
more  secure  retreat,  where,  unmolested,  they  might  wait  for  supplies  from 
Panama,  which  they  trusted  that  the  activity  of  their  associates  would  be 
able  to  procure.  Almagro  and  Luque  were  not  inattentive  or  cold  solicitors, 
and  their  incessant  importunity  was  seconded  by  the  general  voice  of  the 
colony,  which  exclaimed  loudly  against  the  infamy  of  exposing  brave  men, 
engaged  in  the  public  service,  and  chargeable  with  no  error  but  what  flowed 
from  an  excess  of  zeal  and  courage,  to  perish  like  the  most  odious  criminals 
in  a  desert  island.  Overcome  by  those  entreaties  and  expostulations,  the 
governor  at  last  consented  to  send  a  small  vessel  to  their  relief.  But  that 
he  might  not  seem  to  encourage  Pizarro  to  any  new  enterprise,  he  would 
not  permit  one  landmari  to  embark  on  board  of  it. 

By  this  time,  Pizarro  and  his  companions  had  remained  five  months  in 
an  island  infamous  for  the  most  unhealthy  climate  in  that  region  of  Ameri- 
ca [1271.  During  all  this  period,  their  eyes  were  turned  towards  Panama,  in 
hopes  of  succour  from  their  countrymen  ;  but  worn  out  at  length  with  fruit- 
less expectations,  and  dispirited  with  suffering  hardships  of  which  they  saw 
no  end,  they,  in  despair,  came  to  a  resolution  of  committing  themselves  to 
the  ocean  on  a  float,  rather  than  continue  in  that  detestable  abode.  But,  on 
the  arrival  of  the  vessel  from  Panama,  they  were  transported  with  such  joy 
that  all  their  sufferings  were  forgotten.  Their  hopes  revived  ;  and,  with  a 
rapid  transition  not  unnatural  among  men  accustomed  by  their  mode  of  life 
to  sudden  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  high  confidence  succeeding  to  extreme 
dejection,  Pizarro  easily  induced  not  only  his  own  followers,  but  the  crew 
of  the  vessel  from  Panama,  to  resume  his  former  scheme  with  fresh  ardour. 
Instead  of  returning  to  Panama,  they  stood  towards  the  south-east,  and, 
more  fortunate  in  this  than  in  any  of  their  past  efforts,  they,  on  the  twentieth 
day  after  their  departure  from  Gorgona,  discovered  the  coast  of  Peru. 
After  touching  at  several  villages  near  the  shore,  which  they  found  to  be 
nowise  inviting,  they  landed  at  Tumbez,  a  place  of  some  note  about  three 
degrees  south  of  the  line,  distinguished  for  its  stately  temple,  and  a  palace 
of  the  Incas  or  sovereigns  of  the  country.f  There  the  Spaniards  -feasted 
their  eyes  with  the  first  view  of  the  opulence  and  civilization  of  the  Peru- 
vian empire.  They  beheld  a  country  fully  peopled,  and  cultivated  with 
an  appearance  of  regular  industry  ;  the  natives  decently  clothed,  and  pos- 
sessed of  ingenuity  so  far  surpassing  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  New  World 
as  to  have  the  use  of  ta'me  domestic  animals.  But  what  chiefly  attracted 
their  notice  was  such  a  show  of  gold  and  silver,  not  only  in  the  ornaments 
of  their  persons  and  temples,  but  in  several  vessels  and  utensils  for  common 
use,  formed  of  those  precious  metals,  as  left  no  room  to  doubt  that  they 
abounded  with  profusion  in  the  country.  Pizarro  and  his  companions 

Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  x.  c  2,  3.    Zarale,  lib.  i.  c.  2.  Xerez,  181.    Gomara  Hist.  c.  109.         t  Ca- 
laiicha,  p.  103 


AMERICA.  265 

seemed  now  to  have  attained  to  the  completion  of  their  most  sanguine  hopes, 
and  fancied  that  all  their  wishes  and  dreams  of  rich  domains,  and  inex- 
haustible treasures,  would  soon  be  realized. 

But  with  the  slender  force  then  under  his  command,  Pizarro  could  only 
view  the  rich  country  of  which  he  hoped  hereafter  to  obtain  possession. 
He  ranged,  however,  for  some  time  along  the  coast,  maintaining  every 
where  a  peaceable  intercourse  with  the  natives,  no  less  astonished  at  their 
new  visitants  than  the  Spaniards  were  with  the  uniform  appearance  of  opu- 
lence and  cultivation  which  they  beheld.  [1527.]  Having  explored  the 
country  as  far  as  requisite  to  ascertain  the  importance  of  the  discovery, 
Pizarro  procured  from  the  inhabitants  some  of  their  Llamas  or  tame  cattle, 
to  which  the  Spaniards  gave  the  name  of  sheep,  some  vessels  of  gold  and 
silver,  as  well  as  some  specimens  of  their  other  works  of  ingenuity,  and  two 
young  men,  whom  he  proposed  to  instruct  in  the  Castilian  language,  that 
they  might  serve  as  interpreters  in  the  expedition  which  he  meditated. 
With  these  he  arrived  at  Panama,  towards  the  close  of  the  third  year  from 
the  time  of  his  departure  thence.*  No  adventurer  of  the  age  suffered  hard- 
ships or  encountered  dangers  which  equal'  those  to  which  he  was  exposed 
during  this  long  period.  The  patience  with  which  he  endured  the  one, 
and  the  fortitude  with  which  he  surmounted  the  other,  exceed  whatever  is 
recorded  in  the  history  of  the  New  World,  where  so  many  romantic  dis- 
plays of  those  virtues  occur. 

1528.]  Neither  the  splendid  relation  that  Pizarro  gave  of  the  incredible 
opulence  of  the  country  which  he  had  discovered,  nor  his  bitter  complaiats 
on  account  of  that  unreasonable  recall  of  his  forces,  which  had  put  it  out  of 
his  power  to  attempt  making  any  settlement  there,  could  move  the  governor 
of  Panama  to  swerve  from  his  former  plan  of  conduct.  He  still  contended, 
that  the  colony  was  not  in  a  condition  to  invade  such  a  mighty  empire,  and 
refused  to  authorize  an  expedition  which  he  foresaw  would  be  so  alluring 
that  it  might  ruin  the  province  in  which  he  presided,  by  an  effort  beyond 
its  strength.  His  coldness,  however,  did  not  in  any  degree  abate  the  ardour 
of  the  three  associates  ;  but  they  perceived  that  they  could  not  carry  their 
scheme  into  execution  without  the  countenance  of  superior  authority,  and 
must  solicit  their  sovereign  to  grant  that  permission  which  they  could  not 
extort  from  his  delegate.  With  this  view,  after  adjusting  among  themselves 
that  Pizarro  should  claim  the  station  of  governor,  Almagro  that  of  lieutenant- 
governor,  and  Luque  the  dignity  of  bishop  in  the  country  which  they  pro- 
posed to'  conquer,  they  sent  Pizarro  as  their  agent  to  Spain,  though  their 
fortunes  were  now  so  much  exhausted  by  the  repeated  efforts  which  they 
had  made,  that  they  found  some  difficulty  in  borrowing  the  small  sum 
requisite  towards  equipping  him  for  the  voyage.j 

Pizarro  lost  no  time  in  repairing  to  court ;  and  new  as  the  scene 
might  be  to  him,  he  appeared  before  the  emperor  with  the  unembarrassed 
dignity  of  a  man  conscious  of  what  his  services  merited  ;  and  he  conducted 
his  negotiations  with  an  insinuating  dexterity  of  address,  which  could  not 
have  been  expected  either  from  his  education  or  former  habits  of  life.  His 
feeling  description  of  his  own  .sufferings,  and  his  pompous  account  of  the 
country  which  he  had  discovered,  confirmed  by  the  specimens  of  its  pro- 
ductions which  he  exhibited,  made  such  an  impression  both  on  Charles  and 
his  ministers,  that  they  not  only  approved  of  the  intended  expedition,  but 
seemed  to  be  interested  in  the  success  of  its  leader.  Presuming  on  those 
dispositions  in  his  favour,  Pizarro  paid  little  attention  to  the  interest  of  his 
associates.  As  the  pretensions  of  Luque  did  not  interfere  with  his  own,  he 
obtained  for  him  the  ecclesiastical  dignity  to  which  he  aspired.  For  Al- 
magro he  claimed  only  the  command  of  the  fortress  which  should  be  erected 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  x.  c.  3— C.  dec.  4.  lib.  ii.  c.  7, 8.      Vega,  2.  lib.  i.  c.  10—14.      Zarate,  lib.  i. 
c  2.    Benzo  Hist.  Novi  Orbis,  lib.  iii.  c.  1.         t  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.    Vega,  2.  lib.  i.  c.  14. 
VOL.  I.— 34 


266  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

at  Tumbez.  To  himself  he  secured  whatever  his  boundless  ambition 
could  desire.  He  was  appointed  [July  26],  governor,  captain-general,  and 
adelantado  of  all  the  country  which  he  had  discovered,  and  hoped  to  con- 
quer, with  supreme  authority,  civil  as  well  as  military  ;  and  with  full  right 
to  all  the  privileges  and  emoluments  usually  granted  to  adventurers  in  the 
New  World.  His  jurisdiction  was  declared  to  extend  two  hundred  leagues 
along  the  coast  to  the  south  of  the  river  St.  Jago  ;  to  be  independent  of  the 
governor  of  Panama  ;  -and  he  had  power  to  nominate  all  the  officers  who 
were  to  serve  under  him.  In  return  for  those  concessions,  which  cost  the 
court  of  Spain  nothing,  as  the  enjoyment  of  them  depended  upon  the  success 
of  Pizarro's  own  efforts,  he  engaged  to  raise  two  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
and  to  provide  the  ships,  arms,  and  warlike  stores  requisite  towards  sub- 
jecting to  the  crown  of  Castile  the  country  of  which  the  government  was 
allotted  him. 

1529.]  Inconsiderable  as  the  body  of  men  was  which  Pizarro  had  un- 
dertaken to  raise,  his  funds  and  credit  were  so  low  that  he  could  hardly 
complete  half  the  number;  and.after  obtaining  his  patents  from  the  crown, 
he  was  obliged  to  steal  privately  out  of  the  port  of  Seville,  in  order  to 
elude  the  scrutiny  of  the  officers,  who  had  it  in  charge  to  examine  whether 
he  had  fulfilled  the  stipulations  in  his  contract.*  Before  his  departure, 
however,  he  received  some  supply  of  money  from  Cortes,  who  having 
returned  to  Spain  about  this  time,  was  willing  to  contribute  his  aid  towards 
enabling  an  ancient  companion,  with  whose  talents  and  courage  he  was 
well  acquainted,  to  begin  a  career  of  glory  similar  to  that  which  he  himselt 
had  finished.f 

He  landed  at  JSTombre  de  Dios,  and  marched  across  the  isthmus  to 
Panama,  accompanied  by  his  three  brothers  Ferdinand,  Juan,  and  Gpn- 
zalo,  of  whom  the  first  was  born  in  lawful  wedlock,  the  two  latter,  like 
himself,  were  of  illegitimate  birth,  and  by  Francisco  de  Alcantara,  his 
mother's  brother.  They  were  all  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  of  sucjb  abilities 
and  courage  as  fitted  them  to  take  a  distinguished  part  in  his  subsequent 
transactions. 

1530.]  On  his  arrival  at  Panama,  Pizarro  found  Almagro  so  much  exas- 
perated at  the  manner  in  which  he  had  conducted  his  negotiation,  that  he 
not  only  refused  to  act  any  longer  in  concert  with  a  man  by  whose  perfidy 
he  had  been  excluded  from  the  power  and  honours  to  which  he  had  a  just 
claim,  but  laboured  to  form  a  new  association,  in  order  to  thw.art  or  to 
rival  his  former  confederate  in  his  discoveries.  Pizarro,  however,  had 
more  wisdom  and  address  than  to  suffer  a  rupture  so  fatal  to  all  his  schemes, 
to  become  irreparable.  By  offering  voluntarily  to  relinquish  the  office  of 
adelantado,  and  promising  to  concur  in  soliciting  that  title,  with  an  inde- 
pendent government  for  Almagro,  he  gradually  mitigated  the  rage  of  an 
open-hearted  soldier,  which  had  been  violent,  but  was  not  implacable. 
Luque,  highly  satisfied  with  having  been  successful  in  all  his  own  preten- 
sions, cordially  seconded  Pizarro's  endeavours.  A  reconciliation  was 
effected,  and  the  confederacy  renewed  on  its  original  terms,  that  the  enter- 
prise should  be  carried  on  at  the  common  expense  of  the  associates,  and 
the  profits  accruing  from  it  should  be  equally  divided  among  them.J 

Even  after  their  reunion,  and  the  utmost  efforts  of  their  interest,  three 
small  vessels,  with  a  hundred  and  eighty  soldiers,  thirty-six  of  whom  were 
horsemen,  composed  the  armament  which  they  were  able  to  fit  out.  But 
the  astonishing  progress  of  the  Spaniards  in  America  had  inspired  them 
with  such  ideas  of  their  own  superiority,  that  Pizarro  did  not  hesitate  to 
sail  with  this  contemptible  force,  [Feb.  1531]  to  invade  a  great  empire. 
Almagro  was  left  at  Panama,  as  formerly,  to  follow  him  with  what  rein- 

*  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  vii.  c.  9.       f  Ibid.  lib.  vii.  c.  10.        *  Ibid.  dec.  4.  lib.  vii.  c.  9.    Zarat 
lib.  L  c.  3.    Vega,  2.  lib.  i.  c.  14. 


AMERICA.  2G7 

forcement  of  men  he  should  be  able  to  muster.  As  the  season  for  embarking 
was  properly  chosen,  and  the  course  of  navigation  between  Panama  and 
Peru  was  now  better  known,  Pizarro  completed  the  voyage  in  thirteen 
days  ;  though  by  the  force  of  the  winds  and  currents  he  was  carried  above 
a  hundred  leagues  to  the  north  of  Tumbez,  the  place  of  his  destination, 
and  obliged  to  land  his  troops  in  the  bay  of  Saint  Matthew.  Without 
losing  a  moment,  he  began  to  advance  towards  the  south,  taking  care,  how- 
ever, not  to  depart  far  from  the  seashore,  both  that  he  might  easily  effect  a 
junction  with  the  supplies  which  he  expected  from  Panama,  and  secure  a 
retreat  in  case  of  any  disaster,  by  keeping  as  near  as  possible  to  his  ships. 
But  as  the  country  in  several  parts  on  the  coast  of  Peru  is  barren,  unhealth- 
ful,  and  thinly  peopled ;  as  the  Spaniards  had  to  pass  all  the  rivers  near 
their  mouth,  where  the  body  of  water  is  greatest ;  and  as  the  imprudence 
of  Pizarro,  in  attacking  the  natives  when  he  should  have  studied  to  gain 
their  confidence,  had  forced  them  to  abandon  their  habitations  ;  famine, 
fatigue,  and  diseases  of  various  kinds  brought  upon  him  and  his  followers, 
calamities  hardly  inferior  to  those  which  they  had  endured  in  their  former 
expedition.  What  they  now  experienced  corresponded  so  ill  with  the 
alluring  description  of  (he  country  given  by  Pizarro,. that  many  began  to 
reproach  him,  and  every  soldier  must  have  become  cold  to  the  service,  if 
even  in  this  unfertile  region  of  Peru,  they  had  not  met  with  some  appear- 
ances of  wealth  and  cultivation,  which  seemed  to  justify  the  report  of 
their  leader.  At  length  they  reached  the  province  of  Coaque  [April  14]  ; 
and  having  surprised  the  principal  settlement  of  the  natives,  they  seized 
their  vessels  and  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver,  to  the  amount  of  thirty 
thousand  pesos,  with  other  booty  of  such  value  as  dispelled  all  their  doubts, 
and  inspired  the  most  desponding  with  sanguine  hopes.* 

Pizarro  himself  was  so  much  delighted  with  this  rich  spoil,  which  he 
considered  as  the  first  fruits  of  a  land  abounding  with  treasure,  that  he 
instantly  despatchec1  one  of  his  ships  to  Panama  with  a  large  remittance  to 
Alrnagro;  and  another  to  Nicaragua  with  a  considerable  sum  to  several 
persons  of  influence  in  that  province,  in  hopes  of  alluring  adventurers  by 
this  early  display  of  the  wealth,  which  he  had  acquired.  Meanwhile,  he 
continued  his  march  along  the  coast,  and  disdaining  to  employ  any  means 
of  reducing  the  natives  but  force,  he  attacked  them  with  such  violence  in 
their  scattered  habitations,  as  compelled  them  either  to  retire  into  the  inte- 
rior country,  or  to  submit  to  his  yoke.  This  sudden  appearance  of  invaders, 
whose  aspect  and  manners  were  so  strange,  and  whose  power  seemed  to 
be  so  irresistible,  made  the  same  dreadful  impression  as  in  other  parts  of 
America.  Pizarro  hardly  met  with  resistance  until  he  attacked  the  island 
of  Puna  in  the  bay  of  Guayaquil.  As  that  was  better  peopled  than  the 
country  through  which  he  had  passed,  and  its  inhabitants  fiercer  and  less 
civilized  than  those  of  the  continent,  they  defended  themselves  with  such 
obstinate  valour,  that  Pizarro  spent  six  months  in  reducing  them  to  sub- 
jection. From  Puna  he  proceeded  to  Tumbez,  where  the  distempers 
which  raged  among  his  men  compelled  him  to  remain  for  three  months.f 

While  he  was  thus  employed,  he  began  to  reap  advantage  from  his 
attention  to  spread  the  fame  of  his  first  success  to  Coaque.  Two  dif- 
ferent detachments  arrived  from  Nicaragua  [1532],  which,  though  neither 
exceeded  thirty  men,  he  considered  as  a  reinforcement  of  great  consequence 
to  his  feeble  band,  especially  as  the  one  was  under  the  command  of  Sebas- 
tian Benalcazar,  and  the  other  of  Hernando  Soto,  officers  not  inferior  in 
merit  and  reputation  to, any  who  had  served  in  America.  From  Tumbez 
he  proceeded  to  the  river  Piura  [May  16],  and  in  an  advantageous  station 
near  the  mouth  of  it  he  established  the  first  Spanish  colony  in  Peru ;  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  Michael. 

*  Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  vii.  c.  9.  lib.  ii.  c.  J.  Xerez,  182.  f  P.  Sancho  ap  Rainus.  iii.  p.  371.  F. 
Herrera,  dec.  4.  lib.  vii.  c.  18.  lib.  ix.  c.  1.  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  3.  Xerez,  p.  182,  &c. 


268  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

As  Pizarro  continued  to  advance  towards  the  centre  of  the  Peruvian 
empire,  he  gradually  received  more  full  information  concerning  its  extent 
and  policy,  as  well  as  the  situation  of  its  affairs  at  that  juncture.  Without 
some  knowledge  of  these,  he  could  not  have  conducted  his  operations  with 
propriety  ;  and  without  a  suitable  attention  to  them,  it  is  impossible  to 
account  for  the  progress  which  the  Spaniards  had  already  made,  or  to 
unfold  the  causes  of  their  subsequent  success. 

At  the  time  when  the  Spaniards  invaded  Peru,  the  dominions  of  its 
sovereigns  extended  in  length,  from  north  to  south,  above  fifteen  hundred 
miles  along  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Its  breadth,  from  east  to  west,  was  much 
less  considerable  ;  being  uniformly  bounded  by  the  vast  ridge  of  the  Andes, 
stretching  from  its  one. extremity  to  the  other.  Peru,  like  the  rest  of  the 
New  World,  was  originally  possessed  by  small  independent  tribes,  differing 
from  each  other  in  manners,  and  in  their  forms  of  rude  policy.  All,  how- 
ever, were  so  little  civilized,  that,  if  the  traditions  concerning  their  mode 
of  life,  preserved  among  their  descendants,  deserve  credit,  they  must 
be  classed  among  the  most  unimproved  savages  of  America.  Strangers 
to  every  species  of  cultivation  or  regular  industry,  without  any  fixed 
residence,  and  unacquainted  with  those  sentiments  and  obligations  which 
form  the  first  bonds  of  social,  union,  they  are  said  to  have  roamed  about 
naked  in  the  forests,  with  which  the  country  was  then  covered,  more  like 
wild  beasts  than  like  men.  After  they  had  struggled  for  several  ages 
with  the  hardships  and  calamities  which  are  inevitable  in  such  a  state,  and 
whe*n  no  circumstance  seemed  to  indicate  the  approach  of  any  uncommon 
effort  towards  improvement,  we  are  told  that  there  appeared,  on  the  banks 
of  the  lake  Titiaca,  a  man  and  woman  of  majestic  form,  clothed  in  decent 
garments.  They  declared  themselves  to  be  children  of  the  Sun,  sent  by 
their  beneficent  parent,  who  beheld  with  pity  the  miseries  of  the  human 
race,  to  instruct  and  to  reclaim  them.  At  their  persuasion,  enforced  by 
reverence  for  the  divinity  in  whose  name  they  were  supposed  to  speak, 
several  of  the  dispersed  savages  united  together,  and,  receiving  their  com- 
mands as  heavenly  injunctions,  followed  them  to  Cuzco,  where  they  settled, 
and  began  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  city. 

Manco  Capac  and  Mama  Ocollo,  for  such  were  the  names  of  those 
extraordinary  personages,  having  thus  collected  some  wandering  tribes, 
formed  that  social  union  which,  oy  multiplying  the  desires  and  uniting  the 
efforts  of  the  human  species,  excites  industry  and  leads  to  improvement. 
Manco  Capac  instructed  the  men  in  agriculture,  and  other  useful  arts. 
Mama  Ocollo  taught  the  women  to  spin  and  to  weave.  By  the  labour  of 
the  one  sex,  subsistence  became  less  precarious ;  by  that  of  the  other, 
life  was  rendered  more  comfortable.  After  securing  the  objects  of  first 
necessity  in  an  infant  state,  by  providing  food,  raiment,  and  habitations  for 
the  rude  people  of  whom  he  tooK  charge,  Manco  Capac  turned  his  attention 
towards  introducing  such  laws  and  policy  as  might  perpetuate  their  happi- 
ness. By  his  institutions,  which  shall  be  more  particularly  explained 
hereafter,  the  various  relations  in  private  life  were  established,  and  the 
duties  resulting  from  them  prescribed  with  such  propriety,  as  gradually 
formed  a  barbarous  people  to  decency  of  manners.  In  public  adminis- 
tration, the  functions  of  persons  in  authority  were  so  precisely  defined,  and 
the  subordination  of  those  under  their  jurisdiction  maintained  with  such  a 
steady  hand,  that  the  society  in  which  he  presided  soon  assumed  the  aspect 
of  a  regular  and  well  governed  state. 

Thus,  according  to  the  Indian  tradition,  was  founded  the  empire  of  the 
Incas  or  Lords  of  Peru.  At  first  its  extent  was  small.  The  territory  of 
Manco  Capac  did  not  reach  above  eight  leagues  from  Cuzco.  But  within 
its  narrow  precincts  he  exercised  absolute  and  uncontrolled  authority. 
His  successors,  as  their  dominions  extended,  arrogated  a  similar  jurisdiction 


AMERICA.  269 

over  the  new  subjects  which  they  acquired ;  the  despotism  of  Asia  was 
not  more  complete.  The  Incas  were  not  only  obeyed  as  monarchs,  but 
revered  as  divinities.  Their  blood  was  held  to  be  sacred,  and,  by  prohi- 
biting intermarriages  with  the  people,  was  never  contaminated  by  mixing 
withfthat  of  any  other  race.  The  family,  thus  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  nation,  was  distinguished  by  peculiarities  in  dress  and  ornaments,  which 
it  was  unlawful  for  others  to  assume.  The  monarch  himself  appeared 
with  ensigns  of  royalty  reserved  for  him  alone  ;  and  received  from  his 
subjects  marks  of  obsequious  homage  and  respect  which  approached  almost 
to  adoration. 

But,  among  the  Peruvians,  this  unbounded  power  of  their  monarch 
seems  to  have  been  uniformly  accompanied  with  attention  to  the  good  o 
their  subjects.  It  was  not  the  rage  of  conquest,  if  we  may  believe  the 
accounts  of  their  countrymen,  that  prompted  the  Incas  to  extend  their 
dominions,  but  the  desire  of  diffusing  the  blessings  of  civilization,  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  arts  which  they  possessed,  among  the  barbarous  people 
whom  they  reduced.  During  a  succession  of  twelve  monarchs,  it  is  said 
that  not  one  deviated  from  this  beneficent  character.* 

When  the  Spaniards  first  visited  the  coast  of  Peru,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-six,  Huana  Capac,  the  twelfth  monarch 
from  the  founder  of  the  state,  was  seated  on  the  throne.  He  is  represented 
as  a  prince  distinguished  not  only  for  the  pacific  virtues  peculiar  to  the  race, 
but  eminent  for  his  martial  talents.  By  his  victorious  arms  the  kingdom 
of  Quito  was  subjected,  a  conquest  of  such  extent  and  importance  as  almost 
doubled  the  po\ver  of  the  Peruvian  empire.  He  was  fond  of  residing  in 
the  capital  of  that  valuable  province  which  he  had  added  to  his  dominions  ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  ancient  and  fundamental  law  of  the  monarchy 
against  polluting  the  royal  blood  by  any  foreign  alliance,  he  married  the 
daughter  of  the  vanquished  monarch  of  Quito.  She  bore  him  a  son  named 
Atahualpa,  whom,  on  his  death  at  Quito,  which  seems  to  have  happened 
about  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  he  appointed 
his  successor  in  that  kingdom,  leaving  the  rest  of  his  dominions  to  Huascar, 
his  eldest  son  by  another  of  the  royal  race.  Greatly  as  the  Peruvians 
revered  the  memory  of  a  monarch  who  had  reigned  witn  greater  reputation 
and  splendour  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  the  destination  of  Huana  Capac 
concerning  the  succession  appeared  so  repugnant  to  a  maxim  coeval  with  the 
empire,  and  founded  on  authority  deemed  sacred,  that  it  was  no  sooner 
known  at  Cuzco  than  it  excited  general  disgust.  Encouraged  by  those  sen- 
timents of  his  subjects,  Huascar  required  his  brother  to  renounce  the  govern- 
ment of  Quito,  and  to  acknowledge  him  as  his  lawful  superior.  But  it  had 
been  the  first  care  of  Atahualpa  to  gain  a  large  body  of  troops  which  had 
accompanied  his  father  to  Quito.  These  were  the  flower  of  the  Peruvian 
warriors,  to  whose  valour  Huana  Capac  had  been  indebted  for  all  his  vic- 
tories. Relying  on  their  support,  Atahualpa  first  eluded  his  brother's 
demand,  and  then  marched  against  him  in  hostile  array. 

Thus  the  ambition  of  two  young  men,  the  title  of  the  one  founded  on 
ancient  usage,  and  that  of  the  other  asserted  by  the  veteran  troops,  involved 
Peru  in  a  civil  war,  a  calamity  to  which,  under  a  succession  of  virtuous 
princes,  it  had  hitherto  been  a  stranger.  In  such  a  contest  the  issue  was 
obvious.  The  force  of  arms  triumphed  over  the  authority  of  laws 
Atahualpa  remained  victorious,  and  made  a  cruel  use  of  his  victory.  Con- 
scious of  the  defect  in  his  own  title  to  the  crown,  he  attempted  to  exter- 
minate the  royal  race,  by  putting  to  death  all  the  children  of  the  Sun 
descended  from  Manco  Capac,  whom  he  could  seize  either  by  force  or 
stratagem.  From  a  political  motive,  the  life  of  his  unfortunate  rival 
Huascar,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  a  battle»which  decided  the  fate 

*  Cieca  de  Leon,  Chron.  c.  44,    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  x.  c.  4.  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  17. 


$70  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

of  the  empire,  was  prolonged  for  some  time,  that  by  issuing  orders  in-  his 
name,  the  usurper  might  more  easily  establish  his  own  authority.* 

When  Pizarro  landed  in  the  bay  of  St.  Matthew,  this  civil  war  raged 
between  the  two  brothers  in  its  greatest  fury.  Had  he  made  any  hostile 
attempt  in  his  former  visit  to  Peru,  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  twenty-seven,  he  must  then  have  encountered  the  force  of  a  powerful 
state,  united  under  a  monarch  possessed  of  capacity  as  well  as  courage, 
and  unembarrassed  with  any  care  that  could  divert  him  from  opposing  his 
progress.  But  at  this  time,  the  two  competitors,  though  they  received 
early  accounts  of  the  arrival  and  violent  proceedings  of  the  Spaniards, 
were  so  intent  upon  the  operations  of  a  war  which  they  deemed  more 
interesting,  that  they  paid  «o  attention  to  the  motions  of  an  enemy,  too 
inconsiderable  in  number  to  excite  any  great  alarm,  and  to  whom  it  would 
be  easy,  as  they  imagined,  to  give  a  check  when  more  at  leisure. 

By  this  fortunate  coincidence  of  events,  whereof  Pizarro  could  have  no 
foresight,  and  of  which,  from  his  defective  mode  of  intercourse  with  the 
people  of  the  country,  he  remained  long  ignorant,  he  was  permitted  to 
carry  on  his  operations  unmolested,  and  advanced  to  the  centre  of  a  great 
empire  before  one  effort  of  its  power  was  exerted  to  stop  his  career. 
During  their  progress,  the  Spaniards  had  acquired  some  imperfect  know- 
ledge of  this  struggle  between  the  two  contending  factions. ,  The  first 
complete  information  with  respect  to  it  they  received  from  messengers 
whom  Huascar  sent  to  Pizarro,  in  order  to  solicit  his  aid  against  Atahualpa, 
whom  he  represented  as  a  rebel  and  a  usurper.!  Pizarro  perceived  at 
once  the  importance  of  this  intelligence,  and  foresaw  so  clearly  all  the 
advantages  which  might  be  derived  from  this  divided  state  of  the  "kingdom 
whicii  he  had  invaded,  that  without  waiting  for  the  reinforcement  which 
he  expected  from  Panama,  he  determined  to  push  forward,  while  intestine 
discord  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  Peruvians  to  attack  him  with  their 
whole  force,  and  while,  by  taking  part,  as  circumstances  should  incline 
him,  with  one  of  the  competitors,  he  might  be  enabled  with  greater  ease 
to  crush  both.  Enterprising  as  the  Spaniards  of  that  age  were  in  all  their 
operations  against  Americans,  and  distinguished  as  Pizarro  was  among  his 
countrymen  for  daring  courage,  we  can  hardly  suppose  that,  after  having 
proceeded  hitherto  slowly,  and  with  much  caution,  he  would  have  changed 
at  once  his  system  of  operation,  and  have  ventured  upon  a  measure  so 
hazardous,  without  some  new  motive  or  prospect  to  justify  it. 

As  he  was  obliged  to  divide  his  troops,  in  order  to  leave  a  garrison  in 
St.  Michael,  sufficient  to  defend  a  station  of  equal  importance  as  a  place  of 
retreat  in  case  of  any  disaster,  and  as  a  port  for  receiving  any  supplies 
which  should  come  from  Panama,  he  began  his  march  with  a  very  slender 
and  ill-accoutred  train  of  followers.  They  consisted  of  sixty- two  horse- 
men [128],  and  a  hundred  and  two  foot  soldiers,  of  whom  twenty  were 
armeo.  with  cross  bows,  and  three  with  muskets.  He  directed  his  course 
towards  Caxamalca,  a  small  town  at  the  distance  of  twelve  days'  march 
from  St.  Michael,  where  Atahualpa  was  encamped  with  a  considerable 
body  of  troops.  Before  he  had  proceeded  far,  an  officer  despatched  by 
the  Inca  met  him  with  a  valuable  present  from  that  prince,  accompanied 
with  a  proffer  of  his  alliance,  and  assurances  of  a  friendly  reception  at 
Caxamalca.  Pizarro,  according  to  the  usual  artifice  of  his  countrymen  in 
America,  pretended  to  co'me  as  the  ambassador  of  a  very  powerful  monarch, 
and  declaring  that  be  was  now  advancing  with  an  intention  to  offer 
Atahualpa  his  aid  against  those  enemies  who  disputed  his  title  to  the 
throne.J 

As  the  object  of  the  Spaniards  in  entering  their  country  was  altogether 
• 

*  Zarate,  lib.  i .  c.  15.  Vega,  1 .  lib.  ix.  c.  12.  and  32—40.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  i.  c.  2.  fflj.  iii.  c.  17, 
t  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  J  Herrera,  dec.  5.  fib.  i.  c.  3.  Xerez,  p.  189 


AMERICA.  271 

incomprehensible  to  the  Peruvians,  they  had  formed  various  conjectures 
concerning  it  without  being  able  to  decide  whether  they  should  consider 
their  new  guests  as  beings  of  a  superior  nature,  who  had  visited  them  from 
some  beneficent  motive,  or  as  formidable  avengers  of  their  crimes,  and 
enemies  to  their  repose  and  liberty.  The  continual  professions  of  the 
Spaniards,  that  they  came  to  enlighten  them  with  the  knowledge  of  truth, 
and  lead  them  in  the  way  of  happiness,  favoured  the  former  opinion  ;  the 
outrages  which  they  committed,  their  rapaciousness  and  cruelty,  were 
awful  confirmations  of  the  latter.  While-  in  this  state  of  uncertainty, 
Pizarro's  declaration  of  his  pacific  intentions  so  far  removed  all  the  Inca's 
fears  that  he  determined  to  give  him  a  friendly  reception.  In  consequence 
of  this  resolution,  the  Spaniards  were  .allowed  to  march  in  tranquillity 
across  the  sandy  desert  between  St.  Michael  and  Motupe,  where  the  most 
feeble  effort  of  an  enemy,  added  to  the  unavoidable  distresses  which  they 
suffered  in  passing  through  that  comfortless  region,  must  have  proved  fatal 
to  them  [129].  From  Motupe  they  advanced  towards  the  mountains  which 
encompassed^  the  low  country  of  Peru,  and  passed  through  a  defile  so 
narrow  and  inaccessible,  that  a  few  men  might  have  defended  it  against  a 
numerous  army.  But  here  likewise,  from  the  same  inconsiderate  credulity 
of  the  Inca,  the  Spaniards  met  with  no  opposition,  and  took  quiet  possession 
of  a  fort  erected  for  the  security  of  that  important  station.  As  they  now 
approached  near  to  Caxamalca,  Atahualpa  renewed  his  professions  of 
friendship  ;  and,  as  an  evidence  of  their  sincerity,  sent  them  presents  of 
greater  value  than  the  former. 

On  entering  Caxamalca,  Pizarro  took  possession  of  a  large  court,  on  one 
side  of  which  was  a  house  which  the  Spanish  historians  call  a  palace  of 
the  Inca,  and  on  the  other  a  temple  of  the  Sun,  the  whole  surrounded  with 
a  strong  rampart  or  wall  of  earth.  When  he  had  posted  his  troops  in  this 
advantageous  station,  he  despatched  his  brother  Ferdinand  and  Hernando 
Soto  to  the  camp  of  Atahualpa,  which  was  about  a  league  distant  from 
the  town.  .He  instructed  them  to  confirm  the  declaration  which  he  had 
formerly  made  of  his  pacific  disposition,  and  to  desire  an  interview  with 
the  Inca,  that  he  might  explain  more  fully  the  intention  of  the  Spaniards 
in  visiting  his  country.  They  were  treated  with  all  the  respectful  hospi- 
tality usual  among  the  Peruvians  in  the  reception  of  their  most  cordial 
friends,  and  Atahualpa  promised  to  visit  the  Spanish  commander  next  day 
in  his  quarters.  The  decent  deportment  of  the  Peruvian  monarch,  the 
order  of  his  court,  and  the  reverence  with  which  his  subjects  approached 
his  person  and  obeyed  his  commands,  astonished  those  Spaniards  who  had 
never  met  in  America  with  any  thing  more  dignified  than  the  petty  cazique 
of  a  barbarous  tribe.  But  their  eyes  were  still  powerfully  attracted  by 
the  vast  profusion  of  wealth  which  they  observed  in  the  Inca's -camp. 
The  rich  ornaments  worn  by  him  and  his  attendants,  the  vessels  of  gold 
and  silver  in  which  the  repast  offered  to  them  was  served  up,  the  multitude 
of  utensils  of  every  kind  formed  of  those  precious  metals,  opened  prospects 
far  exceeding  any  idea  of  opulence  that  a  European  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury could  form. 

On  their  return  to  Caxamalca,  while  their  minds  were  yet  warm  with 
admiration  and  desire  of  the  wealth  which  they  had  beheld,  they  gave 
such  a  description  of  it  to  their  countrymen  as  confirmed  Pizarro  in  a  re- 
solution which  he  had  already  taken.  From  his  own  observation  of  Ame- 
rican manners  during  his  long  service  in  the  New  World,  as  well  as  from 
the  advantages  which  Cortes  had  derived  from  seizing  Montezuma,  he 
knew  of  what  consequence  it  was  to  have  the  Inca  in  his  power.  For 
this  purpose,  he  formed  a  plan  as  daring  as  it  was  perfidious.  Notwith- 
standing the  character  that  he  had  assumed  of  an  ambassador  from  a  power- 
ful monarch,  who  courted  an  alliance  with  the  Inca,  and  in  violation  of  the 
repeated  offers  which  he  had  made  to  him  of  hi.s  own  friendship  and  assist- 


272  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

ance,  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  unsuspicious  simplicity  with 
which  Atahualpa  relied  on  his  professions,  and  to  seize  the  person  of  the 
Inca  during  the  interview  to  which  he  had  invited  him.  He  prepared  for 
the  execution  of  his  scheme  with  the  same  deliberate  arrangement,  and 
with  as  little  compunction  as  if  it  had  reflected  no  'disgrace  on  himself  or 
his  country.  He  divided  his  cavalry  into  three  small  squadrons,  under  the 
command  of  his  brother  Ferdinand,  Soto,  and  Benalcazar ;  his  infantry- 
were  formed  in  one  body,  except  twenty  of  most  tried  courage,  whom  he 
kept  near  his  own  person  to  support  him  in  the  dangerous  service,  which 
he  reserved  for  himself;  the  artillery,  consisting  of  two  fieldpieces,*  and 
the  cross  bowmen,  were  placed  opposite  to  the  avenue  by  which  Atahu- 
alpa was  to  approach.  All  were>  commanded  to  keep  within  the  square, 
and  not  to  move  until  the  signal  for  action  was  given. 

Early  in  the  morning  [Nov.  16]  the  Peruvian  camp  was  all  in  motion. 
But  as  Atahualpa  was  solicitous  to  appear  with  the  greatest  splendour  and 
magnificence  in  his  first  interview  with  the  strangers,  the  preparations  for 
this  were  so  tedious  that  the  day  was  far  advanced  before  he  began  his 
march.  Even  then,  lest  the  order  of  the  procession  should  be  deranged, 
he  moved  so  slowly,  that  the  Spaniards  became  impatient,  and  apprehen- 
sive that  some  suspicion  of  their  intention  might  be  the  cause  of  this  delay. 
In  order  to  remove  this,  Pizarro  despatched  one  of  his  officers  with  fresh 
assurances  of  his  friendly  disposition.  At  length  the  Inca  approached. 
First  of  all  appeared  four  hundred  men,  in  a  uniform  dress,  as  harbingers 
to  clear  the  way  before  him.  He  himself,  sitting  on  a  throne  or  couch 
adorned  with  plumes  of  various  colours,  and  almost  covered  with  plates  of 
gold  and  silver  enriched  with  precious  stones,  was  carried  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  his  principal  attendants.  Behind  him  came  some  chief  officers  of 
his  court,  carried  in  the  same  manner.  Several  bands  of  singers  and 
dancers  accompanied  this  cavalcade  ;  and  the  whole  plain  was  covered 
with  troops,  amounting  to  more  than  thirty  thousand  men. 

As  the  Inca  drew  near  the  Spanish  quarters,  Father  Vincent  Valverde, 
chaplain  to  the  expedition,  advanced  with  a  crucifix  in  one  hand,  and  a 
breviary  in  the  other,  and  in  a  long  discourse  explained  to  him  the  doctrine 
of  the  creation,  the  fall  of  Adam,  the  incarnation,  the  sufferings  and  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ,  the  appointment  of  St.  Peter  as  God's  vicegerent 
on  earth,  the  transmission  of  his  apostolic  power  by  succession  to  the 
Popes,  the  donation  made  to  the  King  of  Castile  by  Pope  Alexander  of 
all  the  regions  of  the  New  World.  In  consequence  of  all  this,  he  required 
Atahualpa  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith,  to  acknqwledge  the  supreme  ju- 
risdiction of  the  Pope,  and  to  submit  to  the  King  of  Castile  as  his  lawful 
sovereign  ;  promising,  if  he  complied  instantly  with  this  requisition,  that 
the  Castilian  monarch  would  protect  his  dominions,  and  permit  him  to 
continue  in  the  exercise  of  his  royal  authority  ;  but  if  he  should  impiously 
refuse  to  obey  this  summons,  he  denounced  war  against  him  in  his  master  s 
name,  and  threatened  him  with  the  most  dreadful  effects  of  his  vengeance. 

This  strange  harangue,  unfolding  deep  mysteries,  and  alluding  to  unknown 
facts,  of  which  no  power  of  eloquence  could  have  conveyed  at  once  a  dis- 
tinct idea  to  an  American,  was  so  lamely  translated  by  an  unskilful  inter- 
preter, little  acquainted  with  the  idiom  of  the  Spanish  tongue,  and  incapa- 
ble of  expressing  himself  with  propriety  in  the  language  of  the  Inca,  that 
its  general  tenour  was  altogether  incomprehensible  to  Atahualpa.  Some 
parts  in  it,  of  more  obvious  meaning,  filled  him  with  astonishment  and  in- 
dignation. His  reply,  however,  was  temperate.  He  began  with  observing, 
that  he  was  lord  of  the  dominions  over  which  he  reigned  by  hereditary 
succession  ;  and  added,  that  he  could  not  conceive  how  a  foreign  priest 
should  pretend  to  dispose  of  territories  which  did  not  belong  to  him  ;  that 

*  Xerez,  p.  194 


AMERICA,  273 

if  such  a  preposterous  grant  had  been  made,  he,  who  was  the  rightful  pos- 
sessor, refused  to  confirm  it ;  that  he  had  no  inclination  to  renounce  the 
religious  institutions  established  by  his  ancestors  ;  nor  would  he  forsake 
the  service  of  the  Sun,  the  immortal  divinity  whom  he  and  his  people  re- 
vered, in  order  to  worship  the  God  of  the  Spaniards,  who  was  subject  to 
death  ;  that  with  respect  to  other  matters  contained  in  his  discourse,  as  he 
had  never  heard  of  them  before,  and  did  not  now  understand  their  mean- 
ing, he  desired  to  know  where  the  priest  had  learned  things  so  extraordi 
nary.  "  In  this  book,"  answered  Valverde,  reaching  out  to  him  his  bre- 
viary. The  Inca  opened  it  eagerly,  and,  turning  over  the  leaves,  lifted  it 
to  his  ear  :  "  This,"  says  he,  "  is  silent ;  it  tells  me  nothing  5"  and  threw 
it  with  disdain  to  the  ground.  The  enraged  monk,  running  towards  his 
countrymen,  cried  out,  '*  To  arms,  Christians,  to  arms ;  the  word  of  God 
is  insulted  ;  avenge  this  profanation  on  those  impious  dogs"  [130]. 

Pizarro,  who,  during  this  long  conference,  had  with  difficulty  restrained 
his  soldiers,  eager  to  seize  the  rich  spoils  of  which  they  had  now  so  near 
a  view,  immediately  gave  the  signal  of  assault.  At  once  the  martial  music 
struck  up,  the  cannon  and  muskets  began  to  fire,  the  horse  sallied  out 
fiercely  to  the  charge,  the  infantry  rushed  on  sword  in  hand.  The  Peru- 
vians, astonished  at  the  suddenness  of  an  attack  which  they  did  not  expect, 
and  dismayed  with  the  destructive  effect  of  the  firearms,  and  the  irresisti- 
ble impression  of  the  cavalry,  fled  with  universal  consternation  on  every 
side,  without  attempting  either  to  annoy  the  enemy,  or  to  defend  them- 
selves. Pizarro,  at  the  head  of  his  chosen  band,  advanced  directly  to- 
wards the  Inca  ;  and  though  his  nobles  crowded  around  him  with  officious 
zeal,  and  fell  in  numbers  at  his  feet,  while  they  vied  one  with  another  in 
sacrificing  their  own  lives,  that  they  might  cover  the  sacred  person  of 
their  sovereign,  the  Spaniards  soon  penetrated  to  the  royal  seat ;  and  Pi- 
zarro, seizing  the  Inca  by  the  arm,  dragged  him  to  the  ground,  and  carried 
him  as  a  prisoner  to  his  quarters.  The  fate  of  the  monarch  increased  the 
precipitate  flight  of  his  followers.  The  Spaniards  pursued  them  towards 
every  quarter,  and  with  deliberate  and  unrelenting  barbarity  continued  to 
slaughter  wretched  fugitives,  \^ho  never  once  offered  to  resist.  The  car- 
nage did  not  cease  until  the  close  of  day.  Above  four  thousand  Peru- 
vians were  killed.  Not  a  single  Spaniard  fell,  nor  was  one  wounded  but 
Pizarro  himself,  whose  hand  was  slightly  hurt  by  one  of  his  own  soldiers, 
while  struggling  eagerly  to  lay  hold  on  the  Inca  [131]. 

The  plunder  of  the  field  was  rich  beyond  any  idea  which  the  Spaniards 
had  yet  formed  concerning  the  wealth  of  Peru  ;  and  they  were  so  trans- 
ported with  the  value  of  the  acquisition,  as  well  as  the  greatness  of  their 
success,  that  they  passed  the  night  in  the  extravagant  exultation  natural  to 
indigent  adventurers  on  such  an  extraordinary  change  of  fortune. 

At  first  the  captive  monarch  could  hardly  believe  a  calamity  which  he 
so  little  expected  to  be  real.  But  he  soon  felt  all  the  misery  of  his  fate, 
and  the  dejection  into  which  he  sunk  was  in  proportion  to  the  height  of 
grandeur  from  which  he  had  fallen.  Pizarro,  afraid  of  losing  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  he  hoped  to  derive  from  the  possession  of  such  a  prisoner, 
laboured  to  console  him  with  professions  of  kindness  and  respect,  that  cor- 
responded ill  with  his  actions.  By  residing  among  the  Spaniards,  the  Inca 
quickly  discovered  their  ruling  passion,  which  indeed  they  were  nowise 
solicitous  to  conceal,  and,  by  applying  to  that,  made  an  attempt  to  recover 
his  liberty.  He  offered  as  a  ransom  what  astonished  the  Spaniards,  even 
after  all  they  now  knew  concerning  the  opulence  of  his  kingdom.  The 
apartment  in  which  he  was  confined  was  twenty-two  feet  in  length  and 
sixteen  in  breadth  ;  he  undertook  to  fill  it  with  vessels  of  gold  as  high  as 
he  could  reach.  Pizarro  closed  eagerly  with  this  tempting  proposal,  and 
a  line  was  drawn  upon  the  walls  of  the  chamber,  to  mark  the  stipulated 
height  to  which  the  treasure  was  to  rise. 

VOL.  I.— 35 


274  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

Atahualpa,  transported  with  having  obtained  some  prospect  of  liberty, 
took  measures  instantly  for  fulfilling  his  part  of  the  agreement,  by  sending 
messengers  to  Cuzco,  Quito,  and  other  places,  where  gold  had  been  amass- 
ed in  largest  quantities,  either  for  adorning  the  temples  of  the  gods,  or  the 
houses  of  the  Inca,  to  bring  what  was  necessary  for  completing  his  ransom 
directly  to  Caxamalca.  Though  Atahualpa  was  now  in  the  custody  of  his 
enemies,  yet  so  much  were  the  Peruvians  accustomed  to  respect  every 
mandate  issued  by  their  sovereign,  that  his  orders  were  executed  with  the 
greatest  alacrity.  Soothed  with  hopes  of  recovering  his  liberty  by  this 
means,  the  subjects  of  the  Inca  were  afraid  of  endangering  his  life  by 
forming  any  other  scheme  for  his  relief;  and  though  the  force  of  the  em- 
pire was  still  entire,  no  preparations  were  made,  and  no  army  assembled 
to  avenge  their  own  wrongs  or  those  of  their  monarch.*  The  Spaniards 
remained  in  Caxamalca  tranquil  and  unmolested.  Small  detachments  of 
their  number  marched  into  remote  provinces  of  the  empire,  and,  instead  of 
meeting  with  any  opposition,  were  every  where  received  with  marks  of 
the  most  submissive  respect  [132], 

Inconsiderable  as  those  parties  were,  and  desirous  as  Pizarro  might  be 
to  obtain  some  knowledge  of  the  interior  state  of  the  country,  he  could 
not  have  ventured  upon  any  diminution  of  his  main  body,  if  he  had  not 
about  this  time  [December],  received  an  account  of  Almagro's  having 
landed  at  St.  Michael  with  such  a  reinforcement  as  would  almost  double  the 
number  of  his  followers.!  The  arrival  of  this  long  expected  succour  was 
not  more  agreeable  to  the  Spaniards  than  alarming  to  the  Inca.  He  saw 
the  power  of  his  enemies  increase ;  and  as  he  knew  neither  the  source 
whence  they  derived  their  supplies,  nor  the  means  by  which  they  were 
conveyed  to  Peru,  he  could  not  foresee  to  what  a  height  the  inundation  that 
poured  in  upon  his  dominions  might  rise  [1533].  While  disquieted  with 
such  apprehensions,  he  learned  that  some  Spaniards,  in  their  way  to  Cuzco, 
had  visited  his  brother  Huascar  in  the  place  where  he  kept  him  confined, 
and  that  the  captive  prince  had  represented  to  them  the  justice  of  his  own 
cause,  and,  as  an  inducement  to  espouse  it,  had  promised  them  a  quantity 
of  treasure  greatly  beyond  that  which  Atahualpa  had  engaged  to  pay  for  his 
ransom.  If  the  Spaniards  should  listen  to  this  proposal,  Atahualpa  per- 
ceived his  own  destruction  to  be  inevitable;  and  suspecting  that  their 
insatiable  thirst  for  gold  would  tempt  them  to  lend  a  favourable  ear  to  it, 
he  determined  to  sacrifice  his  brother's  life  that  he  might  save  his  own  ; 
and  his  orders  for  this  purpose  were  executed,  like  all  his  other  commands, 
with  scrupulous  punctuality.! 

Meanwhile,  Indians  daily  arrived  at  Caxamalca  from  different  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  loaded  with  treasure.  A  great  part  of  the  stipulated  quantity 
was  now  amassed,  and  Atahualpa  assured  the  Spaniards  that  the  only  thing 
which  prevented  the  whole  from  being  brought  in,  was  the  remoteness  of 
the  provinces  where  it  was  deposited.  But  such  vast  piles  of  gold 
presented  continually  to  the  view  of  needy  soldiers,  had. so  inflamed  their 
avarice,  that  it  was  impossible  any  longer  to  restrain  their  impatience  to 
obtain  possession  of  this  rich  booty.  Orders  were  given  for  melting  down 
the  whole,  except  some  pieces  of  curious  fabric  reserved  as  a  present  for 
the  emperor.  After  setting  apart  the  fifth  due  to  the  crown,  and  a  hundred 
thousand  pesos  as  a  donative  to  the  soldiers  which  arrived  with  Almagro, 
there  remained  one  million  five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  five 
hundred  pesos  to  Pizarro  and  his  followers.  The  festival  of  St.  James 
[July  25],  the  patron  saint  of  Spain,  was  the  day  chosen  for  the  partition 
of  this  enormous  sum,  and  the  manner  of  conducting  it  strongly  marks  the 
strange  alliance  of  fanaticism  with  avarice,  which  I  have  more  than  once 

*  Xerez,  205.  t  Ibid.  204.    Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  1, 2.  J  Zarate,  lib.  B.  c.  6 

Gomara,  Hist.  c.  115.    Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  2. 


AMERICA.  275 

bad  occasion  to  point  out  as  a  striking  feature  in  the  character  of  the  con- 
querors of  the  ]S  ew  World.  Though  assembled  to  divide  the  spoils  of  an 
innocent  people,  procured  by  deceit,  extortion,  and  cruelty,  the  transaction 
began  with  a  solemn  invocation  of  the  name  of  God,*  as  if  they  could  have  ex- 
pected the  guidance  of  heaven  in  distributing  those  wages  of  iniquity .  In  this 
division  above  eight  thousand  pesos,  at  that  time  not  inferior  in  effective 
value  to  as  many  pounds  sterling  in  the  present  century,  fell  to  the  share 
of  each  horseman,  and  half  that  sum  to  each  foot  soldier.  Pizarro  himself, 
and  his  officers*  received  dividends  in  proportion  to  the  dignity  of  their  rank. 

There  is  no  example  in  history  of  such  a  sudden  acquisition  of  wealth 
by  military  service,  nor  was  ever  a  sum  so  great  divided  among  so  small 
a  number  of  soldiers.  Many  of  them  having  received  a  recompense  for 
their  services  far  beyond  their  most  sanguine  hopes,  were  so  impatient  to 
retire  from  fatigue  and  danger,  in  order  to  spend  the  remainder  of  "their 
days  in  their  native  country  in  ease  and  opulence,  that  they  demanded 
their  discharge  with  clamorous  importunity.  Pizarro,  sensible  that  from 
such  men  he  could  expect  neither  enterprise  in  action  nor  fortitude  in 
suffering,  and  persuaded  that  wherever  they  went  the  display  of  their 
riches  would  allure  adventurers,  less  opulent  but  more  hardy,  to  his 
standard,  granted  their  suit  without  reluctance,  and  permitted  above  sixty 
of  them  to  accompany  his  brother  Ferdinand,  whom  he  sent  to  Spain  witn 
an  account  of  his  success,  and  the  present  destined  for  the  emperor,  t 

The  Spaniards  having  divided  among  them  the  treasure  amassed  for  the 
Inca's  ransom,  he  insisted  with  them  to  fulfil  their  promise  of  setting  him 
at  liberty.  But  nothing  was  further  from  Pizarro's  thoughts.  During  his 
long  service  in  the  New  World,  he  had  imbibed  those  ideas  and  maxims 
of  his  fellow-soldiers,  which  led  them  to  consider  its  inhabitants  as  an 
inferior  race,  neither  worthy  of  the  name,  nor  entitled  to  the  rights  of 
men.  In  his  compact  with  Atahualpa,  he  had  no  other  object  than  to 
amuse  his  captive  with  such  a  prospect  of  recovering  his  liberty,  as  might 
induce  him  to  lend  all  the  aid  of  his  authority  towards  collecting  the  wealth 
of  his  kingdom.  Having  now  accomplished  this,  he  no  longer  regarded 
his  plighted  faith ;  and  at  the  very  time  when  the  credulous  prince  hoped 
to  be  replaced  on  his  throne,  he  had  secretly  resolved  to  bereave  him  of 
life.  Many  circumstances  seem  to  have  concurred  in  prompting  him  to 
this  action,  the  most  criminal  and  atrocious  that  stains  the  Spanish  name, 
amidst  all  the  deeds  of  violence  committed  in  carrying  on  the  conquests 
of  the  New  World. 

Though  Pizarro  had  seized  the  Inca  in  imitation  of  Cortes's  conduct 
towards  the  Mexican  monarch,  he  did  not  possess  talents  for  carrying  on 
Che  same  artful  plan  of  policy.  Destitute  of  the  temper  and  address 
requisite  for  gaining  the  confidence  of  his  prisoner,  he  never  reaped  all 
ihe  advantages  which  might  have  been  derived  from  being  master  of  his 
person  and  authority.  Atahualpa  was,  indeed,  a  prince  of  greater  abilities 
and  discernment  than  Montezuma,  and  seems  to  have  penetrated  more 
thoroughly  into  the  character  and  intentions  of  the  Spaniards.  Mutual 
suspicion  and  distrust  accordingly  took  place  between  them.  The  strict 
attention  with  which  it  was  necessary  to  guard  a  captive  of  such  import- 
ance, greatly  increased  the  fatigue  of  military  duty.  The  utility  of  keep- 
ing him  appeared  inconsiderable  ;  and  Pizarro  felt  him  as  an  encumbrance, 
from  which  he  wished  to  be  delivered.! 

Almagro  and  his  followers  had  made  a  demand  of  an  equal  share  in 
the  Inca's  ransom ;  and  though  Pizarro  had  bestowed  upon  the  private 
men  the  large  gratuity  which  I  have  mentioned,  and  endeavoured  to  soothe 
their  leader  by  presents  of  great  value,  they  still  continued  dissatisfied. 
They  were  apprehensive,  that  as  long  as  Atahualpa  remained  a  prisoner, 

*  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  3.  t  Ibid.  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  4.    Vega,  p.  2.  lib.  i.  c.  38, 

t  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  4. 


if*  HISTORY  OF  [BooxVL 

Pizarro's  soldiers  would  apply  whatever  treasure  should  be  acquired,  tor 
make  up  what  was  wanting  of  the  quantity  stipulated  for  his  ransom,  and? 
under  that  pretext  exclude  them  from  any  part  of  it.  They  insisted  eagerly 
on  putting  the  Inca  to  death,  that  all  the  adventurers  in  Peru  might  there- 
after be  on  an  equal  footing.* 

Pizarro  himself  began  to  be  alarmed  with  accounts  of  foices  assembling 
in  the  remote  provinces  of  the  empire,  and  suspected  Atahualpa  of  having 
issued  orders  for  that  purpose.  These  fears  and  suspicions  were  artfully 
increased  by  Philippillo,  one  of  the  Indians,  whom  Pizarro  had  carried 
off  from  Tumbez  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven, 
and  whom  he  employed  as  an  interpreter.  The  function  which  he 
performed  admitting  this  man  to  familiar  intercourse  with  the  captive 
monarch,  he  presumed,  notwithstanding  the  meanness  of  his  birth,  to  raise 
his  affections  to  a  Coya,  or  descendant  of  the  Sun,  one  of  Atahualpa's- 
wives ;  and  seeing  no  prospect  of  gratifying  that  passion  during  the  life 
of  the  monarch,  he  endeavoured  to  fill  the  ears  of  the  Spaniards  with  such 
accounts -of  the  Inca's  secret  designs  and  preparations,  as  might  awaken 
their  jealousy,  and  excite  them  to  cut  him  off. 

While  Almagro  and  his  followers  openly  demanded  the  life  of  the  Inca, 
and  Philippillo  laboured  to  ruin  him  by  private  machinations,  that  unhappy 
prince  inadvertently  contributed  to  hasten  his  own  fate.  During  his  con- 
finement he  had  attached  himself  with  peculiar  affection  to  I1  erdinand 
Pizarro  and  Hernando  Soto ;  who,  as  they  were  persons  of  birth  and 
education  superior  to  the  rough  adventurers  with  whom  they  served,  were 
accustomed  to  behave  with  more  decency  and  attention  to  the  captive 
monarch.  Soothed  with  this  respect  from  persons  of  such  high  rank,  he 
delighted  in  their  society.  But  in  the  presence  of  the  governor  he  was 
always  uneasy  and  overawed.  This  dread  soon  came  to  be  mingled  with 
contempt.  Among  all  the  European  arts,  what  he  admired  most  was  that 
of  reading  and  writing  ;  and  he  long  deliberated  with  himself,  whether  he 
should  regard  it  as  a  natural  or  acquired  taient.  -  In  order  to  determine  this, 
he  desired  one  of  the  soldiers,  who  guarded  him,  to  write  the  name  of 
God  on  the  nail  of  his  thumb.  This  he  showed  successively  to  several 
Spaniards,  asking  its  meaning ;  and  to  his  amazement,  they  all,  without 
hesitation,  returned  the  same  answer.  At  length  Pizarro  entered ;  andy 
on  presenting  it  to  him,  he  blushed,  and  with  some  confusion  was  obliged 
to  acknowledge  his  ignorance.  From  that  moment  Atahualpa  considered 
him  as  a  mean  person  less  instructed  than  his  own  soldiers  ;  and  he  had 
not  address  enough  to  conceal  the  sentiments  with  which  this  discovery 
inspired  him.  To  be  the  object  of  a  barbarian's  scorn,  not  only  mortified  the 
pride  of  Pizarro,  but  excited  such  resentment  in  his  breast,  as  added  force 
to  all  the  other  considerations  which  prompted  him  to  put  the  Inca  to 
death.f 

.But  in  order  to  give  some  colour  of  justice  to  this  violent  action,  and 
that  he  himself  might  be  exempted  from  standing  singly  responsible  for 
the  commission  of  it,  Pizarro  resolved  to  try  the  Inca  with  all  the  formalities 
observed  in  the  criminal  courts  of  Spain.  Pizarro  himself,  and  Almagro, 
with  two  assistants,  were  appointed  judges,  with  full  power  to  acquit  or  to 
condemn ;  an  attorney-general  was  named  to  carry  on  the  prosecution  in 
the  king's  name  ;  counsellors  were  chosen  to  assist  the  prisoner  in  his 
defence ;  and  clerks  were  ordained  to  record  the  proceedings  of  court. 
Before  this  strange  tribunal,  a  charge  was  exhibited  still  more  amazing. 
It  consisted  of  various  articles  ;  that  Atahualpay  though  a  bastard,  had  dis- 
possessed the  rightful  owner  of  the  throne,  and  usurped  the  regal  power ; 
that  he  had  put  his  brother  and  lawful  sovereign  to  death  ;  that  he  was  an 
idolater,  and  had  not  only  permitted  but  commanded  the  offering  of  human 

*  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  7.    Vega,  p.  2.  lib.  i.  c.  7.    Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  4.  f  Herrera.  dot, 

5.  lib,  iii.  c.  4.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  i.  c.  38. 


AMERICA.  277 

^sacrifices  ;  that  he  had  a  great  number  of  concubines ;  that  since  his  im- 
prisonment he  had  wasted  and  embezzled  the  royal  treasures,  which  now- 
belonged  of  right  to  the  conquerors ;  that  he  had  incited,  his  subjects  to 
take  arms  against  the  Spaniards.  On  these  heads  of  accusation,  some  of 
which  are  so  ludicrous,  others  so  absurd,  that  the  effrontery  of  Pizarro,  in 
majng  them  the  foundation  of  a  serious  procedure,  is  not  less  surprising 
than  his  injustice,  did  this  strange  court  go  on  to  try  the  sovereign  of  a 
great  empire,  over  whom  it  had  no  jurisdiction.  With  respect  to  each  of 
the  articles,  witnesses  were  examined  ;  but  as  they  delivered  their  evidence 
in  their  native  tongue,  Philippillo  had  it  in  his  power  to  give  their  words 
whatever  turn  best  suited  his  malevolent  intentions.  To  judges  pre-de- 
termined  in  their  opinion,  this  evidence  appeared  sufficient.  ^They  pro- 
nounced Atahualpa  guilty,  and  condemned  him  to  be  burnt  alive.  Friar 
Valverde  prostituted  the  authority  of  his  sacred  function  to  confirm  this 
sentence,  and  by  his  signature  warranted  it  to  be  just.  Astonished  at  his 
fate,  Atahualpa  endeavoured  to  avert  it  by  tears,  by  promises,  and  by  en- 
treaties that  he  might  be  sent  to  Spain,  where  a  monarch  would  be  the 
arbiter  of  his  lot.  But  pity  never  touched  the  unfeeling  heart  of  Pizarro. 
He  ordered  him  to  be  led  instantly  to  execution ;  and  what  added  to  the 
bitterness  of  his  last  moments,  the  same  monk  who  had  just  ratified  his 
doom,  offered  to  console  and  attempted  to  convert  him.  The  most 
powerful  argument  Valverde  employed  to  prevail  with  him  to  embrace 
the  Christian  faith,  was  a  promise  of  mitigation  in  his  punishment.  The 
dread  of  a  cruel  death  extorted  from  the  trembling  victim  a  desire  of 
receiving  baptism.  The  ceremony  was  performed  ;  and  Atahualpa,  instead 
of  being  burnt,  was  strangled  at  the  stake.* 

Happily  for  the  credit  of  the  Spanish  nation,  even  among  the  profligate 
adventurers  which  it  sent  forth  to  conquer  and  desolate  the  New  World, 
there  were  persons  who  retained  some  tincture  of  the  Castilian  generosity 
.and  honour.  Though,  before  the  trial  of  Atahualpa,  Ferdinand  Pizarro 
had  set  out  for  Spain,  and  Soto  was  sent  on  a  separate  command  at  a  dis- 
tance from  Caxamalca,  this  odious  transaction  was  not  carried  on  without 
censure  and  opposition.  Several  officers,  and  among  those  some  of  the 
greatest  reputation  and  most  respectable  families  in  the  service,  not  only 
remonstrated  but  protested  against  this  measure  of  their  general,  as  dis- 
graceful to  their  country,  as  repugnant  to  every  maxim  of  equity,  as  a 
violation  of  public  faith,  and  a  usurpation  of  jurisdiction  over  an  inde- 
pendent monarch,  to  which  they  had  no  title.  But  their  laudable  endeavours 
were  vain.  Numbers,  and  the  opinion  of  such  as  held  every  thing  to  be 
lawful  which  they  deemed  advantageous,  prevailed.  History,  however, 
records  even  the  unsuccessful  exertions  of  virtue  with  applause  ;  and  the 
Spanish  writers,  in  relating  events  where  the  valour  of  their  nation  is  more 
conspicuous  than  its  humanity,  have  not  failed  to  preserve  the  names  of 
those  who  made  this  laudable  effort  to  save  their  country  from  the  infamy 
of  having  perpetrated  such  a  crime. | 

On  the  death  of  Atahualpa,  Pizarro  invested  one  of  his  sons  with  the 
ensigns  of  royalty,  hoping  that  a  young  man  without  experience  might 
prove  a  more  passive  instrument  in  his  hands  than  an  ambitious  monarch, 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  independent  command.  The  people  of 
Cuzco,  and  the  adjacent  country,  acknowledged  Manco  Capac,  a  brother 
of  Huascar,  as  Inca.  J  But  neither  possessed  the  authority  which  belonged 
to  a  sovereign  of  Peru.  The  violent  convulsions  into  which  the  empire 
had  been  thrown,  first  by  the  civil  war  between  the  two  brothers,  and  then 
by  the  invasion  of  the  Spaniards,  had  not  only  deranged  the  order  of  the 
Peruvian  government,  but  almost  dissolved  its  frame.  When  they  beheld 

*  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  7.  Xerez,  p.  233.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  i.  c  36, 37.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  117.  Herrera, 
•dec.  3.  lib.  iii.  c.  4.  t  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  i.  c.  37.  Xerez,  i.  235.  Herrera,  dec,  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  5. 

;  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c  7, 


278  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VL 

their  monarch  a  captive  in  the  power  of  strangers,  and  at  last  suffering  an 
ignominious  death,  the  people  in  several  provinces,  as  if  they  had  been  set 
free  from  every  restraint  of  law  and  decency,  broke  out  into  the  most 
licentious  excesses.*  ^  So  many  descendants  of  the  Sun,  after  being  treated 
with  the  utmost  indignity,  had  been  cut  off  by  Atahualpa,  that  not  only 
their  influence  in  the  state  diminished  with  their  number,  but  the  ^Jfcus- 
tomed  reverence  for  that  sacred  race  sensibly  decreased.  In  consequence 
of  this  state  of  things,  ambitious  men  in  different  parts  of  the  empire 
aspired  to  independent  authority,  and  usurped  jurisdiction  to  which  they 
had  no  title.  The  general  who  commanded  for  Atahualpa  in  Quito,  seized 
the  brother  and  children  of  his  master,  put  them  to  a  cruel  death,  and,  dis- 
claiming any  connection  with  either  Inca,  endeavoured  to  establish  a 
separate  kingdom  for  himself,  f 

The  Spaniards  with  pleasure  beheld  the  spirit  of  discord  diffusing  itself, 
and  the  vigour  of  government  relaxing  among  the  Peruvians.  They  con- 
sidered those  disorders  as  symptoms  of  a  state  hastening  towards  its  dis- 
solution. Pizarro  no  longer  hesitated  to  advance  towards  (Juzco,  and  he 
had  received  such  considerable  reinforcements,  that  he  could  venture,  with 
little  danger,  to  penetrate  ,so  far  into  the  interior  part  of  the  country.  The 
account  of  the  wealth  acquired  at  Caxamalca  operated  as  he  had  foreseen. 
No  sooner  did  his  brother  Ferdinand,  with  the  officers  and  soldiers  to  whom 
he  had  given  their  discharge  after  the  partition  of  the  Inca's  ransom,  arrive 
at  Panama,  and  display  their  riches  in  the  view  of  their  astonished  coun- 
trymen, than  fame  spread  the  account  with  such  exaggeration  through  all 
the  Spanish  settlements  on  the  South  Sea,  that  the  governors  of  Guatimala, 
Panama,  and  Nicaragua,  could  hardly  restrain  the  people  under  their  juris- 
diction, from  abandoning  their  possessions,  and  crowaing  to  that  inexhaustible 
source  of  wealth  which  seemed  to  be  opened  in  Peru.J  In  spite  of  every 
check  and  regulation,  such  numbers  resorted  thither,  that  Pizarro  began 
his  march  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men,  after  leaving  a  considerable 

farrison  in  St.  Michael,  under  the  command  of  Benalcazar.  The  Peruvians 
ad  assembled  some  large  bodies  of  troops  to  oppose  his  progress.  Several 
fierce  encounters  happened.  But  they  terminated  like  all  the  actions  in 
America  ;  a  few  Spaniards  were  killed  or  wounded  ;  the  natives  were  put 
to  flight  with  incredible  slaughter.  At  length  Pizarro  forced  his  way  to 
Cuzco,  and  took  quiet  possession  of  that  capital.  The  riches  found  there, 
even  after  all  that  the  natives  had  carried  off  and  concealed,  either  from  a 
superstitious  veneration  for  the  ornaments  of  their  temples,  or  out  of  hatred 
to  their  rapacious  conquerors,  exceed  in  value  what  had  been  received  as 
Atahualpa's  ransom.  But  as  the  Spaniards  were  now  accustomed  to  the 
wealth  of  the  country,  and  it  came  to  be  parcelled  out  among  a  great 
number  of  adventurers,  this  dividend  did  not  excite  the  same  surprise, 
either  from  novelty,  or  the  largeness  of  the  sum  that  fell  to  the  share  of 
each  individual  [133]. 

During  the  march  to  Cuzco,  that  son  of  Atahualpa  whom  Pizarro  treated 
as  Inca,  died ;  and  as  the  Spaniards  substituted  no  person  in  his  place,,the 
title  of  Manco  Capac  seems  to  have  been  universally  recognised.§ 

While  his  fellow-soldiers  were  thus  employed,  Benalcazar,  governor  of 
St.  Michael,  an  able  and  enterprising  officer,  was  ashamed  of  remaining 
inactive,  and  impatient  to  have  his  name  distinguished  among  the  dis- 
coverers and  conquerors  of  the  New  World.  The  seasonable  arrival  of  a 
fresh  body  of  recruits  from  Panama  and  Nicaragua  put  it  in  his  power  to 
gratify  this  passion.  Leaving  a  sufficient  force  to  protect  the  infant  settle- 
ment intrusted  to  his  care,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  rest,  and 
set  out  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  Quito,  where,  according  to  the  report  of 

*  Ilerrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  ii.  c,  12.  lib.  iii.  c.  5.  f  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  8.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  4. 
J  Gotaara  Hist.  c.  125.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  1.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iii.  c.  5.  §  Herreia, 

dee.  5.  lib.  v.  c.  2. 


AMERICA.  279 

the  natives,  Atahualpa  had  left  the  greatest  part  of  his  treasure.  Notwith- 
standing the  distance  of  that  city  from  St.  Michael,  the  difficulty  of 
marching  through  a  mountainous  country  covered  with  woods,  and  the 
frequent  and  fierce  attacks  of  the  best  troops  in  Peru  commanded  by  a 
skilful  leader,  the  valour,  good  conduct,  and  perseverance  of  Benalcazar 
surmounted  every  obstacle,  and  he  entered  Quito  with  his  victorious  troops. 
But  they  met  with  a  cruel  mortification  there.  The  natives  now  acquainted 
to  their  sorrow  witiYthe  predominant  passion  of  their  invaders,  and  knowing 
how  to  disappoint  it,  had  carried  off  all  those  treasures,  the  prospect  of 
which  had  prompted  them  to  undertake  this  arduous  expedition,  and  had 
supported  them  under  all  the  dangers  and  hardships  wherewith  they  had 
to  struggle  in  carrying  it  on.* 

Benalcazar  was  not  the  only  Spanish  leader  who  attacked  the  kingdom 
of  Quito.  The  fame  of  its  riches  attracted  a  more  powerful  enemy. 
Pedro  de  Alvarado,  who  had  distinguished  himself  so  eminently  in  the 
conquest  of  Mexico,  having  obtained  the  government  of  Guatimala  as  a 
recompense  for  his  valour,  soon  became  disgusted  with  a  life  of  uniform 
tranquillity,  and  longed  to  be  again  engaged  in  the  bustle  of  military 
service.  The  glory  and  wealth  acquired  by  the  conquerors  of  Peru 
heightened  this  passion,  and  gave  it  a  determined  direction.  Believing,  or 
pretending  to  believe,  that  the  kingdom  of  Quito  did  not  lie  within  the 
limits  of  the  province  allotted  to  Pizarro,  he  resolved  to  invade  it.  The 
high  reputation  of  the  commander  allured  volunteers  from  every  quarter. 
He  embarked  with  five  hundred  men,  of  whom  above  two  hundred  were 
of  such  distinction  as  to  serve  on  horseback.  He  landed  at  Puerto  Viejo, 
and  without  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  country,  or  proper  guides  to  con- 
duct him,  attempted  to  march  directly  to  Quito,  by  following  the  course 
of  the  river  Guavoquil,  and  crossing  the  ridge  of  the  Andes  towards  its 
head.  But  in  this  route,  one  of  the  most  impracticable  in  all  America,  his 
troops  endured  such  fatigue  in  forcing  their  way  through  forests  and 
marshes  on  the  low  grounds,  and  suffered  so  much  from  excessive  cold 
when  they  began  to  ascend  the  mountains,  that  before  they  reached  the 
plain  of  Quito,  a  fifth  part  of  the  men  and  half  their  horses  died,  and  the 
rest  were  so  much  dispirited  and  worn  out,  as  to  be  almost  unfit  for  ser- 
vice [134].  There  they  met  with  a  body,  not  of  Indians,  but  of  Spaniards, 
drawn  in  hostile  array  against  them.  Pizarro  having  received  an  account 
of  Alvarado's  armament,  had  detached  Almagro  with  some  troops  to  oppose 
this  formidable  invader  of  his  jurisdiction  ;  and  these  were  joined  by  Be- 
nalcazar and  his  victorious  party.  Alvarado,  though  surprised  at  the  sight 
of  enemies  whom  he  did  not  expect,  advanced  boldly  to  the  charge.  But, 
by  the  interposition  of  some  moderate  men  in  each  party,  an  amicable 
accommodation  took  place  ;  and  the  fatal  period  when  Spaniards  sus- 
pended their  conquests  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  coun- 
trymen, was  postponed  a  few  years.  Alvarado  engaged  to  return  to  his 
govennent,  upon  Almagro's  paying  him  a  hundred  thousand  pesos  to  defray 
the  expense  of  his  armament.  Most  of  his  followers  remained  in  the 
country ;  and  an  expedition,  which  threatened  Pizarro  and  his  colony  with 
ruin,  contributed  to  augment  its  strength  t 

1534.]  By  this  time  Ferdinand  Pizarro  had  landed  in  Spain.  The  im- 
mense quantities  of  gold  and  silver  which  he  imported  [135]  filled  the  king- 
dom with  no  less  astonishment  than  they  had  excited  in  Panama  and  the 
adjacent  provinces.  Pizarro  was  received  by  the  emperor  with  the  atten- 
tion due  to  the  bearer  of  a  present  so  rich  as  to  exceed  any  idea  which  the 
Spaniards  had  formed  concerning  the  value  of  their  acquisitions  in  America, 

*  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  9.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  9.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iv.  c.  11, 12.  lib.  v.  c.  2,  3 
Mb.  vi.  c.  3.  1  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  10—13.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  1,  2.  9,  &c.  Gomara  Hist.  e. 

126,  &c.    Remesa.  Hist.  Guatimal,  lib.  iii.  c.  6.    Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib,  vi.  c,  1, 2.  7,  8. 


280  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  VI. 

even  after  they  had  been  ten  years  masters  of  Mexico.  In  recompense  of 
his  brother's  services,  his  authority  was  confirmed  with  new  powers  and 
privileges,  and  the  addition  of  seventy  leagues,  extending  along  the  coast, 
to  the  southward  of  the  territpry  granted  in  his  former  patent.  Almagro 
received  the  honours  which  he  had  so  long  desired.  The  title  of  Adelan- 
tado,  or  governor,  was  conferred  upon  him,  with  jurisdiction  over  two  hun- 
dred leagues  of  country,  stretching  beyond  the  southern  limits  of  the  province 
allotted  to  Pizarro.  Ferdinand  himself  did  not  go  unrewarded.  He  was 
admitted  into  the  military  order  of  St.  Jago,  a  distinction  always  accepta 
ble  to  a  Spanish  gentleman,  and  soon  set  out  on  his  return  to  Peru,  accom 
panied  by  many  persons  of  higher  rank  than  had  yet  served  in  that 
country.* 

Some  account  of  his  negotiations  reached  Peru  before  he  arrived  there 
himself.  Almagro  no  sooner  learned  that  he  had  obtained  the  royal  grant 
of  an  independent  government,  than  pretending  that  Cuzco,  the  imperial 
residence  of  the  Incas,  lay  within  its  boundaries,  he  attempted  to  render 
himself  master  of  that  important  station.  Juan  and  Gonzalez  Pizarro  pre- 
pared to  oppose  him.  Each  of  the  contending  parties  was  supported  by 
powerful  adherents,  and  the  dispute  was  on  the  point  of  being  terminated 
by  the  sword,  when  Francis  Pizarro  arrived  in  the  capital.  The  recon- 
ciliation between  him  and  Almagro  had  never  been  cordial.  The  treachery 
of  Pizarro  in  engrossing  to  himself  all  the  honours  and  emoluments,  which 
ought  to  have  been  divided  with  his  associate,  was  always  present  in  both 
their  thoughts,  The  former,  conscious  of  bis  own  perfidy,  did  not  expect 
forgiveness ;  the  latter  feeling,  that  he  had  been  deceived,  was  impatient 
to  be  avenged  ;  and  though  avarice  and  ambition  had  induced  them  not 
only  to  dissemble  their  sentiments,  but  even  to  act  in  concert  while  in  pur- 
suit of  wealth  and  power,  no  sooner  did  they  obtain  possession  of  these, 
than  the  same  passions  which  had  formed  this  temporary  union,  gave  rise 
to  jealousy  and  discord.  To  each  of  them  was  attached  a  small  band  of 
interested  dependants,  who,  with  the  malicious  art  peculiar  to  such  men, 
heightened  their  suspicions,  and  magnified  every  appearance  of  offence. 
But  with  all  those  seeds  of  enmity  in  their  minds,  and  thus  assiduously 
cherished,  each  was  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  abilities  and 
courage  of  his  rival,  that  they  equally  dreaded  the  consequences  of  an  open 
rupture.  The  fortunate  arrival  of  Pizarro  at  Cuzco,  and  the  address  min- 
gled with  firmness  which  he  manifested  in  his  expostulations  with  Almagro 
and  his  partisans,  averted  that  evil  for  the  present.  A  new  reconciliation 
took  place  ;  the  chief  article  of  which  was,  that  Almagro  should  attempt 
the  conquest  of  Chili ;  and  if  he  did  not  find  in  that  province  an  establish- 
ment adequate  to  his  meiit  and  expectations,  Pizarro,  by  way  of  indemni 
fication,  should  yield  up  to  him  a  part  of  Peru.  This  new  agreement, 
though  confirmed  [June  12]  with  the  same  sacred  solemnities  as  their  first 
contract,  was  observed  with  as  little  fidelity.! 

Soon  after  he  concluded  this  important  transaction,  Pizarro  marched 
back  to  the  countries  on  the  seacoast ;  and  as  he  now  enjoyed  an  interval 
of  tranquillity  undisturbed  by  any  enemy,  either  Spaniard  or  Indian,  he 
applied  nimself  with  that  persevering  aruour,  which  distinguishes  his  cha- 
racter, to  introduce  a  form  of  regular  government  into  the  extensive  pro- 
vinces subject  to  his  authority.  Though  jll  qualified  by  his  education 
to  enter  into  any  disquisition  concerning  the  principles  of  civil  policy,  and 
little  accustomed  by  his  former  habits  of  life  to  attend  to  its  arrangements, 
his  natural  sagacity  supplied  the  want  both  of  science  and  experience.  He 
distributed  the  country  into  various  districts  ;  he  appointed  proper  magis- 
trates to  preside  in  each ;  and  established  regulations  concerning  the  ad- 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  3.      Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  19,      Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  vi.  c.  13.  f  Z* 

rate,  lib.  ii.  c.  13.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  19.    Benzo,  lib.  iii,  c.  6.    Hefrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  vii.  c.  a 


AMERICA.  281 

ministration  of  justice,  the  collection  of  the  royal  revenue,  the  working  of 
the  mines,  and  the  treatment  of  the  Indians,  extremely  simple,  but  well 
calculated  to  promote  the  public  prosperity.  But  though,  for  the  present, 
he  adapted  his  plan  to  the  infant  state  of  his  colony,  his  aspiring  mind 
looked  forward  to  its  future  grandeur.  He  considered  himself  as  laying 
the  foundation  of  a  great  empire,  and  deliberated  long,  and  with  much  soli- 
citude, in  what  place  he  should  fix  the  seat  of  government.  Cuzco,  the 
imperial  city  of  the  Incas,  was  situated  in  a  corner  of  the  empire,  above 
four  hundred  miles  from  the  sea,  and  much  further  from  Quito,  a  province 
of  whose  value  he  had  formed  a  high  idea.  No  other  settlement  of  the 
Peruvians  was  so  considerable  as  to  merit  the  name  of  a  town,  or  to  allure 
the  Spaniards  to  fix  their  residence  in  it.  But  in  marching  through  the 
country,  Pizarro  had  been  struck  with  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  val- 
ley of  Rimac,  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  best  cultivated  in  Peru. 
There,  on  the  banks  of  a  small  river  of  the  same  name  with  the  vale  which 
it  waters  and  enriches,  at  the  distance  of  six  miles  from  Callao,  the  most 
commodious  harbour  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  he  founded  a  city  which  he 
destined  to  be  the  capital  of  his  government  [Jan.  18,  1535].  He  gave  it 
the  name  of  Ciudad  de  los  Reyes,  either  from  the  circumstance  of  having 
laid  the  first  stone  at  that  season  when  the  church  celebrates  the  festival  of 
the  Three  Kings,  or,  as  is  more  probable,  in  honour  of  Juana  and  Charles, 
the  joint  sovereigns  of  Castile.  This  name  it  still  retains  among  the 
Spaniards,  in  all  legal  and  formal  deeds  ;  but  it  is  better  known  to 
foreigners  by  that  oiLima^  a  corruption  of  the  ancient  appellation  of  the 
valley  in  which  it  is  situated.  Under  his  inspection,  the  buildings  advanced 
with  such  rapidity,  that  it  soon  assumed  the  form  of  a  city,  which,  by  a  mag- 
nificent palace  that  he  erected  for  himself,  and  by  the  stately  houses  built 
by  several  of  his  officers,  gave,  even  in  its  infancy,  some  indication  of  its 
subsequent  grandeur.* 

In  consequence  of  what  had  been  agreed  with  Pizarro,  Almagro  began 
his  march  towards  Chili ;  and  as  he  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
virtues  most  admired  by  soldiers,  boundless  liberality  and  fearless  courage, 
his  standard  was  followed  by  five  hundred  and  seventy  men,  the  greatest 
body  of  Europeans  that  had  hitherto  been  assembled  in  Peru.  From  im- 
patience to  finish  the  expedition,  or  from  that  contempt  of  hardship  and 
danger  acquired  by  all  the  Spaniards  who  had  served  long  in  America, 
Almagro,  instead  of  advancing  along  the  level  country  on  the  coast,  chose 
to  march  across  the  mountains  by  a  route  that  was  shorter  indeed,  but 
almost  impracticable.  In  this  attempt  his  troops  were  exposed  to  every 
calamity  which  men  can  suffer,  from  fatigue,  from  famine,  and  from  the 
rigour  of  the  climate  in  those  elevated  regions  of  the  torrid  zone,  where  the 
degree  of  cold  is  hardly  inferior  to  what  is  felt  within  the  polar  circle. 
Many  of  them  perished ;  and  the  survivors,  when  they  descended  into  the 
fertile  plains  of  Chili,  had  new  difficulties  to  encounter.  They  found  there 
a  race  of  men  very  different  from  the  people  of  Peru,  intrepid,  hardy,  in- 
dependent, and  in  their  bodily  constitution,  as  well  as  vigour  of  spirit, 
nearly  resembling  the  warlike  tribes  in  North  America.  Though  filled 
with  wonder  at  the  first  appearance  of  the  Spaniards,  and  still  more 
astonished  at  the  operations  of  their  cavalry  and  the  effects  of  their  fire- 
arms, the  Chilese  soon  recovered  so  far  from  their  surprise,  as  Kot  only  to 
defend  themselves  with  obstinacy,  but  to  attack  their  new  enemies  with 
more  determined  fierceness  than  any  American  nation  had  hitherto  dis- 
covered. The  Spaniards,  however,  continued  to  penetrate  into  the  coun- 
try, and  collected  some  considerable  quantities  of  gold ;  but  were  so  far 
from  thinking  of  making  any  settlement  amidst  such  formidable  neighbours, 
that,  in  spite  of  all  the  experience  and  valour  of  their  leader,  the  final  issue 

*  Herrera,  dec.  5,  lib.  vi.  c.  12.  lib.  vii.  c.  13.  Calancho,  Coronica,  lib.  i.  c.  37.  Bameuvo,  Lima 
fundata,  ii.  294. 

VOL.  I.—36  14 


2BS  HIS  T  O  R  ¥  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

of  the  expedition  still  remained  extremely  dubious,  when  they  were  recalled 
from  it  by  an  unexpected  revolution  at  Peru.*  The  causes  of  this  impor- 
tant event  I  shall  endeavour  to  trace  to  their  source. 

So  many  adventurers  had  flocked  to  Peru  from  every  Spanish  colony  in 
America,  and  all  with  such  high  expectations  of  accumulating  independent 
fortunes  at  once,  that,  to  men  possessed  with  notions  so  extravagant,  any 
mention  of  acquiring  wealth  gradually,  and  by  schemes  of  patient  industry, 
would  have  been  not  only  a  disappointment,  but  an  insult.  In  order  to  find 
occupation  for  men  who  could  not  with  safety  be  allowed  to  remain  in- 
active, Pizarro  encouraged  some  of  the  most  distinguished  officers  who  had 
lately  joined  him,  to  invade  different  provinces  of  the  empire,  which  the 
Spaniards  had  not  hitherto  visited.  Several  large  bodies  were  formed  for 
this  purpose ;  and  about  the  time  that  Almagro  set  out  for  Chili,  they 
marched  into  remote  districts  of  the  country.  No  sooner  did  Manco  Capac, 
the  Inca,  observe  the  inconsiderate  security  of  the  Spaniards  in  thus  dis- 
persing their  troops,  and  that  only  a  handful  of  soldiers  remained  in  Cuzco, 
under  Juan  and  Gonzalez  Pizarro,  than  he  thought  that  tjie  happy  period 
was  at  length  come  for  vindicating  his  own  rights,  for  avenging  the  wrongs 
of  his  country,  and  extirpating  its  oppressors.  Though  strictly  watched 
by  the  Spaniards  who  allowed  him  to  reside  in  the  palace  of  his  ancestors 
at  Cuzco,  he  found  means  of  communicating  his  scheme  to  the  persons 
who  were  to  be  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  it-  Among  people  accus- 
tomed to  revere  their  sovereign  as  a  divinity,  every  hint  of  his  will  carries 
the  authority  of  a  command  ;  and  they  themselves  were  now  convinced, 
by  the  daily  increase  in  the  number  of  their  invaders,  that  the  fond  hopes 
which  they  nad  long  entertained  of  their  voluntary  departure  were  alto- 
gether vain*  All  perceived  that  a  vigorous  effort  01  the  whole  nation  was 
requisite  to  expel  them,  and  the  preparations  for  it  were  carried  on  with 
the  secrecy  and  silence  peculiar  to  Americans. 

After  some  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the  Inca  to  make  his  escape,  Ferdi- 
nand Pizarro  happening  to  arrive  at  that  time  in  Cuzco  [1536],  he  obtained 
permission  from  him  to  attend  a  great  festival  which  was  to  be  celebrated  a 
few  leagues  from  the  capital.  Under  pretext  of  that  solemnity,  the  great 
men  of  the  empire  were  assembled.  As  soon  as  the  Inca  joined  them,  the 
standard  of  war  was  erected  ;  and  in  a  short  time  all  the  fighting  men, 
from  the  confines  of  Quito  to  the  frontier  of  Chili,  were  in  arms.  Many 
Spaniards,  living  securely  on  the  settlements  allotted  them,  were  massacred. 
Several  detachments,  as  they  marched  carelessly  through  a  country  which 
seemed  to  be  tamely  submissive  to  their  dominion,  were  cut  off  to  a  man. 
An  army  amounting  (if  we  may  believe  the  Spanish  writers)  to  two  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  attacked  Cuzco,  which  the  three  brothers  endeavoured 
to  defend  with  only  one  hundred  and  seventy  Spaniards.  Another  formi- 
dable body  invested  Lima,  and  kept  the  governor  closely  shut  up.  There 
was  no  longer  any  communication  between  the  two  cities ;  the  numerous 
forces  of  the  Peruvians  spreading  over  the  country,  intercepted  every 
messenger ;  and  as  the  parties  in  Uuzco  and  Lima  were  equally  unacquaint- 
ed with  the  fate  of  their  countrymen,  each  boded  the  worst  concerning 
the  other,  and  imagined  that  they  themselves  were  the  only  persons  who 
had  survived  the  general  extinction  of  the  Spanish  name  in  reru.t 

It  was  at  Cuzco,  where  the  Inca  commanded  in  person,  that  the  Peru- 
vians made  their  chief  efforts.  During  nine  months  they  carried  on  the 
siege  with  incessant  ardour,  and  in  various  forms ;  and  though  they  dis- 
played not  the  same  undaunted  ferocity  as  the  Mexican  warriors,  they  con- 
ducted some  of  their  operations  in  a  manner  which  discovered  greater 
sagacity,  and  a  genius  more  susceptible  of  improvement  in  the  military 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  1,  Gomara  Hist.  c.  131.  Vega,  p.  2.  Hb.  iL  c.  20.  Ovale  Hist,  de  Chile,  lib. 
IV.  c.  15,  &c.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  vi.  c.  9.  lib.  x.  c.  1,  &c.  f  Vega,  p.  11,  lib.  ii.  c.  28.  Zarate, 
lib.  iii.  c.  3 .  Cieca  de  Leon,  c.  82.  Gomara  Hist  c.  135.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  viii.  c.  & 


AMERICA.  283 

art.  They  not  only  observed  the  advantages  which  the  Spaniards  derived 
from  their  discipline  and  their  weapons,  but  they  endeavoured  to  imitate 
the  former,  and  turned  the  latter  against  them.  They  armed  a  considera- 
ble body  of  their  bravest  warriors  with  the  swords,  the  spears,  and  buck- 
lers, which  they  had  taken  from  the  Spanish  soldiers  whom  they  had  cut 
off  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  These  they  endeavoured  to  marshal 
in  that  regular  compact  order,  to  which  experience  had  taught  them  that 
the  Spaniards  were  indebted  for  their  irresistible  force  in  action.  Some 
appeared  in  the  field  with  Spanish  muskets,  and  had  acquired  skill  and 
resolution  enough  to  use  them.  A  few  of  the  boldest,  among  whom  was 
the  Tnca  himself,  were  mounted  on  the  horses  which  they  had  taken,  and 
advanced  briskly  to  the  charge  like  Spanish  cavaliers,  with  their  lances  in 
the  rest.  It  was  more  by  their  numbers,  however,  than  by  those  imper- 
fect essays  to  imitate  European  arts  and  to  employ  European  arms,  that 
the  Peruvians  annoyed  the  Spaniards  [136].  In  spite  of  the  valour, 
heightened  by  despair,  with  which  the  three  brothers  defended  Cuzco, 
Manco  Capac  recovered  possession  of  one-half  of  his  capital ;  and  in  their 
various  efforts  to  drive  him  out  of  it,  the  Spaniards  lost  Juan  Pizarro,  the 
best  beloved  of  all  the  brothers,  together  with  some  other  persons  of  note. 
Worn  out  with  the  fatigue  of  incessant  duty,  distressed  with  want  of  pro- 
visions, and  despairing  of  being  able  any  longer  to  resist  an  enemy  whose 
numbers  daily  increased,  the  soldiers  became  impatient  to  abandon  Cuzco, 
in  hopes  either  of  joining  their  countrymen,  if  any  of  them  yet  survived, 
or  of  forcing  their  way  to  the  sea,  and  finding  some  means  of  escaping 
from  a  country  which  had  been  so  fatal  to  the  Spanish  name.*  While  they 
were  brooding  over  those  desponding  thoughts,  which  their  officers  labour- 
ed in  vain  to  dispel,  Almagro  appeared  suddenly  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Cuzco. 

The  accounts  transmitted  to  Almagro  concerning  the  general  insurrection 
of  the  Peruvians,  were  such  as  would  have  induced  him,  without  hesitation, 
to  relinquish  the  conquest  of  Chili,  and  hasten  to  the  aid  of  his  country- 
men. But  in  this  resolution  he  was  confirmed  by  a  motive  less  generous, 
but  more  interesting.  By  the  same  messenger  who  brought  him  intelli- 
gence of  the  Inca's  revolt,  he ,  received  the  royal  patent  creating  him  go- 
vernor of  Chili,  and  defining  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction.  Upon  consi- 
dering the  tenor  of  it,  he  deemed  it  manifest  beyond  contradiction,  that 
Cuzco  lay  within  the  boundaries  of  his  government,  and  he  was  equally 
solicitous  to  prevent  the  Peruvians  from  recovering  possession  of  their 
capital,  and  to  wrest  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Pizarros.  From  impatience 
to  accomplish  both,  he  ventured  to  return  by  a  new  route  ;  and  in  march- 
ing through  the  sandy  plains  on  the  coast,  he  suffered  from  heat  and  drought, 
calamities  of  a  new  species  hardly  inferior  to  those  in  which  he  had  been 
involved  by  cold  and  famine  on  the  summits  of  the  Andes. 

1537.]  His  arrival  at  Cuzco  was  in  a  critical  moment.  The  Spaniards 
and  Peruvians  fixed  their  eyes  upon  him  with  equal  solicitude.  The 
former,  as  he  did  not  study  to  conceal  his  pretensions,  were  at  a  loss  whe- 
ther to  welcome  him  as  a  deliverer,  or  to  take  precautions  against  him  as 
an  enemy.  The  latter,  knowing  the  points  in  contest  between  him  and 
his  countrymen,  flattered  themselves  that  they  had  more  to  hope  than  to 
dread  from  his  operations.  Almagro  himself,  unacquainted  with  the  detail 
of  the  events  which  had  happened  in  his  absence,  and  solicitous  to  learn 
the  precise  posture  of  affairs,  advanced  towards  the  capital  slowly,  and 
with  great  circumspection.  Various  negotiations  with  both  parties  were 
set  on  foot.  The  Inca  conducted  them  on  his  part  with  much  address. 
At  first  he  endeavoured  to  gain  the  friendship  of  Almagro ;  and  after  many 
fruitless  overtures,  despairing  of  any  cordial  union  with  a  Spaniard,  he 

*  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  viii  c.  4. 


284  HISTORY  OF  [Boos  VI. 

attacked  him  by  surprise  with  a  numerous  body  of  chosen  troops.  But  the 
Spanish  discipline  and  valour  maintained  their  wonted  superiority.  The 
Peruvians  were  repulsed  with  such  slaughter  that  a  great  part  of  their 
army  dispersed,  and  Almagro  proceeded  to.  the  gates  of  Cuzco  without 
interruption. 

The  Pizarros,  as  they  had  no  longer  to  make  head  against  the  Peru- 
vians, directed  all  their  attention  towards  their  new  enemy,  and  took  mea- 
sures to  obstruct  his  entry  into  the  capital.  Prudence,  however,  restrained 
both  parties  for  some  time  from  turning  their  arms  against  one  another, 
while  surrounded  by  common  enemies,  who  would  rejoice  in  the  mutual 
slaughter.  Different  schemes  of  accommodation  were  proposed.  Each 
endeavoured  to  deceive  the  other,  or  to  corrupt  his  followers.  The  gene- 
rous, open,  affable  temper  of  Almagro  gained  many  adherents  of  the 
Pizarros,  who  were  disgusted  with  their  harsh,  domineering  manners. 
Encouraged  by  this  defection,  he  advanced  towards  the  city  by  night,  sur- 
prised the  sentinels,  or  was  admitted  by  them,  and,  investing  the  house 
where  the  two  brothers  resided,  compelled  them,  after  an  obstinate  defence, 
to  surrender  at  discretion.  Almagro's  claim  of  jurisdiction  over  Cuzco 
was  universally  acknowledged,  and  a  form  of  administration  established  in 
his  name.* 

Two  or  three  persons  only  were  killed  in  this  first  act  of  civil  hostility  ; 
but  it  was  soon  followed  by  scenes  more  bloody.  Francisco  Pizarro 
having  dispersed  the  Peruvians  who  had  invested  Lima,  and  received 
some  considerable  reinforcements  from  Hispaniola  and  Nicaragua,  ordered 
five  hundred  men,  under  the  command  of  Alonzo  de  Alvarado,  to  march 
to  Cuzco,  in  hopes  of  relieving  his  brothers,  if  they  and  their  garrison 
were  not  already  cut  off  by  the  Peruvians.  This  body,  which  at  that 
period  of  the  Spanish  power  in  America  must  be  deemed  a  considerable 
Force,  advanced  near  to  the  capital  before  they  knew  that  they  had  any 
enemy  more  formidable  than  Indians  to  encounter.  It  was  with  astonish- 
ment that  they  beheld  their  countrymen  posted  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Abancay  to  oppose  their  progress.  Almagro,  however,  wished  rather  to 
gain  than  to  conquer  them,  and  by  bribes  and  promises,  endeavoured  to 
seduce  their  leader.  The  fidelity  of  Alyprado  remained  unshaken ;  but 
his  talents  for  war  were  not  equal  to  his  virtue.  Almagro  amused  him 
with  various  movements,  of  which  he  did  not  comprehend  the  meaning, 
while  a  large  detachment  of  chosen  soldiers  passed  the  river  by  night 
[July  12],  fell  upon  his  camp  by  surprise,  broke  his  troops  before  they  had 
time  to  form,  and  took  him  prisoner,  together  with  his  principal  officers.! 

By  the  sudden  rout  of  this  body,  the  contest  between  the  two  rivals 
must  have  been  decided,  if  Almagro  had  known  as  well  how  to  improve 
as  how  to  gain  a  victory.  Rodrigo  Orgognez,  an  officer  of  great  abilities, 
who  having  served  under  the  Constable  Bourbon,  when  he  led  the  imperial 
army  to  Rome,  had  been  accustomed  to  bold  and  decisive  measures,  ad- 
vised him  instantly  to  issue  orders  for  putting  to  death  Ferdinand  and  Gon- 
zalo  Pizarros,  Alvarado,  and  a  few  other  persons  whom  he  could  not  hope 
to  gain,  and  to  march  directly  with  his  victorious  troops  to  Lima,  before 
the  governor  had  time  to  prepare  for  his  defence.  But  Almagro,  though 
he  discerned  at  once  the  utility  of  the  counsel,  and  though  he  had  courage 
co  have  carried  it  into  execution,  suffered  himself  to  be  influenced  by  sen- 
timents unlike  those,  of  a  soldier  of  fortune  grown  old  in  service,  and  by 
scruples  which  suited  not  the  chief  of  a  party  who  had  drawn  his  sword 
in  civil  war.  Feelings  of  humanity  restrained  nim  from  shedding  the  blood 
of  his  opponents  ;  and  the  dread  of  being  deemed  a  rebel  deterred  him 
from  entering  a  province  which  the  King  had  allotted  to  another.  Though 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  4.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  29.  31.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  134.  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib. 
ii.  c.  1—5.  f  Zarate.  lib.  iii.  c.  6.  Gom.  Hist.  c.  138.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  32. 34.  Herrera, 
dec.  6.  lib.  ii.  c.  9. 


AMERICA.  285 

he  knew  that  arms  must  terminate  the  dispute  between  him  and  Pizarro, 
and  resolved  not  to  shun  that  mode,  of  decision  ;  yet,  with  a  timid  delicacy, 
preposterous  at  such  a  juncture,  he  was  so  solicitous  that  his  rival  should 
be  considered  as  the  aggressor,  that  he  marched  quietly  back  to  Cuzco,  to 
wait  his  approach.* 

Pizarro  was  still  unacquainted  with  all  the  interesting  events  which  had 
happened  near  Cuzco.  Accounts  of  Almagro's  return,  of  the  loss  of  the 
capita],  of  the  death  of  one  brother,  of  the  imprisonment  of  the  other  two, 
and  of  the  defeat  of  Alvarado,  were  brought  to  him  at  once.  Such  a  tide 
of  misfortunes  almost  overwhelmed  a  spirit  which  had  continued  firm  and 
erect  under  the  rudest  shocks  of  adversity.  But  the  necessity  of  attending 
to  his  own  safety,  as  wrell  as  the  desire  of  revenge,  preserved  him  from 
sinking  under  it.  He  took  measures  for  both  with  his  wonted  sagacity. 
As  he  had  the  command  of  the  seacoast,  and  expected  considerable  sup- 
plies both  of  men  and  milftary  stores,  it  was  no  less  his  interest  to  gain 
time,  and  to  avoid  action,  than  it  was  that  of  Almagro  to  precipitate  ope- 
rations, and  bring  the  contest  to  a  speedy  issue.  He  had  recourse  to  arts 
which  he  had  formerly  practised  with  success ;  and  Almagro  was  again 
weak  enough  to  suffer  himself  to  be  amused  with  a  prospect  of  terminating 
their  differences  by  some  amicable  accommodation.  By  varying  his  over- 
tures, and  shifting,  his  ground  as  often  as  it  suited  his  purpose,  sometimes 
seeming  to  yield  to  every  thing  which  his  rival  could  desire,  and  then 
retracting  all  that  he  had  granted,  Pizarro  dexterously  protracted  the  ne- 
gotiation to  such  a  length,  that,  though  every  day  was  precious  to  Almagro, 
several  months  elapsed  without  coming  to  any  final  agreement.  While 
the  attention  of  Almagro,  and  of  the  officers  with  whom  he  consulted,  was 
occupied  in  detecting  and  eluding  the  fraudulent  intentions  of  the  governor, 
Gonzalo  Pizarro  and  Alvarado  found  means  to  corrupt  the  soldiers  to  whose 
custody  they  were  committed,  and  not  only  made  their  escape  themselves, 
but  persuaded  sixty  of  the  men  who  formerly  guarded  them  to  accompany 
their  flight.f  Fortune  having  thus  delivered  one.  of  his  brothers,  the 
governor  scrupled  not  at  one  act  of  perfidy  more  to  procure  the  release  of 
the  other.  He  proposed  that  every  point  in  controversy  between  Almagro 
and  himself  should  be  submitted  to  the  decision  of  their  sovereign ;  that 
until  his  award  was  known,  each  should  retain  undisturbed  possession  of 
whatever  part  of  the  country  he  now  occupied ;  that  Ferdinand  Pizarro 
should  be  set  at  liberty,  and  return  instantly  to  Spain,  together  with  the 
officers  whom  Almagro  purposed  to  send  thither  to  represent  the  justice  of 
his  claims.  Obvious  as  the  design  of  Pizarro  was  in  those  propositions, 
and  familiar  as  his  artifices  might  now  have  been  to  his  opponent,  Almagro, 
with  a  credulity  approaching  to  infatuation,  relied  on  his  sincerity,  and 
concluded  an  agreement  on  these  terms. J 

The  moment  that  Ferdinand  Pizarro  recovered  his  liberty,  the  governor, 
no  longer  fettered  in  his  operations  by  anxiety  about  his  brother's  life, 
threw  off  every  disguise  which  his  concern  for  it  had  obliged  him  to  assume. 
The  treaty  was  forgotten  ;  pacific  and  conciliating  measures  were  no  more 
mentioned ;  it  was  in  the  field  he  openly  declared,  and  not  in  the  cabinet, 
— by  arms  and  not  by  negotiation, — that  it  must  now  be  determined  who 
should  be  master  of  Peru.  The  rapidity  of  his  preparations  suited  such  a 
decisive  resolution.  Seven  hundred  men  were  soon  ready  to  march  towards 
Cuzco.  The  command  of  these  was  given  to  his  two  brothers,  in  whom 
he  could  perfectly  confide  for  the  execution  of  his  most  violent  schemes, 
as  they  were  urged  on,  not  only  by  the  enmity  flowing  from  the  rivalship 
between  their  family  and  Almagro,  but  animated  with  the  desire  of  ven- 
geance, excited  by  recollection  of  their  own  recent  disgrace  and  sufferings. 

*  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  ii.  c.  10,  11.  |  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  8.    Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  ii.  c.  14. 

t  Herrora,  d«c.  G.  lib.  iii.  c.  0.     Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  9.    Gomara  Hist.  c.  140.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii,  c,  35 


§86  HISTORY  OF  [Boon  VI, 

After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  cross  the  mountains  in  the  direct  road  be-' 
tween  Lima  and  Cuzco,  they  marched  towards  the  south  along  the  coast 
as  far  as  Nasca,  and  then  turning  to  the  left,  penetrated  through  the  defiles 
in  that  branch  of  the  Andes  which  lay  between  them  and  the  capital. 
Almagro,  instead  of  hearkening  to  some  of  his  officers,  who  advised  him 
to  attempt  the  defence  of  those  difficult  passes,  waited  the  approach  of 
the  enemy  in  the  plain  of  Cuzco.  Two  reasons  seem  to  have  induced 
him  to  take  this  resolution.  His  followers  amounted  hardly  to  five  hundred, 
and  he  was  afraid  of  weakening  such  a  feeble  body  by  sending  any  de- 
tachment towards  the  mountains.  His  cavalry  far  exceeded  that  of  the 
adverse  party,  both  in  number  and  discipline,  and  it  was  only  in  an  open 
country  that  he  could  avail  himself  of  that  advantage. 

The  Pizarros  advanced  without  any  obstruction,  but  what  arose  from 
the  nature  of  the  desert  and  horrid  regions  through  which  they  marched. 
As  soon  as  they  reached  the  plain,  both  factions  were  equally  impatient  to 
bring  this  long  protracted  contest  to  an  issue.  Though  countrymen  and 
friends,  the  subjects  of  the  same  sovereign,  and  each  with  the  royal 
standard  displayed  ;  and  though  they  beheld  the  mountains  that  surrounded 
the  plain  in  which  they  were  drawn  up,  covered  with  a  vast  multitude  of 
Indians  assembled  to  enjoy  the  spectacle  of  their  mutual  carnage,  and 
prepared  to  attack  whatever  party  remained  master  of  the  field  ;  so  fell 
and  implacable  was  the  rancour  which  had  taken  possession  of  every 
breast,  that  not  one  pacific  counsel,  not  a  single  overture  towards  accom- 
modation proceeded  from  either  side.  Unfortunately  for  Almagro,  he  was 
so  worn  out  with  the  fatigues  of  service,  to  which  his  advanced  age  was 
unequal,  that,  at  this  crisis  of  his  fate,  he  could  not  exert  his  wonted  activity , 
and  he  was  obliged  to  commit  the  leading  his  troops  to  Orgognez,  who, 
though  an  officer  of  great  merit,  did  not  possess  the  same  ascendant  either 
over  the  spirit  or  affections  of  the  soldiers,  as  the  chief  whom  they  had 
long  been  accustomed  to  follow  and  revere. 

The  conflict  was  fierce,  and  maintained  by  each  party  with  equal 
courage  [April  26].  On  the  side  of  Almagro  were  more  veteran  soldiers, 
and  a  larger  proportion  of  cavalry ;  but  these  were  counterbalanced  by 
Pizarro's  superiority  in  numbers,  and  by  two  companies  of  well  disciplined 
musketeers,  which,  on  receiving  an  account  of  the  insurrection  of  the 
Indians,  the  emperor  had  sent  from  Spain.*  As  the  use  of  fire-arms  was 
not  frequent  among  the  adventurers  in  America,!  hastily  equipped  for  ser- 
vice, at  their  own  expense,  this  small  band  of  soldiers  regularly  trained 
and  armed,  was  a  novelty  in  Peru,  and  decided  the  fate  of  the  day. 
Wherever  it  advanced,  the  weight  of  a  heavy  and  well  sustained  fire 
bore  down  horse  and  foot  before  it ;  and  Orgognez,  while  he  endeavoured 
to  rally  and  animate  his  troops,  haying  received  a  dangerous  wound,  the 
route  became  general.  The  barbarity  of  the  conquerors  stained  the  glory 
which  they  acquired  by  this  complete  victory.  The  violence  of  civil  rage 
hurried  on  some  to  slaughter,  their  countrymen  with  indiscriminate  cruelty; 
the  meanness  of  private  revenge  instigated  others  to  single  out  individuals 
as  the  objects  of  their  vengeance.  Orgognez  and  several  officers  of  dis- 
tinction were  massacred  in  cold  blood ;  above  a  hundred  and  forty  soldiers 
fell  in  the  field ;  a  large  proportion,  where  the  number  of  combatants  was 
few,  and  the  heat  of  the  contest  soon  over.  Almagro,  though  so  feeble 
that  he  could  not  bear  the  motion  of  a  horse,  had  insisted  on  being  carried 
in  a  litter  to  an  eminence  which  overlooked  the  field  of  battle.  From 
thence,  in  the  utmost  agitation  of  mind,  he  viewed  the  various  movements 
of  both  parties,  and  at  last  beheld  the  total  defeat  of  his  own  troops,  with 
all  the  passionate  indignation  of  a  veteran  leader  long  accustomed  to 

*  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  iii.  c.  8.  f  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  & 


AMERICA.  £87 

Victory.  He  endeavoured  to  save  himself  by  flight,  but  was  taken  prisoner, 
and  guarded  with  the  strictest  vigilance.* 

The  Indians,  instead  of  executing  the  resolution  which  they  had  formed, 
retired  quietly  after  the  battle  was  over ;  and  in  the  history  of  the  New 
World,  there  is  not  a  more  striking  instance  of  the  wonderful  ascendant 
which  the  Spaniards  had  acquired  over  its  inhabitants,  than  that,  after 
seeing  one  of  the  contending  parties  ruined  and  dispersed,  and  the  other 
weakened  and  fatigued,  they  had  not  courage  to  fall  upon  their  enemies, 
when  fortune  presented  an  opportunity  of  attacking  them  with  such  ad- 
vantage, t 

Cuzco  was  pillaged  by  the  victorious  troops,  who  found  there  a  con- 
siderable booty,  consisting  partly  of  the  gleanings  of  the  Indian  treasures, 
and  partly  of  the  wealth  amassed  by  their  antagonists  from  the  spoils  of 
Peru  and  Chili.  But  so  far  did  this,  and  whatever  the  bounty  of  their 
leader  could  add  to  it,  fall  below  the  high  ideas  of  the  recompense  which 
they  conceived  to  be  due  to  their  merit,  that  Ferdinand  Pizarro,  unable  to 
gratify  such  extravagant  expectations,  had  recouse  to  the  same  expedient 
which  his  brother  had  employed  on  a  similar  occasion,  and  endeavoured 
to  find  occupation  for  this  turbulent  assuming  spirit,  in  order  to  prevent  it 
from  breaking  out  into  open  mutiny.  With  this  view,  he  encouraged  his 
most  active  officers  to  attempt  the  discovery  and  reduction  of  various  pro- 
vinces which  had  not  hitherto  submitted  to  the  Spaniards.  To  every 
standard  erected  by  the  leaders  who  undertook  any  of  those  new  expe- 
ditions, volunteers  resorted  with  the  ardour  and  hope  peculiar  to  the  age. 
Several  of  Almagro's  soldiers  joined  them,  and  thus  Pizarro  had  the  satis- 
faction of  being  delivered  both  from  the  importunity  of  his  discontented 
friends,  and  the  dread  of  his  ancient  enemies.J 

Almagro  himself  remained  for  several  months  in  custody,  under  all  the 
anguish  of  suspense.  For  although  his  doom  was  determined  by  the 
Pizarros  from  the  moment  that  he  fell  into  their  hands,  prudence  con- 
strained them  to  defer  gratifying  their  vengeance,  until  the  soldiers  who 
had  served  under  him,  as  well  as  several  of  their  own  followers  in  whom 
they  could  not  perfectly  confide,  had  left  Cuzco.  As  soon  as  they  set  out 
upon  their  different  expeditions,  Almagro  was  impeached  of  treason, 
formally  tried,  and  condemned  to  die.  The  sentence  astonished  him ;  and 
though  he  had  often  braved  death  with  undaunted  spirit  in  the  field,  its 
approach  under  this  ignominious  form  appalled  him  so  much,  that  he  had 
recourse  to  abject  supplications  unworthy  of  his  former  fame.  He  be- 
sought the  Pizarros  to  remember  the  ancient  friendship  between  their  bro- 
ther and  him,  and  how  much  he  had  contributed  to  the  prosperity  of  their 
family ;  he  reminded  them  of  the  humanity  with  which,  in  opposition  to 
the  repeated  remonstrances  of  his  own  most  attached  friends,  he  had 
spared  their  lives  when  he  had  them  in  his  power  ;  he  conjured  them  to 
pity  his  age  and  infirmities,  and  to  suffer  him  to  pass  the  wretched  re- 
mainder of  his  days  in  bewailing  his  crimes,  and  in  making  his  peace  with 
Heaven.  The  entreaties,  says  a  Spanish  historian,  of  a  man  so  much  be- 
loved touched  many  an  unfeeling  heart,  and  drew  tears  from  many  a  stern 
eye.  But  the  brothers  remained  inflexible.  As  soon  as  Almagro  knew 
his  fate  to  be  inevitable,  he  met  it  with  the  dignity  and  fortitude  of  a 
veteran.  He  was  strangled  in  prison,  and  afterwards  publicly  beheaded. 
He  suffered  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  left  one  son  by  an 
Indian  woman  of  Panama,  \vhom,  though  at  that  time  a  prisoner  in  Lima, 
he  named  as  successor  to  his  government,  pursuant  to  a  power  which  the 
emperor  had  granted  him.§ 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  11,  12.  Voga,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  36—38.  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  iii.  c.  10—12.  lib.  iv. 
c.  1—6.  f  Zarate,  lib,  iii.  c.  11-  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  38.  +  Zarate,  Jib.  iii.  c.  12. 

Goiuara  Hist,  c.  141.    Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  iv.  c.  7.  §  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  12.    Goinara  Hist- c 

141.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib,  ii.  c.  39.    Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  iv.  c.  9.  lib.  v,  c.  1. 


**t  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

1539.]  As,  during  the  civil  dissensions  in  Peru,  all  intercourse  with  Spain 
was  suspended,  the  detail  of  the  extraordinary  transactions  there  did  not 
soon  reach  the  court.  Unfortunately  for  the  victorious  faction,  the  first 
intelligence  was  brought  thither  by  some  of  Almagro's  officers,  who  left  the 
country  upon  the  ruin  of  their  cause  ;  and  they  related  what  had  happened, 
with  every  circumstance,  unfavourable  to  Pizarro  and  his  brothers.  Their 
ambition,  their  breach  of  the  most  solemn  engagements,  their  violence  and 
cruelty,  were  painted  with  all  the  malignity  and  exaggeration  of  party 
hatred.  Ferdinand  Pizarro,  who  arrived  soon  after,  and  appeared  in  court 
with  extraordinary  splendour,  endeavoured  to  efface  the  impression  which 
their  accusations  had  made,  and  to  justify  his  brother  and  himself  by  repre- 
senting Almagro  as  the  aggressor.  The  emperor  and  his  ministers,  though 
they  could  not  pronounce  which  of  the  contending  factions  was  most 
criminal,  clearly  discerned  the  fatal  tendency  of  their  dissensions.  It  was 
obvious,  that  while  the  leaders,  intrusted  with  the  conduct  of  two  infant 
colonies,  employed  the  arms  which  should  have  been  turned  against  the 
common  enemy,  in  destroying  one  another,  all  attention  to  the  public  good 
must  cease,  and  there  was  reason  to  dread  that  the  Indians  might  improve 
the  advantage  which  the  disunion  of  the  Spaniards  presented  to  them, 
and  extirpate  both  the  victors  and  vanquished.  But  the  evil  was  more 
apparent  than  the  remedy.  Where  the  information  which  had  been 
received  was  so  defective  and  suspicious,  and  the  scene  of  action  so  remote, 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  chalk  out  the  line  of  conduct  that  ought  to  be 
followed  :  and  before  any  plan  that  should  be  approved  of  in  Spain  could 
be  carried  into  execution,  the  situation  of  the  parties,  and  the  circumstances 
of  affairs,  might  alter  so  entirely  as  to  render  its  effects  extremely 
pernicious. 

Nothing  therefore  remained,  but  to  send  a  person  to  Peru,  vested  with 
extensive  and  discretionary  power,  who,  after  viewing  deliberately  the  pos- 
ture of  affairs  with  his  own  eyes,  and  inquiring  upon  the  spot  into  the  con- 
duct of  the  different  leaders,  should  be  authorized  to  establish  the  govern 
ment  in  that  f&*m  which  he  deemed  most  conducive  to  the  interest  of  the 
parent  state,  and  the  welfare  of  the  colony.  The  man  selected  for  this 
important  charge  was  Christoval  Vaca  de  Castro,  a  judge  in  the  court  of 
royal  audience  at  Valladolid  ;  and  his  abilities,  integrity,  and  firmness  justi- 
fied the  choice.  His  instructions,  though  ample,  were  not  such  as  to  fetter 
him  in  his  operations.  According  to  the  different  aspect  of  affairs,  he  had 
power  to  take  upon  him  different  characters.  If  he  found  the  governor 
still  alive,  he  was  to  assume  only  the  title  of  judge,  to  maintain  the  appear- 
ance of  acting  in  concert  with  him,  and  to  guard  against  giving  any  just 
cause  of  offence  to  a  man  who  had  merited  so  highly  of  his  country,  but  if 
Pizarro  were  dead,  he  was  intrusted  with  a  commission  that  he  might  then 
produce,  by  which  he  was  appointed  his  successor,  in  the  government  of 
Peru.  This  attention  to  Pizarro,  however,  seems  to  have  flowed  rather 
from  dread  of.  his  power  than  from  any  approbation  of  his  measures  ;  for,  at 
the  very  time  that  the  court  seemed  so  solicitous  not  to  irritate  him,  his 
brother  Ferdinand  was  arrested  at  Madrid,  and  confined  to  a  prison,  where 
he  remained  above  twentyyears.* 

1540.]  While  Vaca  de  Cfastro  was  preparing  for  his  voyage,  events  of 
great  moment  happened  in  Peru.  The  governor,  considering  himself,  upon 
the  death  of  Almagro.  as  the  unrivalled  possessor  of  that  vast  empire,  pro- 
ceeded to  parcel  out  its  territories  among  the  conquerors ;  and  had  this 
division  been  made  with  any  degree  of  impartiality,  the  extent  of  country 
which  he  had  to  bestow  was  sufficient  to  have  gratified  his  friends,  and  to 
have  gained  his  enemies.  But  Pizarro  conducted  this  transaction,  not  with 
the  equity  and  candour  of  a  judge  attentive  to  discover  and  to  reward 

*  Comara  Hist.  c.  142.     Vega,  p.  11,  lib.  ii.  c.  40.     Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  viii.  c.  10, 11.  lib.  x.  c  1 


AMERICA.  289 

merit,  but  with  the  illiberal  spirit  of  a  party  leader.  Large  districts,  in 
parts  of  the  country  most  cultivated  and  populous,  were  set  apart  as  his  own 
property,  or  granted  to  his  brothers,  his  adherents,  and  favourites.  To 
others,  lots  less  valuable  and  inviting  were  assigned.  The  followers  of 
Almagro,  amongst  whom  were  many  of  the  original  adventurers  to  whose 
valour  and  perseverance  Pizarro  was  indebted  for  his  success,  were  totally 
excluded  from  any  portion  in  those  lands,  towards  the  acquisition  of  which 
they  had  contributed  so  largely.  As  the  vanity  of  'every  individual  set 
an  immoderate  value  upon  his  own  services,  and  the  idea  of  each  concern- 
ing the  recompense  due  to  them  rose  gradually  to  a  more  exorbitant  height 
in  proportion^  their  conquests  extended,  all  who  were  disappointed  in 
their  expectations  exclaimed  loudly  against  the  rapaciousness  aad  partiality 
of  the  governor.  The  partisans  of  Almagro  murmured  in  secret,  and  medi- 
tated revenge.* 

Rapid  as  the  progress  of  the  Spaniards  in  South  America  had  been  since 
Pizarro  landed  in  Peru,  their  avidity  of  dominion  was  not  yet  satisfied. 
The  officers  to  whom  Ferdinand  Pizarro  gave  the  command  of  different 
detachments,  penetrated  into  several  new  provinces  ;  and  though  some  of 
them  were  exposed  to  great  hardships  in  the  cold  and  barren  regions  of  the 
Andes,  and  others  suffered  distress  not  inferior  amidst  the  woods  and  marshes 
of  the  plains,  they  made  discoveries  and  conquests  which  not  only  extended 
their  knowledge  of  the  country,  but  added  considerably  to  the  territories 
of  Spain  and  the  New  World.  Pedro  de  Valdivia  reassumed  Almagro's 
scheme  of  invading  Chili,  and  notwithstanding  the  fortitude  of  the  natives 
in  defending  their  possessions,  made  such  progress  in  the  conquest  of  the 
country,  that  he  founded  the  city  of  St.  Jago,  and  gave  a  beginning  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Spanish  dominion  in  that  province.!  But  of  all  the 
enterprises  undertaken  about  this  period,  that  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  was  the 
most  remarkable.  The  governor,  who  seems  to  have  resolved  that  no 
person  in  Peru  should  possess  any  station  of  distinguished  eminence  or  au- 
thority but  those  of  his  own  family,  had  deprived  Benalcazar,  the  conqueror 
of  Quito,  of  his  command  in  that  kingdom,  and  appointed  his  brother  Gon- 
zalo to  take  the  government  of  it.  He  instructed  him  to  attempt  the 
discovery  and  conquest  of  the  country  to  the  east  of  the  Andes,  which, 
according  to  the  information  of  the  Indians,  abounded  with  cinnamon  and 
other  valuable  spices.  Gonzalo,  not  inferior  to  any  of  his  brothers  in 
courage,  and  no  less  ambitious  of  acauiring  distinction,  eagerly  engaged  in 
this  difficult  service.  He  set  out  from  Quito  at  the  head  of  three  hundred 
and  forty  soldiers,  near  one  half  of  wnom  were  horsemen  ;  with  four  thou- 
sand Indians  to  carry  their  provisions.  In  forcing  their  way  through  the 
defiles,  or  over  the  ridges  of  the  Andes,  excess  of  cold  and  fatigue,  to 
neither  of  which  they  were  accustomed,  proved  fatal  to  the  greater  part  of 
their  wretched  attendants.  The  Spaniards,  though  more  robust,  and  inured 
to  a  variety  of  climates,  suffered  considerably,  and  lost  some  men :  but 
when  they  descended  into  the  low  country,  their  distress  increased.  During 
two  months  it  rained  incessantly,  without  any  interval  of  fair  weather  long 
enough  to  dry  their  clothes.J  The  immense  plains  upon  which  they  were 
now  entering,  either  altogether  without  inhabitants,  or  occupied  by  the 
rudest  and  least  industrious  tribes  in  the  New  World,  yielded  little  subsist- 
ence. They  could  not  advance  a  step  but  as  they  cut  a  road  through  woods, 
or  made  it  through  marshes.  Such  incessant  toil,  and  continual  scarcity  of 
food,  seem  more  than  sufficient  to  have  exhausted  and  dispirited  any  troops. 
But  the  fortitude  and  perseverance  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury were  insuperable.  Allured  by  frequent  but  false  accounts  of  rich 
countries  before  them,  they  persisted  in  struggling  on,  until  they  reached 

*  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  2.    Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  viii.  c.  5.  -f  Zarate,  Jib.  iii.  c.  13.    Ovalle. 

lib.  ii.  c.  1,  &c.  {  Zarate,  lib.  iv,  c.  2. 

VOL.  I.— 37 


290  HISTORY  OF  [Boon  VI, 

the  banks  of  the  Coca  or  Napo,  one  of  the  large  rivers  whose  waters  pony 
into  the  Maragnon,  and  contribute  to  its  grandeur.  There,  with  infinite 
labour,  they  built  a  bark,  which  they  expected  would  prove  of  great  utility 
in  conveying  them  over  rivers,  in  procuring  provisions,  and  in  exploring  the^ 
country.  This  was  manned  with  fifty  soldiers,  under  the  command  of 
Francis  Orellana,  the  officer  next  in  rank  to  Pizarro.  The  stream  carried 
them  down  with  such  rapidity,  that  they  were  soon  far  ahead  of  their 
countrymen,  who  followed  slowly  and  with  difficulty  by  land. 

At  this  distance  from  his  commander,  Orellana,  a  young  man  of  an  aspi- 
ring mind,  began  to  fancy  himself  independent ;  and  transported  with  the 
predominant  passion  of  the  age,  he  formed  the  scheme  of  distinguishing 
himself  as  a  discoverer,  by  following  the  course  of  the  Maragnon  until  it 
joined  the  ocean,  and  by  surveying  the  vast  regions  through  which  it  flows. 
This  scheme  of  Orellana's  was  as  bold  as  it  was  treacherous.  For,  if  he  be 
chargeable  with  the  guilt  of  having  violated  his  duty  to  his  commander,  and 
with  having  abandoned  his  fellow  soldiers  in  a  pathless  desert,  where  they 
had  hardly  any  hopes  of  success,  or  even  of  safety,  but  what  were  founded 
on  the  service  which  they  expected  from  the  bark ;  his  crime  is  in  some 
measure  balanced  by  the  glory  of  having  ventured  upon  a  navigation  of 
near  two  thousand  leagues,  through  unknown  nations,  in  a  vessel  hastily  con- 
structed, with  green  timber,  and  by  very  unskilful  hands,  without  pro- 
visions, without  a  compass,  or  a  pilot.  But  his  courage  and  alacrity  supplied 
every  defect.  Committing  himself  fearlessly  to  the  guidance  of  the  stream, 
the  Napo  bore  him  along  to  the  south,  until  he  reached  the  great  channel  of 
the  Maragnon.  Turning  with  it  towards  the  coast,  he  held  on  his  course 
in  that  direction.  He  made  frequent  descents  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
sometimes  seizing  by  force  of  arms  the  provisions  of  the  fierce  savages 
seated  on  its  banks ;  and  sometimes  procuring  a  supply  of  food  by  a  friencHy 
intercourse  with  more  gentle  tribes.  After  a  long  series  of  dangers,  which 
he  encountered  with  amazing  fortitude,  and  of  distresses  which  he  sup- 
ported with  no  less  magnanimity,  he  reached  the  ocean  [137],  where  new 
perils  awaited  him.  These  he  likewise  surmounted,  and  got  safely  to  the 
Spanish  settlement  in  the  island  of  Cubagua ;  from  thence  he  sailed  to 
Spain.  The  vanity  natural  to  travellers  who  visit  regions  unknown  to  the 
rest  of  mankind,  and  the  art  of  an  adventurer  solicitous  to  magnify  his  own 
merit,  concurred  in  prompting  him  to  mingle  an  extraordinary  proportion 
of  the  marvellous  in  the  narrative  of  his  voyage.  He  pretended  to  have  dis- 
covered nations  so  rich  that  the  roofs  of  their  temples  were  covered  with 
plates  of  gold ;  and  described  a  republic  of  women  so  warlike  and  power- 
ful, as  to  have  extended  their  dominion  over  a  considerable  tract  of  the  fertile 
plains  which  he  had  visited.  Extravagant  as  those  tales  were,  they  gave  rise 
to  an  opinion,  that  a  region  abounding  with  gold,  distinguished  by  the  name 
of  El  Dorada,  and  a  community  of  Amazons,  were  to  be  found  in  this  part 
of  the  world;  and  sudi  is  the  propensity  of  mankind  to  believe  what  is 
wonderful,  that  it  has  been  slowly  and  with  difficulty  that  reason  and  ob- 
servation have  exploded  those  fables.  The  voyage,  however,  even  ivhen 
stripped  of  every  romantic  embellishment,  deserves  to  be  recorded  not 
only  as  one  of  the  most  memorable  occurrences  in  that  adventurous  age, 
but  as  the  first  event  which  led  to  any  certain  knowledge  of  the  extensive 
countries  that  stretch  eastward  from  the  Andes  to  the  ocean.* 

No  words  can  describe  the  consternation  of  Pizarro,  when  he  did  not 
find  the  bark  at  the  confluence  of  the  Napo  and  Maragnon,  where  he  had 
ordered  Orellana  to  wait  for  him.  He  would  not  allow  himself  to  suspect 
that  a  man,  whom  he  had  intrusted  with  such  an  important  command, 
could  be  so  base  and  so  unfeeling  as  to  desert  him  at  such  a  juncture. 
But  imputing  his  absence  from  the  place  of  rendezvous  to  some  unknown 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c.  4.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  86.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  4.  Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  xi.  c. 
3 — 5.  Rodriguez  cl  Maragnon  y  Amazonas,  lib.  i.  c.  3. 


AMERICA.  291 

Accident,  he  advanced  above  fifty  leagues  along  the  banks  of  the  Maragnon, 
expecting  every  moment  to  see  the  bark  appear  with  a  supply  of  provi- 
sions [1541].  At  length  be  came  up  with  an  officer  whom  Orellana  had 
left  to  perish  in  the  desert,  because  he  had  the  courage  to  remonstrate 
against  his  perfidy.  From  him  he  learned  the  extent  of  Orellana's  crime, 
and  his  followers  perceived  at  once  their  own  desperate  situation,  when 
deprived  of  their  only  resource.  The  spirit  of  the  stoutest  hearted  vete- 
ran sunk  within  him,  and  all  demanded  to  be  led  back  instantly.  Pizarro, 
though  he  assumed  an  appearance  of  tranquillity,  did  not  oppose  their  in- 
clination. But  he  was  now  twelve  hundred  miles  from  Quito  ;  and  in  that 
long  march  the  Spaniards  encountered  hardships  greater  than  those  which 
they  had  endured  in  their  progress  outward,  without  the  alluring  hopes 
which  then  soothed  and  animated  them  under  their  sufferings.  Hunger 
compelled  them  to  feed  on  roots  and  berries,  to  eat  all  their  dogs  and 
horses,  to  devour  the  most  loathsome  reptiles,  and  even  to  gnaw  the  leather 
of  their  saddles  and  swordbelts.  Four  thousand  Indians,  and  two  hundred 
and  ten  Spaniards,  perished  in  this  wild  disastrous  expedition,  which  con- 
tinued near  two  years  ;  and  as  fifty  men  were  aboard  the  bark  with  Orel- 
lana, only  fourscore  got  back  to  Quito.  These  were  naked  like  savages, 
and  so  emaciated  with  famine,  or  worn  out  with  fatigue,  that  they  had  more 
the  appearance  of  spectres  than  of  men.* 

But,  instead  of  returning  to  enjoy  the  repose  which  his  condition  re- 
quired, Pizarro,  on  entering  Quito,  received  accounts  of  a  fatal  event  that 
threatened  calamities  more  dreadful  to  him  than  those  through  which  he 
had  passed.  From  the  time  that  his  brother  made  that  partial  division  of 
his  conquests  which  has  been  mentioned,  the  adherents  of  Almagro,  con- 
sidering themselves  as  proscribed  by  the  party  in  power,  no  longer  enter- 
tained any  hope  of  bettering  their  condition.  Great  numbers  in  despair 
resorted  to  Lima,  where  the  house  of  young  Almagro  was  always  open  to 
them,  and  the  slender  portion  of  his  father's  fortune,  which  the  governor 
allowed  him  to  enjoy,  was  spent  in  affording  them  subsistence.  The  warm 
attachment  with  which  every  person  who  had  served  under  the  elder  Al- 
magro devoted  himself  to  his  interests,  was  quickly  transferred  to  his  son, 
who  was  now  grown  up  to  the  age  of  manhood,  and  possessed  all  the 
qualities  which  captivate  the  affections  of  soldiers.  Of  a  graceful  appear- 
ance, dexterous  at  all  martial  exercises,  bold,  open,  generous,  he  seemed  to 
be  formed  for  command  ;  and  as  his  father,  conscious  of  his  own  inferiority 
from  the  total  want  of  education,  had  been  extremely  attentive  to  have 
him  instructed  in  every  science  becoming  a  gentleman  ;  the  accomplish- 
'ments  which  he  had  acquired  heightened  the  respect  of  his  followers,  as 
they  gave  him  distinction  and  eminence  among  illiterate  adventurers.  In 
this  young  man  the  Almagrians  found  a  point  of  union  which  they  wanted, 
and,  looking  up  to  him  as  their  head,  were  ready  to  undertake  any  thing 
for  his  advancement.  Nor  was  affection  for  Almagro  their  only  incite- 
ment ;  they  were  urged  on  by  their  own  distresses.  Many  of  them,  des- 
titute of  common  necessaries  [138],  and  wear}''  of  loitering  awray  life,  a 
burden  to  their  chief,  or  to  such  of  their  associates  as  had  saved  some 
remnant  of  their  fortune  from  pillage  and  confiscation,  longed  impatiently 
for  an  occasion  to  exert  their  activity  and  courage,  and  began  lo  deliberate 
how  they  might  be  avenged  on  the  author  of  all  their  misery.  Their  fre- 
quent cabals  did  not  pass  unobserved  ;  and  the  governor  was  warned  to 
be  on  his  guard  against  men  who  meditated  some  desperate  deed,  and  had 
resolution  to  execute  it.  But  either  from  the  native  intrepidity  of  his 
mind,  or  from  contempt  of  persons  whose  poverty  seemed  to  render  their 
machinations  of  little  consequence,  he  disregarded  the  admonitions  of  his 
friends.  "  Be  in  no  pain,"  said  he  carelessly,  "  about  my  life  ;  it  is  per- 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c.  2—5.      Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  3,  4,  5.  14.      Herrera,  dec.  6.  lib.  viii.  c.  7,  8. 
lib.  ix,  c.  2—5.  dec.  7.  lib.  iii  c.  14.     Tizar.  Varones  Ulust.  346,  <fcc. 


292  H I S  T  O  R  Y  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

fectly  safe,  as  long  as  every  man  in  Peru  knows  that  1  can  in  a  moment 
cut  off  any  head  which  dares  to  harbour  a  thought  against  it."  This  secu- 
rity gave  the  Almagrians  full  leisure  to  digest  and  ripen  every  part  of 
their  scheme :  and  Juan  de  Herrada,  an  officer  of  great  abilities,  who  had 
the  charge  of  Almagro's  education,  took  the  direction  of  their  consulta- 
tions with  all  the  zeal  which  this  connection  inspired,  and  with  all  the  au- 
thority which  the  ascendant  that  he  was  known  to  have  over  the  mind  of 
his  pupil  gave  him. 

On  Sunday  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  at  mid-day,  the  season  of  tran- 
quillity and  repose  in  all  sultry  climates,  Herrada,  at  the  head  of  eighteen 
of  the  most  determined  conspirators,  sallied  out  of  Almagro's  house,  in 
complete  armour ;   and,  drawing  their  swords,  as  they  advanced  hastily 
towards  the  governor's  palace,  cried  out,  "  Long  live  the  King,  but  let  the 
tyrant  die  !"     Their  associates,  warned  of  their  motions  by  a  signal,  were 
in  arms  at  different  stations  ready  to  support  them.    Though  Pizarro  was 
usually  surrounded  by  such  a  numerous  train  of  attendants  as  suited  the 
magnificence  of  the  most  opulent  subject  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived ; 
yet  as  he  was  just  risen  from  table,  and  most  of  his  domestics  had  retired 
to  their  own  apartments,  the  conspirators  passed  through  the  two  outer 
courts  of  the  palace  unobserved.     They  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  stair- 
case before  a  page  in  waiting  could  give  the  alarm  to  his  master,  who  was 
conversing  with  a  few  friends  in  a  large  hall.    The  governor,  whose  steady 
mind  no  form  of  danger  could  appal,  starting  up,  called  for  arms,  and 
commanded  Francisco  de  Chaves  to  make  fast  the  door.     But  that  officer, 
who  did  not  retain  so  much  presence  of  mind  as  to  obey  this  prudent 
order,  running  to  the  top  of  the  staircase,  wildly  asked  the  conspirators 
what  they  meant,  and  whither  they  were  going  ?    Instead  of  answering, 
they  stabbed  him  to  the  heart,  and  burst  into  the  hall.     Some  of  the  per- 
sons who  were  there  threw  themselves  from  the  windows  ;  others  attempt- 
ed to  fly  ;  and  a  few  drawing  their  swords  followed  their  leader  into  an 
inner  apartment.     The  conspirators,  animated  with  having  the  object  of 
their  vengeance  now  in  view,  rushed  forward  after  them.     Pizarro,  with 
no  other  arms  than  his  sword  and  buckler,  defended  the  entry  ;  and,  sup- 
ported by  his  half  brother  Alcantara,  and  his  little  knot  of  friends,  he 
maintained  the  unequal  contest  with  intrepidity  worthy  of  his  past  exploits, 
and  with  the  vigour  of  a  youthful  combatant.    "  Courage,"  cried  he, 
"  companions !  we  are  yet  enow  to  make  those  traitors  repent  of  their  au- 
dacity."   But  the  armour  of  the  conspirators  protected  them,  while  every 
thrust  they  made  took  effect.     Alcantara  fell  dead  at  his  brother's  feet ; 
his  other  defenders  were  mortally  wounded.    The  governor,  so  weary 
that  he  could  hardly  wield  his  sword,  and  no  longer  able  to  parry  the  many 
weapons  furiously  aimed  at  him,  received  a  deadly  thrust  full  in  his  throat, 
sunk  to  the  ground,  and  expired. 

As  soon  as  he  was  slain,  the  assassins  ran  out  into  the  streets,  and,  waving 
their  bloody  swords,  proclaimed  the  death  of  the  tyrant.  Above  two 
hundred  of  their  associates  having  joined  them,  they  conducted  young  Al- 
magro  in  solemn  procession  through  the  city,  and,  assembling  the  magis- 
trates and  principal  citizens,  compelled  them  to  acknowledge  him  as  lawful 
successor  to  his  father  in  his  government.  The  palace  of  Pizarro,  together 
with  the  houses  of  several  of  his  adherents,  was  pillaged  by  the  soldiers, 
who  had  the  satisfaction  at  once  of  being  avenged  on  their  enemies,  and 
of  enriching-  themselves  by  the  spoils  of  those  through  whose  hands  all  the 
wealth  of  Peru  had  passed.* 

The  boldness  and  success  of  the  conspiracy,  as  well  as  the  name  and 
popular  qualities  of  Almagro,  drew  many  soldiers  to  his  standard.  Every 
adventurer  of  desperate  fortune,  all  who  were  dissatisfied  with  Pizarro 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c.  6—8.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  144, 145.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  5—7.  Herrera,  dec 
6.  lib.  x.  e.  4—7.  Pizarro  Var.  Illust.  p.  183. 


AMERICA.  293 

(and  from  the  rapaciousness  of  his  government  in  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  the  number  of  malecontents  was  considerable),  declared  without  hesi- 
tation in  favour  of  Almagro,  and  he  was  soon  at  the  head  of  eight  hundred 
of  the  most  gallant  veterans  in  Peru.  As  his  youth  and  inexperience  dis- 
qualified him  from  taking  the  command  of  them  himself,  he  appointed 
Herrada  to  act  as  general.  But  though  Almagro  speedily  collected  such 
a  respectable  force,  the  acquiescence  in  his  government  was  far  from  being 
general.  Pizarro  had  left  many  friends  to  whom  his  memory  was  dear  ; 
the  barbarous  assassination  of  a  man  to  whom  his  country  was  so  highly 
indebted,  filled  every  impartial  person  with  horror.  The  ignominious 
birth  of  Almagro,  as  well  as  the  doubtful  title  on  which  he  founded  his 
pretensions,  led  others  to  consider  him  as  a  usurper.  The  officers  who 
commanded  in  some  provinces  refused  to  recognise  his  authority  until  it 
was  confirmed  by  the  emperor.  In  others,  particularly  at  Cuzco,  the  royal 
standard  was  erected,  and  preparations  were  begun  in  order  to  revenge 
the  murder  of  their  ancient  leader. 

Those  seeds  of  discord,  which  could  not  have  lain  long  dormant,  acquired 
great  vigour  and  activity  when  the  arrival  of  Vaca  de  Castro  was  known. 
After  a  long  and  disastrous  voyage,  he  was  driven  by  stress  of  weather 
into  a  small  harbour  in  the  province  of  Popayan  ;  and  proceeding  from 
thence  by  land,  after  a  journey  no  less  tedious  than  difficult,  he  reached 
Quito.  In  his  way  he  received  accounts  of  Pizarro's  death,  and  of  the 
events  which  followed  upon  it.  He  immediately  produced  the  royal 
commission  appointing  him  governor  of  Peru,  with  the  same  privileges  and 
authority ;  and  his  jurisdiction  was  acknowledged  without  hesitation  by 
Benalcazar,  adelantado  or  lieutenant-general  for  the  emperor  in  Popayan, 
and  by  Pedro  de  Puelles,  who,  in  the  absence  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  had 
the  command  of  the  troops  left  in  Quito.  Vaca  de  Castro  not  only  assumed 
the  supreme  authority,  but  showed  that  he  possessed  the  talents  which  the 
exercise  of  it  at  that  juncture  required.  By  his  influence  and  address  he 
soon  assembled  such  a  body  of  troops,  as  not  only  to  set  him  above  all 
fear  of  being  exposed  to  any  insult  from  the  adverse  party,  but  enabled 
him  to  advance  from  Quito  with  the  dignity  which  became  his  character. 
By  despatching  persons  of  confidence  to  the  different  settlements  in  Peru 
with  a  formal  notification  of  his  arrival  and  of  his  commission,  he  commu- 
nicated to  his  countrymen  the  royal  pleasure  with  respect  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country.  By  private  emissaries,  he  excited  such  officers  as 
had  discovered  their  disapprobation  of  Almagro's  proceedings,  to  manifest 
their  duty  to  their  sovereign  by  supporting  the  person  honoured  with  his 
commission.  Those  measures  were  productive  of  great  effects.  En- 
couraged by  the  approach  of  the  new  governor,  or  prepared  by  his 
machinations,  the  loyal  were  confirmed  in  their  principles,  and  avowed 
them  with  greater  boldness  ;  the  timid  ventured  to  declare  their  sentiments ; 
the  neutral  and  wavering,  finding  it  necessary  to  choose  a  side,  began 
to  lean  to  that  which  now  appeared  to  be  the  safest  as  well  as  the  most 
just.* 

Almagro  observed  the  rapid  progress  of  this  spirit  of  disaffection  to  his 
cause  ;  and  in  order  to  give  an  effectual  check  to  it  before  the  arrival  of 
Vaca  de  Castro,  he  set  out  at  the  head  of  his  troops  for  Cuzco  [1542], 
where  the  most  considerable  body  of  opponents  had  erected  the  royal 
standard,  under  the  command  of  Pedro  Alvarez  Holguin.  During  his 
march  thither,  Herrada,  the  skilful  guide  of  his  youth  and  of  his  counsels, 
died  ;  and  from  that  time  his  measures  were  conspicuous  for  their  violence, 
but  concerted  with  little  sagacity,  and  executed  with  no  address.  Holguin, 
who,  with  forces  far  inferior  to  those  of  the  opposite  party,  was  descend- 

*  Benzon,  lib.  iii.  c.  9.  Zarate,  lib,  iv.  c.  11.  Gomara.  c.  146, 147  Herrera.  dec.  6.  lib.  x.  c.  1. 
2,3.7,&c. 


294  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI, 

ing  .towards  the  coast  at  the  very  time  that  Almagro  was  on  his  way  to 
Cuzco,  deceived  his  inexperienced  adversary  by  a  very  simple  stratagem, 
avoided  an  engagement,  and  effected  a  junction  with  Alvarado,  an  olicei 
of  note,  who  had  been  the  first  to  declare  against  Almagro  as  a  usurper. 

Soon  after,  Vaca  de  Castro  entered  their  camp  with  the  troops  which 
he  brought  from  Quito  ;  and  erecting  the  royal  standard  before  his  own 
tent,  he  declared  that,  as  governor,  he  would  discharge  in  person  all 
the  functions  of  general  of  their  combined  forces.  Though  formed  by 
the  tenor  of  his  past  life  to  the  habits  of  a  sedentary  and  pacific  profession, 
he  at  once  assumed  the  activity  and  discovered  the  decision  of  an  office] 
long  accustomed  to  command.  Knowing  his  strength  to  be  now  far  supe- 
rior to  that  of  the  enemy,  he  was  impatient  to  terminate  the  contest  by  a 
battle.  Nor  did  the  followers  of  Almagro,  who  had  no  hopes  of  obtaining 
a  pardon  for  a  crime  so  atrocious  as  the  murder  of  the  governor,  decline 
that  mode  of  decision.  They  met  at  Chupaz  [Sept.  16],  about  two  hun 
dred  miles  from  Cuzco,  and  fought  with  all  the  fierce  animosity  inspired 
by  the  violence  of  civil  rage,  the  rancour  of  private  enmity,  the  eagerness 
of  revenge,  and  the  last  efforts  of  despair.  Victory,  after  remaining  long 
doubtful,  declared  at  last  for  Vaco  de  Castro.  The  superior  number  of 
his  troops,  his  own  intrepidity,  and  the  martial  talents  of  Francisco  de 
Carvajal,  a  veteran  officer  formed  under  the  great  captain  in  the  wars  of 
Italy,  and  who  on  that  day  laid  the  foundation  of  his  future  fame  in  Peru, 
triumphed  over  the  bravery  of  his  opponents,  though  led  on  by  young 
Almagro  with  a  gallant  spirit  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  and  deserving 
another  fate.  The  carnage  was  great  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the 
combatants.  Many  of  the  vanquished,  especially  such  as  were  conscious 
that  they  might  be  charged  with  being  accessary  to  the  assassination  ot 
Pizarro,  rushing  on  the  swords  of  the  enemy,  chose  to  fall  like  soldiers 
rather  than  wait  an  ignominious  doom.  Of  fourteen  hundred  men,  the 
total  amount  of  combatants  on  both  sides,  five  hundred  lay  dead  on  the 
field,  and  the  number  of  the  wounded  was  still  greater.* 

If  the  military  talents  displayed  by  Vaca  de  Castro,  both  in  the  council 
and  in  the  field,  surprised  the  adventurers  in  Peru,  they  were  still  more 
astonished  at  his  conduct  after  the  victory.  As  he  was  by  nature  a  rigid 
dispenser  of  justice,  and  persuaded  that  it  required  examples  of  extraor- 
dinary severity  to  restrain  the  licentious  spirit  of  soldiers  so  far  removed 
from  the  seat  of  government,  he  proceeded  directly  to  try  his  prisoners  as 
rebels.  Forty  were  condemned  to  suffer  the  death  of  traitors,  others  were 
banished  from  Peru.  Their  leader,  who  made  his  escape  from  the  battle, 
being  betrayed  by  some  of  his  officers,  was  publicly  beheaded  in  Cuzco  ; 
and  in  him  the  name  of  Almagro,  and  the  spirit  of  the  party,  was  extinct.f 

During  those  violent  convulsions  in  Peru,  the  emperor  and  his  ministers 
were  intently  employed  in  preparing  regulations,  by  which  they  hoped  not 
only  to  re-establish  tranquillity  there,  but  to  introduce  a  more  perfect  system 
of  internal  policy  into  all  their  settlements  in  the  New  World.  It  is 
manifest  from  all  the  events  recorded  in  the  history  of  America,  that, 
rapid  and  extensive  as  the  Spanish  conquests  there  had  been,  they  were 
not  carried  on  by  any  regular  exertion  of  the  national  force,  but  by  the 
occasional  efforts  of  private  adventurers.  After  fitting  out  a  few  of  the 
first  armaments  for  discovering  new  regions,  the  court  of  Spain,  during  the 
busy  reigns  of  Ferdinand  and  Charles  V.,  the  former  the  most  intriguing 
prince  of  the  age,  and  the  latter  the  most  ambitious,  was  encumbered  with 
such  a  multiplicity  of  schemes,  and  involved  in  war  with  so  many  nations 
of  Europe,  that  he  had  not  leisure  to  attend  to  distant  and  less  interesting 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c.  13—19.  Gomara,  c.  148.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  11—18.  Hem*a,  dec.  7. 
lib.  i.  c.  1,  2,  3.  lib.  iii.  c.  1—11.  T  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c,  21.  Gomara,  c.  150.  Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  iii 
c.  X2.  lib.  vi.  c.  1. 


AMERICA.  295 

objects.  The  care  of  prosecuting  discovery,  or  of  attempting  conquest, 
was  abandoned  to  individuals ;  and  with  such  ardour  did  men  push  forward  in 
this  new  career,  on  which  novelty,  the  spirit  of  adventure,  avarice,  ambition, 
and  the  hope  of  meriting  heaven,  prompted  them  with  combined  influence 
to  enter,  that  in  less  than  half  a  century  almost  the  whole  of  that  extensive 
empire  which  Spain  now  possesses  in  the  New  World,  was  subjected  to 
its  dominion.  As  the  Spanish  court  contributed  nothing  towards  the  various 
expeditions  undertaken  in  America,  it  was  not  entitled  to  claim  much  from 
their  success.  The  sovereignty  of  the  conquered  provinces,  with  the  fifth 
of  the  gold  and  silver,  was  reserved  for  the  crown  ;  every  thing  else  was 
seized  by  the  associates  in  each  expedition  as  their  own  right.  The 
plunder  of  the  countries  which  they  invaded  served  to  indemnify  them  for 
what  they  had  expended  in  equipping  themselves  for  the  service,  and  the 
conquered  territory  was  divided  among  them,  according  to  rules  which 
custom  had  introduced,  as  permanent  establishments  which  their  successful 
valour  merited.  In  the  infancy  of  those  settlements,  when  their  extent  as 
well  as  their  value  was  unknown,  many  irregularities  escaped  observation, 
and  it  was  found  necessary  to  connive  at  many  excesses.  The  conquered 
people  were  frequently  pillaged  with  destructive  rapacity,  and  their  country 
parcelled  out  among  its  new  masters  in  exorbitant  shares,  far  exceeding 
the  highest  recompense  due  to  their  services.  The  rude  conquerors  of 
America,  incapable  of  forming  their  establishments  upon  any  general  or 
extensive  plan  of  policy,  attentive  only  to  private  interest,  unwilling  to 
forego  present  gain  from  the  prospect  of  remote  or  public  benefit,  seem  to 
have  had  no  object  but  to  amass  sudden  wealth,  without  regarding  what 
might  be  the  consequences  of  the  means  by  which  they  acquired  it.  But 
when  time  at  length  discovered  to  the  Spanish  court  the  importance  of  its 
American  possessions,  the  necessity  of  new-modelling  their  whole  frame 
became  obvious,  and  in  place  of  the  maxims  and  practices  prevalent 
among  military  adventurers,  it  was  found  requisite  to  substitute  the  insti- 
tutions of  regular  government. 

One  evil  in  particular  called  for  an  immediate  remedy.  The  conquerors 
of  Mexico  and  Peru  imitated  the  fatal  example  of  their  countrymen  settled 
in  the  islands,  and  employed  themselves  in  searching  for  gold  and  silver 
with  the  same  inconsiderate  eagerness.  Similar  effects  followed.  The 
natives  employed  in  this  labour  by  masters,  who  in  imposing  tasks  had  no 
regard  either  to  what  they  felt  or  to  what  they  were  able  to  perform,  pined 
away  and  perished  so  fast,  that  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  that  Spain, 
instead  of  possessing  countries  peopled  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  suscep- 
tible of  progressive  improvement,  would  soon  remain  proprietor  only  of  a 
vast  uninhabited  desert. 

The  emperor  and  his  ministers  were  so  sensible  of  this,  and  so  solicitous 
to  prevent  the  extinction  of  the  Indian  race,  which  threatened  to  render 
their  acquisitions  of  no  value,  that  from  time  to  time  various  laws,  which 
I  have  mentioned,  had  been  made  for  securing  to  that  unhappy  people 
more  gentle  and  equitable  treatment.  But  the  distance  of  America  from 
the  seat  of  empire,  the  feebleness  of  government  in  the  new  colonies,  the 
avarice  and  audacity  of  soldiers  unaccustomed  to  restraint,  prevented  these 
salutary  regulations  from  operating  with  any  considerable  influence.  The 
evil  continued  to  grow,  and  at  this  time  the  emperor  found  an  interval  of 
leisure  from  the  affairs  of  Europe  to  take  it  into  attentive  consideration. 
He  consulted  not  only  with  his  ministers  and  the  members  of  the  council 
of  the  Indies,  but  called  upon  several  persons  who  had  resided  long  in  the 
New  World  to  aid  them  with  the  result  of  their  experience  and  observa- 
tion. Fortunately  for  the  people  of  America,  among  these  was  Bartholo- 
mew de  las  Casas,  who  happened  to  be  then  at  Madrid  on  a  mission  from 
a  Chapter  of  his  order  at  Chiapa.*  Though  since  the  miscarriage  of  his 

*  Ilemesal  Hist,  de  Chiapa,  p.  146. 


196  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VI, 

former  schemes  for  the  relief  of  the  Indians,  he  had  continued  shut  up  in 
his  cloister,  or  occupied  in  religious  functions,  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  the 
former  objects  of  his  pity  was  so  far  from  abating,  that,  from  an  increased 
knowledge  of  their  sufferings,  its  ardour  had  augmented.  He  seized 
eagerly  this  opportunity  of  reviving  his  favourite  maxims  concerning  the 
treatment  of  the  Indians.  With  the  moving  eloquence  natural  to  a  man 
on  whose  mind  the  scenes  which  he  had  beheld  had  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion, he  described  the  irreparable  waste  of  the  human  species  in  the  New 
World,  the  Indian  race  almost  totally  swept  away  in  the  islands  in  less 
than  fifty  years,  and  hastening  to  extinction  on  the  continent  with  the  same 
rapid  decay.  With  the  decisive  tone  of  one  strongly  prepossessed  with 
the  truth  of  his  own  system,  he  imputed  all  this  to  a  single  cause,  to  the 
exactions  and  cruelty  of  his  countrymen,  and  contended  that  nothing  could 
prevent  the  depopulation  of  America,  but  the  declaring  of  its  natives  to  be 
Freemen,  and  treating  them  as  subjects,  not  as  slaves.  Nor  did  he  confide 
for  the  success  of  this  proposal  in  the  powers  of  his  oratory  alone.  In 
order  to  enforce  them,  he  composed  his  famous  treatise  concerning  the 
destruction  of  America,*  in  which  he  relates,  with  many  horrid  circum- 
stances, but  with  apparent  marks  of  exaggerated  description,  the  devasta- 
tion of  every  province  which  had  been  visited  by  the  Spaniards. 

The  emperor  was  deeply  afflicted  with  the  recital  of  so  many  actions 
shocking  to  humanity.  But  as  his  views  extended  far  beyond  those  of  Las 
Casas,  he  perceived  that  relieving  the  Indians  from  oppression  was  but  one 
step  towards  rendering  his  possessions  in  the  New  World  a  valuable  acqui- 
sition, and  would  be  of  little  avail,  unless  he  could  circumscribe  the  power 
and  usurpations  of  his  own  subjects  there.  The  conquerors  of  America, 
however  great  their  merit  had  been  towards  their  country,  were  mostly 
persons  of  such  mean  birth,  and  of  such  an  abject  rank  in  society,  as  gave  no 
distinction  in  the  eye  of  a  monarch.  The  exorbitant  wealth  with  which 
some  of  them  returned,  gave  umbrage  to  an  age  not  accustomed  to  see  men 
in  inferior  condition  elevated  above  their  level,  and  rising  to  emulate  or  to 
surpass  the  ancient  nobility  in  splendour.  The  territories  which  their 
leaders  had  appropriated  to  themselves  were  of  such  enormous  extent  [139], 
that,  if  the  country  should  ever  be  improved  in  proportion  to  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  they  must  grow  too  wealthy  and  too  powerful  for  subjects.  It 
appeared  to  Charles  that  this  abuse  required  a  remedy  no  less  than  the 
other,  and  that  the  regulations  concerning  both  must  be  enforced  by  a  mode 
of  government  more  vigorous  than  had  yet  been  introduced  into  America. 

With  this  view  he  framed  a  body  of  laws,  containing  many  salutary 
appointments  with  respect  to  the  constitution  and  powers  of  the  supreme 
council  of  the  Indies ;  concerning  the  station  and  jurisdiction  of  the  royal 
audiences  in  different  parts  of  America ;  the  administration  of  justice  ;  the 
order  of  government,  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil.  These  were  approved 
of  by  all  ranks  of  men.  But  together  with  them  were  issued  the  following 
regulations,  which  excited  universal  alarm,  and  occasioned  the  most  violent 
convulsions  :  "  That  as  the  reparlimientos  or  shares  of  land  seized  by  several 
persons  appeared  to  be  excessive,  the  royal  audiences  are  empowered  to 
reduce  them  to  a  moderate  extent :  That  upon  the  death  of  any  conqueror 
or  planter,  the  lands  and  Indians  granted  to  him  shall  not  descend  to  his 
widow  or  children,  but  return  to  the  crown  :  That  the  Indians  shall  hence- 
forth be  exempt  from  personal  service,  and  shall  not  be  compelled  to  carry 
the  baggage  of  travellers,  to  labour  in  the  mines,  or  to  dive  in  the  pearl 
fisheries  :  That  the  stated  tribute  due  by  them  to  their  superior  shall  be 
ascertained,  and  they  shall  be  paid  as  servants  for  any  work  they  voluntarily 
perform :  That  all  persons  who  are  or  have  been  in  public  offices,  all 
ecclesiastics  of  every  denomination,  all  hospitals  and  monasteries,  shall  be 
deprived  of  the  lands  and  Indians  allotted  to  them,  and  these  be  annexed 

*  Remesal.  p.  192. 199. 


AMERICA.  297 

*o  the  crown  :  That  every  person  in  Peru,  who  had  any  criminal  concern 
in  the  contest  between  Pizarro  and  Almagro  should  forfeit  his  lands  and 
Indians."* 

All  the  Spanish  ministers  who  had  hitherto  been  intrusted  with  the 
direction  of  American  affairs,  and  who  were  best  acquainted  with  the  state 
of  the  country,  remonstrated  against  those  regulations  as  ruinous  to  their 
infant  colonies.  They  represented,  that  the  number  of  Spaniards  who 
had  hitherto  emigrated  to  the  New  World  was  so  extremely  small,  that 
nothing  could  be  expected  from  any  effort  of  theirs  towards  improving  the 
vast  regions  over  which  they  were  scattered ;  that  the  success  of  every 
scheme  for  this  purpose  must  depend  upon  the  ministry  and  service  of  the 
Indians,  whose  native  indolence  and  aversion  to  labour,  no  prospect  of 
benefit  or  promise  of  reward  could  surmount ;  that  the  moment  the  right  of 
imposing  a  task,  and  exacting  the  performance  of  it,  was  taken  from  their 
masters,  every  work  of  industry  must  cease,  and  all  the  sources  from  which 
wealth  began  to  pour  in  upon  Spain  must  be  stopped  for  ever.  But  Charles, 
tenacious  at  all  times  of  his  own  opinions,  and  so  much  impressed  at  present 
with  the  view  of  the  disorders  which  reigned  in  America,  that  he  was 
willing  to  hazard  the  application  even  of  a  dangerous  remedy,  persisted  in 
his  resolution  of  publishing  the  laws.  That  they  might  be  carried  into 
execution  with  greater  vigour  and  authority,  he  authorized  Francisco  Tello 
de  Sandoval  to  repair  to  Mexico  as  Visitador?  or  superintendent  of  that 
country,  and  to  co-operate  with  Antonio  de  Mendoza,  the  viceroy,  in  en- 
forcing them.  He  appointed  Blasco  Nugnez  Vela  to  be  governor  of 
Peru,  with  the  title  of  viceroy ;  and  in  order  to  strengthen  his  adminis- 
tration, he  established  a  court  of  royal  audience  in  Lima  [1543],  in  which 
four  lawyers  of  eminence  were  to  preside  as  judges.f 

The  viceroy  and  superintendent  sailed  at  the  same  time  ;  and  an  account 
of  the  laws  which  they  were  to  enforce  reached  America  before  them. 
The  entry  of  Sandoval  into  Mexico  was  viewed  as  the  prelude  of  general 
ruin.  The  unlimited  grant  of  liberty  to  the  Indians  affected  every  Spaniard 
in  America  without  distinction,  and  there  was  hardly  one  who  might  not  on 
some  pretext  be  included  under  the  other  regulations,  and  suffer  by  them. 
But  the  colony  in  New  Spain  had  now  been  so  long  accustomed  to  the 
restraints  of  law  and  authority  under  the  steady  and  prudent  administration 
of  Mendoza,  that,  how  much  soever  the  spirit  of  the  new  statutes  was  de- 
tested and  dreaded,  no  attempt  was  made  to  obstruct  the  publication  of 
them  by  any  act  of  violence  unbecoming  subjects.  The  magistrates  and 
principal  inhabitants,  however,  presented  dutiful  addresses  to  the  viceroy 
and  superintendent,  representing  the  fatal  consequences  of  enforcing  them. 
Happily  for  them  Mendoza,  by  long  residence  in  the  country,  was  so  tho- 
roughly acquainted  with  its  state,  that  he  knew  what  was  for  its  interest  as 
well  as  what  it  could  bear ;  and  Sandoval,  though  new  in  office,  displayed 
a  degree  of  moderation  seldom  possessed  by  persons  just  entering  upon  the 
exercise  of  power.  They  engaged  to  suspend,  for  some  time,  the  execution 
of  what  was  offensive  in  the  new  laws,  and  not  only  consented  that  a  depu- 
tation of  citizens  should  be  sent  k)  Europe  to  lay  before  the  emperor  the 
apprehensions  of  his  subjects  in  New  Spain  with  respect  to  their  tendency 
and  effects,  but  they  concurred  with  them  in  supporting  their  sentiments. 
Charles,  moved  by  the  opinion  of  men  whose  abilities  and  integrity  entitled 
them  to  decide  concerning  what  fell  immediately  under  their  own  view, 
granted  such  a  relaxation  of  the  rigour  of  the  laws  as  re-established  the 
colony  in  its  former  tranquillity .| 

In  reru  the  storm  gathered  with  an  aspect  still  more  fierce  and  threaten- 

*  Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  vi,  c,  4.    Fernandez  Hist.  lib.  i.  c.  1,  2.  |  Zarate,  lib.  iii.  c.  24.    Go 

mara.  c.  151.    Vega,  p.  2.  lib.  iii.  c.  20.          J  Fernandez  Hist.  lib.  i.  c.  3,  4,  5.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii. 
c.  21,  22.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  v.  c.  7.  lib.  vii.  c.  14, 15.    Torquem.  Mond.  Ind.  lib.  v.  c.  13. 
VOL.  I.— 38 


*98  HISTORY  Of  [BOOK  VI. 

mg,  and  was  not  so  soon  dispelled.  The  conquerors  of  Peru,  of  a  rank 
much  inferior  to  those  who  had  subjected  Mexico  to  the  Spanish  crown, 
further  removed  from  the  inspection  of  the  parent  state,  and  intoxicated 
with  the  sudden  acquisition  of  wealth,  carried  on  all  their  operations  with 
greater  license  and  irregularity  than  any  body  of  adventurers  in  the  New- 
World.  Amidst  the  general  subversion  of  law  and  order,  occasioned  by 
two  successive  civil  wars,  when  each  individual  was  at  liberty  to  decide 
for  himself,  without  any  guide  but  his  own  interest  or  passions,  this  turbulent 
spirit  rose  above  all  sense  of  subordination.  To  men  thus  corrupted  by 
anarchy,  the  introduction  of  regular  government,  the  power  of  a  viceroy, 
and  the  authority  of  a  respectable  court  of  judicature,  would  of  themselves 
have  appeared  formidable  restraints,  to  which  they  would  have  submitted 
with  reluctance  But  they  revolted  with  indignation  against  the  idea  of 
complying  with  laws,  by  which  they  were  to  be  stripped  at  once  of  all 
they  had  earned  so  hardly  during  many  years  of  service  and  suffering.  As 
the  account  of  the  new  laws  spread  successively  through  the  different  settle- 
ments, the  inhabitants  ran  together,  the  women  in  tears,  and  the  men 
exclaiming  against  the  injustice  and  ingratitude  of  their  sovereign  in  de- 
priving them,  unheard  and  unconvicted,  oi%  their  possessions.  "  Is  this," 
cried  they,  "  the  recompense  due  to  persons,  who,  without  public  aid,  at 
their  own  expense,  and  by  their  own  valour,  have  subjected  to  the  crown  of 
Castile  territories  of  such  immense  extent  and  opulence  ?  Are  these  the 
rewards  bestowed  for  having  endured  unparalleled  distress,  for  having 
encountered  every  species  of  danger  in  the  service  of  their  country  ?  Whose 
merit  is  so  great,  whose  conduct  has  been  so  irreproachable,  that  he  may 
not  be  condemned  by  some  penal  clause  in  regulations,  conceived  in  terms 
as  loose  and  comprehensive,  as  if  it  had  been  intended  that  all  should  be 
entangled  in  their  snare  ?  Every  Spaniard  of  note  in  Peru  has  held  some 
public  office,  and  all,  without  distinction,  have  been  constrained  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  contest  between  the  two  rival  chiefs.  Were  the  former 
to  be  robbed  of  their  property  because  they  had  done  their  duty  ?  Were  the 
latter  to  be  punished  on  account  of  what  they  could  not  avoid  ?  Shall  the 
conquerors  of  this  great  empire,  instead  of  receiving  marks  of  distinction, 
be  deprived  of  the  natural  consolation  of  providing  for  their  widows  and 
children,  and  leave  them  to  depend  for  subsistence  on  the  scanty  supply 
they  can  extort  from  unfeeling  courtiers  ?*  We  are  not  able  now,"  continued 
they,  "  to  explore  unknown  regions  in  quest  of  more  secure  settlements ; 
our  constitutions  debilitated  with  age,  and  our  bodies  covered  with  wounds, 
are  no  longer  fit  for  active  service  ;  but  still  we  possess  vigour  sufficient  to 
assert  our  just  rights,  and  we  will  not  tamely  suffer  them  to  be  wrested 
from  us."| 

By  discourses  of  this  sort,  uttered  with  vehemence,  and  listened  to  with 
universal  approbation,  their  passions  were  inflamed  to  such  a  pitch  that 
they  were  prepared  for  the  most  violent  measures  ;  and  began  to  hold  con- 
sultations in  different  places,  how  they  might  oppose  the  entrance  of  the 
viceroy  and  judges,  and  prevent  not  only  the  execution  but  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  new  laws.  From  this,  however,  they  were  diverted  by  the 
address  of  Vaca  de  Castro,  who  flattered  them  with  hopes,  that,  as  soon  as 
the  viceroy  and  judges  should  arrive,  and  had  leisure  to  examine  their  pe- 
titions ana  remonstrances,  they  would  concur  with  them  in  endeavouring 
to  procure  some  mitigation  in  the  rigour  of  laws  which  had  been  framed 
without  due  attention  either  to  the  state  of  the  country,  or  to  the  senti- 
ments of  the  people.  A  greater  degree  of  accommodation  to  these,  and 
even  some  concessions  on  the  part  of  government,  were  now  become  requi- 
site to  compose  the  present  ferment,  and  to  soothe  the  colonists  into  sub- 

>•>•    -'  -!   • 

*  ITerrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  vii.  c.  14, 15.  |  Gomara,  c.  152.      Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  vi.  c.  10, 1L 

Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iii.  c.  20. 22.  lib.  iv.  c.  3,  4. 


AMERICA.  299 

mission)  by  inspiring  them  with  confidence  in  their  superiors.  But  without 
profound  discernment,  conciliating  manners,  and  flexibility  of  temper,  such 
a  plan  could  not  be  carried  on.  The  viceroy  possessed  none  of  these. 
Of  all  the  qualities  that  fit  men  for  high  command,  he  was  endowed  only 
with  integrity  and  courage  ;  the  former  harsh  and  uncomplying,  the  latter 
bordering  so  frequently  on  rashness  or  obstinacy,  that,  in  his  situation,  they 
were  defects  rather  than  virtues.  From  the  moment  that  he  landed  at 
Tumbez  [March  4],  Nugnez  Vela  seems  to  have  considered  himself 
merely  as  an  executive  officer,  without  any  discretionary  power;  and,  re- 
gardless of  whatever  he  observed  or  heard  concerning  the  state  of  the 
country,  he  adhered  to  the  letter  of  the  regulations  with  unrelenting  rigour. 
In  all  the  towns  through  which  he  passed,  the  natives  were  declared  to 
be  free,  every  person  in  public  office  was  deprived  of  his  lands  and  ser- 
vants ;  and  as  an  example  of  obedience  to  others,  he  would  not  suffer  a 
single  Indian  to  be  employed  in  carrying  his  own  baggage  in  his  march  to- 
wards Lima.  Amazement  and  consternation  went  before  him  as  he  ap- 
proached ;  and  so  little  solicitous  was  he  to  prevent  these  from  augmenting, 
that,  on  entering  the  capital,  he  openly,  avowed  that  he  came  to  obey  the 
orders  of  his  sovereign,  not  to  dispense*  with  his  laws.  This  harsh  decla- 
ration was  accompanied  with  what  rendered  it  still  more  intolerable, 
haughtiness  in  deportment,  a  tone  of  arrogance  and  decision  in  discourse, 
and  an  insolence  of  office  grievous  to  men  little  accustomed  to  hold  civil 
authority  in  high  respect.  Every  attempt  to  procure  a  suspension  or  miti-^ 
gation  of  the  new  laws,  the  viceroy  considered  as  flowing  from  a  spirit  ot 
disaffection  that  tended  to  rebellion.  Several  persons  of  rank  were  con- 
fined, and  some  put  to  death,  without  any  form  of  trial.  Vaca  de  Castro 
was  arrested  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  dignity  of  his  former  rank,  and  his 
merit,  in  having  prevented  a  general  insurrection  in  the  colony,  he  was 
loaded  with  chains,  and  shut  up  in  the  common  jail.* 

But  however  general  the  indignation  was  against  such  proceedings,  it  is 
probable  the  hand  of  authority  would  have  been  strong  enough  to  suppress 
it,  or  to  prevent  it  bursting  out  with  open  violence,  if  the  malecontents  had 
not  been  provided  with  a  leader  of  credit  and  eminence  to  unite  and  to 
direct  their  efforts.  From  the  time  that  the  purport  of  the  new  regulations 
was  known  in  Peru,  every  Spaniard  there  turned  his  eyes  towards  Gon- 
zalo  Pizarro,  as  the  only  person  able  to  avert  the  ruin  with  which  they 
threatened  the  colony.  From  all  quarters,  letters  and  addresses  were  sent 
to  him,  conjuring  him  to  stand  forth  as  their  common  protector,  and  offer- 
ing to  support  him  in  the  attempt  with  their  lives  and  fortunes.  Gonzalo, 
though  inferior  in  talents  to  his  other  brothers,  wTas  equally  ambitious,  and 
of  courage  no  less  daring.  The  behaviour  of  an  ungrateful  court  towards 
his  brothers  and  himself  dwelt  continually  on  his  mind.  Ferdinand  a  state 
prisoner  in  Europe,  the  children  of  the  governor  in  custody  of  the  viceroy, 
and  sent  aboard  his  fleet,  himself  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  private 
citizen  in  a  country  for  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  which  Spain  was  in- 
debted to  his  family — these  thoughts  prompted  him  to  seek  for  vengeance, 
and  to  assert  the  rights  of  his  family,  of  which  he  now  considered  himself 
as  the  guardian  and  the  heir.  But  as  no  Spaniard  can  easily  surmount  that 
veneration  for  his  sovereign  which  seems  to  be  interwoven  in  his  frame, 
the  idea  of  marching  in  arms  against  the  royal  standard  filled  him  with 
horror.  He  hesitated  long,  and  was  still  unresolved,  when  the  violence  of 
the  viceroy,  the  universal  call  of  his  countrymen,  and  the  certainty  of  be- 
coming soon  a  victim  himself  to  the  severity  of  the  new  laws,  moved  him 
to  quit  his  residence  at  Chuquisaca  de  la  Plata,  and  repair  to  Cuzco.  All 
the  inhabitants  went  out  to  meet  him,  and  received  him  with  transports  of 

*  Zarate,  lib.  iv.  c.  23,  24,  25.  Gomara,  c.  153—155.  Vega.  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  4,  5.  Fernandez, 
lib.  i.  c.  G-10. 


300  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VI. 

joy  as  the  deliverer  of  the  colony.  In  the  fervour  of  their  zeal,  they  elect- 
ed him  procurator-general  of  the  Spanish  nation  in  Peru,  to  solicit  the  re- 
peal of  the  late  regulations.  They  empowered  him  to  lay  their  remon- 
strances before  the  royal  audience  in  Lima,  and,  upon  pretext  of  danger 
from  the  Indians,  authorized  him  to  march  thither  in  arms  [1544].  Under 
sanction  of  this  nomination  Pizarro  took  possession  of  the  royal  treasure, 
appointed  officers,  levied  soldiers,  seized  a  large  train  of  artillery  which 
V  aca  de  Castro  had  deposited  in  Gumanga,  and  set  out  for  Lima  as  if  he 
had  been  advancing  against  a  public  enemy.  Disaffection  having  now  as- 
sumed a  regular  form,  and  being  united  under  a  chief  of  such  distinguish- 
ed name,  many  persons  of  note  resorted  to  his  standard ;  and  a  considerable 
part  of  the  troops,  raised  by  the  viceroy  to  oppose  his  progress,  deserted 
to  him  in  a  body.* 

Before  Pizarro  reached  Lima,  a  revolution  had  happened  there,  which 
encouraged  him  to  proceed  with  almost  certainty  of  success.  The  violence 
of  the  viceroy's  administration  was  not  more  formidable  to  the  Spaniards 
of  Peru  than  his  overbearing  haughtiness  was  odious  to  his  associates,  the 
judges  of  the  royal  audience.  Durjjig  their  voyage  from  Spain,  some  symp- 
toms of  coldness  between  the  viceroy  and  them  began  to  appear.!  But 
as  soon  as  they  entered  upon  the  exercise  of  their  respective  offices,  both 
parties  were  so  much  exasperated  by  frequent  contests,  arising  from  inter- 
ference of  jurisdiction  and  contrariety  of  opinion,  that  their  mutual  disgust 
soon  grew  into  open  enmity.  The  judges  thwarted  the  viceroy  in  every 
measure,  set  at  liberty  prisoners  whom  he  had  confined,  justified  the  male- 
contents,  and  applauded  their  remonstrances.  At  a  time  when  both  de- 
partments of  government  should  have  united  against  the  approaching 
enemy,  they  were  contending  with  each  other  for  superiority.  The 
judges  at  length  prevailed.  The  viceroy,  universally  odious,  and  abandon- 
ed even  by  his  own  guards,  was  seized  in  his  palace  [Sept.  18],  and  carried 
to  a  desert  island  on  the  coast,  to  be  kept  there  until  ne  could  be,  sent  home 
to  Spain. 

The  judges,  in  consequence  of  this,  having  assumed  the  supreme  direc- 
tion of  affairs  into  their  own  hands,  issued  a  proclamation  suspending  the 
execution  of  the  obnoxious  laws,  arid  sent  a  message  to  Pizarro,  requiring 
him,  as  they  had  already  granted  whatever  he  could  request,  to  dismiss 
his  troops,  and  to  repair  to  Lima  with  fifteen  or  twenty  attendants.  They 
could  hardly  expect  that  a  man  so  daring  and  ambitious  would  tamely 
comply  with  this  requisition.  It  was  made,  probably,  with  no  such  inten- 
tion, but  only  to  throw  a  decent  veil  over  their  own  conduct ;  for  Cepeda, 
the  president  of  the  court  of  audience,  a  pragmatical  and  aspiring  lawyer, 
seems  to  have  held  a  secret  correspondence  with  Pizarro,  and  had  already 
formed  the  plan,  which  he  afterwards  executed,  of  devoting  himself  to 
his  service.  The  imprisonment  of  the  viceroy,  the  usurpation  of  the 
judges,  together  with  the  universal  confusion  and  anarchy  consequent  upon 
events  so  singular  and  unexpected,  opened  new  and  vast  prospects  to  Pi- 
zarro. He  now  beheld  the  supreme  power  within  his  reach.  Nor  did  he 
want  courage  to  push  on  towards  the  object  which  fortune  presented  to 
his  view.  Carvajal,  the  prompter  of  his  resolutions,  and  guide  of  all  his 
actions,  had  long  fixed  his  eye  upon  it  as  the  only  end  at  which  Pizarro 
ought  to  aim.  instead  of  the  inferior  function  of  procurator  for  the  Span- 
ish settlements  in  Peru,  he  openly  demanded  to  be  governor  and  captain- 
general  of  the  whole  province,  and  required  the  court  of  audience  to  grant 
him  a  commission  to  that  effect.  At  the  head  of  twelve  hundred  men, 
within  a  mile  of  Lima,  where  there  was  neither  leader  nor  army  to  oppose 
him,  such  a  request  carried  with  it  the  authority  of  a  command.  But  the 

*  Zarate,  lib.  v.  c.  1.    Gomara,  c.  156,  157.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  4—12.    Fernandez,  lib.  i.  c 
12—17.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  vii.  c.  18,  fcc.  lib.  viii.  c.  1—5.        t  Gomara,  c.  171. 


AMERICA.  301 

}  udges,  either  from  unwillingness  to  relinquish  power,  or  from  a  desire  of 
preserving  some  attention  to  appearances,  hesitated,  or  seemed  to  hesitate, 
about  complying  with  what  he  demanded.  Carvajal,  impatient  of  delay, 
and  impetuous  in  all  his  operations,  marched  in,to  the  city  by  night,  seized 
several  officers  of  distinction  obnoxious  to  Pizarro,  and  hanged  them  with- 
out the  formality  of  a  trial.  Next  morning  the  court  of  audience  issued 
a  commission  in  the  emperor's  name,  appointing  Pizarro  governor  of  Peru, 
with  full  powers,  civil  as  well  as  military,  and  he  entered  the  town  that 
day  with  extraordinary  pomp,  to  take  possession  of  his  new  dignity.* 

Oct.  28.]  But  amidst  the  disorder  and  turbulence  which  accompanied 
this  total  dissolution  of  the  frame  of  government,  the  minds  of  men,  set 
loose  from  the  ordinary  restraints  of  law,  and  authority,  acted  with  such 
capricious  irregularity,  that  events  no  less  extraordinary  than  unexpected 
followed  in  a  rapid  succession.  Pizarro  had  scarcely  "begun  to  exercise 
the  new  powers  with  which  he  was  invested,  when  he  beheld  formidable 
enemies  rise  up  to  oppose  him.  The  viceroy  having  been  put  on  board  a 
vessel  by  the  judges  of  the  audience,  in  order  that  he  might  be  carried  to 
Spain  under  custody  of  Juan  Alvarez  one  of  their  own  number ;  as  soon 
as  they  were  out  at  sea,  Alvarez,  either  touched  with  remorse,  or  moved 
by  fear,  kneeled  down  to  his  prisoner,  declared  him  from  that  moment  to 
be  free,  and  that  he  himself,  and  every  person  in  the  ship,  would  obey  him 
as  the  legal  representative  of  their  sovereign.  Nugnez  Vela  ordered  the 
pilot  of  the  vessel  to  shape  his  course  towards  Tumbez,  and  as  soon  as  he 
landed  there,  erected  the  royal  standard,  and  resumed  his  functions  of 
viceroy.  Several  persons  of  note,  to  whom  the  contagion  of  the  seditious 
spirit  which  reigned  at  Cuzcp  and  Lima  had  not  reached,  instantly  avowed 
their  resolution  to  support  his  authority.!  The  violence  of  Pizarro's  go- 
vernment, who  observed  every  individual  with  the  jealousy  natural  to 
usurpers,  and  who  punished  every  appearance  of  disaffection  with  unfor- 
giving severity,  soon  augmented  the  number  of  the  viceroy's  adherents,  as 
it  forced  some  leading  men  in  the  colony  to  fly  to  him  for  refuge.  While 
he  was  gathering  such  strength  at  Tumbez,  that  his  forces  began  to  assume 
the  appearance  of  what  was  considered  as  an  army  in  America.  Diego 
Centeno,  a  bold  and  active  officer,  exasperated  by  the  cruelty  arid  oppres- 
sion of  Pizarro's  lieutenant-governor  in  the  province  of  Charcas,  formed  a 
conspiracy  against  his  life,  cut  him  off,  and  declared  for  the  viceroy.J 

1545.]  Pizarro,  though  alarmed  with  those  appearances  of  hostility  in 
the  opposite  extremes  of  the  empire,  was  not  disconcerted.  He  prepared 
to  assert  the  authority,  to  which  he  had  attained,  with  the  spirit  arid  con- 
duct of  an  officer  accustomed  to  command,  and  marched  directly  against 
the  viceroy  as  the  enemy  who  was  nearest  as  well  as  most  formidable. 
As  he  was  master  of  the  public  revenues  in  Peru,  and  most  of  the  military 
men  were  attached  to  his  family,  his  troops  were  so  numerous,  that  the 
viceroy,  unable  to  face  them,  retreated  towards  Quito.  Pizarro  followed 
him  ;  and  in  that  long  march,  through  a  wild,  mountainous  country,  suffered 
hardships,  and  encountered  difficulties,  which  no  troops  but  those  accus- 
tomed to  serve  in  America  could  have  endured  or  surmounted  [l40].  The 
viceroy  had  scarcely  reached  Quito,  when  the  vanguard  of  Pizarro's 
forces  appeared,  lea  by  Carvajal,  who,  though  near  fourscore,  was  as 
hardy  and  active  as  any  young  soldier  under  his  command.  Nugnez  Vela 
instantly  abandoned  a  town  incapable  of  defence,  and,  with  a  rapidity 
more  resembling  a  Eight  than  a  retreat,  marched  into  the  province  of  Po- 
payan.  Pizarro  continued  to  pursue  ;  but,  finding  it  impossible  to  overtake 
him,  returned  to  Quito.  From  thence  he  despatched  Carvaj-al  to  oppose 

*  Zarate,  lib.  v.  c.  8—10.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  13—19.  Gomara,  c.  159—163.    Fernandez,  lib. 

!.  c.  18—25.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  viii.  c.  10—20.  f  Zarate,  lib.  v.  c.  9.    Gomara,  c.  165. 

Fernandez,  lib.  i.  c.  23.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  viii.  c.  15.  J  Zarate,  lib.  v.  c.  18.    Gomara,  c. 
169.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  ix.  c.  27. 


302  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

Centeno,  who  was  growing  formidable  in  the  southern  provinces  of  th«, 
empire,  and  he  himself  remained  there  to  make  head  against  the  viceroy.* 

By  his  own  activity,  and  the  assistance  of  Benalcazar,  Nugnez  Vela 
soon  assembled  four  hundred  men  in  Popayan.  As  he  retained,  amidst  all 
his  disasters,  the  same  elevation  of  mind,  and  the  same  high  sense  of  his 
own  dignity,  he  rejected  with  disdain  the  advice  of  some  of  his  followers 
who  urged  him  to  make  overtures  of  accommodation  to  Pizarro,  declaring 
that  it  was  only  by  the  sword  that  a  contest  with  rebels  could  be  decided. 
With  this  intention  he  marched  back  to  Quito  [1546].  Pizarro,  relying  on 
the  superior  number,  and  stilf  more  on  the  discipline  and  valour  of  his 
troops,  advanced  resolutely  to  meet  him  [Jan:  18].  The  battle  was  fierce 
and  bloody,  both  parties  fighting  like  men  who  knew  that  the  possession 
of  a  great  empire,  the  fate  of  their  leaders,  and  their  own  future  fortune, 
depended  upon  the  issue  of  that  day.  But  Pizarro's  veterans  pushed  for- 
ward with  such  regular  and  well  directed  force,  that  they  soon  began  to 
make  impression  on  their  enemies.  The  viceroy,  by  extraordinary  exer- 
tions, in  which  the  abilities  of  a  commander  and  the  courage  of  a  soldier 
were  equally  displayed,  held  victory  for  some  time  in  suspense.  At  length 
he  fell,  pierced  with  many  wounds  ;  and  the  route  of  his  followers  became 
general.  They  were  hotly  pursued.  His  head  was  cut  off,  and  placed 
on  the  public  gibbet  in  Quito,  which  Pizarro  entered  in  triumph.  The 
troops  assembled  by  Centeno  were  dispersed  soon  after  by  Carvajal,  and 
he  himself  compelled  to  fly  to  the  mountains,  where  he  remained  for 
several  months  concealed  in  a  cave.  Every  person  in  Peru,  from  the 
frontiers  of  Popayan  to  those  of  Chili,  submitted  to  Pizarro  ;  and  by  his 
fleet,  under  Pedro  de  Hinojosa,  he  had  not  only  the  unrivalled  command 
of  the- South  Sea,  but  had  taken  possession  of  Panama,  and  placed  a  gar- 
rison in  Nombre  de  Dios,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  isthmus,  which  rendered 
him  master  of  the  only  avenue  of  communication  between  Spain  and  Peru, 
that  was  used  at  that  period.! 

After  this  decisive  victory,  Pizarro  and  his  followers  remained  for  some 
^ime  at  Quito ;  and  during  the  first  transports  of  their  exultation,  they  ran 
\ntO  every  excess  of  licentious  indulgence,  with  the  riotous  spirit  usual 
among  low  adventurers  upon  extraordinary  success.  But  amidst  this  dis- 
sipation, their  chief  and  his  confidants  were  obliged  to  turn  their  thoughts 
sometimes  to  what  was  serious,  and  deliberated  with  much  solicitude  con- 
cerning the  part  that  he  ought  now  to  take.  Carvajal,  no  less  bold  and 
decisive  in  council  than  in  the  field,  had  from  the  beginning  warned  Pizarro, 
that  in  the  career  on  which  he  was  entering,  it  was  vain  to  think  of  holding 
a  middle  course  ;  that  he  must  either  boldly  aim  at  all,  or  attempt  nothing. 
From  the  time  that  Pizarro  obtained  possession  of  the  government  of 
Peru,  he  inculcated  the  same  maxim  with  greater  earnestness.  Upon  re- 
ceiving an  account  of  the  victory  at  Quito,  he  remonstrated  with  him  in  a 
tone  still  more  peremptory.  "  You  have  usurped,"  said  he,  in  a  letter 
written  to  Pizarro  on  that  occasion,  "  the  supreme  power  in  this  country, 
in  contempt  of  the  emperor's  commission  to  the  viceroy.  You  have 
marched  in  hostile  array  against  the  royal  standard ;  you  have  attacked 
the  representative  of  your  sovereign  in  the  field,  have  defeated  him,  and 
cut  off  his  head.  Think  not  that  ever  a  monarch  will  forgive  such  insults 
on  his  dignity,  or  that  any  reconciliation  with  him  can  be  cordial  or  sincere. 
Depend  no  longer  on  the  precarious  favour  of  another.  Assume  yourself 
the  sovereignty  over  a  country  to  the  dominion  of  which  your  family  has 
a  title  founded  on  the  rights  both  of  discovery  and  conquest.  It  is  in  your 
power  to  attach  every  Spaniard  in  Peru  of  any  consequence  inviolably  to 

*  Zarate.  lib.  v.  c.  15, 16—24.  Gomara,  c.  187.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  25—28.  Fernandez,  lib. 
I.e.  34.  40.  Herrera,  dec.  1,  lib.  viii.  c.  16. 20— 27.  t  Zarate,  lib.  v. c.  31,  32.  Gomara,  c. 

170.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  33,  34.    Fernandez,  lib.  i.  c.  51—54.    Herrera,  dec.  7.  lib.  x.  c.  12. 1&— 
22.  dec  8.  lib.  i.  c.  1—3.    Benzo,  lib.  iii.  c.  12. 


AMERICA.  303 

your  interest,  by  liberal  grants  of  lands  and  of  Indians,  or  by  instituting 
ranks  of  nobility,  and  creating  titles  of  honour  similar  to  those  which  are 
courted  with  so  much  eagerness  in  Europe.  By  establishing  orders  of 
knighthood,  with  privileges  and  distinctions  resembling  those  in  Spain,  you 
may  bestow  a  gratification  upon  the  officers  in  your  service,  suited  to  the 
ideas  of  military  men.  Nor  is  it  to  your  countrymen  only  that  you  ought 
to  attend ;  endeavour  to  gain  the  natives.  By  marrying  the  Coya  or 
daughter  of  the  Sun  next  in  succession  to  the  crown,  you  will  induce  the 
Indians,  out  of  veneration  for  the  blood  of  their  ancient  princes,  to  unite 
with  the  Spaniards  in  support  of  your  authority. — Thus,  at  the  head  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Peru,  as  well  as  of  the  new  settlers  there,  you  may 
set  at  defiance  the  power  of  Spain,  and  repel  with  ease  any  feeble  force 
which  it  can  send  at  such  a  distance."  Cepeda,  the  lawVer,  who  was 
now  Pizarro's  confidential  counsellor,  warmly  seconded  Carvajal's  ex- 
hortations,  and  employed  whatever  learning  he  possessed  in  demonstrating, 
that  all  the  founders  of  great  monarchies  had  been  raised  to  pre-eminence, 
not  by  the  antiquity  of  their  lineage,  or  the  validity  of  their  rights,  but  by 
their  own  aspiring  valour  and  personal  merit.* 

Pizarro  listened  attentively  to  both,  and  could  not  conceal  the  satisfaction 
with  which  he  contemplated  the  object 'that  they  presented  to  his  view. 
But,  happily  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  world,  few  men  possess  that 
superior  strength  of  mind,  and  extent  of  abilities,  which  are  capable  of 
forming  and  executing  such  daring  schemes,  as  cannot  be  accomplished 
without  overturning  the  established  order  of  society,  and  violating  those 
maxims  of  duty  which  men  are  accustomed  to  hold  sacred.  The  medio- 
crity of  Pizarro's  talents  circumscribed  his  ambition  within  more  narrow 
limits.  Instead  of  aspiring  at  independent  power,  he  confined  his  views 
to  the  obtaining  from  the  court  of  Spain  a  confirmation  of  the  authority 
which  he  now  possessed ;  and  for  that  purpose  he  sent  an  officer  of  dis- 
tinction thither,  to  give  such  a  representation  of  his  conduct,  and  of  the 
state  of  the  country,  as  might  induce  the  emperor  and  his  ministers,  either 
from  inclination  or  from  necessity,  to  continue  him  in  his  present  station. 

While  Pizarro  was  deliberating- with  respect  to  the  part  which  he  should 
take,  consultations  were  held  in  Spain,  with  no  less  solicitude,  concerning 
the  measures  which  ought  to  be  pursued  in  order  to  re-establish  the  em- 
peror's authority  in  Peru.  Though  unacquainted  with  the  last  excesses  of 
outrage  to  which  the  malecontents  had  proceeded  in  that  country,  the 
court  had  received  an  account  of  the  insurrection  against  the  viceroy,  ot 
his  imprisonment,  and  the  usurpation  of  the  government  by  Pizarro.  A 
revolution  so  alarming  called  for  an  immediate  interposition  of  the  em- 
peror's abilities  and  authority.  But  as  he  was  fully  occupied  at  that  time 
in  Germany,  in  conducting  the  war  against  the  famous  league  of  Smalkalde, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  arduous  enterprises  in  his  reign,  the  care 
of  providing  a  remedy  for  the  disorders  in  Peru  devolved  upon  his  son 
Philip,  and  the  counsellors  whom  Charles  had  appointed  to  assist  him  in 
the  government  of  Spain  during  his  absence.  At  first  view,  the  actions  ot 
Pizarro  and  his  adherents  appeared  so  repugnant  to  the  duty  of  subjects 
towards  their  sovereign,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  ministers  insisted  on 
declaring  them  instantly  to  be  guilty  of  rebellion,  and  on  proceeding  to 
punish  them  with  exemplary  rigour.  But  when  the  fervour  of  their  zeal 
and  indignation  began  to  abate,  innumerable  obstacles  to  the  execution  of 
this  measure  presented  themselves.  The  veteran  bands  of  infantry,  the 
strength  and  glory  of  the  Spanish  .  armies,  were  then  employed  in  Ger- 
many. Spain,  exhausted  of  men  and  money  by  a  long  series  of  wars,  in 
which  she  had  been  involved  by  the  restless  ambition  of  two  successive 
monarchs,  could  not  easily  equip  an  armament  of  sufficient  force  to  reduce 

*  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  40.    Fernandez,  lib.  i.  c.  34  lib,  ii.  c.  1. 49.    Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  ii,  c.  1Q. 


304  HISTORY  OF  [Boos  VI. 

Pizarro.  To  transport  any  respectable  body  of  troops  to  a  country  so 
remote  as  Peru,  appeared  almost  impossible.  While  Pizarro  continued 
master  of  the  South  Sea,  the  direct  route  by  Nombre  de  Dios  and  Panama 
was  impracticable.  An  attempt  to  march  to  Quito  by  land  through  the 
new  kingdom  of  Granada,  and  the  province  of  Popayan,  across  regions  of 
prodigious  extent,  desolate,  unhealthy,  or  inhabited  by  fierce  and  hostile 
tribes,  would  be  attended  with  insurmountable  danger  and  hardships.  The 
passage  to  the  South  Sea  by  the  Straits  of  Magellan  was  so  tedious,  so  un- 
certain, and  so  little  known  in  that  age,  that  no  confidence  could  be  placed 
in  any  effort  carried  on  in  a  course  pt  navigation  so  remote  and  precarious. 
Nothing  then  remained  but  to  relinquish  the  system  which  the  ardour  of 
their  loyalty  had  first  suggested,  and  to  attempt  by  lenient  measures  what 
could  not  be  effected  by  force.  It  was  manifest  from  Pizarro's  solicitude 
to  represent  his  conduct  in  a  favourable  light  to  the  emperor,'that  notwith- 
standing the  excesses  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  he  still  retained  senti- 
ments of  veneration  for  his  sovereign.  By  a  proper  application  to  these, 
together  with  some  such  concessions  as  should  discover  a  spirit  of  mode- 
ration and  forbearance  in  government,  there  was  still  room  to  hope  that  he 
might  be  vet  reclaimed,  or  the  ideas  of  loyalty  natural  to  Spaniards  might 
so  far  revive  among  his  followers,  that  they  would  no  longer  lend  their  aid 
to  uphold  his  usurped  authority. 

The  success,  however,  of  this  negotiation,  no  less  delicate  than  it  was 
important,  depended  entirely  on  the  abilities  and  address  of  the  person  to 
whom  it  should  be  committed.  After  weighing  with  much  attention  the 
comparative  merit  of  various  persons,  the  Spanish  ministers  fixed  with 
unanimity  of  choice  upon  Pedro  de  la  Gasca,  a  priest  in  no  higher  station 
than  that  of  counsellor  to  the  Inquisition.  Though  in  no  public  office,  he 
had  been  occasionally  employed  by  government  in  affairs  of  trust  and  con- 
sequence, and  had  conducted  them  with  no  less  skill  than  success ;  dis- 
playing a  gentle  and  insinuating  temper,  accompanied  with  much  firmness  ; 
probity,  superior  to  any  feeling  of  private  interest ;  and  a  cautious  cir- 
cumspection in  concerting  measures,  followed  by  such  vigour  in  executing 
them  as  is  rarely  found  in  alliance  with  the  other.  These  qualities  marked 
him  out  for  the  function  to  which  he  was  destined.  The  emperor,  to 
whom  Gasca  was  not  unknown,  warmly  approved  of  the  choice,  and 
communicated  it  to  him  in  a  letter  containing  expressions  of  good  will  and 
confidence,  no  less  honourable  to  the  prince  who  wrote,  than  to  the  subject 
who  received  it.  Gasca,  notwithstanding  his  advanced  age  and  feeble 
constitution,  and  though,  from  the  apprehensions  natural  to  a  man,  who, 
during  the  course  of  his  life,  had  never  been  out  of  his  own  country,  he 
dreaoted  the  effects  of  a  long  voyage,  and  of  an  unhealthy  climate,*  did 
not  hesitate  a  moment  about  complying  with  the  will  of  his  sovereign. 
But  as  a  proof  that  it  was  from  this  principle  alone  he  acted,  he  refused  a 
bishopric  which  was  offered  to  him  in  order  that  he  might  appear  in  Peru 
with  a  more  dignified  character ;  he  would  accept  of  no  higher  title  than 
that  of  President  of  the  Court  of  Audience  in  Lima;  and  declared  that  he 
would  receive  no  salary  on  account  of  his  discharging  the  duties  of  that 
office.  All  he  required  was,  that  the  expense  of  supporting  his  family 
should  be  defrayed  by  the  public  ;  and  as  he  was  to  go  like  a  minister  of 
peace  with  his  gown  and  breviary,  and  without  any  retinue  but  a  few 
domestics,  this  would  not  load  the  revenue  with  any  enormous  burden.f 

But  while  he  discovered  such  disinterested  moderation  with  respect  to 
whatever  related  personally  to  himself,  he  demanded  his  official  powers  in 
a  very  different  tone.  He  insisted,  as  he  was  to  be  employed  in  a  country 
so  remote  from  the  seat  of  government,  where  he  could  not  have  recourse 
to  his  sovereign  for  new  instructions  on  every  emergence ;  and  as  the  whole 

*  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  17.  t  Zarate,  lib.  vh  c.  6.    Gomara,  c.  174.    Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c 

14—16.    Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  v.  c.  1.    Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  i.  c.  4,  &c, 


AMERICA.  305 

success  of  his  negotiations  must  depend  upon  the  confidence  which  the 
people  with  whom  he  had  to  treat  could  place  in  the  extent  of  his  powers, 
that  he  ought  to  be  invested  with  unlimited  authority  ;  that  his  jurisdiction 
must  reach  to  all  persons  and  to  all  causes ;  that  he  must  be  empowered 
to  pardon,  to  punish,  or  to  reward,  as  circumstances  and  the  behaviour  of 
different  men  might  require  ;  that  in  case  of  resistance  from  the  malecon- 
tents,  he  might  be  authorized  to  reduce  them  to  obedience  by  force  of 
arms,  to  levy  troops  for  that  purpose,  and  to  call  for  assistance  from  the 
governors  of  all  the  Spanish  settlements  in  America.  These  powers, 
though  manifestly  conducive  to  the  great  objects  of  his  mission,  appeared 
to  the  Spanish  ministers  to  be  inalienable  prerogatives  of  royalty,  which 
ought  not  to  be  delegated  to  a  subject,  and  they  refused  to  grant  them. 
But  the  emperor's  views  were  more  enlarged.  As,  from  the  nature  of  his 
employment,  Gasca  must  be  intrusted  with  discretionary  power  in  several 
points,  and  all  his  efforts  might  prove  ineffectual  if  he  was  circumscribed 
in  any  one  particular,  Charles  scrupled  not  to  invest  him  with  authority  to 
the  full  extent  that  he  demanded.  Highly  satisfied  with  this  fresh  proof  of 
his  master's  confidence,  Gasca  hastened  his  departure,  and,  without  either 
money  or  troops,  set  out  to  quell  a  formidable  rebellion.* 

On  his  arrival  at  Nombre  de  Dios  [July  27],  he  found  Herman  Mexia, 
an  officer  of  note  posted  there,  by  order  of  Pizarro,  with  a  considerable 
body  of  men,  to  oppose  the  landing  of  any  hostile  forces.  But  Gasca  ap- 
peared in  such  pacific  guise,  with  a  train  so  little  formidable,  and  with  a 
title  of  no  such  dignity  as  to  excite  terror,  that  he  was  received  with  much 
respect.  From  Nombre  de  Dios  he  advanced  to  Panama,  and  met  with  a 
similar  reception  from  Hinojosa,  whom  Pizarro  had  intrusted  with  the 
government  of  that  town,  and  the  command  of  his  fleet  stationed  there. 
In  both  places  he  held  the  same  language,  declaring  that  he  was  sent  by 
their  sovereign  as  a  messenger  of  peace,  not  as  a  minister  of  vengeance ; 
that  he  came  to  redress  all  their  grievances,  to  revoke  the  laws  which  had 
excited  alarm,  to  pardon  past  offences,  and  to  re-establish  order  and  justice 
in  the  government  of  Peru.  His  mild  deportment,  the  simplicity  of  his 
manners,  the  sanctity  of  his  profession,  and  a  winning  appearance  of  can- 
dour, gained  credit  to  his  declarations.  The  veneration  due  to  a  person 
clothed  with  legal  authority,  and  acting  in  virtue  of  a  royal  commission, 
began  to  revive  among  men  accustomed  for  some  time  to  nothing  more 
respectable  than  a  usurped  jurisdiction.  Hinojosa,  Mexia,  and  several  other 
officers  of  distinction,  to  each  of  whom  Gasca  applied  separately,  were 
gained  over  to  his  interest,  and  waited  only  for  some  decent  occasion  of 
declaring  openly  in  his  favour.! 

This  the  violence  of  Pizarro  soon  afforded  them.  As  soon  as  he  heard 
of  Gasca's  arrival  at  Panama,  though  he  received,  at  the  same  time,  an 
account  of  the  nature  of  his  commission,  and  was  informed  of  his  offers  not 
only  to  render  every  Spaniard  in  Peru  easy  concerning  what  was  past,  by 
an  act  of  general  oblivion,  but  secure  with  respect  to  the  future,  by  re- 
pealiog  the  obnoxious  laws  ;  instead  of  accepting  with  gratitude  his  sove- 
reign's gracious  concessions,  he  was  so  much  exasperated  on  finding  that 
he  was  not  to  be  continued  in  his  station  as  governor  of  the  cbuntry,  that 
he  instantly  resolved  to  oppose  the  president's  entry  into  Peru,  and  to  pre- 
vent his  exercising  any  jurisdiction  there.  To  this  desperate  resolution  he 
added  another  highly  preposterous.  He  sent  a  new  deputation  to  Spain 
to  justify  this  conduct,  and  to  insist,  in  name  of  all  the  communities  in 
Peru,  for  a  confirmation  of  the  government  to  himself  during  life,  as  the 
only  means  of  preserving  tranquillity  there.  The  persons  intrusted  with 
this  strange  commission,  intimated  the  intention  of  Pizarro  to  the  president, 
and  required  him,  in  his  name,  to  depart  from  Panama  and  return  to  Spain. 

*  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  16—18.  t  Ibid.  lib.  ii.  c.  21,  &,c.    Zarate,  lib.  vi.  c.  6.  7.    Comaia, 

c.  175.    Vesa,  p.  11.  lib.  v.  c.  3 

VOL.  I.-39  15 


306  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VI. 

They  carried  likewise  secret  instructions  to  Hinqjosa,  directing  him  to  offer 
Gasca  a  present  of  fifty  thousand  pesos,  if  he  would  comply  voluntarily 
with  what  was  demanded  of  him  ;  and  if  he  should  continue  obstinate,  to 
cut  him  off,  either  by  assassination  or  poison.* 

Many  circumstances  concurred  in  pushing  on  Pizarro  to  those  wild  mea- 
sures. Having  been  once  accustomed  to  supreme  command,  he  could  not 
bear  the  thoughts  of  descending  to  a  private  station.  Conscious  of  his 
own  demerit,  he  suspected  that  the  emperor  studied  only  to  deceive  him, 
and  would  never  pardon  the  outrages  which  he  had  committed.  His  chief 
confidants,  no  less  guilty,  entertained  the  same  apprehensions.  The  ap- 
proach of  Gasca  without  any  military  force  excited  no  terror.  There 
were  now  above  six  thousand  Spaniards  settled  in  Peru  ;t  and  at  the  head 
of  these  he  doubted  not  to  maintain  his  own  independence,  if  the  court  of 
Spain  should  refuse  to  grant  what  he  required.  But  he  knew  not  that  a 
spirit  of  defection  had  already  begun  to  spread  among  those  whom  he 
trusted  most.  Hinpjosa,  amazed  at  Pizarro's  precipitate  resolution  of  setting 
himself  in  opposition  to  the  emperor's  commission,  and  disdaining  to  be 
his  instrument  in  perpetrating  the  odious  crimes  pointed  out  in  his  secret 
instructions,  publicly  recognised  the  title  of  the  president  to  the  supreme 
authority  in  Peru.  The  officers  under  his  command  did  the  same.  Such 
was  the  contagious  influence  of  the  example,  that  it  reached  even  the  de 
puties  who  had  been  sent  from  Peru ;  and  at  the  time  when  Pizarro  ex- 
pected to  hear  either  of  Gasca's  return  to  Spain,  or  of  his  death,  he 
received  an  account  of  his  being  master  of  the  fleet,  of  Panama,  and  of 
the  troops  stationed  there. 

1547. J  Irritated  almost  to  madness  by  events  so  unexpected,  he  openly 
prepared  for  war  ;  and  in  order  to  give  some  colour  of  justice  to  his  arms, 
he  appointed  the  court  of  audience  in  Lima  to  proceed  to  the  trial  of 
Gasca,  for  the  crimes  of  having  seized  his  ships,  seduced  his  officers,  and 
prevented  his  deputies  from  proceeding  in  their  voyage  to  Spain.  Cepeda, 
though  acting  as  a  judge  in  virtue  of  the  royal  commission,  did  not  scruple 
to  prostitute  the  dignity  of  his  function  by  finding  Gasca  guilty  of  treason, 
and  condemning  him  to  death  on  that  account.];  Wild  and  even  ridiculous 
as  this  proceeding  was,  it  imposed  on  the  low  illiterate  adventurers,  with 
whom  Peru  was  filled,  by  the  semblance  of  a  legal  sanction  warranting 
Pizarro  to  carry  on  hostilities  against  a  convicted  traitor.  Soldiers  accord- 
ingly resorted  irom  every  quarter  to  his  standard,  and  he  was  soon  at  the 
head  of  a  thousand  men,  the  best  equipped  that  had  ever  taken  the  field 
in  Peru. 

Gasca,  on  his  part,  perceiving  that  force  must  be  employed  in  order  to 
accomplish  the  purpose  of  his  mission,  was  no  less  assiduous  in  collecting- 
troops  from  Nicaragua,  Carthagena,  and  other  settlements  on  the  conti- 
nent ;  and  with  such  success,  that  he  was  soon  in  a  condition  to  detach  a 
squadron  of  his  fleet,  with  a  considerable  body  of  soldiers,  to  the  coast  of 
Peru  [April].  Their  appearance  excited  a  dreadful  alarm:  and  though 
they  aid  not  attempt  for  some  time  to  make  any  descent,  they  did  more 
effectual  service  by  setting  ashore  in  different  places  persons  who  dispersed 
copies  of  the  act  of  general  indemnity,  and  the  revocation  of  the  late 
edicts ;  and  who  made  known  every  where  the  pacific  intentions,  as  well 
as  mild  temper,  of  the  president.  THe  effect  of  spreading  this  informa- 
tion was  wonderful.  All  who  were  dissatisfied  with  Pizarro's  violent 
administration,  all  who  retained  any  sentiments  of  fidelity  to  their  sovereign, 
began  to  meditate  revolt.  Some  openly  deserted  a  cause  which  they  now 
deemed  to  be  unjust.  Centeno,  leaving  the  cave  in  which  he  lay  concealed. 

*  Zarate,  lib.  vi.  c.  8.  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  33, 34.  Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  ii.c.9, 1).  t  Herrera, 
dec.  8.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.  {  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  55.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  v.  c.  7.  He.rera,  dec.  3  lib 

iii.  c.  6. 


AMERICA.  307 

assembled  about  fifty  of  his  former  adherents,  and  with  this  feeble  half-armed 
band  advanced  boldly  to  Cuzco.  By  a  sudden  attack  in  the  night-time, 
in  which  he  displayed  no  less  military  skill  than  valour,  he  rendered  him- 
self master  of  that  capital,  though  deiended  by  a  garrison  of  five  hundred 
men.  Most  of  these  having  ranged  themselves  under  his  banners,  he  had 
soon  the  command  of  a  respectable  body  of  troops.* 

Pizarro,  though  astonished  at  beholding  one  enemy  approaching  by  sea, 
and  another  by  land,  at  a  time  when  he  trusted  to  the  union  of  all  Peru 
in  his  favour,  was  of  a  spirit  more  undaunted,  and  more  accustomed  to  the 
vicissitudes  of  fortune,  than  to  be  disconcerted  or  appalled.  As  the  danger 
from  Centeno's  operations  was  the  most  urgent,  he  instantly  set  out  to 
oppose  him.  Having1  provided  horses  for  all  his  soldiers,  he  marched 
with  amazing  rapidity.  But  every  morning  he  found  his  force  diminished., 
by  numbers  who  had  left  him  during  the  night ;  and  though  he  became 
suspicious  to  excess,  and  punished  without  mercy  all  whom  he  suspected, 
the  rage  of  desertion  was  too  violent  to  be  checked.  Before  he  got 
within  sight  of  the  enemy  at  Huarina,  near  the  lake  of  Titiaca,  he  could 
not  muster  more  than  four  hundred  soldiers.  But  these  he  justly  con- 
sidered as  men  of  tried  attachment,  on  whom  he  might  depend.  They 
were  indeed  the  boldest  and  most  desperate  of  his  followers,  conscious, 
like  himself,  of  crimes  for  which  they  could  hardly  expect  forgiveness, 
and  without  any  hope  but  in  the  success  of  their  arms.  With  these  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  attack  Centeno's  troops  [Oct.  20],  though  double  to 
his  own  in  number.  The  royalists  did  not  decline  the  combat.  It  was 
the  most  obstinate  and  bloody  that  had  hitherto  been  fought  in  Peru.  At 
length  the  intrepid  valour  of  Pizarro,  and  the  superiority  of  Caryajal's 
military  talents,  triumphed  over  numbers,  and  obtained  a  complete  victory. 
The  booty  was  immense  [l41],and  the  treatment  of  the  vanquished  cruel. 
By  this  signal  success  the  reputation  of  Pizarro  was  re-established  ;  and 
being  now  deemed  invincible  in  the  field,  his  army  increased  daily  in 
number.t 

But  events  happened  in  other  parts  of  Peru,  which  more  than  counter- 
balanced the  splendid  victory  at  Huarina.  Pizarro  had  scarcely  left  Lima, 
when  the  citizens,  weary  of  his  oppressive  dominion,  erectea  the  royal 
standard,  and  Aldana,  with  a  detachment  of  soldiers  from  the  fleet,  took 
possession  of  the  town.  About  the  same  time,|  Gasca  landed  at  Tumbez 
with  five  hundred  men.  Encouraged  by  his  presence,  every  settlement  in 
the  low  country  declared  for  the  king.  The  situation  of  the  two  parties 
was  now  perfectly  reversed  ;  Cuzco  and  the  adjacent  provinces  were 
possessed  by  Pizarro;  all  the  rest  of  the  empire,  from  Quito  south- 
ward, acknowledged  the  jurisdiction  of  the  president.  As  his  numbers 
augmented  fast,  Gasca  advanced  into  the  interior  part  of  the  country. 
His  behaviour  still  continued  to  be  gentle  and  unassuming  ;  he  expressed, 
on  every  occasion,  his  ardent  wish  of  terminating  the  contest  without 
bloodshed.  More  solicitous  to  reclaim  than  to  punish,  he  upbraided  no 
man  for  past  offences,  but  received  them  as  a  father  receives  penitent 
children  returning  to  a  sense  of  their  duty.  Though  desirous  of  peace, 
he  did  not  slacken  his  preparations  for  war.  He  appointed  the  general 
rendezvous  of  his  troops  in  the  fertile  valley  of  Xauxa,  on  the  road  to 
Cuzco.§  There  he  remained  for  some  months,  not  only  that  he  might 
have  time  to  make  another  attempt  towards  an  accommodation  with 
Pizarro,  but  that  he  might  train  his  new  soldiers  to  the  use  of  arms,  and 
accustom  them  to  the  discipline  of  a  camp,  before  he  led  them  against  a 
body  of  victorious  veterans.  Pizarro,  intoxicated  with  the  success  which 

*  ZuratR,  lib.  vi.  c.  13—16.  Gomara,  c.  180, 181.  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  28.  64,  &c.  f  Zarate, 
lib.  vii.  c.  -2.  3,  Gomara,  c.  181.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  v.  c.  18,  &c.  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  79.  Heweva, 
dec.  8.  lib.  iv.  c.l,  2.  J  Zarate,  lib.  vi.  c.  17.  6  Ibid.  lib.  vii.  c.  9.  Fernandez,  lib  ii.  c.  77. 82. 


SOB  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  VI. 

had  hitherto  accompanied  his  arms,  and  elated  with  having  again  near  a 
thousand  men  under  his  command,  refused  to  listen  to  any  terms,  although 
Cepeda,  together  with  several  of  his  officers,  and  even  Carvajal  him- 
self [142J,  ffave  it  as  their  advice,  to  close  with  the  president's  offer  of  a 
general  indemnity,  and  the  revocation  of  the  obnoxious  laws.*  Gasca, 
having  tried  in  vain  every  expedient  to  avoid  imbruing  his  hands  in  the 
blood  of  his  countrymen,  began  to  move  towards  Cuzco  [Dec.  29]  at  the 
head  of  sixteen  hundred  men. 

Pizarro,  confident  of  victory,  suffered  the  royalists  to  pass  all  the  rivers 
which  lie  between  GOamanga  and  Cuzco  without  opposition  [1548],  and 
to  advance  within  four  leagues  of  that  capital,  flattering  himself  that  a 
defeat  in  such  a  situation  as  rendered  escape  impracticable  would  at  once 
terminate  the  war.  He  then  marched  out  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  Carva- 
jal chose  his  ground,  and  made  the  disposition  of  the  troops  with  the 
discerning  eye  and  profound  knowledge  in  the  art  of  war  conspicuous  in 
all  his  operations.  As  the  two  armies  moved  forward  slowly  to  the  charge 
[April  9],  the  appearance  of  each  was  singular.  In  that  of  Pizarro, 
composed  of  men  enriched  with  the  spoils  of  the  most  opulent  country  in 
America,  every  officer,  and  almost,  all  the  private  men,  were  clothed  in 
stuffs  of  silk,  or  brocade,  embroidered  with  gold  and  silver ;  and  their 
horses,  their  arms,  their  standards,  were  adorned  with  all  the  pride  of 
military  pomp.t  That  of  Gasca,  though  not  so  splendid,  exhibited  what 
was  no  less  striking.  He  himself,  accompanied  by  the  archbishop  of  Lima, 
the  bishops  of  Quito  and  Cuzco,  and  a  great  number  of  ecclesiastics, 
marching  along  the  lines,  blessing  the  men,  and  encouraging  them  to  a 
resolute  discharge  of  their  duty. 

When  both  armies  were  just  ready  to  engage,  Cepeda  set  spurs  to  his 
horse,  galloped  off,  and  surrendered  himself  to  the  president.  Garcilasso  de 
la  Vega,  and  other  officers  of  note,  followed  his  example.  The  revolt  of 
persons  |n  such  high  rank  struck  all  with  amazement.  The  mutual  con- 
fidence on  which  the  union  and  strength  of  armies  depend,  ceased  at  once. 
Distrust  and  consternation  spread  from  rank  to  rank.  Some  silently  slipped 
away,  others  threw  down  their  arms,  the  greatest  number  went  over  to 
the  royalists.  Pizarro,  Carvajal,  and  some  leaders,  employed  authority, 
threats,  and  entreaties,  to  stop  them,  but  in  vain.  In  less  than  half  an 
hour,  a  body  of  men,  which  might  have  decided  the  fate  of  the  Peruvian 
empire,  was  totally  dispersed.  Pizarro,  seeing  all  irretrievably  lost,  cried 
out  in  amazement  to  a  few  officers  who  still  faithfully  adhered  to  him, 
"What  remains  for  us  to  do?"— "Let  us  rush,"  replied  one  of  them, 
"  upon  the  enemy's  firmest  battalion,  and  die  like  Romans."  Dejected 
with  such  a  reverse  of  fortune,  he  had  not  spirit  to  follow  this  soldierly 
counsel,  and  with  a  tameness  disgraceful  to  his  former  fame  he  surrendered 
to  one  of  Gasca's  officers.  Carvajal,  endeavouring  to  escape,  was  over- 
taken and  seized. 

Gasca,  happy  in  this  bloodless  victory,  did  not  stain  it  with  cruelty. 
Pizarro,  Carvajal,  and  a  small  number  of  the  most  distinguished  or  noto- 
rious offenders,  were  punished  capitally.  Pizarro  was  beheaded  the  day 
after  he  surrendered.  He  submitted  to  his  fate  with  a  composed  dignity, 
and  seemed  desirous  to  atone  by  repentance  for  the  crimes  which  he  had 
committed.  The  end  of  Carvajal  was  suitable  to  his  life.  On  his  trial 
he  offered  no  defence.  When  the  sentence  adjudging  him  to  be  hanged 
was  pronounced,  he  carelessly  replied,  "  One  can  die  but  once."  During 
the  interval  between  the  sentence  and  execution,  he  discovered  no  sign 
either  of  remorse  for  the  past,  or  of  solicitude  about  the  future  ;  scoffing 
at  all  who  visited  him,  in  his  usual  sarcastic  vein  of  mirth,  with  the  same 
quickness  of  repartee  and  gross  pleasantry  as  at  any  other  period  of  his 

*  Zarate,  lib.  vii.  c.  6     Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  v  c.  27.        t  Zarate,  lib.  vi.  c.  11. 


AMERICA.  309 

life.  Cepeda,  more  criminal  than  either,  ought  to  have  shared  the  same  fate ; 
but  the  merit  of  haying1  deserted  his  associates  at  such  a  critical  moment, 
and  with  such  decisive  effect,  saved  him  from  immediate  punishment. 
He  was  sent,  however,  as  a  prisoner  to  Spain,  and  died  in  confinement.* 

In  the  minute  details  which  the  contemporary  historians  have  given  oi 
the  civil  dissensions  that  raged  in  Peru,  with  little  interruption,  during  ten 
years,  many  circumstances  occur  so  striking,  and  which  indicate  such  an 
uncommon  state  of  manners  as  to  merit  particular  attention. 

Though  the  Spaniards  who  first  invaded  Peru  were  of  the  lowest  order 
in  society,  and  the  greater  part  of  those  who  afterwards  joined  them  were 
persons  of  desperate  fortune,  yet  in  all  the  bodies  of  troops  brought  into 
the  field  by  the  different  leaders  who  contended  for  superiority,  not  one 
man  acted  as  a  hired  soldier,  that  follows  his  standard  for  pay.  Every 
adventurer  in  Peru  considered  himself  as  a  conqueror,  entitled  by  his  ser- 
vices, to  an  establishment  in  that  country  which  had  been  acquired  by  his 
valour.  In  the  contests  between  the  rival  chiefs,  «ach  chose  his  side  as 
he  was  directed  by  his  own  judgment  or  affections.  He  joined  his^  com- 
mander as  a  companion  of  his  fortunes,  and  disdained  to  degrade  himseli 
by  receiving  the  wages  of  a  mercenary.  It  was  to  their  sword,  not  to 
pre-eminence  in  office,  or  nobility  of  birth,  that  most  of  the  leaders  whom 
they  followed  were  indebted  for  their  elevation  ;  and  each  of  their  ad- 
herents hoped,  by  the  same  means,^:o  open  a  way  for  himself  to  the  pos 
session  of  power  and  wealth.! 

But  though  the  troops  in  Peru  served  without  any  regular  pay,  they 
were  raised  at  immense  expense.  Among  men  accustomed  to  divide  the 
spoils  of  an  opulent  country,  the  desire  of  obtaining  wealth  acquired  in- 
credible force.  The  ardour  of  pursuit  augmented  ^in  proportion  to  the 
hope  of  success.  Where  all  were  intent  on  the  same  object,  and  under 
the  dominion  of  the  same  passion,  there  was  but  one  mode  of  gaining  men, 
or  of  securing  their  attachment.  Officers  of  name  and  influence,  besides 
the  promise  of  future  establishments,  received  in  hand  large  gratuities  from 
the  chief  with  whom  they  engaged.  -  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  in  order  to  raise  a 
thousand  men,  advanced  five  hundred  thousand  pesos.J  Gasca  expended 
in  levying  the  troops  which  he  led  against  Pizarro  nine  hundred  thousand 
pesos.§  The  distribution  of  property,  bestowed  as  the  reward  of  services, 
was  still  more  exorbitant.  Cepeda,  as  the  recompense  of  his  perfidy  and 
address,  in  persuading  the  court  of  royal  audience  to  give^the  sanction  of 
its  authority  to  the  usurped  jurisdiction  of  Pizarro,  received  a  grant  of 
lands  which  yielded  an  annual  income  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pesosJJ  Hinojosa,  who  by  his  early  defection  from  Pizarro,  and  surrender 
of  the  fleet  to  Gasca,  decided  the  fate  of  Peru,  obtained  a  district  of  coun- 
try affording  two  hundred  thousand  pesos  of  yearly  value. IF  While  such 
rewards  were  dealt  out  to  the  principal  officers,  with  more  than  royal  mu- 
nificence, proportional  shares  were  conferred  upon  those  of  inferior  rank. 

Such  a  rapid  change  of  fortune  produced  its  natural  effects.  It  gave 
birth  to  new  wants  and  new  desires.  Veterans,  long  accustomed  to  hard- 
ship and  toil,  acquired  of  a  sudden  a  taste  for  profuse  and  inconsiderate 
dissipation,  and  indulged  in  all  the  excesses  of  military  licentiousness. 
The  riot  of  low  debauchery  occupied  some  ;  a  relish  for  expensive  luxuries 
spread  among  others.**  The  meanest  soldier  in  Peru  would  have  thought 
himself  degraded  by  marching  on  foot  ;  and  at  a  time  when  the  prices  of 
horses  in  that  country  were  exorbitant,  each  insisted  on  being  furnished 
with  one  before  he  would  take  the  field.  But  though  less  patient  under 
the  fatigue  and  hardships  of  service,  they  were  ready  to  face  danger  and 

*  Zarate,  lib.  vii.  c.  6, 7,  8.  Gomara,  c.  185, 186.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  v.  c.  30,  &c.  Fernandez, 
lib.  ii.  c.  86,  &c.  Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  iv.  c.  14,  &c.  t  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  iv.  c.  38.  41.  J  Fer- 
nandez, lib.  ii.  c.  54.  §  Zarate,  lib.  vii.  c.  10.  Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  v.  c.  7.  ||  Gomara,  c.  164. 
1T  Vega,  p,  11.  lib.  vi.  c.  3.  **  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  ii.  c.  3.  dec.  8.  lib.  viii.  c.  10. 


310  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

death  with  as  much  intrepidity  as  ever ;  and  animated  by  the  hope  of 
new  rewards,  they  never  failed,  on  the  day  of  battle,  to  display  all  their 
ancient  valour. 

Together  with  their  courage,  they  retained  all  the  ferocity  by  which 
they  were  originally  distinguished.  Civil  discord  never  raged  with  a  more 
fell  spirit  than  among  the  Spaniards  in  Peru.  To  all  the  passions  which 
usually  envenom  contests  among  countrymen,  avarice  was  added,  and  ren- 
dered their  enmity  more  rancorous.  Eagerness  to  seize  the  valuable  for- 
feitures, expected  upon  the  death  of  every  opponent,  shut  the  door  against 
mercy.  To  be  wealthy  was  of  itself  sufficient  to  expose  a  man  to  accu- 
sation, or  to  subject  him  to  punishment.  On  the  slightest  suspicions,  Pi- 
zarro  condemned,  many  of  the  most  opulent  inhabitants  in  Peru  to  death. 
Carvajal,  without  searching  for  any  pretext  to  justify  his  cruelty,  cut  off 
many  more.  The  number  of  those  who  suffered  by  the  hands  of  the  exe- 
cutioner was  not  much  inferior  to  what  fell  in  the  field  [l  43];  and  the 
greater  part  was  condemned  without  the  formality  of  any  legal  trial. 

The  violence  with  which  the  contending  parties  treated  their  opponents 
was  not  accompanied  with  its  usual  attendants,  attachment  and  fidelity  to 
those  with  whom  they  acted.  The  ties  of  honour,  which  ought  to  be 
held  sacred  among  soldiers,  and  the  principle  of  integrity,  interwoven  as 
thoroughly  in  the  Spanish  character  as  in  that  of  any  nation,  seem  to  have 
been  equally  forgotten.  Even  regard  for  decency,  and  the  sense  of 
shame,  were  totally  lost.  During  their  dissensions,  there  was  hardly  a 
Spaniard  in  Peru  who  did  not  abandon  the  party  which  he  had  originally 
espoused,  betray  the  associates  with  whom  he  had  united,  and  violate  the 
engagements  under  which  he  had  come.  The  viceroy  Nugnez  Vela  was 
ruined  by  the  treachery  of  Ceped?  and  the  other  judges  of  the  royal  au- 
dience, who  were  bound  by  the  duties  of  their  function  to  have  supported 
his  authority.  The  chief  advisers  and  companions  of  Gonzalo  Pjzarro's 
revolt  were  the  first  to  forsake  him,  and  submit  to  his  enemies.  His  fleet 
was  given  up  to  Gasca  by  the  man  whom  he  had  singled  out  among  his 
officers  to  intrust  with  that  important  command.  On  the  day  that  was  to 
decide  his  fate,  an  army  of  veterans,  in  sight  of  the  enemy,  threw  down 
their  arms  without  striking  a  blow,  and  deserted  a  leader  who  had  often 
conducted  them  to  victory.  Instances  of  such  general  and  avowed  con- 
tempt of  the  principles  and  obligations  which  attach  man  to  man,  and  bind 
them  together  in  social  union,  rarely  occur  in  history.  It  is  only  where 
men  are  far  removed  from  the  seat  01  government,  where  the  restraints  of 
law  and  order  are  little  felt,  where  the  prospect  of  gain  is  unbounded,  and 
where  immense  wealth  may  cover  the  crimes  by  which  it  is  acquired, 
that  we  can  find  any  parallel  to  the  levity,  the  rapaciousness,  the  perfidy, 
and  corruption  prevalent  among  the  Spaniards  in  Peru. 

On  the  death  of  Pizarro,  the  malecontents  in  every  corner  of  Peru  laid 
down  their  arms,  and  tranquillity  seemed  to  be  perfectly  re-established. 
But  two  very  interesting  objects  still  remained  to  occupy  the  president's 
attention.  The  one  was  to  find  immediately  such  employment  for  a  mul- 
titude of  turbulent  and  daring  adventurers  with  which  the  country  was 
filled,  as  might  prevent  them  from  exciting  new  commotions.  The  other, 
to  bestow  proper  gratifications  upon  those  to  whose  loyalty  and  valour  he 
had  been  indebted  for  his  success.  The  former  of  these  was  in  some 
measure  accomplished,  by  appointing  Pedro  de  Valdivia  to  prosecute  the 
conquest  of  Chili ;  and  by  empowering  Diego  Centeno  to  undertake  the 
discovery  of  the  vast  regions  bordering  on  the  river  De  la  Plata.  The  re- 
putation of  those  leaders,  together  with  the  hopes  of  acquiring  wealth,  and 
of  rising  to  consequence  in  some  unexplored  country,  alluring  many^  of  the 
most  indigent  and  desperate  soldiers  to  follow  their  standards,  drained  off 
CO  inconsiderable  portion  of  that  mutinous  spirit  which  Gasca  dreaded. 

The  latter  was  an  affair  of  greater  difficulty  and  to  be  adjusted  with  a 


AMERICA.  311 

more  attentive  and  delicate  hand.  The  repartimientos,  or  allotments  of 
lands  and  Indians  which  fell  to  be  distributed,  in  consequence  of  the  death 
or  forfeiture  of  the  former  possessors,  exceeded  two  millions  of  pesos  of 
yearly  rent.*  Gasca,  when  now  absolute  master  of  this  immense  property, 
retained  the  same  disinterested  sentiments  which  he  had  originally  pro- 
fessed, and  refused  to  reserve  the  smallest  portion  of  it  for  himself.  ^  But 
the  number  of  claimants  was  great ;  and  whilst  the  vanity  or  avarice  of 
every  individual  fixed  the  value  of  his  own  services,  and  estimated  the 
recompense  which  he  thought  due  to  him,  the  pretensions  of  each  were  so 
extravagant  that  it  was  impossible  to  satisfy  all.  Gasca  listened  to  them 
one  by  one,  with  the  most  patient  attention  ;  and  that  he  might  have 
leisure  to  weigh  the  comparative  merit  of  their  several  claims  with  accu- 
racy, he  retired,  with  the  archbishop  of  Lima  and  a  single  secretary,  to  a 
village  twelve  leagues  from  Cuzco.  There  he  spent  several  days  in  allot- 
ting to  each  a  district  of  lands  and  number  of  Indians,  in  proportion  to  his 
idea  of  their  past  services  and  future  importance.  But  that  ne  might  get 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  fierce  storm  of  clamour  and  rage,  which  he  fore- 
saw would  burst  out  on  the  publication  of  his  decree,  notwithstanding  the 
impartial  equity  with  which  he  had  framed  it,  he  set  out  for  Lima,  leaving 
the  instrument  of  partition  sealed  up,  with  orders  not  to  open  it  lor  some 
days  after  his  departure. 

The  indignation  excited  by  publishing  the  decree  of  partition  [Aug.  24] 
was  not  less  than  Gasca  had  expected.  Vanity,  avarice,  emulation,  envy, 
shame,  rage,  and  all  the  other  passions  which  most  vehemently  agitate  the 
minds  of  men  when  both  their  honour  and  their  interest  are  deeply  affect- 
ed, conspired  in  adding  to  its  violence.  It  broke  out  with  all  the  fury  of 
military  insolence.  Calumny,  threats,  and  curses,  were  poured  out  openly 
upon  the  president.  He  was  accused  of  ingratitude,  of  partiality,  and  of 
injustice.  Among1  soldiers  prompt  to  action,  such  seditious  discourse  would 
have  been  soon  followed  by  deeds  no  less  violent,  and  they  already  began 
to  turn  their  eyes  towards  some  discontented  leaders,  expecting  them  to 
stand  forth  in  redress  of  their  wrongs.  By  some  vigorous  interpositions  of 
government,  a  timely  check  was  given  to  this  mutinous  spirit,  and  the  dan- 
ger of  another  civil  war  was  averted  for  the  present.! 

1549.]  Gasca,  however,  perceiving  that  the  flame  was  suppressed, 
rather  than  extinguished,  laboured  with  the  utmost  assiduity  to  soothe  the 
malecontents,  by  bestowing  large  gratuities  on  some,  by  promising  repar- 
timientos,  when  they  fell  vacant,  to  others,  and  by  caressing  and  flattering 
all.  But  that  the  public  security  might  rest  on  a  foundation  more  stable 
than  their  good  affection,  he  endeavoured  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  his 
successors  in  office,  byre-establishing  the  regular  administration  of  justice 
in  every  part  of  the  empire.  He  introduced  order  and  simplicity  into  the 
mode  of  collecting  the  royal  revenue.  He  issued  regulations  concerning 
the  treatment  of  the  Indians,  well  calculated  to  protect  them  from  oppres- 
sion, and  to  provide  for  their  instruction  in  the  principles  of  religion,  with- 
out depriving  the  Spaniards  of  the  benefit  accruing  from  their  labour. 
Having  now  accomplished  every  object  of  his  mission,  Gasca,  longing  to 
return  again  to  a  private  station,  committed  the  government  of  Peru  to 
the  court  of  audience,  and  set  out  for  Spain  [Feb.  1,  1550].  As,  during 
the  anarchy  and  turbulence  of  the  four  last  years,  there  had  been  no  remit- 
tance made  of  the  royal  revenue,  he  carried  with  him  thirteen  hundred 
thpusand^  pesos  of  public  money,  which  the  economy  and  order  of  his  ad- 
ministration enabled  him  to  save,  after  paying  all  the  expenses  of  the 
war. 

He  was  received  in  his  native  country  with  universal  admiration  of  his 

*  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  vi.  c.  4.  t  Zarate,  lib.  vii.  c.  9.  Gomara,  c.  187.  Vega,  p.  11.  lib.  vii.  e. 
1,  &c.  Fernandez,  p.  11.  lib.  L  c.  1,  &c.  Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  iv.  c.  17,  &e. 


312  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI. 

abilities  and  of  his  virtue.  Both  were,  indeed,  highly  conspicuous.  With- 
out army,  or  fleet,  or  public  funds  ;  with  a  train  so  simple,  that  only  three 
thousand  ducats  were  expended  in  equipping  him,*  he  set  out  to  oppose  a 
formidable  rebellion.  By  his  address  and  talents  he  supplied  all  those 
defects,  and  seemed  to  create  instruments  for  executing  his  designs.  He 
acquired  such  a  naval  force  as  gave  him  the  command  of  the  sea.  He 
raised  a  body  of  men  able  to  cope  with  the  veteran  bands  which  gave  law 
to  Peru.  He  vanquished  their  leader,  on  whose  arms  victory  had  hitherto 
attended,  and  in  place  of  anarchy  and  usurpation,  he  established  the 
government  of  laws,  and  the  authority  of  the  rightful  sovereign.  But  the 
praise  bestowed  on  his  abilities  was  exceeded  by  that  which  his  virtue 
merited.  After  residing  in  a  country  where  wealth  presented  allurements 
which  had  seduced  every  person  who  had  hitherto  possessed  power  there, 
he  returned  from  that  trying  station  with  integrity  not  only  untainted  but 
unsuspected.  After  distributing  among  his  countrymen  possessions  of 
greater  extent  and  value  than  had  ever  been  in  the  disposal  of  a  subject  in 
any  age  or  nation,  he  himself  remained  in  his  original  state  of  poverty ;  and 
at  the  very  time  when  he  brought  such  a  large  recruit  to  the  royal  treasury, 
he  was  obliged  to  apply  by  petition  for  a  small  sum  to  discharge  some 
petty  debts  which  he  nad  contracted  during  the  course  of  his  service.f 
Charles  was  not  insensible  to  such  disinterested  merit.  Gasca  was  re- 
ceived by  him  with  the  most  distinguishing  marks  of  esteem  ;  and  being 
promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Palencia,  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  the  tranquillity  of  retirement,  respected  by  his  country,  honoured  by  his 
sovereign,  and  beloved  by  all. 

Notwithstanding  all  Gasca's  wise  regulations,  the  tranquillity  of  Peru 
was  not  of  long  continuance.  In  a  country  where  the  authority  of 
government  had  been  almost  forgotten  during  the  long  prevalence  of 
anarchy  and  misrule,  where  there  were  disappointed  leaders  ripe  for  re- 
volt, and  seditious  soldiers  ready  to  follow  them,  it  was  not  difficult  to 
raise  combustion.  Several  successive  insurrections  desolated  the  country 
for  some  years.  But  as  those,  though  fierce,  were  only  transient  storms, 
excited  rather  by  the  ambition  and  turbulence  of  particular  men,  than  by 
general  or  public  motives,  the  detail  of  them  is  not  the  object  of  this  his- 
tory. These  commotions  in  Peru,  like  every  thing  of  extreme  violence 
either  in  the  natural  or  political  body,  were  not  of  long  duration ;  and  by 
carrying  off  the  corrupted  humours  which  had  given  rise  to  the  disorders, 
they  contributed  in  the  end  to  strengthen  the  society  which  at  first  they 
threatened  to  destroy.  During  their  fierce  contests,  several  of  the  first 
invaders  of  Peru,  and  many  of  those  licentious  adventurers  whom  the  fame 
of  their  success  had  allured  thither,  fell  by  each  other's  hands.  Each  of 
the  parties,  as  they  alternately  prevailed  in  the  struggle,  gradually  cleared 
the  country  of  a  number  of  turbulent  spirits,  by  executing,  proscribing,  or 
banishing  their  opponents.  Men  less  enterprising,  less  desperate,  and 
more  accustomed  to  move  in  the  path  of  sober  and  peaceable  industry, 
settled  in  Peru ;  and  the  royal  authority  was  gradually  established  as 
lirmly  there  as  in  other  Spanish  colonies. 

*  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  IS.  f  MS.  penes  me. 


AMERICA.  313 


BOOK  VII. 

As  the  conquest  of  the  two  great  empires  of  Mexico  and  Peru  forms  the 
most  splendid  and  interesting  period  in  the  history  of  America,  a  view  of 
their  political  institutions,  and  a  description  of  their  national  manners,  will 
exhibit  the  human  species  to  the  contemplation  of  intelligent  observers  in 
a  very  singular  stage  of  its  progress.  [144] 

When  compared  with  other  parts  of  the  New  World,  Mexico  and  Peru 
may  be  considered  as  polished  states.  Instead  of  small,  independent,  hos- 
tile tribes,  struggling  for  subsistence  amidst  woods  and  marshes,  strangers 
to  industry  and  arts,  unacquainted  with  subordination,  and  almost  without 
the  appearance  of  regular  government,  we  find  countries  of  great  extent 
subjected  to  the  dominion  of  one  sovereign,  the  inhabitants  collected  together 
in  cities,  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  rulers  employed  in  providing  for  the 
maintenance  and  security  of  the  people,  the  empire  of  laws  m  some 
measure  established,  the  authority  of  religion  recognised,  many  of  the  arts 
essential  to  life  brought  to  some  degree  of  maturity,  and  the  dawn  of  such 
as  are  ornamental  beginning  to  appear. 

But  if  the  comparison  be  made  with  the  people  of  the  ancient  continent, 
the  inferiority  of  America  in  improvement  will  be  conspicuous,  and  neither 
the  Mexicans  nor  Peruvians  will  be  entitled  to  rank  with  those  nations 
which  merit  the  name  of  civilized.  The  people  of  both  the  great  empires 
in  America,  like  the  rude  tribes  around  them,  were  totally  unacquainted 
with  the  useful  metals,  and  the  progress  which  they  had  made  in  extend- 
ing their  dominion  over  the  animal  creation  was  inconsiderable. .  The 
Mexicans  had  gone  no  further  than  to  tame  and  rear  turkeys,  ducks,  a 
species  of  small  dogs,  and  rabbits.*  By  this  feeble  essay  of  ingenuity,  the 
means  of  subsistence  were  rendered  somewhat  more  plentiful  and  secure 
than  when  men  depend  solely  on  hunting ;  but  they  had  no  idea  of  at- 
tempting to  subdue  the  more  robust  animals,  or  of  deriving  any  aid  from 
their  ministry  in  carrying  on  works  of  labour.  The  Peruvians  seem  to 
have  neglected  the  inferior  animals,  and  had  not  rendered  any  of  them 
domestic  except  the  duck ;  but  they  were  more  fortunate  in.  Taming  the 
Llama,  an  animal  peculiar  to  their  country,  of  a  form  which  hears  some 
resemblance  to  a  deer,  and  some  to  a  camel,  and  is  of  a  size  somewhat 
larger  than  a  sheep.  Under  the  protection  of  man,  this  species  multiplied 
greatly.  Its  wool  furnished  the  Peruvians  with  clothing,  its  flesh  with 
food.  It  was  even  employed  as  a  beast  of  burden,  and  carried  a  moderate 
load  with  much  patience  and  docility.j  It  was  never  used  for  draught ; 
and  the  breed  being  confined  to  the  mountainous  country,  its  service,  if  we 
may  judge  by  incidents  which  occur  in  the  early  Spanish  writers,  was  not 
very  extensive  among  the  Peruvians  in  their  original  state. 

In  tracing  the  line  by  which  nations  proceed  towards  civilization,  the 
discovery  oT  the  useful  metals,  and  the  acquisition  of  dominion  over  the 
animal  creation,  have  been  marked  as  steps  of  capital  importance  in  their 
progress.  In  our  continent,  long  after  men  had  attained  both,  society  con- 
tinued in  that  state  which  is  denominated  barbarous.' -Even  with  all  that 
command  over  nature  which  these  confer,  many  ages  elapse  before  indus- 
try Becomes  so  regular  as  to  render  subsistence  secure,  before  the  aits 
which  supply  the  wants  and  furnish  the  accommodations  of  life  are  brought 
to  any  considerable  degree  of  perfection,  and  before  any  idea  is  conceived 
of  various  institutions  requisite  in  a  well  ordered  society.  The  Mexicans 

*  Herrera,  dec.  11,  lib.  vii.  c.  12.  f  Vega,  p.  1.  fib.  viii.  c.  16.    Zarate,  lib.  1.  c.  14. 

VOL.  I.— 40 


314  H I S  T  O  R  Y  O  F  [BOOK  Vll. 

and  Peruvians,  without  knowledge  of  the  useful  metals,  or  the  aid  of  domestic 
animals,  laboured  under  disadvantages  which  must  have  greatly  retarded 
their  progress,  and  in  their  highest  state  of  improvement  their  power  was 
so  limited,  and  their  operations  so  feeble,  that  they  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered as  having  advanced  beyond  the  infancy  of  civil  life. 

After  this  general  observation  concerning  the  most  singular  and  distin- 
guishing circumstance  in  the  state  of  both  tne  great  empires  in  America,  1 
shall  endeavour  to  give  such  a  view  of  the  constitution  of  the  interior 
police  of  each  as  may  enable  us  to  ascertain  their  place  in  the  political 
scale,  to  allot  them  their  proper  station  between  the  rude  tribes  in  the 
New  World,  and  the  polished  states  of  the  ancient,  and  to  determine  how 
far  they  had  risen  above  the  former,  as  well  as  how  much  they  fell  below 
the  latter. 

Mexico  was  first  subjected  to  the  Spanish  crown.  But  our  acquaintance 
with  its  laws  and  manners  is  not,  from  that  circumstance,  more  complete. 
What  I  have  remarked  concerning  the  defective  and  inaccurate  informa- 
tion on  which  we  must  rely  with  respect  to  the  condition  and  customs  of 
the  savage  tribes  in  America,  may  be  applied  likewise  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  Mexican  empire.  Cortes,  and  the  rapacious  adventurers  who  ac- 
companied him,  had  not  leisure  or  capacity  to  enrich  either  civil  or  natu- 
ral history  with  new  observations.  They  undertook  their  expedition  in 
quest  of  one  object,  and  seemed  hardly  to  have  turned  their  eyes  towards 
any  other.  Or,  if  during  some  short  interval  of  tranquillity,  when  the  oc- 
cupations of  war  ceased,  and  the  ardour  of  plunder  was  suspended,  the 
institutions  and  manners  of  the  people  whom  they  invaded,  drew  their 
attention,  the  inquiries  of  illiterate  soldiers  were  conducted  with  so  little 
sagacity  and  precision,  that  the  accounts  given  by  them  of  the  policy  and 
order  established  in  the  Mexican  monarchy  are  superficial,  confused,  and 
inexplicable.  It  is  rather  from  incidents  which  they  relate  occasionally, 
than  from  their  own  deductions  and  remarks,  that  we  are  enabled  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  genius  and  manners  of  that  people.  The  obscurity  in 
which  the  ignorance  of  its  conquerors  involved  the  annals  of  Mexico,  was 
augmented  by  the  superstition  of  those  who  succeeded  them.  As  the 
memory  of  past  events  was  preserved  among  the  Mexicans  by  figures 
painted  on  skins,  on  cotton  cloth,  on  a  kind  of  pasteboard,  or  on  the  bark 
of  trees,  the  early  missionaries,  unable  to  comprehend  their  meaning,  and 
struck  with  their  uncouth  forms,  conceived  them  to  be  monuments  of 
idolatry,  which  ought  to  be  destroyed  in  order  to  facilitate  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians.  In  obedience  to  an  edict  issued  by  Juan  de  Zummaraga,  a 
Franciscan  monk,  the  first  bishop  of  Mexico,  as  many  records  of  the  ancient 
Mexican  story  as  could  be  collected  were  committed  to  the  flames.  In 
consequence  of  this  fanatical  zeal  of  the  monks  who  first  visited  New 
Spain  (which  their  successors  soon  began  to  lament),  whatever  knowledge 
of  remote  events  such  rude  monuments  contained  was  almost  entirely  lost, 
and  no  information  remained  concerning  the  ancient  revolutions  and  policy 
of  the  empire,  but  what  was  derived  from  tradition,  or  from  some  fragments 
of  their  historical  paintings  that  escaped  the  barbarous  researches  of  Zum- 
maraga.* From  the  experience  of  all  nations  it  is  manifest,  that  the 
memory  of  past  transactions  can  neither  be  long  preserved,  nor  be  trans- 
mitted with  any  fidelity,  by  tradition.  The  Mexican  paintings  which  are 
supposed  to  have  served  as  annals  of  their  empire,  are  few  in  number,  and 
of  ambiguous  meaning.  Thus,  amidst  the  uncertainty  of  the  former,  and 
the  obscurity  of  the  latter,  we  must  glean  what  intelligence  can  be  col- 
lected from  the  scanty  materials  scattered  in  the  Spanish  writers.! 

*  Acosta,  lib.  vi.  c.  7.    Tprqucm.  Proem.  lib  ii.  lib.  Hi.  c.  6.  lib.  xiv.  c  6. 

t  In  the  first  edition,  I  observed  that  in  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  Mexican 
paintings,  occasioned  by  the  zeal  of  Zummaraga,  whatever  knowledge  they  might  have  conveyed 
was  £ntirttly  lost.  Every  candid  reader  must  have  perceived  that  the  expression  was  inaccurate ; 


AMERICA.  316 

According  to  the  account  of  the  Mexicans  themselves,  their  empire  was 
not  of  long  duration.  Their  country,  as  they  relate,  was  originally  pos- 
sessed, rather  than  peopled,  by  small  independent  tribes,  whose  mode  of 
life  and  manners  resembled  those  of  the  rudest  savages  which  we  have 
described.  But  about  a  period  corresponding  to  the  beginning  of  the 
tenth  century  in  the  Christian  era,  several  tribes  moved  in  successive  mi- 
grations from  unknown  regions  towards  the  north  and  north-west,  and  set- 
tled in  different  provinces  of  Anahuac,  the  ancient  name  of  New  Spain. 
These,  more  civilized  than  the  original  inhabitants,  began  to  form  them  to 
the  arts  of  social  life.  At  length,  towards  the  commencement  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  the  Mexicans,  a  people  more  polished  than  any  of  the 
former,  advanced  from  the  border  of  the  Californian  gulf,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  plains  adjacent  to  the  great  lake  near  the  centre  of  the  coun- 
try. After  residing  there  about  fifty  years,  they  founded  a  town,  since 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  Mexico,  which,  from  humble  beginnings, 
soon  grew  to  be  the  most  considerable  city  in  the  New  World.  The 
Mexicans,  long  after  they  were  established  in  their  new  possessions,  con- 
tinued, like  other  martial  tribes  in  America,  unacquainted  with  regal 
dominion,  and  were  governed  in  peace,  and  conducted  in  war,  by  such  as 
were  entitled  to  pre-eminence  by  their  wisdom  or  their  valour.  But  among, 
them,  as  in  other  states  whose  power  and  territories  become  extensive,  the 
supreme  authority  centred  at  last  in  a  single  person ;  and  when  the  Span- 
iards under  Cortes  invaded  the  country,  Montezuma  was  the  ninth  monarch 
in  order  who  had  swayed  the  Mexican  sceptre,  not  by  hereditary  right, 
but  by  election. 

Such  is  the  traditional  tale  of  the  Mexicans  concerning  the  progress  of 
their  own  empire.  According  to  this,  its  duration  was  very  short.  From 
the  first  migration  of  their  parent  tribe,  they  can  reckon  little  more  than 
three  hundred  years.  From  the  establishment  of  monarchical  government, 
not  above  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  according  to  one  account,*  or  a  hun- 
dred and  ninety-seven  according  to  another  computation,!  had  elapsed. 
If,  on  one  hand,  we  suppose  the  Mexican  state  to  have  been  of  higher 
antiquity,  and  to  have  subsisted  during  such  a  length  of  time  as  the  Span- 
ish accounts  of  its  civilization  would  naturally  lead  us  to  conclude,  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  how,  among  a  people  who  possessed  the  art  of  record- 
as  in  a  few  lines  afterwards  I  mention  some  ancient  paintings  to  be  still  extant.  M.  Clavigero,  not 
satisfied  with  laying  hold  of  this  inaccuracy,  which  I  corrected  in  the  subsequent  editions,  labours 
to  render  it  more  glaring  by  the  manner  in  which  he  quotes  the  remaining  part  of  the  sentence.  He 
reprehends  with  great  asperity  the  account  which  I  gave  of  the  scanty  materials  for  writing  the 
ancient  history  of  Mexico.  Vol.  I.  Account  of  Writers,  p.  xxvi.  Vol.  II.  380.  My  words,  however, 
are  almost  the  same  with  those  of  Torquemada,  who  seems  to  have  been  better  acquainted  with  the 
ancient  monuments  of  the  Mexicans  than  any  Spanish  author  whose  works  I  have  seen.  Lib.  xiv. 
c.  6.  M.  Clavigero  himself  gives  a  description  of  the  destruction  of  ancient  paintings  in  almost  the 
same  terms  I  have  used ;  and  mentions  as  an  additional  reason  of  there  being  so  small  a  number  of 
ancient  paintings  known  to  the  Spaniards,  that  the  natives  have  become  so  solicitous  to  preserve 
and  conceal  them,  that  it  is  "  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  make  them  part  with  one  of  them."  Vol. 
I.  407.  II.  194.  No  point  can  be  more  ascertained  than  that  few  of  the  Mexican  historical  paintings 
have  been  preserved.  Though  several  Spaniards  have  carried  on  inquiries  into  the  antiquities  of 
the  Mexican  empire,  no  engravings  from  Mexican  paintings  have  been  communicated  to  the  public, 
except  those  by  Purchas,  Gemelli  Carreri,  and  Lorenzana,  It  affords  me  some  satisfaction,  that  in 
the  course  of  my  researches  I  have  discovered  two  collections  of  Mexican  paintings  which  were 
unknown  to  former  inquirers.  The  cut  which  I  published  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  original,  and  gives 
no  high  idea  of  the  progress  which  the  Mexicans  had  made  in  the  art  of  painting.  I  cannot  conjec- 
ture what  could  induce  M.  Clavigero  to  express  some  dissatisfaction  with  me  for  having  published 
it  without  the  same  colours  it  has  in  the  original  painting,  p.  xxix.  He  might  have  recollected,  that 
neither  Purchas,  nor  Gemelli  Carreri,  nor  Lorenzana,  thought  it  necessary  to  colour  the  prints  which 
they  have  published,  and  they  have  never  been  censured  on  that  account.  He  may  rest  assured 
that  though  the  colours  in  the  paintings  in  the  Imperial  Library  are  remarkably  bright,  they  are  laid 
on  without  art,  and  without  "any  of  that  regard  to  light  and  shade,  or  the  rules  of  perspective  " 
which  M.  Clavigero  requires.  Vol.  II.  378.  If  the  public  express  any  desire  to  have  the  seven 
paintings  still  in  my  possession  engraved,  I  am  ready  to  communicate  them.  The  print  published 
by  Gemelli  Carreri,  of  the  route  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  when  they  travelled  towards  the  lake  on 
which  they  built  tiie  capita!  of  their  empire,  (Churchill,  Vol.  IV.  p.  481.)  is  the  most  finished  monu- 
ment of  art  brought  from  the  New  World,  and  yet  a  very  slight  inspection  of  it  will  satisfy  every 
one,  that  the  annals  of  a  nation  conveyed  in  this  manner  must  be  very  meagre  and  imperfect 

*  Acost.  Hist.  lib.  vii.  c.  8,  &c.  f  Purchas  Pilgr.  iii.  p.  1068,  &c. 


3115  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VII. 

ing  events  by  pictures,  and  who  considered  it  as  an  essential  part  of  their 
national  education,  to  teach  their  children  to  repeat  the  historical  songs 
which  celebrated  the  exploits  of  their  ancestors,*  the  knowledge  of  past 
transactions  should  be  so  slender  and  limited.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
adopt  their  own  system  with  respect  to  the  antiquities  of  their  nation,  it  is 
no  less  difficult  to  account  either  for  that  improved  state  of  society,  or  for 
the  extensive  dominion  to  which  their  empire  had  attained  when  first  visit- 
ed by  the  Spaniards.  The  infancy  of  nations  is  so  long,  and,  even  when 
every  circumstance  is  favourable  to  their  progress,  they  advance  so  slowly 
towards  any  maturity  of  strength  or  policy,  that  the  recent  origin  of  the 
Mexicans  seems  to  be  a  strong  presumption  of  some  exaggeration  in  the 
splendid  descriptions  which  have  been  given  of  their  ^government  and 
manners. 

But  it  is  not  by  theory  or  conjectures  that  history  decides  with  regard  to 
the  state  or  character  of  nations.  It  produces  facts  as  the  foundation  of 
every  judgment  which  it  ventures  to  pronounce.  In  collecting  those  which 
must  regulate  our  opinion  in  the  present  inquiry,  some  occur  that  suggest 
an  idea  of  considerable  progress  in  civilization  in  the  Mexican  empire, 
and  others  which  seem  to  indicate  that  it  had  advanced  but  little  beyond 
the  savage  tribes  around  it.  Both  shall  be  exhibited  to  the  view  of  the 
reader,  that,  from  comparing  them,  he  may  determine  on  which  side  the 
evidence  preponderates. 

In  the  Mexican  empire,  the  right  of  private  property  was  perfectly  un- 
derstood, and  established  in  its  full  extent.  Among  several  savage  tribes, 
we  have  seen,  that  the  idea  of  a  title  to  the  separate  and  exclusive  pos- 
session of  any  object  was  hardly  known ;  and  that  among  all  it  was 
extremely  limited  and  ill  denned.  But  in  Mexico,  where  agriculture  and 
industry  had  made  some  progress,  the  distinction  between  property  in  land 
and  property  in  goods  had  taken  place.  Both  might  be  transferred  from 
one  person  to  another  by  sale  or  barter ;  both  might  descend  by  inherit- 
ance. Every  person  who  could  be  denominated  a  freeman  had  property 
in  land.  This,  however,  they  held  by  various  tenures.  Some  possessed 
it  in  full  right,  and  it  descended  to  their  heirs.  The  title  of  others  to 
their  lands  was  derived  from  the  office  or  dignity  which  they  enjoyed  ; 
and  when  deprived  of  the  latter,  they  lost  possession  of  the  former.  Both 
these  modes  of  occupying  land  were  deemed  noble,  and  peculiar  to  citi- 
zens of  the  highest  class.  The  tenure  by  which  the  great  body  of  the 
people  held  their  property,  was  very  different.  In  every  district  a  certain 
quantity  of  land  was  measured  out  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  families. 
This  was  cultivated  by  the  joint  labour  of  the  whole  ;  its  produce  was 
deposited  in  a  common  storehouse,  and  divided  among  them  according  to 
their  respective  exigencies.  The  members  of  the  Calpullee,  or  associa- 
tions, could  not  alienate  their  share  of  the  common  estate  ;  it  was  an  indi- 
visible permanent  property,  destined  for  the  support  of  their  families.! 
In  consequence  of  this  distribution  of  the  territory  of  the  state,  every  man 
had  an  interest  in  its  welfare,  and  the  happiness  of  the  individual  was 
connected  with  the  public  security. 

Another  striking  circumstance,  which  distinguishes  the  Mexican  empire 
from  those  nations  in  America  we  have  already  described,  is  the  number 
and  greatness  of  its  cities.  While  society  continues  in  a  rude  state,  the 
wants  of  men  are  so  few,  and  they  stand  so  little  in  need  of  mutual  as 
sistance,  that  their  inducements  to  crowd  together  are  extremely  feeble. 
Their  industry  at  the  same  time  is  so  imperfect,  that  it  cannot  secure  sub- 
sistence for  any  considerable  number  of  families  settled  in  one  spot. 
They  live  dispersed,  at  this  period,  from  choice,  as  well  as  from  neces- 
sity, or  at  the  utmost  assemble  in  small  hamlets  on  the  banks  of  the  river 

*  Ilerrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  18.  t  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  15.  Torquem.  Mon.  Ind.  lib.  xiv 
0,7.  CoritaMS. 


AMERICA.  317 

which  supplies  them  with  food,  or  on  the  border  of  some  plain  left  open 
by  nature,  or  cleared  by  their  own  labour.  The  Spaniards,  accustomed 
to  this  mode  of  habitation  among  all  the  savage  tribes  with  which  they 
were  hitherto  acquainted,  were  astonished,  on  entering  New  Spain,  to  find 
the  natives  residing  in  towns  of  such  extent  as  resembled  those  of  Europe. 
In  the  first  fervour  of  their  admiration,  they  compared  Zempoalla,  though 
a  town  only  of  the  second  or  third  size,  to  the  cities  of  greatest  note  in 
their  own  country.  When,  afterwards,  they  visited  in  succession  Tlascala, 
Cholula,  Tacuba,  Tezeuco,  and  Mexico  itself,  their  amazement  increased 
so  much,  that  it  led  them  to  convey  ideas  of  their  magnitude  and  popu- 
lousness  bordering  on  what  is  incredible.  Even  when  there  is  leisure  for 
observation,  and  no  interest  that  leads  to  deceive,  conjectural  estimates  of 
the  number  of  people  in  cities  are  extremely  loose,  and  usually  much 
exaggerated.  It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  Cortes  and  his  companions, 
little  accustomed  to  such  computations,  and  powerfully  tempted  to  mag- 
nify, in  order  to  exalt  the  merit  of  their  own  discoveries  and  conquests, 
should  have  been  betrayed  into  this  common  error,  and  have  raised  their 
descriptions  considerably  above  truth.  For  this  reason,  some  considerable 
abatement  ought  to  be  made  from  their  calculations  of  the  number  of  in- 
habitants in  the  Mexican  cities,  and  we  may  fix  the  standard  of  their  popu- 
lation much  lower  than  they  have  done  ;  but  still  they  will  appear  to  be 
cities  of  such  consequence  as  are  not  to  be  found  but  among  people  who 
have  made  some  considerable  progress  in  the  arts  of  social  Hie  [145], 
From  their  accounts,  we  can  hardly  suppose  Mexico,  the  capital  of  the 
empire,  to  have  contained  fewer  than  sixty  thousand  inhabitants. 

The  separation  of  professions  among  the  Mexicans  is  a  symptom  of  im- 
provement no  less  remarkable.  Arts,  in  the  early  ages  of  society,  are  so 
few  and  so  simple,  that  each  man  is  sufficiently  master  of  them  all,  to 
gratify  every  demand  of  his  own  limited  desires.  The  savage  can  form 
his  bow,  point  his  arrows,  rear  his  hut,  and  hollow  his  canoe,  without  calling 
in  the  aid  of  any  hand  more  skilful  than  his  own.  Time  must  have 
augmented  the  wants  of  men,  and  ripened  their  ingenuity,  before  the  pro- 
ductions of  art  became  so  complicated  in  their  structure,  or  so  curious  in 
their  fabric,  that  a  particular  course  of  education  was  requisite  towards 
forming  the  artificer  to  expertness  in  contrivance  and  workmanship.  In 
proportion  as  refinement  spreads,  the  distinction  of  professions  increases, 
and  they  branch  put  into  more  numerous  and  minute  subdivisions.  Among 
the  Mexicans,  this  separation  of  the  arts  necessary  in  life  had  taken  place 
to  a  considerable  extent.  The  functions  of  the  mason,  the  weaver,  the 
goldsmith,  the  painter,  and  of  several  other  crafts,  were  carried  on  by- 
different  persons.  Each  was  regularly  instructed  in  his  calling.  To  it 
alone  his  industry  was  confined,  and  by  assiduous  application  to  one  object, 
together  with  the  persevering  patience  peculiar  to  Americans,  their  artisans 
attained  to  a  degree  of  neatness  and  perfection  in  work,  far  beyond  what 
could  have  been  expected  from  the  rude  tools  which  they  employed. 
Their  various,  productions  were  brought  into  commerce  ;  and  by  the  ex- 
change of  them  in  the  stated  markets  held  in  the  cities,  not  only  were 
their  mutual  wants  supplied,*  in  such  orderly  intercourse  as  characterizes 
an  improved  state  of  society,  but  their  industry  was  daily  rendered  per 
severing  and  inventive. 

The  distinction  of  ranks  established  in  the  Mexican  empire,  is  the  next  cir- 
cumstance that  merits  attention.  In  surveying  the  savage  tribes  of  America, 
we  observed,  that  consciousness  of  equality,  and  impatience  of  subordi 
nation,  are  sentiments  natural  to  man  in  the  infancy  of  civil  life.  During 
peace,  the  authority  of  a  superior  is  hardly  felt  among  them,  and  even  in 

*  Cortes  Relat.  ap.  Ramus,  iii.  239,  &c.  Com.  Cron.  c.  79.  Torquem.  lib.  xiil.  c.  34.  Herrera, 
dec.  2.  lib.  vii.  c.  15,  <fcc. 


318  HISTORY  OF  [BooxVlL 

war  it  is  but  little  acknowledged.    Strangers  to  the  idea  of  property,  tne 
diiference  in  condition  resulting  from  the  inequality  of  it  is  unknown.    Birth 
or  titles  confer  no  pre-eminence  ;  it  is  only  by  personal  merit  and  accom- 
plishments that  distinction  can  be  acquired.     The  form  of  society  was 
very  different  among  the  Mexicans.     The  great  body  of  the  people  was 
in  a  most  humiliating  state.    A  considerable  number,  known  by  the  name 
of  Mayeques,  nearly  resembled  in  condition  those  peasants  who,  under 
various  denominations,  were  considered,  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
feudal  system,  as  instruments  of  labour  attached  to  the  soil.    The  Mayeques 
could  not  change  their  place  of  residence  without  permission  of  the  supe- 
rior on  whom  they  depended.     They  were  conveyed,  together  with  the 
lands  on  which  they  were  settled,  from  one  proprietor  to  another  ;  and 
were  bound  to  cultivate  the  ground,  and  to  perform  several  kinds  of  servile 
work.*    Others  were  reduced  to  the  lowest  form  of  subjection,  that  of 
domestic  servitude,  and  felt  the  utmost  rigour  of  that  wretched  state. 
Their  condition  was  held  to  be  so  vile,  and  their  lives  deemed  of  so  little 
value,  that  a  person  wlio  killed  one  of  these  slaves  was  not  subjected  to 
any  punishment.!    Even  those  considered  as  freemen  were  treated  by 
their  haughty  lords  as  beings  of  an  inferior  species.     The  nobles,  possessed 
of  ample  territories,  were  divided  into  various  classes,  to  each  of  which 
peculiar  titles  of  honour  belonged.     Some  of  these  titles,  like  their  lands, 
descended  from  father  to  son  in  perpetual  succession.    Others  were  annexed 
to  particular  offices,  or  conferred  during  life  as  marks  of  personal  distinc- 
tion.J     The  monarch,  exalted  above  all,  enjoyed  extensive  power  and 
supreme  dignity.    Thus  the  distinction  of  ranks  was  completely  established, 
in  a  line  of  regular  subordination,  reaching  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
member  of  the  community.     Each  of  these  knew  what  he  could  claim, 
and  what  he  owed.     The  people,  who  were  not  allowed  to  wear  a  dress 
of  the  same  fashion,  or  to  dwell  in  houses  of  a  form  similar  to  those  of  the 
nobles,  accosted  them  with  the  most  submissive  reverence.     In  the  pre- 
sence of  their  sovereign,  they  durst  not  lift  their  eyes  from  the  ground,  or 
look  him  in  the  face.§     The  nobles  themselves,  when  admitted  to  an 
audience  of  their  sovereign,  entered  barefooted,  in  mean  garments,  and,  as 
his  slaves,  paid  him  homage  approaching  to  adoration.     This  respect,  due 
from  inferiors  to ,  those  above  them  in  rank,  was  prescribed  with  such 
ceremonious  accuracy,  that  it  incorporated  with  the  language,  and  influenced 
its  genius  and  idiom.     The  Mexican  tongue  abounded  in  expressions  of 
reverence  and  courtesy.     The  style  and  appellations  used  in  the  intercourse 
between  equals  would  have  been  so  unbecoming  in  the  mouth  of  one  in  a 
lower  sphere,  when  he  accosted  a  person  in  higher  rank,  as  to  be  deemed 
an  insult  [146].     It  is  only  in  societies,  which  time  and  the  institution  of 
regular  government  have  moulded  into  form,  that  we  find  such  an  orderly 
arrangement  of  men  into  different  ranks,  and  such  nice  attention  paid  to 
their  various  rights. 

The  spirit  of  the  Mexicans,  thus  familiarized  and  bended  to  subordina 
tion,  was  prepared  for  submitting  to  monarchical  government.  But  the 
description  of  their  policy  and  laws,  by  the  Spaniards  who  overturned 
them,  are  so  inaccurate  and  contradictory,  that  it  is  difficult  to  delineate 
the  form  of  their  constitution  with  any  precision.  Sometimes  they  repre- 
sent the  monarchs  of  Mexico  as  absolute,  deciding  according  to  their  plea- 
sure with  respect  to  every  operation  of  the  state.  On  other  occasions,  we 
discover  the  traces  of  established  customs  and  laws,  framed  in  order  to 
circumscribe  the  power  of  the  crown,  and  we  meet  with  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  the  nobles  which  seemed  to  be  opposed  as  barriers  against  its 
encroachments.  This  appearance  of  inconsistency  has  arisen  from  inatten- 

*  Herrera.  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  17.    Corita  MS.         j  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  7.         J  Ibid,  c,  15. 
Corita  MS.        $  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib  ii  c.  14. 


AMERICA.  319 

tion  to  the  innovations  of  Montezuma  upon  the  Mexican  policy.  His 
aspiring  ambition  subverted  the  original  system  of  government,  and  intro- 
duced a  pure  despotism.  He  disregarded  the  ancient  laws,  violated  the 
privileges  held  most  sacred,  and  reduced  his  subjects  of  every  order  to  the 
level  of  slaves.*  The  chiefs,  or  nobles  of  the  first  rank,  submitted  to  the 
yoke  with  such  reluctance  that,  from  impatience  to  shake  it  off,  and  hope 
of  recovering  their  rights,  many  of  them  courted  the  protection  of  Cortes, 
and  joined  a  foreign  power  against  their  domestic  oppressor.!  It  is  not 
then  under  the  dominion  of  Montezuma,  but  under  the  government  of  his 
predecessors,  that  we  can  discover  what  was  the  original  form  and  genius 
of  Mexican  policy.  From  the  foundation  of  the  monarchy  to  the  election 
of  Montezuma,  it  seems  to  have  subsisted  with  little  variation.  That  body 
of  citizens,  which  may  be  distinguished  by  the  name  of  nobility,  formed 
the  chief  and  most  respectable  order  in  the  state.  They  were  of  various 
ranks,  as  has  been  already  observed,  and  their  honours  were  acquired  and 
transmitted  in  different  manners.  Their  number  seems  to  have  been  great. 
According  to  an  author  accustomed  to  examine  with  attention  what  he 
relates,  there  were  in  the  Mexican  empire  thirty  of  this  order,  each  of 
whom  had  in  his  territories  about  a  hundred  thousand  people  ;  and  subor- 
dinate to  these,  there  were  about  three  thousand  nobles  of  a  lower  class.J 
The  territories  belonging  to  the  chiefs  of  Tezeuco  and  Tacuba  were  hardly 
inferior  in  extent  to  those  of  the  Mexican  monarch. §  Each  of  these  pos- 
sessed complete  territorial  jurisdiction,  and  levied  taxes  from  their  own 
vassals.  But  all  followed  the  standard  of  Mexico  in  war,  serving  with  a 
number  of  men  in  proportion  to  their  domain,  and  most  of  them  paid 
tribute  to  its  monarch  as  their  superior  lord. 

In  tracing  those  great  lines  of  the  Mexican  constitution,  an  image  of 
feudal  policy,  in  its  most  rigid  form,  rises  to  view,,and  we  discern  its  three 
distinguishing  characteristics,  a  nobility  possessing  almost  independent 
authority,  a  people  depressed  into  the  lowest  state  of  subjection,  and  a 
king  intrusted  with  the  executive  power  of  the  state.  Its  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples seem  to  have  operated  in  the  New  World  in  the  same  manner  as  in 
the  ancient.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  crown  was  extremely  limited.  All 
real  and  effective  authority  was  retained  by  the  Mexican  nobles  in  their 
own  hands,  and  the  shadow,  of  it  only  left  to  the  king.  Jealous  to  excess 
of  their  own  rights,  they  guarded  with  the  most  vigilant  anxiety  against 
the  encroachments  of  their  sovereigns.  By  a  fundamental  law  of  the  em- 
pire, it  was  provided  that  the  king  should  not  determine  concerning  any 
point  of  general  importance  without  the  approbation  of  a  council  com- 
posed of  the  prime  nobility. |j  Unless  he  obtained  their  consent,  he  could 
not  engage  the  nation  in  war,  nor  could  he  dispose  of  the  most  considera- 
ble branch  of  the  public  revenue  at  pleasure  ;  it  was  appropriated  to  cer- 
tain purposes  from  which  it  could  not  be  diverted  by  the  regal  authority 
alone. H  In  order  to  secure  full  effect  to  those  constitutional  restraints,  the 
Mexican  nobles  did  not  permit  their  crown  to  descend  by  inheritance,  but 
disposed  of  it  by  election.  The  right  of  election  seems  to  have  been 
originally  vested  in  the  whole  body  of  nobility,  but  was  afterwards  com 
mitted  to  six  electors,  of  whom  the  chiefs  of  Tezeuco  and  Tacuba  were 
always  two.  From  respect  for  the  family  of  their  monarchs,  the  choice 
fell  generally  upon  some  person  sprung  from  it.  But  as  the  activity  and 
valour  of  their  prince  were  of  greater  moment  to  a  people  perpetually 
engaged  in  war,  than  a  strict  adherence  to  the  order  of  birth,  collaterals 
of  mature  age  or  of  distinguished  merit  were  often  preferred  to  those 
who  were  nearer  the  throne  in  direct  descent.**  To  this  maxim  in  their 

*  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  14.    Torquem.  lib.  ii.  c.  69.  t  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  10, 11, 

Torquem.  lib.  iv.  c.  49.  J  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  viii.  c.  12.  $  Torquem.  lib.  ii.  c.  57. 

Corita  MS.  ||  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  10  lib.  iv.  c.  16.    Corita  MS.  IF  Herrera,  dec, 

3.  lib.  iv.  c.  17.  **  Acosta,  lib.  vi.  c.  24.    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  13.    Corita  MS. 


320  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VII. 

policy*  the  Mexicans  appear  to  be  indebted  for  such  a  succession  of  able 
and  warlike  princes,  as  raised  their  empire  in  a  short  period  to  that  extra- 
ordinary height  of  power  which  it  had  attained  when  Cortes  landed  in 
New  Spain. 

While  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  monarch  continued  to  be  limited, 
it  is  probable  that  it  was  exercised  with  little  ostentation.  But  as  their 
authority  became  more  extensive,  the  splendour  of  their  government  aug- 
mented. It  was  in  this  last  state  that  the  Spaniards  beheld  it ;  and  struck 
with  the  appearance  of  Montezuma's  court,  they  describe  its  pomp  at  great 
length,  and  with  much  admiration.  The  number  of  his  attendants,  the 
order,  the  silence,  and  the  reverence  with  which  they  served  him ;  the 
extent  of  his  royal  mansion,  the  variety  of  its  apartments  allotted  to  dif- 
ferent officers,  and  the  ostentation  with  which  his  grandeur  was  displayed, 
whenever  he  permitted  his  subjects  to  behold  him,  seem  to  resemble  the 
magnificence  of  the  ancient  monarchies  in  Asia,  rather  than  the  simplicity 
of  the  infant  states  in  the  New  World. 

But  it  was  not  in  the  mere  parade  of  royalty  that  the  Mexican  potentates 
exhibited  their  power  ;  they  manifested  it  more  beneficially  in  the  order 
and  regularity  with  which  tney  conducted  the  internal  administration  and 
police  of  their  dominions.  Complete  jurisdiction,  civil  as  well  as  criminal, 
over  its  own  immediate  vassals,  was  vested  in  the  crown.  Judges  were 
appointed  for  each  department ;  and  if  we  may  rely  on  the  account  which 
the  Spanish  writers  give  of  the  maxims  and  laws  upon  which  they  founded 
their  decisions  with  respect  to  the  distribution  of  property  and  the  punish- 
ment of  crimes,  justice  was  administered  in  the  Mexican  empire  with  a 
degree  of  order  and  equity  resembling  what  takes  place  in  societies  highly 
civilized. 

Their  attention  in  providing  for  the  support  of  government  was  not 
less  sagacious.  Taxes  were  laid  upon  land,  upon  the  acquisitions  of  in- 
dustry, and  upon  commodities  of  every  kind  exposed  to  sale  in  the  public 
markets.  These  duties  were  considerable,  but  not  arbitrary  or  unequal. 
They  were  imposed  according  to  established  rules,  and  each  knew  what 
share  of  the  common  burden  he  had  to  bear.  As  the  use  of  money  was 
unknown,  all  the  taxes  were  paid  in  kind ;  and  thus  not  only  the  natural 
productions  of  all  the  different  provinces  in  the  empire,  but  every  species 
of  manufacture,  and  every  work  of  ingenuity  and  art,  were  collected  in 
the  public  storehouses.  From  those  me  emperor  supplied  his  numerous 
train  of  attendants  in  peace,  and  his  armies  during  war,  with  food,  with 
clothes,  and  ornaments.  People  of  inferior  condition,  neither  possessing 
land  nor  engaged  in  commerce,  were  bound  to  the  performance  of  various 
services.  By  their  stated  labour  the  crown  lands  were  cultivated,  public 
works  were  carried  on,  and  the  various  houses  belonging  to  the  emperor 
were  built  and  kept  in  repair*  [147] . 

The  improved  state  of  government  among  the  Mexicans  is  conspicuous, 
not  only  in  points  essential  to  the  being  of  a  well-ordered  society,  but  in 
several  regulations  of  inferior  consequence  with  respect  to  police.  The 
institution  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  of  public  couriers,  stationed 
at  proper  intervals,  to  convey  intelligence  from  one  part  of  the  empire  to 
the  other,  was  a  refinement  in  police  not  introduced  into  any  kingdom  of 
Europe  at  that  period.  The  structure  of  the  capital  city  in  a  lake,  with 
artificial  dykes,  and  causeways  of  great  length,  which  served  as  avenues 
to  it  from  different  quarters,  erected  in  the  water,  with  no  less  ingenuity 
than  labour,  seems  to  be  an  idea  that  could  not  have  occurred  to  any 
but  a  civilized  people.  The  same  observation  may  be  applied  to  the 
structure  of  the  aqueducts,  or  conduits,  by  which  they  conveyed  a  stream 
of  fresh  Water  from  a  considerable  distance,  into  the  city,  along  one  of  the 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  vii.  c.  13.  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  16, 17. 


AMERICA.  321 

causeways  [148].  The  appointment  of  a  number  of  persons  to  clean  the 
streets,  to  light  mem  by  fires  kindled  in  different  places,  and  to  patrol  as 
watchmen  during  the  night,*  discovers  a  degree  of  attention  which  even 
polished  nations  are  late  in  acquiring. 

The  progress  of  the  Mexicans  in  various  arts  is  considered  as  the  most 
decisive  proof  of  their  superior  refinement.  Cortes  and  the  early  Spanish 
authors  describe  this  with  rapture,  and  maintain,  that  the  most  celebrated 
European  artists  could  not  surpass  or  even  equal  them  in  ingenuity  and 
neatness  of  workmanship.  They  represented  naen,  animals,  and  other 
objects,  by  such  a  disposition  of  various  coloured  feathers,  as  is  said  to 
have  produced  all  the  effects  of  light  and  shade,  and  to  have  imitated 
nature  with  truth  and  delicacy.  Their  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver  have 
been  described  to  be  of  a  fabric  no  less  curious.  But  in  forming  any  idea, 
from  general  descriptions,  concerning  the  state  of  arts  among  nations  im- 
perfectly polished,  we  are  extremely  ready  to  err.  In  examining  the 
works  of  people  whose  advances  in  improvement  are  nearly  the  same  with 
our  own,  we  view  them  with  a  critical  and  often  with  a  jealous  eye. 
Whereas,  when  conscious  of  our  own  superiority,  we  survey  the  arts  of 
nations  comparatively  rude,  we  are  astonished  >at  works  executed  by 
them  under  such  manifest  disadvantages,  and,  in  the  warmth  of  our  admi- 
ration, are  apt  to  represent  them  as  productions  more  finished  than  they 
really  are.  To  the  influence  of'  this  illusion,  without  supposing  any  inten- 
tion to  deceive,  we  may  impute  the  exaggeration  of  some  Spanish  authors, 
in  their  accounts  of  the  Mexican  arts. 

It  is  not  from  those  descriptions,  but  from  considering  such  specimens  of 
their  arts  as  are  still  preserved,  that  wre  must  decide  concerning  their  degree 
of  merit.  As  the  ship  in  which  Cortes  sent  to  Charles  V.  the  most  curious 
productions  of  the  Mexican  artisans,  which  were  collected  by  the  Spaniards 
when  they  first  pillaged  the  empire,  was  taken  by  a  French  corsair,!  the 
remains  of  their  ingenuity  are  less  numerous  than  those  of  the  Peruvians. 
Whether  any  of  their  works  with  feathers,  in  imitation  of  painting,  be  still 
extant  in  Spain,  I  have  not  learned ;  but  many  of  their  ornaments  in  gold 
and  silver,  as  well  as  various  utensils  employed  in  common  life,  are  depo- 
sited in  the  magnificent  cabinet  of  natural  and  artificial  productions  lately 
opened  by  the  king  of  Spain ;  and  1  am  informed  by  persons  on  whose 
judgment  and  taste  I  can  rely,  that  these  boasted  efforts  of  their  art  are 
uncouth  representations  of  common  objects,  or  very  coarse  images  of  ihe 
human  and  some  other  forms,  destitute  of  grace  and  propriety  [149].  The 
justness  of  these  observations  is  confirmed  by  inspecting  the  wooden  prints 
and  copper  plates  of  their  paintings,  which  have  been  published  by  various 
authors.  In  them  every  figure  of  men,  of  quadrupeds,  or  birds,  as  well  as 
every  representation  of  inanimated  nature,  is  extremely  rude  and  awkward.  J 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  viii.  c.  4.    Torribio  MS.  t  Relat.  de  Cort.  Ramus,  iij.  294..  F. 

J  As  a  specimen  of  the  spirit  and  style  in  which  M.  Clavigero  makes  his  strictures  upon  my 
History  of  America,  I  shall  publish  his  remarks  upon  this  passage.  "  Thus  far  Robertson  ;  to' 
whom  we  answer,  first,  That  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  those  rude  works  were  really 
Mexican  :  secondly,  Tnat  neither  do  we  know  whether  those  persons  in  whose  judgment  he  confides!, 
may  be  persons  fit  to  merit  our  faith,  because  we  have  observed  that  Robertson  trusts  frequently  to 
the  testimony  of  Gage,  Correal,  Ibagnez,  and  other  such  authors,  who  are  entirely  undeserving  of 
credit :'  thirdly,  It  is  more  probable  that  the  arms  of  copper,  believed  by  those  intelligent  judges  M 
be  certainly  Oriental,  are  really  Mexican."  Vol.  II.  391. — When  an  author,  not  entirely  destitute 
of  integrity  or  discernment,  and  who  has  some  solicitude  about  his  own  character,  asserts  that  he 
received  his  information  concerning  any  particular  point  from  persons  "  on  whose  judgment  and 
taste  he  can  rely ;"  a  very  slender  degree  of  candour,  one  should  think,  might  induce  the  reader  to 
believe  that  he  does  not  endeavour  to  impose  upon  the  public  by  an  appeal  to  testimony  altogether 
unworthy  of  credit.  My  information  concerning  the  Mexican  works  of  art,  deposited  in  the  king 
of  Spain's  cabinet,  was  received  from  the  late  Lord  Grantham,  ambassador  extraordinary  from  the 
court  of  London  to  that  of  Madrid,  and  from  Mr.  Archdeacon  Waddilove,  chaplain  to  the  embassy ; 
and  it  was  upon  their  authority  that  I  pronounced  the  coat  of  armour,  mentioned  in  the  note,  to  be 
of  Oriental  fabric.  As  they  were  both  at  Madrid  in  their  public  character,  when  the  first  edition  of 
the  History  of  America  was  published,  I  thought  it  improper  at  that  time  to  mention  their  names. 
Did  their  decision  concerning  a  matter  of  taste,  or,  their  testimony  concerning  a  point  of  fact,  stand 
in  need  of  confirmation,  I  might  produce  the  evidence  of  an  intelligent  traveller,  who,  in  describing 

VOL.  I.— 41 


322  HISTORY  OF  [BooKVlL 

The  hardest  Egyptian  style,  stiff  and  imperfect  as  it  was,  is  more  elegant 
The  scrawls  of  children  delineate  objects  almost  as  accurately. 

But  however  low  the  Mexican  paintings  may  be  ranked,  when  viewed 
merely  as  works  of  art,  a  very  different  station  belongs  to  them  when  con- 
sidered as  the  records  of  their  country,  as  historical  monuments  of  its  policy 
and  transactions ;  and  they  become  curious  as  well  as  interesting  objects 
ot  attent'jon.  The  noblest  and  most  beneficial  invention  of  which  human 
ingenuity  can  boast,  is  that  of  writing.  But  the  first  essays  of  this  art, 
which  hath  contributed  more  than  all  others  to  the  improvement  of  the 
species,  were  very  rude,  and  it  advanced  towards  perfection  slowly,  and  by 
a.  gradual  progression.  When  the  warrior,  eager  for  fame,  wished  to 
transmit  some  Knowledge  of  his  exploits  to  succeeding  ages ;  when  the 
gratitude  of  a  people  to  their  sovereign  prompted  them  to  hand  down  an 
account  of  his  beneficent  deeds  to  posterity ;  the  first  method  of  accom- 
plishing this,  which  seems  to  have  occurred  to  them,  was  to  delineate,  in 
the  best  manner  they  could,  figures  representing  the  action,  of  which  they 
were  solicitous  to  preserve  the  memory.  Of  this,  which  has  very  pro- 
perly been  called  picture  writing,*  we  find  traces  among  some  of  the  most 
savage  tribes  of  America.  When  a  leader  returns  from  the  field,  he  strips 
a  tree  of  its  bark,  and  with  red  paint  scratches  upon  it  some  uncouth  figures 
which  represent  the  order  of  his  march,  the  number  of  his  followers,  the 
enemy  whom  he  attacked,  the  scalps  and  captives  which  he  brought  home. 
To  those  simple  annals  he  trusts  for  renown,  and  soothes  himself  with  hope 
that  by.  their  means  he  shall  receive  praise  from  the  warriors  of  future 
times. f 

Compared  with  those  awkward  essays  of  their  savage  countrymen,  the 
paintings  -of  the  Mexicans  may  be  considered  as  works  of  composition  and 
design.  They  were  not  acquainted,  it  is  true,  with  any  other  method  of 
recording  transactions  than  that  of  delineating  the  objects  which  they  wished 
to,  represent.  But  they  could  exhibit  a  more  complex  series  of  events  in 
progressive  order,  and  describe,  by  a  proper  disposition  of  figures,  the  oc- 
currences of  a  king's  reign  from  his  accession  to  his  death  ;  the  progress  of 
an  infant's  education  from  its  birth  until  it  attain  to  the  years  01  maturity  ; 
the  different  recompenses  and  marks  of  distinction  conferred  upon  war- 
riors, in  proportion  to  the  exploits  which  they  had  performed.  Some  sin- 
gular specimens  ,of  this  picture  writing  have  been  preserved,  which  are 
justly  considered  as  trie  most  curious  monuments  of  art  brought  from  the 
New  World.  The  most  valuable  of  these  was  published  by  Purchas  in 
sixty-six  plates.  It  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  first  contains  the 
history  of  the  Mexican  empire  under  its  ten  monarchs.  The  second  is  a 
tribute  roll,  representing  what  each  conquered  town  paid  into  the  royal 
treasury.  The  third  is  a  code  of  their  institutions,  domestic,  political,  and 
military.  Another  specimen  of  Mexican  painting  has  been  published  in 
thirty-two  plates,  by  the  present  archbishop  of  Toledo.  To  both  is  an- 
nexed a  full  explanation  of  what  the  figures  were  intended  to  represent, 
which  was  obtained  by  the  Spaniards  from  Indians  well  acquainted  with 
their  own  arts.  The  style  of  painting  in  all  these  is  the  same.  They 

the  royal  cabinet  of  Madrid,  takes  notice  that  it  contains  "specimens  of  Mexican  and  Peruvian 
utensils,  vases,  &c.  in  earthenware,  wretched  both  in  taste  and  execution."  Dillon's  Travels 
*Jirough  Spain,  p.  77.  As  Gage  composed  his  Survey  of  New  Spain  with  all  the  zeal  and  acrimony 
of  a  new  convert,  I  have  paid  little  regard  to  his'testimony  with  respect  to  points  relating  to  religion. 
But  as  he  resided  in  several  provinces  in  New  Spain,  which  travellers  seldom  visit,  and  as  he  seems 
to  have  observed  their  manners  and  laws  with  an  intelligent  eye,  I  have  availed  myself  of  his 
information  with  respect  to  matters  where  religious  opinion  could  have  little  influence.  Oorreal  I 
have  seldom  quoted,  and  never  rested  upon  his  evidence  alone.  The  station,  in  which  Ibagnez  was 
employed  in  America,  as  well  as  the  credit  given  to  his  veracity,  by  printing  his  Regno  Jesuitico 
among  the  large  collection  of  documents  published  (as  I  believe  by  authority)  at  Madrid,  A.  D.  1767, 
justifies  me  for  appealing  to.  his  authority. 

*  Divine  Leg!....  of  Moses,  iii.  73.  •       t  Sir  W.  Johnson,  Philos.  Transact,  vol.  Ixiii.  p.  143. 

Jl6m.  de  la  Hontan,  ii.  191.    Lafitau  Moeurs  de  Sauv.  ii,  43. 


AMERICA.  323 

represent  things,  not  words.  They  exhibit  images  to  the  eye,  not  ideas  to 
tiie  understanding.  They  may  therefore  be  considered  as  the  earliest  and 
riost  imperfect  essay  of  men  in  their  progress  towards  discovering  the  art 
of  writing.  The  defects  in  this  mode  of  recording  transactions  must  have 
been  early  felt.  To  paint  every  occurrence  was  from  its  nature  a  very 
tedious  operation ;  and  as  affairs  became  more  complicated,  and  events 
multiplied  in  any  society,  its  annals  must  have  swelled  to  an  enormous 
bulk.  Besides  this,  no  objects  could  be  delineated  but  those  of  sense  ;  the 
conceptions  of  the  mind  had  no  corporeal  form ;  and  as  long  as  picture 
writing  could  not  convey  an  idea  of  these,  it  must  have  been  a  very  imper- 
fect art.  The  necessity  of  improving  it  must  have  roused  and  sharpened 
invention ;  and  the  human  mind,  holding  the  same  course  in  the  New 
World  as  in  the  Old,  might  have  advanced  by  the  same  successive  steps, 
first,  from  an  actual  picture  to  the  plain  hieroglyphic  ;  next  to  the  allego- 
rical symbol ;  then  to  the  arbitrary  character  ;  until,  at  length*  an  alphabet 
of  letters  was  discovered,  capable  of  expressing  all  the  various  combinations 
of  sound  employed  in  speech.  Jn  the  paintings  of  the  Mexicans  we  ac- 
cordingly perceive  that  this  progress  was  begun  among  them.  Upon  an 
attentive  inspection  of  the  plates,  which  I  have  mentioned,  we  may  observe 
some  approach  to  the  plain  or  simple  hieroglyphic,  where  some  principal 
part  or  circumstance  in  the  subject  is  made  to  stand  for  the  whole.  In  the 
annals  of  their  kings,  published  by  Purchas,  the  towns  conquered  by  each 
are  uniformly  represented  in  the  same  manner  by  a  rude  delineation  of  a 
house  ;  but  in  order  to  point  out  the  particular  towns  which  submitted  to  their 
victorious  arms,  peculiar  emblems,  sometimes  natural  objects,  and  sometimes 
artificial  figures,  are  employed.  In  the  tribute-roll  published  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Toledo,  the  house  which  was  properly  the  picture  of  the  town,  is 
omitted,  and  the  emblem  alone  is  employed  to  represent  it.  The  Mexicans 
seem  even  to  have  made  some  advances  beyond  this,  towards  the  use  of  the 
more  figurative  and  fanciful  hieroglyphic.  In  order  to  describe  a  monarch 
who  had  enlarged  his  dominions  by  force  of  arms,  they  painted  a  target  orna- 
mented with  darts,  and  placed  it  between  him  and  those  towns  which  he 
subdued.  But  it  is  only  in  one  instance,  the  notation  of  numbers,  that  we 
discern  any  attempt  to  exhibit  ideas  which  had  no  corporeal  form.^  The 
Mexican  painters  had  invented  artificial  marks,  or  signs  of  convention,  for 
this  purpose.  By  means  of  these,  they  computed  the  years  of  their  kings' 
reigns,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  tribute  to  be  paid  into  the  royal  treasury. 
The  figure  of  a  circle  represented  unit ;  and  in  small  numbers,  the  com- 
putation was  made  by  repeating  it.  Larger  numbers  were  expressed  by  a 
peculiar  mark ;  and  they  had  such  as  denoted  all  integral  numbers,  from 
twenty  to  eight  thousand.  The  short  duration  of  their  empire  prevented 
the  Mexicans  from  advancing  further  in  that  long  course  which  conducts 
men  from  the  labour  of  delineating  real  objects,  to  the  simplicity  and  ease 
of  alphabetic  writing.  Their  records,  notwithstanding  some  dawn  of  such 
ideas  as  might  have  led  to  a  more  perfect  style,  can  be  considered  as  little 
more  than  a  species  of  picture-writing,  so  far  improved  as  to  mark  their 
superiority  over  the  savage  tribes  of  America  ;  but  still  so  defective  as  to 
prove  that  they  had  not  proceeded  far  beyond  the  first  stage  in  that  progress 
which  must  be  completed  before  any  people  can  be  ranked  among  polished 
nations  [150]. 

Their  mode  of  computing  time  may  be  considered  as  a  more  decisive 
evidence  of  their  progress  in  improvement.  They  divided  their  year  into 
eighteen  months,  consisting  of  twenty  days  ;  amounting  in  all  to  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty.  But  as  they  observed  that  the  course  of  the  sun  was  not 
completed  in  that  time,  they  added  five  days  to  the  year.  These,  which 
were  properly  intercalary  days,  they  termed  supernumerary  or  'waste ;  and 
as  they  did  not  belong  to  any  month,  no  work  was  done,  and  no  sacred  rite 


324  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VII. 

performed  on  them  ;  they  were  devoted  wholly  to  festivity  and  pastime.* 
Phis  near  approach  to  philosophical  accuracy  is  a  remarkable  proof,  that 
the  Mexicans  had  bestowed  some  attention  upon  inquiries  and  speculations 
to  which  men  in  a  very  rude  state  never  turn  their  thoughts.! 

Such  are  the  most  striking  particulars  in  the  manners  and  policy  of  the 
Mexicans,  which  exhibit  them  to  view  as  a  people  considerably  refined. 
But  from  other  circumstances,  one  is  apt  to  suspect  that  their  character, 
and  many  of  their  institutions,  did  not  differ  greatly  from  those  of  the  other 
inhabitants  of  America. 

Like  the  rude  tribes  around  them,  the  Mexicans  were  incessantly  en- 
gaged in  war,  and  the  motives  which  prompted  them  to  hostility  seem  to 
have  been  the  same.  They  fought  in  order  to  gratify  their  vengeance  by 
shedding  the  blood  of  their  enemies.  In  battle  they  were  chiefly  intent  on 
taking  prisoners ;  and  it  was  by  the  number  of  these  that  they  estimated 
the  glory  of  victory.  No  captive  was  ever  ransomed  or  spared.  All  were 
sacrificed  without  mercy,  and  their  flesh  devoured  with  the  same  barbarous 
joy  as  among  the  fiercest  savages.  On  §ome  occasions  it  arose  to  even 
wilder  excesses.  Their  principal  warriors  covered  themselves  with  the 
skins  of  the  unhappy  victims,  and  danced  about  the  streets,  boasting  of 
their  own  valour,  and  exulting  over  their  enemies.J  Even  in  their  civil 
institutions  we  discover  traces  of  that  barbarous  disposition  which  their 
system  of  war  inspired.  The  four  chief  counsellors  of  the  empire  were 
distinguished  by  titles,  which  could  have  been  assumed  only  by  a  people 
who  delighted  in  blood  [151].  This  ferocity  of  character  prevailed  among 
all  the  nations  of  New  Spain.  The  Tlascalans,  the  people  of  Mechoacan, 
and  other  states  at  enmity  with  the  Mexicans,  delighted  equally  in  war, 
and  treated  their  prisoners  with  the  same  cruelty.  In  proportion  as  man- 
kind combine  in  social  union,  and  live  under  the  influence  of  equal  laws 
and  regular  policy,  their  manners  soften,  sentiments  of  humanity  arise,  and 
the  rights  of  the  species  come  to  be  understood.  The  fierceness  of  war 
abates,  and  even  while  engaged  in  hostility,  men  rerrtember  what  they  owe 
one  to  another.  The  savage  fights  to  destroy,  the  citizen  to  conquer.  The 
former  neither  pities  nor  spares,  the  latter  has  acquired  sensibility  which 
tempers  his  rage.  To  this  sensibility  the  Mexicans  seem  to  have  been 
perfect  strangers ;  and  among  them  war  was  carried  on  with  so  much  of 
its  original  barbarity,  that  we  cannot  but  suspect  their  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion to  have  been  very  imperfect. 

Their  funeral  rites  were  not  less  bloody  than  those  of  the  most  savage 
tribes.  On  the  death  of  any  distinguished  personage,  especially  of  the 
emperor,  a  certain  number  of  his  attendants  were  chosen  to  accompany 
him  to  the  other  world ;  and  those  unfortunate  victims  were  put  to  death 
without  mercy,  and  buried  in  the  same  tomb.§ 

Though  their  agriculture  was  more  extensive  than  that  of  the  roving 
tribes  whp  trusted  chiefly  to  their  bow  for  food,  it  seems  not  to  have  sup- 
plied them  with  such  subsistence  as  men  require  when  engaged  in  efforts 
of  active  industry.  The  Spaniards  appear  not  to  have  been  struck  with 
any  superiority  of  the  Mexicans  over  the  other  people  of  America  in  bodily 
vigour.  Both,  according  to  their  observation,  were  of  such  a  feeble  frame 
as  to  be  unable  to-  endure  fatigue,  and  the  strength  of  one  Spaniard  ex- 
ceeded that  of  several  Indians.  This  they  imputed  to  their  scanty  diet, 
on  poor  fare,  sufficient  to  preserve  life,  but  not  ,to  give  firmness  to  their 
constitution.  Such  a  remark  could  hardly  have  been  made  with  respect 
to  any  people  furnished  plentifully  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  diffi- 

*  Acosta,  lib.  vi.  c.  2. 

t  The  Mexican  mode  of  computing  time,  and  every  other  particular  relating  to  their  chronology, 
have  been  considerably  elucidated  by  M.  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  288 ;  vol.  ii.  225,  &c.  The  observations 
and  theories  of  the  Mexicans  concerning  those  subjects  discover  a  greater  progress  in  speculative 
science  than  we  find  among  any  people  in  the  New  World.  I  Herrera,  dec,  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  15* 

Gem.  Cron.  c,217.  $  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  18.  Com.  Cron.  c.  303. 


AMERICA.  325 

culty  which  Cortes  found  in  procuring  subsistence  for  his  small  body  of 
soldiers,  who  were  often  constrained  to  live  on  the  spontaneous  productions 
of  the  earth,  seems  to  confirm  the  remark  of  the  Spanish  writers,  and  gives 
no  high  idea  of  the  state  of  cultivation  in  the  Mexican  empire.* 

A  practice  that  was  universal  in  New  Spain  appears  to  favour  this  opi- 
nion. The  Mexican  women  gave  suck  to  their  children  for  several  years, 
And  during  that  time  they  did  not  cohabit  with  their  husbands.f  This  pre- 
caution against  a  burdensome  increase  of  progeny,  though  necessary,  as  I 
have  already  observed,  among  savages,  who  from  the  hardships  of  their 
condition,  and  the  precariousness  of  their  subsistence,  find  it  impossible  to 
rear  a  numerous  family,  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  continued  among 
a  people  who  lived  at  ease  and  in  abundance. 

The  vast  extent  of  the  Mexican  empire,  which  has  been  considered,  and 
with  justice,  as  the  most  decisive  proof  of  a  considerable  progress  in  regu- 
lar government  and  police,  is  one  of  those  facts  in  the  history  of  the  New 
World  which  seems  to  have  been  admitted  without  due  examination  or 
sufficient  evidence.  The  Spanish  historians,  in  order  to  magnify  the  valour 
of  their  countrymen,  are  accustomed  to  represent  the  dominion  of  Monte- 
zuma  as  stretching  over  all  the  provinces  of  New  Spain  from  the  Northern 
to  the  Southern  Ocean,  But  a  great  part  of  the  mountainous  country  was 
possessed  by  the  Otomies,  a  fierce  uncivilized  people,  who  seem  to  have 
oeen  the  residue  of  the  original  inhabitants.  The  provinces  towards  the 
north  and  west  of  Mexico,  were  occupied  by  the  Chichemecas,  and  other 
tribes  of  hunters.  None  of  these  recognised  the  Mexican  monarch  as  their 
superior.  Even  in  the  interior  and  more  level  country,  there  were  several 
cities  and  provinces  which  had  never  submitted  to  the  Mexican  yoke. 
Tlascala,  though  only  twenty-one  leagues  from  the  capital  of  the  empire, 
was  an  independent  and  hostile  republic.  Cholula,  though  still  nearer, 
had  been  subjected  only  a  short  time  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards. 
Tepeaca,  at  the  distance  of  thirty  leagues  from  Mexico,  seems  to  have 
been  a  separate  state,  governed  by  its  own  laws.j  Mechoacan,  the  fron- 
tier of  which  extended  within  forty  leagues  of  Mexico,  was  a  powerful 
kingdom,  remarkable  for  its  implacable  enmity  to  the  Mexican  name.§ 
By  these  hostile  powers  the  Mexican  empire  was  circumscribed  on  every 
quarter,  and  the  high  ideas  which  we  are  apt  to  form  of  it  from  the  de- 
scription of  the  Spanish  historians,  should  be  considerably  moderated. 

In  consequence  of  this  independence  of  several  states  in  New  Spain 
upon  the  Mexican  empire,  there  was  not  any  considerable  intercourse  be- 
tween its  various  provinces.  Even  in  the  interior  country  not  far  distant 
from  the  capital,  there  seems  to  have  been  no  roads  to  facilitate  the  commu- 
nication of  one  district  with  another  ;  and  when  the  Spaniards  first  attempt- 
ed to  penetrate  into  its  several  provinces,  they  had  to  open  their  way 
through  forests  and  marshes.||  Cortes,  in  his  adventurous  march  from 
Mexico  to  Honduras,  in  1525,  met  with  obstructions,  and  endured  hard- 
ships little  inferior  to  those  with  which  he  must  have  struggled  in  the  most 
uncivilized  regions  of  America.  In  some  places  he  could  hardly  force  a 
passage  through  impervious  woods,  and  plains  overflowed  with  water. 
In  others  he  found  so  little  cultivation,  that  his  troops  were  frequently  in 
danger  of  perishing  by  famine.  Such  facts  correspond  ill  with  the  pom- 
pous description  which  the  Spanish  writers  give  of  Mexican  police  and 
industry,  and  convey  an  idea  of  a  country  nearly  similar  to  that  possessed 
by  the  Indian  tribes  in  North  America.  Here  and  there  a  trading  or  a 
war  path,  as  they  are  called  in  North  America,  led  from  one  settlement  to 
another  ;1T  but  generally  there  appeared  no  sign  of  any  established  com- 
munication, few  marks  of  industry,  and  fewer  monuments  of  art. 


*  Relat.  ap.  Ramus,  iii.  SOP.  A.    Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  17.  dec.  2.  Jib.  vi.  c.  16. 
Cron.  c.  208.    Herrera,  dec.  0.  lib,  iv.  c.  16.         f  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  x.  c.  15.  21.     B.  Diaz,  c.  130. 
•$  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  ii.  c.  ID,        ||  B.  Diaz,  c.  166.  176.         IT  Henera,  dec.  3.  lib.  vii.  c.  8. 


825  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VII. 

A  proof  of  this  imperfection  in  their  commercial  intercourse  no  less  strj* 
king  is  their  want  of  money,  or  some  universal  standard  by  which  to  esti- 
mate the  value  of  commodities.  The  discovery  of  this  is  among  the 
steps  of  greatest  consequence  in  the  progress  of  nations.  Until  it  has  been 
made,  all  their  transactions  must  be  so  awkward,  so  operose,  and  so  limited, 
that  we  may  boldly  pronounce  that  they  have  advanced  but  a  little  way 
in  their  career.  The  invention  of  such  a  commercial  standard  is  of  such 
high  antiquity  in  our  hemisphere,  and  rises  so  far  beyond  the  era  of  aur 
thentic  history,  as  to  appear  almost  coeval  with  the  existence  of  society. 
The  precious  metals  seem  to  have  been  early  employed  for  this  purpose  j 
and  from  their  permanent  value,  their  divisibility,  and  many  other  qualities, 
they  are  better  adapted  to  serve  as  a  common  standard  than  any  other  sub^ 
stance  of  which  'nature  has  given  us  the  command.  But  in  the  New 
World,  where  these  metals  abound  most,  this  use  of  them  was  not  known. 
The  exigencies  of  rude  tribes,  or  of  monarchies  imperfectly  civilized,  did 
not  call  for  it.  All  their  commercial  intercourse  was  carried  on  by  barter , 
and  their  ignorance  of  any  common  standard  by  which  to  facilitate  that 
exchange  of  commodities  which  contributes  so  much  towards  the  comfort 
of  life,  may  be  justly  mentioned  as  an  evidence  of  the  infant  state  of  their 
policy.  But  even  in  the  New  World  the  inconvenience  of  wanting  some 
general  instrument  of  commerce  began  to  be  felt,  arid  some  efforts  were 
making  towards  supplying  that  defect.  The  Mexicans,  among  whom  the 
number  and  greatness  of  their  cities  gave  rise  to  a  more  extended  com- 
merce than  in  any  other  part  of  America,  had  begun  to  employ  a  common 
standard  of  value,  which  rendered  smaller  transactions  much  more  easy. 
As  chocolate  was  the  favourite  drink  of  persons  in  every  rank  of  life,  the 
nuts  or  almonds  of  cacao,  of  which  it  is  composed,  were  of  such  universal 
consumption,  that,  in  their  stated  markets,  these  were  willingly  received 
in  return  for  commodities  of  small  price.  Thus  they  came  to  be  consider- 
ed as  the  instrument  of  commerce,  and  the  value  of  what  one  wished  to 
dispose  of  was  estimated  by  the  number  of  nuts  of  the  cacao,  which  he 
might  expect  in  exchange  for  it.  This  seems  to  be  the  utmost  length 
which  the  Americans  had  advanced  v  to  wards  the  discovery  of  any  expe- 
dient for  supplying  the  use  of  "money.  And  if  the  want  of  it  is  to  be  held, 
on  one  hand,  as  a  proof  of  their  barbarity,  this  expedient  for  supplying 
that  want  should  be  admitted,  on  the  other,  as  an  evidence  no  less  satis- 
fying- of  some  progress  which  the  Mexicans  had  made  in  refinement  and 
civilization  beyond  the  savage  tribes  around  them. 

In  such  a  rude  state  were  many  of  the  Mexican  provinces  when  first 
visited  by  their  conquerors.  Even  their  cities,  extensive  and  populous  as 
they  were,  seem  more  fit  to  be  the  habitation  of  men  just  emerging  from 
barbarity,  than  the  residence  of  a  polished  people.  The  description  of 
Tlascala  nearly  resembles  that  of  an  Indian  village.  A  number  of  low 
straggling  huts,  scattered  about  irregularly,  according  to  the  caprice  of 
each  proprietor,  built  with  turf  and  stone,  and  thatched  with  reeds,  with- 
out any  light  but  what  they  received  by  a  door,  so  low  that  it  could  not 
be  entered  upright.*  In  Mexico,  though,  from  the  peculiarity  of  its  situa- 
tion, the  disposition  of  the  houses  was  more  orderly,  the.  structure  of  the 
greater  part  was  equally  mean.  Nor  does  the  fabric  of  their  temples,  and 
other  public  edifices,  appear'  to  have  been  such  as  entitled  them  to  the 
high  praise  bestowed  upon  them  by  many  Spanish  authors.  As  far  as  one 
can  gather  from  their  obscure  and  inaccurate  descriptions,  the  great  temple 
of  Mexico,  the  most  famous  in  New  Spain,  which  has  been  represented  as 
a  magnificent  building,  raised  to  such  a  height,  that  the  ascent  to  it  was  by 
a  flight  of  a  hundred  and  fourteen  steps,  was  a  solid  mass  of  earth  of  a 
square  form,  faced  partly  with  stone.  Its  base  on  each  side  extended 

*  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  vi.  c.  12, 


AMERICA.  327 

ttmety  feet ;  and  decreasing  gradually  as  it  advanced  in  height,  it  termi- 
nated in  a  quadrangle  of  about  thirty  feet,  where  were  placed  a  shrine  of 
the  deity,  and  two  altars  on  which  the  victims  were  sacrificed.*  All  the 
other  celebrated  temples  of  New  Spain  exactly  resembled  that  of  Mex- 
ico [152].  Such  structures  convey  no  high  idea  of  progress  in  art  and  in- 
genuity ;  and  one  can  hardly  conceive  that  a  form  more  rude  and  simple 
could  have  occurred  to  a  nation  in  its  first  efforts  towards  erecting  any 
great  work. 

Greater  skill  and  ingenuity  were  displayed,  if  we  may  believe  the  Span- 
ish historians,  in  the  houses  of  the  emperor,  and  in  those  of  the  principal 
nobility.  There,  some  elegance  of  design  was  visible,  and  a  commodious 
arrangement  of  the  apartments  was  attended  to.  But  if  buildings  corres- 
ponding to  such  descriptions  had  ever  existed  in  the  Mexican  cities,  it  is 
probable  that  some  remains  of  them  would  still  be  visible.  From  the 
manner  in  which  Cortes  conducted  the  siege  -of  Mexico,  we  can  indeed 
easily  account  for  the  total  destruction  of  whatever  had  any  appearance 
of  splendour  in  that  capital.  But  as  only  two  centuries  and  a  half  have 
elapsed  since  the  conquest  of  New  Spain,  it  seems  altogether  incredible 
that  in  a  period  so  short,  every  vestige  of  this  boasted  elegance  and  gran- 
deur should  have  disappeared  ;  and  that  in  the  other  cities,  particularly  in 
those  which  did  not  sutler  by  the  destructive  hand  of  the  conquerors,  there 
are  any  ruins  which  can  be  considered  as  monuments  of  their  ancient  mag- 
nificence. 

Even  in  a  village  of  the  rudest  Indians,  there  are  buildings  of  greater 
extent  and  elevation  than  common  dwelling  houses.  Such  as  are  destined 
for  holding  the  council  of  the  tribe,  and  in  which  all  assemble  on  occasions 
of  public  festivity,  may  be  called  stately  edifices,  when  compared  with 
the  rest.  As  among  the  Mexicans  the  distinction  of  ranks  was  established, 
and  property  was  unequally  divided,  the  number  of  distinguished  struc- 
tures in  their  towns  would  of  course  be  greater  than  in  other  parts  of  Ame- 
rica. But  these  seem  not  to  have  been  either  so  solid  or  magnificent  as  to 
merit  the  pompous  epithets  which  some  Spanish  authors  employ  in  de- 
scribing them.  It  is  probable  that,  though  more  ornamented,  and  built  on 
a  larger  scale,  they  were  erected  with  the  same  slight  materials  which  the 
Indians  employed  in  their  common  buildings  [153],  and  Time,  in  a  space 
much  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  may  have  swept  away  all 
remains  of  them  [154]. 

From  this  enumeration  of  facts,  it  seems,  upon  the  whole,  to  be  evident, 
that  the  state  of  society  in  Mexico  was  considerably  advanced  beyond 
that  of  the  savage  tribes  which  we  have  delineated.  But  it  is  no  less  mani- 
fest that,  with  respect  to  many  particulars,  the  Spanish  accounts  of  their 
progress  appear  to  be  highly  embellished.  There  is  not  a  more  frequent 
or  a  more  fertile  source  of  deception  in  describing  the  manners  and  arts  of 
savage  nations,  or  of  such  as  are  imperfectly  civilized,  than  that  of  apply- 
ing to  them  the  names  and  phrases  appropriated  to  the  institutions  and  re- 
finements of  polished  life.  When  the  leader  of  a  small  tribe,  or  the  head 
of  a  rude  community,  is  dignified  with  the  name  of  King  or  Emperor,  the 
place  of  his  residence  can  receive  no  other  name  but  that  of  his  palace  ; 
and  whatever  his  attendants  may  be,  they  must  be  called  his  court 
Under  such  appellations  they  acquire,  in  our  estimation,  an  importance 
and  dignity  which  does  not  belong  to  them.  The  illusion  spreads ;  and 
giving  a  false  colour  to  every  part  of  the  narrative,  the  imagination  is  so 
much  carried  away  with  the  resemblance,  that  it  becomes  difficult  to  dis- 
cern objects  as  they  really  are.  The  Spaniards,  when  they  first  touched 
on  the  Mexican  coast,  were  so  much  struck  with  the  appearance  of  attain- 
ments in  policy  and  in  the  arts  of  life,  far  superior  to  those  of  the  rude 

*  Herrera,  drc.  2.  lib.  vii.  c.  17. 


3?8  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VII. 

tribes  with  which  they  were  hitherto  acquainted,  that  they  fancied  they 
had  at  length  discovered  a  civilized  people  in  the  New  World.  This 
comparison  between  the  people  of  Mexico  and  their  uncultivated  neigh- 
bours, they  appear  to  have  kept  constantly  in  view  ;  and  observing  with 
admiration  many  things  which  marked  the  -pre-eminence  of  the  former, 
they  employ,  in  describing  their  imperfect  policy  and  infant  arts,  such  terms 
as  are  applicable  to  the  institutions  of  men  far  beyond  them  in  improve- 
ment. Both  these  circumstances  concur  in  detracting  from  the  credit  due 
to  the  descriptions  of  Mexican  manners  by  the  early  Spanish  writers.  By 
drawing  a  parallel  between  them  and  those  of  people  so  much  less  civil- 
ized, they  raised  their  own  ideas  too  high.  By  their  mode  of  describing 
them,  they  conveyed  ideas  to  others  no  less  exalted  above  truth.  Later 
writers  have  adopted  the  style?  of  the  original  historians,  and  improved 
upon  it.  The  colours  with  which  De  Solis  delineates  the  character  and 
describes  the  actions  of  Montezuma,  the  splendour  of  his  court,  the  laws 
and  policy  of  his  empire,  are  the  same  that  he  must  have  employed  in 
exhibiting  to  view  the  monarch  and  institutions  of  a  highly  polished  people. 
But 'though  We  may  admit,' that  the  warm  imagination  of  the  Spanish 
writers  has  added  some  embellishment  to  their  descriptions,  this  will  not 
justify  the  decisive  and  peremptory  tone  with  which  several  authors  pro- 
nounce all  their  accounts  of  the  Mexican  power,  policy,  and  laws,  to  be 
the  fictions  of  men  who  wished  to  deceive,  or  who  delighted  in  the  mar- 
vellous. There  are  few  historical  facts  that  can  be  ascertained  by  evidence 
more  unexceptionable,  than  may  be  produced  in  support  of  the  material 
articles  in  the  description  of  the  Mexican  constitution  and  manners.  Eye- 
witnesses relate  what  they  beheld.  Men  who  had  resided  among  the 
Mexicans,  both  before  and  after  the  conquest,  describe  institutions  and 
customs  which  were  familiaj  to  them.  Persons  of  professions  so  different 
that  objects  must  have  presented  themselves  to  their  view  under  every 
various  aspect ;  soldiers,  priests,  and  lawyers,  all  concur  in  their  testimony. 
Had  Cortes  ventured  to  impose  upon  his  sovereign,  by  exhibiting  to  him  a 
picture  of  imaginary  manners,  there  wanted  not  enemies  and  rivals  who 
were  qualified  to  detect  his  deceit,  and  who  would  have  rejoice4  in 
exposing  it.  But  according,  to  the  just  remark  of  an  author,  wnose  inge- 
nuity has  illustrated,  and  whose  eloquence  has  adorned,  the  history  of 
America,*  this  supposition  is  in  itself  as  improbable  as  the  attempt  would 
have  been  audacious.  Who,  among  the  destroyers  of  this  great  empire, 
was  so  enlightened  by  science,  or  so  attentive  to  the  progress  and  operations 
of  men  in  social  life,  as  to  frame  a  fictitious  system  of  policy  so  well  com- 
bined and  so  consistent,  as  that  which  they  delineate  in  their  accounts  of 
the  Mexican  government  ?  Where  could  they  have  borrowed  the  idea  of 
many  institutions  in  legislation  and  police,  to  which,  at  that  period,  there 
was  nothing  parallel  in  the  nations  with  which  they  were  acquainted  ? 
There  was  not,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a  regular  esta- 
blishment of  posts  for  conveying  intelligence  to  the  sovereign  of  any 
kingdom  in  Europe.  The  same  observation  will  apply  to  what  the 
Spaniards  relate  with  respect  to  the  structure  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  the 
regulations  concerning  its  police,  and  various  laws  established  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  or  securing  the  happiness  of  the  community. 
Whoever  is  accustomed  to  contemplate  the  progress  of  nations  will  often, 
at  very  early  stages  of  it,  discover  a  premature  and  unexpected  dawn  of 
those  ideas  which  gave  rise  to  institutions  that  are  the  pride  and  ornament 
of  its  most  advanced  period.  Even  in  a  state  as  imperfectly  polished  as 
the  Mexican  empire,  the  happy  genius  of  some  sagacious  observer,  excited 
or  aided  by  circumstances  unknown  to  us,  may  have  introduced  institutions 
which  are  seldom  found  but  in  societies  highly  refined.  But  it  is  almost 

*  M.  I'Abbe  Raynal  Hist,  philos.  et  polit.  &c.  iii.  127. 


AMERICA.  329 

impossible  that  the  illiterate  conquerors  of  the  New  World  should  have 
formed  in  any  one  instance  a  conception  of  customs  and  laws  beyond  the 
standard  ot  improvement  in  their  own  age  and  country.  Or  if  Cortes  had 
been  capable  of  this,  what  inducement  had  those  by  whom  he  was  super- 
seded to  continue  the  deception  ?  Why  should  Corita,  or  Motolinea,  or 
Acosta,  have  amused  their  sovereign  or  their  fellow-citizens  with  a  tale 
purely  fabulous  ? 

In  one  particular,  however,  the  guides  whom  we  must  follow  have  repre- 
sented the  Mexicans  to  be  more  barbarous,  perhaps,  than  they  really  were. 
Their  religious  tenets  and  the  rites  of  their  worship  are  described  by  them 
as  wild  and  cruel  in  an  extreme  degree.  Religion,  which  occupies  no 
considerable  place  in  the  thoughts  of  a  savage,  whose  conceptions  of  any 
superior  power  are  obscure,  and  his  sacred  rites  few  as  well  as  simple, 
was  formed,  among  the  Mexicans,  into  a  regular  system,  with  its  complete 
train  of  priests,  temples,  victims,  and  festivals.  This,  of  itself,  is  a  clear 
proof  that  the  state  of  the  Mexicans  was  very  different  from  that  of  the 
ruder  American  tribes.  But  from  the  extravagance  of  their  religious 
notions,  or  the  barbarity  of  their  rites,  no  conclusion  "can  be  drawn  with 
certainty  concerning  the  degree  of  their  civilization.  For  nations,  long 
after  their  ideas  begin  to  enlarge,  and  their  manners  to  refine,  adhere  to 
systems  of  superstition  founded  on  the  crude  conceptions  of  early  ages. 
From  the  genius  of  the  Mexican  religion  we  may,  however,  form  a  most 
just  conclusion  with  respect  to  its  influence  upon  the  character  of_  the 
people.  The  aspect  of  superstition  in  Mexico  was  gloomy  and  atrocious. 
Its  divinities  were  clothed  with  terror,  and  delighted  in  vengeance.  They 
were  exhibited  to  the  people  under  detestable  forms,  which  created  horror. 
The  figures  of  serpents,  of  tigers,  and  of  other  destructive  animals,  deco- 
rated their  temples.  Fear  was  the  only  principle  that  inspired  their 
votaries.  Fasts,  mortifications,  and  penances,  all  rigid,  and  many  of  them 
excruciating  to  an  extreme  degree,  were  the  means  employed  to  appease 
the  wrath  of  their  gods,  and  the  Mexicans  never  approached  their  altars 
without  sprinkling  them  with  blood  drawn  from  their  own  bodies.  But,  of 
all  offerings,  human  sacrifices  were  deemed  the  most  acceptable.  This 
religious  belief  mingling  with  the  implacable  spirit  of  vengeance,  and 
adding  new  force  to  it,  every  captive  taken  in  war  was  brought  to  the 
temple,  was  devoted  as  a  victim  to  the  deity,  and  sacrificed  with  rites  no 
less  solemn  than  cruel*  [155].  The  heart  and  head  were  the  portion 
consecrated  to  the  gods  ;  the  warrior,  by  whose  prowess  the  prisoner  had 
been  seized,  carried  off  thb  body  to  feast  upon  it  with  his  friends.  Under 
the  impression  of  ideas  so  dreary  and  terrible,  and  accustomed  daily  to 
scenes  of  bloodshed  rendered  awful  by  religion,  the  heart  of  man  must 
harden  and  be  steeled  to  every  sentiment  of  humanity.  The  spirit  of  the 
Mexicans  was  accordingly  unfeeling ;  and  the  genius  of  their  religion  so 
far  counterbalanced  the  influence  of  policy  and  arts,  that  notwithstanding 
their  progress  in  both,  their  manners,  instead  of  softening,  became  more 
fierce.  To  what  circumstances  it  was  owing  that  superstition  assumed  such 
a  dreadful  form  among  the  Mexicans,  we  have  not  sufficient  knowledge  of 
their  history  to  determine.  But  its  influence  is  visible,'  and  produced  an 
effect  that  is  singular  in  the  history  of  the  human  species.  The  manners  of 
the  people  in  the  New  World,  who  had  made  the  greatest  progress  in  the 
arts  of  policy,  were,  in  several  respects,  the  most  ferocious,  and  the  barbarity 
of  some  of  their  customs  exceeded  even  those  of  the  savage  state. 

The  empire  of  Peru  boasts  of  a  higher  antiquity  than  that  of  Mexico. 
According  to  the  traditionary  accounts  collected  by  the  Spaniards,  it  had 
subsisted  four  hundred  years,  under  twelve  successive  monarchs.  But  the 

*  Cort.  Relat.  ap  Ramus.  iii.  240,  &c.    B.  Diaz,  c.  82.     Acosta,  Hb.  v.  c.  13,  Stc     Hcrrera,  rice. 
3.  lib.  ii,  c.  15,  &c.    Gomara  Chron.  c.  80,  &c. 
VOL.  I.— 42  18 


330  KISTORYOF  [BOOK  VII. 

knowledge  of  their  ancient  story,  which  the  Peruvians  could  communicate 
to  their  conquerors,  must  have  been  both  imperfect  and  uncertain  [156]. 
Like  the  other  American  nations,  they  were  totally  unacquainted  with  the 
art  of  writing,  and  destitute  of  the  only  means  by  which  the  memory  of 
past  transactions'  can  be  preserved  with  any  degree  of  accuracy.  Even 
among  people  to  whom  the  use  of  letters  is  known,  the  era  where  the 
authenticity  of  history  commences  is  much  posterior  to  the  introduction  of 
writing.  That  noble  invention  continued  every  where  to  be  long  subser- 
vient tp  the  common  business  and  wants  of  life,  before  it  was  employed  in 
recording  events,  with  a  view  of  conveying  information  from  one  age  to 
another.  But  in  no  country  did  ever  tradition  alone  carry  down  historical 
knowledge,  in  any  full  continued  stream,  during  a  period  of  half  the  length 
that  the  monarchy  of  Peru  is  said  to  have  subsisted. 

The  Quipos,  or  knots  on  cords  of  different  colours,  which  are  celebrated 
by  authors  fond  of  the  marvellous,  as  if  they  had  been  regular  annals  of 
the  empire,  imperfectly  supplied  the  place  of  writing.  According  to  the 
obscure  description  of  them  by  Acosta,*  which  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega  has 
adopted  with  little  variation  and  no  improvement,  the  quipos  seem  to  have 
been  a  device  for  rendering  calculation  more  expeditious  and  accurate. 
By  the  various  colours  different  objects  were  denoted,  and  by  each  knot  a 
distinct  number.  Thus  an  account  was  taken,  and  a  kind  of  register  kept, 
of  the  inhabitants  in  e'ach  province,  or  of  the  several  productions  collected 
there  for  public  use.  But  as  by  these  knots,  however  varied  or  combined, 
no  moral  or  abstract  idea,  no  operation  or  quality  of  the  mind  could  be^ 
represented,  they  contributed  little  towards  preserving  the  memory  of 
ancient  .events  and  institutions.  By  the  Mexican  paintings  and  symbols, 
rude  as  they  were,  more  knowledge  of  remote  transactions  seems  to  have 
been  conveyed  than  the  Peruvians  could  derive  from  their  boasted  quipos. 
Had  the  latter  been  even  of  more  extensive  use,  and  better  adapted  to 
supply  the  place  of  written  records,  they  perished  so  generally,  together 
with  other  monuments  of  Peruvian  ingenuity,  in  the  wreck  occasioned  by 
the  Spanish  conquest,  and  the  civil  wars  subsequent  to  it,  that  no  accession 
of  light  or  knowledge  comes  from  them.  All  the  zeal  of  Garcilasso  de  la 
Vega,  for  the  honour  of  that  race  of  monarchs  from  whom  he  descended, 
all  the  industry  of  his  researches,  and  the  superior  advantages  with  which 
he  carried  them  on,  opened  no  source  of  information  unknown  to  the 
Spanish  authors  who  wrote  before  him.  In  his  Royal  Commentaries,  he 
confines  himself  to  illustrate  what  they  had  related  concerning  the  antiqui 
ties  and  institutions  of  Peru  ;|  and  his  illustrations,  like  their  accounts,  are 
derived  entirely  from  the  traditionary  tales  current  among  his  countrymen. 

Very  little  credit  then  is  due  to  the  minute  details  which  have  been 
given  of  the  exploits,  the  battles,  the  conquests,  and  private  character  of 
the  early  Peruvian  monarchs.  We  can  rest  upon  nothing  in  their  story  as 
authentic,  but  a  few  facts  so  interwoven  in  the  system  of  their  religion  and 
policy,  as  preserved  the  memory  of  them  from  being  lost ;  and  upon  the 
description  of  such  customs  and  institutions  as  continued  in  force  at  the 
time  of  the  conquest,  and  fell  under  the  immediate  observation  of  the 
Spaniards.  By  attending  carefully  to  these,  and  endeavouring  to  separate 
them  from  what  appears  to  be  fabulous  or  of  doubtful  authority,  I  have 
laboured  to  form  an  idea  of  the  Peruvian  government  and  manners. 

The  people  of  Peru,  as  I  have  already  observed,!  had  not  advanced 
beyond  the  rudest  form  of  savage  life,  when  Mancp  Capac,  and  his  con- 
sort Mama  Ocollo,  appeared  to  instruct  and  to  civilize  them.  Who  these 
extraordinary  personages  were,  whether  they  imported  their  system  of 
legislation  and  knowledge  of  arts  from  some  country  more  improved,  or,  if 
natives  of  Peru,  how  they  acquired  ideas  so  far  superior  to  those  of  the 

*  Hiet.  lib.  vi  c.  8.  |  Lib.  i.  c.  10.  $  Book  vl 


AMERICA.  331 

people  \vhorn  they  addressed,  are  circumstances  with  respect  to  which  the 
Peruvian  tradition  conveys  no  information.  Manco  Capac  and  his  consort, 
taking  advantage  of  the  propensity  in  the  Peruvians  to  superstition,  and 
particularly  of  their  veneration  for  the  Sun,  pretended  to  be  children  of  that 
glorious  luminary,  and  to  deliver  their  instructions  in  his  name,  and  by  au- 
thority from  him.  The  multitude  listened  and  believed.  What  reforma- 
tion in  policy  and  manners  the  Peruvians  ascribe  to  those  founders  of -their 
empire,  and  how,  from  the  precepts  of  the  Inca  and  his  consort,  their  an- 
cestors gradually  acquired  some  knowledge  of  those  arts,  and  some  relish 
for  that  industry,  which  render  subsistence  secure  and  life  comfortable, 
hath  been  formerly  related.  Those  blessings  were  originally  confined 
within  narrow  precincts  ;  but  in  process  of  time,  the  successors  of  Manco 
Capac  extended  their  dominion  over  all  the  regions  that  stretch  to  the 
west  of  the  Andes  from  Chili  to  Quito,  establishing  in  every  province  their 
peculiar  policy  and  religious  institutions. 

The  most  singular  and  striking  circumstance  -in  the  Peruvian  govern- 
ment is  the  influence  of  religion  upon  its  genius  and  laws.  Religious  ideas 
make  such  a  feeble  impression  on  the  mind  of  a  savage,  that  their  effect 
upon  his  sentiments  and  manners  is  hardly  perceptible.  Among  the 
Mexicans,  religion,  reduced  into  a  regular  system,  and  holding  a  consider- 
able place  in  their  public  institutions,  operated  with  conspicuous  efficacy 
in  forming  the  peculiar  character  of  that  people.  But  in  Peru,  the  whole 
system  of  policy  was  founded  on  religion.  The  Inca  appeared  not  only 
as  a  legislator,  but  as  the  messenger  of  Heaven.  His  precepts  were  re- 
ceived not  merely  as  the  injunctions  of  a  superior,  but  as  the  mandates  of 
the  Deity.  His  race  was  to  be  held  sacred ;  and  in  order  to  preserve  it 
distinct,  without  being  polluted  by  any  mixture  of  less  noble  blood,  the 
sons  of  Manco  Capac  married  their  own  sisters,  and  no  person  was  ever 
admitted  to  the  throne  who  could  not  claim  it  by  such  a  pure  descent. 
To  those  Children  of  the  Sun,  for  that  was  the  appellation  bestowed  upon 
all  the  offspring  of  the  first  Inca,  the  people  looked  up  with  the  reverence 
due  to  beings  of  a  superior  order.  They  were  deemed  to  be  under  the 
immediate  protection  of  the  deity  from  whom  they  issued,  and  by  him 
every  order  of  the  reigning  Inca  was  supposed  to  be  dictated. 

From  those  ideas  two  consequences  resulted.  The  authority  of  the 
Inca  was  unlimited  and  absolute  in  the  most  extensive  meaning  of  the 
words.  Whenever  the  decrees  of  a  prince  are  considered  as  the  com- 
mands of  the  Divinity,  it  is  not  only  an  act  of  rebellion,  but  of  impiety,  to 
dispute  or  oppose  his  will.  Obedience  becomes  a  duty  of  religion  ;  and  as 
it  would  be  profane  to  control  a  monarch  who  is  believed  to  be  under  the 
guidance  of  Heaven,  and  presumptuous  to  advise  him,  nothing  remains  but 
to  submit  with  implicit  respect.  This  must  necessarily  -be  the  effect  of 
every  government  established  on  pretensions  of  intercourse  with  superior 
powers.  Such  accordingly  was  the  blind  submission  which  the  Peruvians 
yielded  to  their  sovereigns.  The  persons  of  highest  rank  and  greatest 
power  in  their  dominions  acknowledged  them  to  be  of  a  more  exalted 
nature  ;  and  in  testimony  of  this,  when  admitted  into  their  presence,  they 
entered  with  a  burden  upon  their  shoulders,  as  an  emblem  of  their  servi- 
tude, and  willingness  to  bear  whatever  the  Inca  was  pleased  to  impose. 
Among  their  subjects,  force  was  not  requisite  to  second  their  commands. 
Every  officer  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  them  was  revered,  and, 
according  to  the  account*  of  an  intelligent  observer  of  Peruvian  manners, 
he  might  proceed  alone  from  one  extremity  of  the  empire  to  another  with- 
out meeting^  opposition  ;  for,  on  producing  a  fringe  from  the  royal  borla,  an 
ornament  of  the  head  peculiar  to  the  reigning  Inca,  the  lives  and  fortunes 
of  the  people  were  at  his  disposal. 

*  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  13. 


332  HISTORY  OF  [Boo*  VII. 

Another  consequence  of  establishing  government  in  Peru  on  the  founda- 
tion of  religion  was,  that  all  crimes  were  punished  capitally.  They  were 
not  considered  as  transgressions  of  human  laws,  but  as  insults  offered  to 
the  Deity.  Each,  without  any  distinction  between  such  as  were  slight  and 
such  as  were  atrocious,  called  for  vengeance,  and  could  be  expiated  only 
by  the  blood  of  the  offender.  Consonantly  to  the  same  ideas,  punishment 
followed  the  trespass  with  inevitable  certainty,  because  an  offence  against 
Heaven  was  deemed  such  a  high  enormity  as  could  not  be  pardoned.* 
Among  a  people  of  corrupted  morals,  maxims  of  jurisprudence  so  severe 
and  unrelenting,  by  rendering  men  ferocious  and  desperate,  would  be 
more  apt  to  multiply  crimes  than  to  restrain  them.  But  the  Peruvians,  of 
simple  manners  and  unsuspicious  faith,  were  held  in  such  awe  by  this  rigid 
discipline,  that  the  number  of  offenders  was  extremely  small.  Veneration 
for  monarchs  enlightened  and  directed,  as  they  believed,  by  the  divinity 
whom  they  adored,  prompted  them  to  their  duty ;  the  dread  of  punish- 
ment, which  they  were  taught  to  consider  as  unavoidable  vengeance 
inflicted  by  offended  Heaven,  withheld  them  from  evil. 

The  system  of  superstition,  on  which  the  Incas  ingrafted  their  preten- 
sions to  such  high  authority,  was  of  a  genius  very  different  from  that 
established  among  the  Mexicans.  Manco  Capac  turned  the  veneration  of 
his  followers  entirely  towards  natural  objects.  The  Sun,  as  the  great 
source  of  light,  of  joy,  and  fertility  in  the  creation,  attracted  their  principal 
homage.  The  Moon  and  Stars,  as  co-operating  with  him,  were  entitled 
to  secondary  honours.  Wherever  the  propensity  in  the  human  mind  to 
acknowledge  and  to  adore  some  superior  power  takes  this  direction,  and 
is  employed  in  contemplating  the  order  and  beneficence  that  really  exists 
in  nature,  the  spirit  of  superstition  is  mild.  Wherever  imaginary  beings, 
created  by  the  fancy  and  the  fears  of  men,  are  supposed  to  preside  in 
nature,  and  become  the  objects  of  worship,  superstition  always  assumes  a 
more  severe  and  atrocious  form.  Of  the  latter  we  have  an  example  among 
the  Mexicans,  of  the  former  among  the  people  of  Peru.  The  Peruvians 
had  not,  indeed,  made  such  progress  in  observation  or  inquiry,  as  to  have 
attained  just  conceptions  of  the  Deity ;  nor  was  there  in  their  language  any 
proper  name  or  appellation  of  the  Supreme  Power,  which  intimated  that 
they  had  formed  any  idea  of  him  as  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  the 
world.t 

But  by  directing  their  veneration  to  that  glorious  luminary,  which,  by 
its  universal  and  vivifying  energy,  is  the  best  emblem  of  Divine  benen- 
cence,  the  rites  and  observances  which  they  deemed  acceptable  to  him 
were  innocent  and  humane.  They  offered  to  the  Sun  a  part  of  those  pro- 
ductions which  his  genial  warmth  had  called  forth  from  the  bosom  of  the 
earth,  and  reared  to  maturity.  They  sacrificed,  as  an  oblation  of  grati- 
tude, some  of  the  animals  which  were  indebted  to  his  influence  for  nourish- 
ment. They  presented  to  him  choice  specimens  of  those  works  of  ingenu- 
ity which  his  light  had  guided  the  hand  of  man  in  forming.  But  the  Incas 
never  stained  his  altars  with  human  blood,  nor  could  they  conceive  that 
their  beneficent  father,  the  Sun,  would  be  delighted  with  such  horrid  vic- 
tims [157].  Thus  the  Peruvians,  unacquainted  with  those  barbarous  rites 
which  extinguish  sensibility,  and  suppress  the  feelings  of  nature  at  the  sight 
of  human  sufferings,  were  formed  by  the  spirit  of  the  superstition  which 
they  had  adopted,  to  a  national  character  mpre  gentle  than  that  of  any 
people  in  America: 

The  influence  of  this  superstition  operated  in  the  same  manner  upon 
their  civil  institutions,  and  tended  to  correct  in  them  whatever  was  adverse 
to  gentleness  of  character.  The  dominion  of  the  Incas,  though  the  most  ab- 
solute of  all  despotisms,  was  mitigated  by  its  alliance  with  religion.  The 

*  Vega,  lib.  ii.  c.  6.  t  Acosta,  lib.  v.  c.  3, 


AMERICA.  333 

mind  was  not  humbled  and  depressed  by  the  idea  of  a  forced  subjection  to 
the  will  of  a  superior ;  obedience,  paid  to  one  who  was  believed  to  be  clothed 
with  Divine  authority,  was  willingly  yielded,  and  implied  no  degradation. 
The  sovereign,  conscious  that  the  submissive  reverence  of  his  people 
flowed  from  their  belief  of  his  heavenly  descent,  was  continually  reminded 
of  a  distinction  which  prompted  him  to  imitate  that  beneficent  power 
which  he  was  supposed  to  represent.  In  consequence  of  those  impressions, 
there  hardly  occurs  in  the  traditional  history  of  Peru,  any  instance  of  re- 
bellion against  the  reigning  prince,  and  among  twelve  successive  monarchs 
there  was  not  one  tyrant. 

Even  the  wars  in  which  the  Incas  engaged  were  carried  on  with  a  spirit 
very  different  from  that  of  other  American  nations.  They  fought  not,  like 
savages,  to  destroy  and  to  exterminate  ;  or,  like  the  Mexicans,  to  glut  blood- 
thirsty divinities  with  human  sacrifices.  They  conquered,  in  order  to  reclaim 
and  civilize  the  vanquished,  and  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  their  own 
institutions  and  arts.  Prisoners  seem  not  to  have  been  exposed  to  the  insults 
and  tortures  which  were  their  lot  in  every  other  part  of  the  New  World. 
The  Incas  took  the  people  whom  they  subdued  under  their  protection,  and 
admitted  them  to  a  participation  of  all  the  advantages  enjoyed  by  their 
original  subjects.  This  practice,  so  repugnant  to  American  ferocity,  and 
resembling  the  humanity  of  the  most  polished  nations,  must  be  ascribed, 
like  other  peculiarities  which  we  have  observed  in  the  Peruvian  manners, 
to  the  genius  of  their  religion.  The  Incas,  considering  the  homage  paid  to 
any  other  object  than  to  the  heavenly  powers  which  they  adored  as  impi- 
ous, were  fond  of  gaining  proselytes  to  their  favourite  system.  The  idols 
of  every  conquered  province  were  carried  in  triumph  to  the  great  temple 
at  Cuzco,*  and  placed  there  as  trophies  of  the  superior  power  of  the 
divinity  who  was  the  protector  of  their  empire.  The  people  were  treated 
with  lenity,  and  instructed  in  the  religious  tenets  of  their  new  masters,! 
that  the  conqueror  might  have  the  glory  of  having  added  to  the  number  of 
the  votaries  of  his  father  the  Sun. 

The  state  of  property  in  Peru  was  no  less  singular  than  that  of  religion, 
and  contributed,  likewise,  towards  giving  a  mild  turn  of  character  to  the 
people.  All  the  lands  capable  of  cultivation  were  divided  into  three  shares. 
One  was  consecrated  to  the  Sun,  and  the  product  of  it  was  applied  to  the 
erection  of  temples,  and  furnishing  what  was  requisite  towards  celebrating 
the  public  rites  of  religion.  The  second  belonged  to  the  Inca,  and  was 
set  apart  as  the  provision  made  by  the  community  for  the  support  of 
government.  The  third  and  largest  share  was  reserved  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  people,  among  whom  it  was  parcelled  put.  Neither  individuals, 
however,  nor  communities  had  a  right  of  exclusive  property  in  the  portion 
set  apart  for  their  use.  They  possessed  it  only  for  a  year,  at  the  expiration 
of  which  a  new  division  was  made  in  proportion  to  the  rank,  the  number, 
and  exigencies  of  each  family.  All  those  lands  were  cultivated  by  the 
joint  industry  of  the  community.  The  people  summoned  by  a  proper 
officer,  repaired  in  a  body  to  the  fields,  and  performed  their  common  task, 
while  songs  and  musical  instruments  cheered  them  to  their  labour.  J  By 
this  singular  distribution  of  territory,  as  well  as  by  the  mode  of  cultivating 
it,  the  idea  of  a  common  interest,  and  of  mutual  subserviency,  was  continu- 
ally inculcated.  Each  individual  felt  his  connexion  with  those  around  him, 
and  knew  that  he  depended  on  their  friendly  aid  for  what  increase  he  was 
to  reap.  A  state  thus  constituted  may  be  considered  as  one  great  family, 
in  which  the  union  of  the  members  was  so  complete,  and  the  exchange  of 
good  offices  so  perceptible,  as  to  create  stronger  attachment,  and  to  Ibind 
man  to  man  in  closer  intercourse  than  subsisted  under  any  form  of  society 

*  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib,  iv.  c.  4.    Vega,  lib.  v.  c.  12.       t  Herrera.  dec.  5.  lib.  iv.  c.  8.       ?  Ib.  c.  2. 

Vega,  lib.  v.  c.  5. 


334  H I S  T  0  R  Y  OF  [BOOK  Vll 

established  in  America^  From  this  resulted  gentle  manners  and  mild 
virtues  unknown  in  the  savage  state,  and  with  which  the  Mexicans  were 
little  acquainted. 

Bat,  though  the  institutions  of  the  Incas  were  so  framed  as  to  strengthen 
the  bonds  of  affection  among  their  subjects,  there  was  great  inequality  in 
their  condition.  The  distinction  lof  ranks  was  fully  established  in  Peru. 
A  great  body  of  the  inhabitants,  under  the  denomination  of  Yanaconas, 
were  held  in  a  state  of  servitude.  Their  garb  and  houses  were  of  a  form 
different  from  those  of  freemen.  Like  the  Tamenes  of  Mexico,  they  were 
employed  in  carrying  burdens,  and  in  performing  every  other  work  of 
drudgery.*  Next  to  them,  in  rank,  were  such  of  the  people  as  were  free, 
but  distinguished  by  no  official  Or  hereditary  honours.  Above  them  were 
raised  those  whom  the  Spaniards  call  Orejonesi  from  the  ornaments  worn  in 
their  ears.  They  formed  what  may  be  denominated  the  order  of  nobles, 
and  in  peace  as  well  as  war  held  every  office  of  power  or  trust.f  And 
the  head  of  all  were  the  children  of  the  Sun,  who,  by  their  high  descent 
and  peculiar  privileges,  were  as  much  exalted  above  the  Orejones,  as  these 
were  elevated  above  the  people. 

Such  a  form  of  society,  from  the  union  of  its  members,  as  well  as  from 
the  distinction  in  their  ranks,  was  favourable  to  progress  in  the  arts.  But 
the  Spaniards,  having  been  acquainted  with  the  improved  state  of  various 
arts  in  Mexico  several  years  before  they  discovered  Peru,  were  not  so 
much  struck  with  what  they  observed  in  the  latter  country,  and  describe 
the  appearances  of  ingenuity  there  with  less  warmth  of  admiration.  The 
Peruvians,  nevertheless,  had  advanced  far  beyond  the  Mexicans,  both  in 
the  necessary  arts  of  life,  and  in  such  as  have  some  title  to  the  name  of 
elegant. 

In  Peru,  agriculture,  the  art  of  primary  necessity  in  social  life,  was  more 
extensive,  and  carried  on  with  greater  skill  than  in  any  part  of  America. 
The  Spaniards,  in  their  progress  through  the  country,  were  so  fully  sup- 
plied with  provisions  of  every  kind,  that  in  the  relation  of  their  adventures 
we  meet  with  few  of  those  dismal  scenes  of  distress  occasioned  by  famine, 
in  which  the  conquerors  of  Mexico  were  so  often  involved.  The  quantity 
of  soil  under  cultivation  was  not  left  to  the  discretion  of  individuals,  but 
regulated  by  public  authority  in  proportion  to  the  exigencies  of  the  com- 
munity. Even  the  calamity  of  an  unfruitful  season  was  but  little  felt ;  for 
the  product  of  the  lands  consecrated  to  the  Sun,  as  well  as  those  set  apart 
for  the  Incas,  being  deposited  in  the  Tambos,  or  public  storehouses,  it 
remained  there  as  a  stated  provision  for  times  of  scarcity .J  As  the  extent 
of  cultivation  was  determined  with  such  provident  attention  to  the  demands 
of  the  state,  the  invention  and  industry  of  the  Peruvians  were  called  forth 
to  extraordinary  exertions,  by  certain  defects  peculiar  to  their  climate  and 
soil.  All  the  vast  rivers  that  flow  from  the  Andes  take  their  course  east- 
ward to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Peru  is  watered  only  by  some  streams  which 
rush  down  from  the  mountains  like  torrents.  A  great  part  of  the  low 
country  is  sandy  and  barren,  and  never  refreshed  with  rain.  In  order  to 
render  such  an  unpromising  region  fertile,  the  ingenuity  of  the  Peruvians 
had  recourse  to  various  expedients.  By  means  of  artificial  canals,conducted 
with  much  patience  and  considerable  art  from  the  torrents  that  poured  across 
their  country,  they  conveyed  a  regularsupply  of  moisture  to  meir  fieldsS  [158]. 
They  enriched  the  soil  by  manuring  it  with  the  dung  of  sea  fowls,  ot  which 
they  found  an  inexhaustible  store  on  all  the  .islands  scattered  along  the 
coasts.  ||  In  describing  the  customs  of  any  nation  thoroughly  civilized,  such 
practices  would  hardly  draw  attention,  or  be  mentioned  as  in  any  degree 

*  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  ill.  c.  4.  lib.  x.  c.  8.  |  Ib.lib.  iv.  c.  1.  f  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  14.  Vega, 
lib  i.  c.  8.  $  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  4.  Vega,  lib.  v.  c.  1  &  24  ||  Acosta,  lib.  iv.  c.  37.  Vega,, 
Ub.  v.  c.  3 


AMERICA,  333 

remarkable  ;  but  in  the  history  of  the  improvident  race  of  men  in  the  New 
World,  they  are  entitled  to  notice  as  singular  proofs  of  industry  and  of  art, 
The  use  of  the  plough,  indeed,  was  unknown  to  the  Peruv  ians.  They  turned 
up  the  earth  with  a  kind  of  mattock  of  hard  wood.*  Nor  was  thislaboui 
deemed  so  degrading  as  to  be  devolved  wholly  upon  the  women.  Botl 
sexes  joined  in  performing  this  necessary  work.  Even  the  children  of  the 
Sun  set  an  example  of  industry,  by  cultivating  a  field  near  Cuzco  with  their 
own  hands,  and  they  dignified  this  function  by  denominating  it  their  triumph 
over  the  earth.f 

The  superior  ingenuity  of  the  Peruvians  is  obvious,  likewise,  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  houses  and  public  buildings.  In  the  extensive  plains  which 
stretch  along  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  theskv  is  perpetually  serene,  and  the 
climate  rnild,  their  houses  were  very  properly  ot  a  fabric  extremely  slight. 
But  in  the  higher  regions,  where  rain  falls,  where  the  vicissitude  of  seasons 
is  known,  and  their  rigour  felt,  houses  were  constructed  with  greater  solidity. 
They  were  generally  of  a  square  form,  the  walls  about  eight  feet  high,  built 
with  bricks  hardened  in  the  sun,  without  any  windows,  and  the  door  low 
and  straight.  Simple  as  these  structures  were,  and  rude  as  the  materials 
may  seem  to  be  of  which  they  were  formed,  they  were  so  durable  that  many 
of  them  still  subsist  in  different  parts  of  Peru,  long  after  every  monument 
that  might  have  conveyed  to  us  any  idea  of  the  domestic  state  of  the  other 
American  nations  has  vanished  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  But  it  was  in  the 
temples  consecrated  to  the  Sun,  and  in  the  buildings  destined  for  the  residence 
of  their  monarchs,  that  the  Peruvians  displayed  the  utmost  extent  of  their 
art  and  contrivance.  The  descriptions  of  them  by  such  of  the  Spanish 
writers  as  had  an  opportunity  of  contemplating  them,  while  in  some  measure 
entire,  might  have  appeared  highly  exaggerated,  if  the  ruins  which  still 
remain  did  not  vouch  the  truth  01  their  relations.  These  ruins  of  sacred  or 
royal  buildings  are  found  in  every  province  of  the  empire,  and  by  their  fre- 
quency demonstrate  that  they  are  monuments  of  a  powerful  people,  who 
must  have  subsisted,  during  a  period  of  some  extent,  in  a  state  of  no  incon- 
siderable improvement.  They  appear  to  have  been  edifices  various  in  their 
dimensions  :  some  of  a  moderate  size,  many  of  immense  extent,  all  remark- 
able for  solidity,  and  resembling  each  other  in  the  style  of  architecture.  The 
temple  of  Pachacamac,  together  with  a  palace  of  the  Inca,  and  a  fortress, 
were  so  connected  together  as  to  form  one  great  structure  above  half  a 
league  in  circuit.  In  this  prodigious  pile,  the  same  singular  taste  in  building 
is  conspicuous  as  in  other  wTorks  of  the  Peruvians.  As  they  were  unac- 
quainted with  the  use  of  the  pulley,  and  other  mechanical  powers,  and 
could  not  elevate  the  large  stones  and  bricks  which  they  employed  in  build- 
ing to  any  considerable  height,  the  walls  of  this  edifice,  in  which  they  seem 
to  have  made  their  greatest  effort  towards  magnificence,  did  not  rise  above 
twelve  feet  from  the  ground.  Though  they  had  not  discovered  the  use  of 
mortar  or  of  any  other  cement  in  building,  the  bricks  or  stones  were  joined 
with  so  much  nicety,  that  the  seams  can  hardly  be  discerned  [159].  The 
apartments,  as  far  as  the  distribution  of  them  can  be  traced  in  the  ruins, 
were  ill  disposed,  and  afforded  little  accommodation.  There  was  not  a 
single  window  in  any  part  of  the  building ;  and  as  no  light  could  enter  but 
by  the  door,  all  the  apartments  of  largest  dimensions  must  either  have  been 
perfectly  dark,  or  illuminated  by  some  other  means.  But  with  all  these, 
and  many  other  imperfections  that  might  be  mentioned  in  their  art  of  build- 
ing, the  works  of  me  Peruvians  which  still  remain  must  be  considered  as 
stupendous  efforts  of  a  people  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  iron,  and  convey 
to  us  a  high  idea  of  the  power  possessed  by  their  ancient  monarchs. 

These,  however,  were  not  the  noblest  or  most  useful  works  of  the  Incas. 
The  two  great  roads  from  Cuzco  to  Quito,  extending  in  an  uninterrupted 

*  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  8  t  Vega,  lib.  v.  c.  2. 


336  HISTORY  OF  fBooK  VII. 

stretch  above  fifteen  hundred  miles,  are  entitled  to  still  higher  praise.  The 
one  was  conducted  through  the  interior  and  mountainous  country,  the  other 
through  the  plains  on  the  sea  coast.  From  the  language  of  admiration  in 
which  some  of  the  early  writers  express  their  astonishment  when  they  first 
viewed  those  roads,  and  from  the  more  pompous  description  of  later  writers, 
who  labour  to  support  some  favourite  theory  concerning  America,  one 
might  be  led  to  compare  this  work  of  the  Incas  to  the  famous  military 
ways  which  remain  as  monuments  of  the  Roman  power ;  but  in  a  country 
where  there  was  no  tame  animal  except  the  llama,  which  was  never  used 
for  draught,  and  but  little  as  a  beast  of  burden,  where  the  high  roads  were 
seldom  trod  by  any  but  a  human  foot,  no  great  degree  of  labour  or  art  was 
requisite  in  forming  them;  The  Peruvian  roads  were  only  fifteen  feet  in 
breadth,*  and  in  many^  places  so  slightly  formed,  that  time  has  effaced  every 
vestige  of  the  course  in  which  they  ran.  In  the  low  country,  little  more 
seems  to  have  been  done  than  to  plant  trees  or  to  fix  posts  at  certain  inter- 
vals, in  order  to  mark  the  proper  route  to  travellers.  To  open  a  path 
through  the  mountainous  country  was  a  more  arduous  task.  Eminences 
were  levelled,  and  hollows  filled  up,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  road 
it  was  fenced  with  a  bank  of  turf.  At  proper  distances,  Tambos,  or  store- 
houses, were  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the  Inca  and  his  attendants, 
in  their  progress  through  his  dominions.  From  the  manner  in  which  the 
road  was  originally  formed  in  this  higher  and  more  impervious  region,  it 
has  proved  more  durable  ;  and  though,  from  the  inattention  of  the  Spaniards 
to  every  object  but  that  of  working  their  mines,  nothing  has  been  done 
towards  keeping  it  in  repair,  its  course  may  still  be  traced.!  Such  was 
the  celebrated  road  of  the  Incas ;  and  even  from  this  description,  divested 
of  every  circumstance  of  manifest  exaggeration  or  of  suspicious  aspect,  it 
must  be  considered  as  a  striking  proof  of  an  extraordinary  progress  in  im- 
provement and  policy.  To  the  savage  tribes  of  America,  the  idea  of 
facilitating  communication  with  places  at  a  distance  had  never  occurred. 
To  the  Mexicans  it  was  hardly  known.  Even  in  the  most  civilized  coun- 
tries in  Europe,  men  had  advanced  far  in  refinement,  before  it  became  a 
regular  object  of  national  police  to  form  such  roads  as  render  intercourse 
commodious.  It  was  a  capital  object  of  Roman  policy  to  open  a  commu- 
nication with  all  the  provinces  of  their  extensive  empire  by  means  of  those 
roads  which  are  justly  considered  as  one  of  the  noblest  monuments  both  of 
their  wisdom  and  their  power.  But  during  the  long  reign  of  barbarism, 
the  Roman  roads  were  neglected  or  destroyed;  and  at  the  time  when  the 
Spaniards  entered  Peru,  no  kingdom  in  Europe  could  boast  of  any  work 
of  public  utility  that  could  be  compared  with  the  great  roads  formed  by 
the  Incas. 

The  formation  of  those  roads  introduced  another  improvement  in  Peru 
equally  unknown  over  all  the  rest  of  America.  In  its  course  from  south 
to  north,  the  road  of  the  Incas  was  intersected  by  all  the  torrents  which 
roll  from  the  Andes  towards  the  Western  Ocean.  From  the  rapidity  of 
their  course,  as  well  as  from  the  frequency  and  violence  of  their  inunda- 
tion, these  were  not  fordable.  Some  expedient,  however,  was  to  be  found 
for  passing  them.  The  Peruvians  from  their  unacquaintance  with  the  use 
of  arches,  and  their  inability  to  work  in  wood,  couid  not  construct  bridges 
either  of  stone  or  timber,  but  necessity,  the  parent  of  invention,  suggested 
a  device  which  supplied  that  defect.  They  formed  cables  of  great 
strength,  by  twisting  together  some  of  the  pliable  withs,  or  osiers,  with 
which  their  country  abounds ;  six  of  these  cables  they  stretched  across  the 
stream  parallel  to  one' another,  and  made  them  fast  on  each  side.  These 
they  bound  firmly  together  by  interweaving  smaller  ropes  so  close  as  to 

*  Cieca,  c.  60.  t  Xerez,  p.  189. 191.  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  13, 14.  Vega,  lib.  ix.  c.  13.  Bourgue* 
Voyage,  p.  105.  Ulloa  Entretenemientos,  p.  365, 


AMERICA.  337 

form  a  compact  piece  of  net-work,  which  being  covered  with  branches  of 
trees  and  earth,  they  passed  alon^.it  with  tolerable  security  [160].  Proper 
persons  were  appointed  to  attend  at  each  bridge,  to  keep  it  in  repair,  and 
to  assist  passengers.*  In  the  level  country,  where  the  rivers  became  deep 
and  broad  and  still,  they  are  passed  in  balzas,  or  floats  ;  in  the  construction, 
as  well  as  navigation  o?  which  the  ingenuity  of  the  Peruvians  appears  to 
be  far  superior  to  that  of  any  people  in  America.  These  had  advanced 
no  further  in  naval  skill  than  the  use  of  the  paddle  or  oar ;  the  Peruvians 
ventured  to  raise  a  mast,  and  spread  a  sail,  by  means  of  which  their  bal- 
zas not  only  went  nimbly  before  the  wind,  but  could  veer  and  tack  with 
great  celerity.! 

Nor  were  the  ingenuity  and  art  of  the  Peruvians  confined  solely  to  ob- 
jects of  essential  utility.  They  had  made  some  progress  in  arts,  which 
may  be  called  elegant.  They  possessed  the  precious  metals  ^  in  greater 
abundance  than  any  people  of  America.  They  obtained  gold  in  the  same 
manner  with  the  Mexicans,  by  searching  in  the  channels  of  rivers,  or  wash- 
ing the  earth  in  which  particles  of  it  were  contained.  But  in  order  to 
procure  silver,  they  exerted  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  skill  and  inven- 
tion. They  had  not,  indeed,  attained  the  art  of  sinking  a  shaft  into  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  and  penetrating  to  the  riches  Concealed  there  ;  but 
they  hollowed  deep  caverns  on  the  banks  of  rivers  and  the  sides  of  moun- 
tains, and  emptied  such  veins  as  did  not  dip  suddenly  beyond  their  reach. 
In  other  places,  where  the  vein  lay  near  the  surface,  they  dug  pits  to  such 
a  depth,  that  the  person  who  worked  below  could  throw  out  the  ore,  or 
hand  it  up  in  baskets.!  They  had  discovered  the  art  of  smelting  and 
refining  this,  either  by  the  simple  application  of  fire,  or,  where  the  ore  was 
more  stubborn  or  impregnated  with  foreign  substances,  by  placing  it  in 
small  ovens  or  furnaces,  on  high' grounds,  so  artificially  constructed  that  the 
draught  of  air  performed  the  function  of  a  bellows,  an  engine  with  which 
they  were  totally  unacquainted.  By  this  simple  device,  the  purer  ores 
were  smelted  with  facility,  and  the  quantity  of  silver  in  Peru  was  so  con- 
siderable, that  many  of  the  utensils  employed  in  the  functions  of  common 
life  were  made  of  it.§  Several  of  those  vessels  and  trinkets  are  said  to 
have  merited  no  small  degree  of  estimation,  on  account  of  the  neatness  of 
the  workmanship,  as  well  as  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  materials.  But  as 
the  conquerors  of  America  were  well  acquainted  with  the  latter,  but  had 
scarcely  any  conception  of  the  former,  most  of  the  silver  vessels  and  trin- 
kets were  melted  down,  and  rated  according  to  the  weight  and  fineness  of 
the  metal  in  the  division  of  the  spoil. 

In  other  works  of  mere  curiosity  or  ornament,  their  ingenuity  has  been 
highly  celebrated.  Many  specimens  of  those  have  been  dug  out  of  the 
Guacas,  or  mounds  of  earth,  with  which  the  Peruvians  covered  the  bodies 
of  the  dead.  Among  these  are  mirrors  of  various  dimensions,  of  hard 
shining  stones  highly  polished  ;  vessels  of  earthen  ware  of  different  forms  ; 
hatchets,  and  other  instruments,  some  destined  for  war,  and  others  for 
labour.  Some  were  of  flint,  some  -of  copper,  hardened  to  such  a  degree 
by  an  unknown  process,  as  to  supply  the  place  of  iron  on  several  occasions. 
Had  the  use  of  those  tools,  formed  of  copper,  been  general,  the  progress 
of  the  Peruvians  in  the  arts  might  have  been  such  as  to  emulate  that  of 
more  cultivated  nations.  But  either  the  metal  was  so  rare,  or  the  opera- 
tion by  which  it  was  hardened  so  tedious,  that  their  instruments  of  copper 
were  few,  and  so  extremely  small,  that  they  seem  to  have  been  employed 
only  in  slighter  works.  But  even  to  such  a  circumscribed  use  of  this  im- 
perfect metal,  the  Peruvians  were  indebted  for  their  superiority  to  the 

Sancho  ap.  Ram.  iii.  376.  B.    Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  14,     Vega,  Jib.  iii.  c.  7,  8.    Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib. 
iv.  c.  3,  4.         f  Ulloa  Voy.  i.  167,  &c.         J  Ramusio,  iii.  414.  A.         $  Acosta,  lib.  iv.  c.  4,  5. 
Veca,  p.  1.  lib.  viii.  c.  25.    Ulloa  Entreten.  258. 
VOL.  L— 43 


338  HISTORY  OF  LBooK  VII. 

other  people  of  America  in  various  arts.*  The  same  observation,  how 
ever,  may  be  applied  to  them,  which  I  formerly  made  with  respect  to  tha 
arts  of  the  Mexicans.  From  several  specimens  of  Peruvian  utensils  and 
ornaments,  which  are  deposited  in  the  royal  cabinet  of  Madrid,  and  from 
some  preserved  in  different  collections  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  workmanship  is  more  to  be  admired  on  account 
of  the  rude  tools  with  which  it  was  executed,  than  on  account  of  its  in- 
trinsic neatness  and  elegance ;  and  that  the  Peruvians,  though  the  most 
improved  of  all  the  Americans,  were  not  advanced  beyond  the  infancy  of 
arts. 

But  notwithstanding  so  many  particulars,  which  seemed  to  indicate  a 
high  degree  of  improvement  in  Peru,  other  circumstances  occur  that  sug- 
gest the  idea  of  a  society  still  in  the  first  stages  of  its  transition  from  bar- 
barism to  civilization.  In  all  the  dominions  of  the  Incas,  Cuzco  was  the 
only  place  that  had  the  appearance,  or  was  entitled  to  the  name,  of  a 
city.  Every  where  else  the  people  lived  mostly  in  detached  habitations, 
dispersed  over  ihe  country,  or,  at  the  utmost,  settled  together  in  small  vil- 
lages.! But  until  men  are  brought  to  assemble  in  numerous  bodies,  and 
incorporated  in  such  close  union  as  to  enjoy  frequent  intercourse,  and  to 
feel  mutual  dependence,  they  never  imbibe  perfectly  the  spirit,  or  assume 
the  manners  of  social  life.  In  a  country  of  immense  extent,  with  only  one 
city,  the  progress  of  manners,  and  the  improvement  either  of  the  neces- 
sary or  more  refined  artsf  must  have  been  so  slow,  and  carried  on  under 
such  disadvantages,  that  it  is  more  surprising  the  Peruvians  should  have 
advanced  so  far  in  refinement,  than  that  they  did  not  proceed  further. 

In  consequence  of  this  state  of  imperfect  union,  the  separation  of  pro- 
fessions in  Peru  was  not  so  complete  as  among  the  Mexicans.  The  less 
closely  men  associate,  the  more  simple  are  their  manners,  and  the  fewer 
their  wants.  The  crafts  of  common  and  most  necessary  use  in  life  do  not, 
in  such  a  state,  become  so  complex  or  difficult  as  to  render  it  requisite  that 
"men  should  be  trained  to  them  by  any  particular  course  of  education.  All 
the  arts,  accordingly,  which  were  of  daily  and  indispensable  utility,  were 
exercised  by  every  Peruvian  indiscriminately.  None  but  the  artists  em- 
ployed in  works  of  mere  curiosity,  or  ornament,  constituted  a  separate 
order  of  men,  or  were  distinguished  from  other  citizens. J 

From  the  want  of  cities  in  Peru,  another  consequence  followed.  There 
was  little  commercial  intercourse  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  great  em- 
pire. The  activity  of  commerce  is  coeval  with  die  foundation  of  cities ; 
and  from  the  moment  that  the  members  of  any  community  settle  in  con- 
siderable numbers  in  one  place,  its  operations  become  vigorous.  •  The  citi- 
zen must  depend  for  subsistence  on  the  labour  of  those  who  cultivate  the 
ground.  They,  in  return,  must  receive  some  equivalent.  Thus  mutual 
intercourse  is  established,  and  the  productions  of  art  are  regularly  ex- 
changed for  the  fruits  of  agriculture.  In  the  towns  of  the  Mexican  empire, 
stated  markets  were  held,  and  whatever  could  supply  any  want  or  desire 
of  man  was  an  object  of  commerce.  But  in  Peru,  from  the  singular  mode 
of  dividing  property,  -and  the  manner  in  which  the  people  were  settled, 
there  was  hardly  any  species  of  commerce  carried  on  between  different 
provinces,§  and  the  community  was  less  acquainted  with  that  active  inter- 
course, which  is  at  once  a  bond  of  union  and  an  incentive  to  improvement. 

But  the  unwarlike  spirit  of  the  Peruvians  was  the  most  remarkable  as 
well  as  the  most  fatal  defee-t  in  their  character.il  The  greater  part  of  the 
rude  nations  of  America  opposed  their  invaders  with  undaunted  ferocity, 
though  with  little  conduct  or  success.  The  Mexicans  maintained  the 
struggle  in  defence  of  their  liberties,  with  such  persevering  fortitude,  that 

*  Ulloa,  Voy.  torn.  i.  381,  &c.  Id.  Entreten.  p.  369,  &c.  t  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  9.  Herrera,  dec.  5. 
fib.  vi.  c.  4.  J  Acosta,  lib.  vi,  c.  15.  Vega,  lib.  v.  c.  9.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  iv.  c.  4.  §  Vega,. 
tib.  vi.  c.  8.  ||  Xerez,  190.  Sancho,  ap.  Ram.  iii.  372.  Herrera,  dec.  5,  lib,  i,  c.  3. 


AMERICA  339 

it  was  with  difficulty  the  Spaniards  triumphed  over.  them.  Peru  was 
subdued  at  once,  and  almost  without  resistance  ;  and  the  most  favourable 
opportunities  of  regaining  their  freedom,  and  of  crushing  their  oppressors, 
were  lost  through  the  timidity  of'  the  people.  Though  the  traditional 
history  of  the  Peruvians  represents  all  the  Incas  as  warlike  princes,  fre- 
quently at  the  head  of  armies,  which  they  led  to  victory  and  conquest, 
iew  symptoms  of  such  a  martial  spirit  appear  in  any  of  their  operations 
subsequent  to  the  invasion  of  the  Spaniards.  The  influence,  perhaps,  of 
those  institutions  which  rendered  their  manners  gentle,  gave  their  minds' 
this  unmanly  softness ;  perhaps  the  constant  serenity  and  mildness  of  the 
climate  may  have  enervated  the  vigour  of  their  frame  ;  perhaps  some 
principles  in  their  government,  unknown  to  us,  Was  the  occasion  of  this 
political  debility.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  the  fact  is  certain  ; 
and  there  is  not  an  instance  in  history  of  any  people  so  little  advanced  in 
refinement,  so  totally  destitute  of  military  enterprise.  This  character  had 
descended  to  their  posterity.  The  Indians  of  Peru  are  now  more  tame 
and  depressed  than  any  people  of  America.  Their  feeble  spirits,  relaxed 
in  lifeless  inaction,  seem  hardly  capable  of  any  bold  or  manly  exertion. 

But,  besides  those  capital  defects  in  the  political  state  of  Peru,  some 
detached  circumstances  and  facts  occur  in  the  Spanish  writers,  which  dis- 
cover a  considerable  remainder  of  barbarity  in  their  manners.  A  cruel 
custom,  that  prevailed  in  some  of  the  most  savage  tribes,  subsisted  among 
the  Peruvians.  On  the  death  of  the  Incas,  and  of  other  eminent  persons, 
a  considerable  number  of  their  attendants  were  put  to  death,  and  interred 
around  their  Guacas,  that  they  might  appear  in  the  next  world  with  their 
former  dignity,  and  be  served  with  the  same  respect.  On  the  death  of 
Huana-Capac,  the  most  powerful  of  their  monarchs,  above  a  thousand 
vcitims  were  doomed  to  accompany  him  to  the  tomb.*  In  one  particular 
their  manners  appear  to  have  been  more  barbarous  than  those  of  most  rude 
tribes.  Though  acquainted  with  the  use  of  fire  in  preparing  maize  and  other 
vegetables  for  food,  they  devoured  both  flesh  and  fish  perfectly  raw,  and 
astonished  the  Spaniards  with  a  practice  repugnant  to  the  ideas  of  all 
civilized  people.f 

But  though  Mexico  and  Peru  are  the  possessions  of  Spain  in  the  New 
World,  which,  on  account  both  of  their  ancient  and  present  state,  have 
attracted  the  greatest  attention  ;  her  other  dominions  there  are  far  from 
being  inconsiderable  either  in  extent  or  value.  The  greater  part  of  them 
was  reduced  to  subjection  during  the  first  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
by  private  adventurers,  who  fitted  out  their  small  armaments  either  in 
Hispaniola  or  in  Old  Spain :  and  were  we  to  follow  each  leader  in  his 
progress,  we  should  discover  the  same  daring  courage,  the  same  perse- 
vering ardour,  the  same  rapacious  desire  for  wealth,  and  the  same  capacity 
for  enduring  and  surmounting  every  thing  in  order  to  attain  it,  which  dis- 
tinguished the  operations  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  greater  American  con- 
quests. But,  instead  of  entering  into  a  detail,  which,  from  their  similarity 
of  the  transactions,  would  appear  almost  a  repetition  of  what  has  been 
already  related,  I  shall  satisfy  myself  with  such  a  view  of  those  pro- 
vinces of  the  Spanish  empire  in  America,  which  have  not  hitherto  been 
mentioned,  as  may  convey  to  my  readers  an  adequate  idea  of  its  greatness, 
fertility,  and  opulence. 

I  begin  with  the  countries  contiguous  to  the  two  great  monarchies  o. 
whose  history  and  institutions  I  have  given  some  account,  and  shall  then 
briefly  describe  the  other  districts  of  Spanish  Amerka.  The  jurisdiction 
of  the  viceroy  of  New  Spain  extends  over  several  provinces  which  were 
not  subject  to  the  clominion  of  the  Mexicans.  Th&  countries  of  Cinaloa 
and  Sonora  that  stretch  along  the  east  side  of  the  Vermilion  Sea,  or  Gulf 

*  Acosta,  lib.  v.  c.  7.  |  Xerez,  p.  190.    Sancho,  Ram.  iii.  372.  C     Rerrera,  dec.  J>. 

Jib  L  c.  3. 


340  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VII. 

of  California,  as  well  as  the  immense  kingdoms  of  New  Navarre,  and 
New  Mexico,  which  bend  towards  the  west  and  north,  did  not  acknowledge 
the  sovereignty  of  Montezuma,  or  his  predecessors.  These  regions,  not 
inferior  in  magnitude  to  all  the  Mexican  empire,  are  reduced  some  to  a 
greater,  others  to  a  less  degree  of  subjection  to  the  Spanish  yoke.  They 
extend  through  the  most  delightful  part  of  the  temperate  zone  ;  their  soil 
is,  in  general,  remarkably  fertile  ;  and  all  their  productions,  whether  animal 
or  vegetable,  are  most  perfect  in  their  kind.  They  have  all  a  communication 
either  with  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  are  watered 
by  rivers  which  not  only  enrich  them,  but  may  become  subservient  to 
commerce.  The  number  of  Spaniards  settled  in  those  vast  countries  is 
indeed  extremely  small.  They  may  be  said  to  have  subdued  rather  than 
to  have  occupiea  them.  But  if  the  population  in  their  ancient  establish- 
ments in  America  shall  continue  to  increase,  they  may  gradually  spread 
over  those  provinces,  of  which,  however  inviting,  they  have  not  hitherto 
been  able  to  take  full  possession. 

One  circumstance  may  contribute  to  the  speedy  population  of  some 
districts.  Very  rich  mines  both  of  gold  and  silver  have  been  discovered 
in  many  of  the  regions  which  I  have  mentioned.  Wherever  these  are 
opened,  and  worked  with  success,  a  multitude  of  people  resort.  In  order 
to  supply  them  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  cultivation  must  be  increased, 
artisans  of  various  kinds  must  assemble,  and  industry  as  well  as  wealth 
will  be  gradually  diffused.  Many  examples  of  *  this  have  occurred  in 
different  parts  of  America,  since  they  fell  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Spaniards.  Populous  villages  and  large  towns  have  suddenly  arisen 
amidst  uninhabitable  wilds  and  mountains ;  and  the  working  of  mines, 
though  far  from  being  the  most  proper  object  towards  which  the  attention 
of  an  infant  society  should  be  turned,  may  become  the  means  both  of  pro- 
moting useful  activity,  and  of  augmenting  the  number  of  people.  A  recent 
and  singular  instance  of  this  has  happened,  which,  as  it  is  but  little  known 
in  Europe,  and  may  be  productive  of  great  effects,  merits  attention.  The 
Spaniards  settled  in  the  provinces  of  Cinaloa  and  Sonora  had  been  long 
disturbed  by  the  depredations  of  some  fierce  tribes  of  Indians.  In  the 
year  1765,  the  incursions  of  those  savages  became  so  frequent  and  so  de- 
structive, that  the  Spanish  inhabitants,  in  despair,  applied  to  the  Marquis 
de  Croix,  viceroy  of  Mexico,  for  such  a  body  of  troops  as  might  enable 
them  to  drive  those  formidable  invaders  from  their  places  of  retreat  in  the 
mountains.  •  But  the  treasury  of  Mexico  was  so  much  exhausted  by  the 
large  sums  drawn  from  it,  in  order  to  support  the  late  war  against  Great 
Britain,  that  the  viceroy  could  afford  them  no  aid.  The  respect  due  to 
his  virtues  accomplished  what  his  official  power  could  not  effect.  He 
prevailed  with  the  merchants  of  New  Spain  to  advance  about  two  hundred 
thousand  pesos  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  The  war 
was  conducted  by  an  officer  of  abilities ;  and  after  being  protracted  for 
three  years,  chiefiy  by  the  difficulty  of  pursuing  the  fugitives  over  moun- 
tains, and  through  defiles  which  were  almost  impassable,  it  terminated,  in 
the  year  1771,  in  the  final  submission  of  the  tribes  which  had  been  so  long 
the  object  of  terror,  to  the  two  provinces.  In  the  course  of  this  service, 
the  Spaniards  marched  through  countries  into  which  they  seem  not  to  have 
penetrated  before  that  time,  and  discovered  mines  of  such  value  as  was 
astonishing  even  to  men  acquainted  with  the  riches  contained  in  the  moun- 
tains of  the  New  World.  At  Cineguilla,  in  the  province  of  Sonora,  they 
entered  a  plain  of  fourteen  leagues  in  extent,  in  which,  at  the  depth  of 
only  sixteen  inches,  tley  found  gold  in'  grains  of  such  a  size,  that  some  of 
them  weighed  nine  marks,  and  in  sucn  quantities,  that  in  a  short  timey 
with  a  few  labourers,  they  collected  a  thousand  marks  of  gold  in  grains, 
even  without  taking  time  to  wash  the  earth  that  had  been  dug,  which 
appeared  to  be  so  rich,  that  persons  of  skill  computed  that  it  might  yield 


AMERICA.  341 

what  would  be  equal  in  value  to  a  million  of  pesos.  Before  the  end  of 
the  year  1771,  above  two  thousand  persons  were  settled  in  Cineguilla, 
under  the  government  of  proper  magistrates,  and  the  inspection  of  several 
ecclesiastics.  As  several  other  mines,  not  inferior  in  richness  to  that  of 
Cineguilla,  have  been  discovered,  both  in  Sonora  and  Cinaloa  [161],  it  is 
probable  that  these  neglected  and  thinly  inhabited  provinces  may  soon 
become  as  populous  and  valuable  as  any  part  of  the  Spanish  empire  of 
America. 

The  peninsula  of  California,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Vermilion  Sea, 
seems  to  have  been  less  known  to  the  ancient  Mexicans  than  the  provinces 
which  f  have  mentioned.  It  was  discovered  by  Cortes  in  the  year*  1536. 
During  a  long  period  it  continued  to  be  so  little  frequented,  that  even  its 
form  was  unknown,  and  in  most  charts  it  was  represented  as  an  island,  not 
as  a  peninsula  [162].  Though  the  climate  of  this  country,  if  we  may 
judge  from  its  situation,  must  be  very  desirable,  the  Spaniards  have  made 
small  progress  in  peopling  it.  Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the 
Jesuits,  who  had  great  merit  in  exploring  this  neglected  province,  and  in 
civilizing  its  rude  inhabitants,  imperceptibly  acquired  a  dominion  over  it 
as  complete  as  that  which  they  possessed  in  their  missions  in  Paraguay, 
and  they  laboured  to  introduce  into  it  the  same  policy,  and  to  govern  the 
natives  by  the  same  maxims.  In  order  to  prevent  the  court  of  Spain  from 
conceiving  any  jealousy  of  their  designs  and  operations,  they  seem  studi- 
ously to  have  depreciated  the  country,  by  representing  the  climate  as  so 
disagreeable  and  unwholesome,  and  the  soil  as  so  barren,  that  nothing  but 
a  zealous  desire  of  converting  the  natives  could  have  induced  them  to  settle 
there.!  Several  public  spirited  citizens  endeavoured  to  undeceive  their 
sovereigns,  and  to  give  them  a  better  view  of  California  ;  but  in  vain.  At 
length,  on  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  Spanish  dominions,  the  court 
of  Madrid,  as  prone  at  that  juncture  to  suspect  the  purity  of  the  Order's 
intentions,  as  formerly  to  confide  in  them  with  implicit  trust,  appointed 
Don  Joseph  Galvez,  whose  abilities  have  since  raised  him  to  the  high  rank 
of  minister  for  the  Indies,  to  visit  that  peninsula.  His  account  of  the 
country  was  favourable  ;  he  found  the  pearl  fishery  on  its  coast  to  be 
valuable,  and  he  discovered  mines  of  gold  of  a  very  promising  appearance. J 
From  its  vicinity  to  Cinaloa  and  Sonora,  it  is  probable  that,  if  the 
population  of  these  provinces  shall  increase  in  the  manner  which  I  have 
supposed,  California  may,  by  degrees,  receive  from  them  such  a  recruit  ot 
inhabitants,  as  to  be  no  longer  reckoned  among  the  desolate  and  useless 
districts  of  the  Spanish  empire. 

On  the  east  of  Mexico,  Yucatan  and  Honduras  are  comprehended  in  the 
government  of  New  Spain,  though  anciently  they  can  hardly  be  said  to 
nave  formed  a  part  of  the  Mexican  empire.  These  large  provinces, 
stretching  from  the  bay  of  Campeachy  beyond  Cape  Gracias  a  Dios,  do  not, 
like  the  other  territories  of  Spain  in  the  New  World,  derive  their  value 
either  from  the  fertility  of  their  soil,  or  the  richness  of  their  mines ;  but 
they  produce  in  greater  abundance  than  any  part  of  America,  the  logwood 
tree,  which,  in  dying  some  colours,  is  so  far  preferable  to  any  other 
material,  that  the  consumption  of  it  in  Europe  is  considerable,  and  it  has 
become  an  article  in  commerce  of  great  value.  During  a  long  period,  no 
European  nation  intruded  upon  the  Spaniards  in  those  provinces,  or 
attempted  to  obtain  any  share  in  this  branch  of  trade.  But  after  the  con- 
quest of  Jamaica  by  the  English,  it  soon  appeared  that  a  formidable  rival 
was  now  seated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Spanish  territories.  One  of 
the  first  objects  which  tempted  the  English  settled  in  that  island,  was  the 
great  profit  arising  from  the  logwood  trade,  and  the  facility  of  wresting 
some  portion  of  it  from  the  Spaniards.  Some  adventurers  from  Jamaica 

*  Book  v  T  Venegas,  Hist,  of  California,  i.  26.          J  Lorenzano,  3-19,  350. 


342  HISTORY   OP  ISOOK  VII. 

made  the  first  attempt  at  Cape  Catoche,  the  south-east  promontory  of 
Yucatan,  and  by  cutting  logwood  there  carried  on  a  gainful  traffic.  When 
most  of  the  trees  near  the  coast  in  that  place  were  felled,  they  removed  to 
the  island  of  Trist,  in  the  bay  of  Campeachy,  and  in  later  times  their  prin- 
cipal station  has  been  in  the  bay  of  Honduras.  The  Spaniards,  alarmed 
at  this  encroachment,  endeavoured  by  negotiation,  remonstrances,  and  open 
force,  to  prevent  the  English  from  obtaining  any  footing  on  that  part  of  the 
American  continent  But  after  struggling  against  it  for  more  than  a 
century,  the  disasters  of  the  last  war  extorted  from  the  court  of  Madrid  a 
reluctant  consent  to  tolerate  this  settlement  of  foreigners  in  the  heart  of  its 
territories.*  The  pain  which  this  humbling  concession  occasioned  seems 
to  have  prompted  the  Spaniards  to  devise  a  method  of  rendering  it  of  little 
consequence,  more  effectual  than  all  the  efforts  of  negotiation  or  violence. 
The  logwood  produced  on  the  west  coast  of  Yucatan,  where  the  soil  is  drier, 
is  in  quality  far  superior  to  that  which  grows  on  the  marshy  grounds  where 
the  English  are  settled.  By  encouraging  the  cutting  of  this,  and  permit- 
ting the  importation  of  it  into  Spain  without  paying  any  duty,|  such  vigour 
has  been  given  to  this  branch  of  commerce,  and  the  logwood  which  the 
English  bring  to  market  has  sunk  so  much  in  value,  that  their  trade  to  the 
bay  of  Honduras  has  gradually  declined  [163]  since  it  obtained  a  legal 
sanction  •  and,  it  is  probable,  will  soon  be  finally  abandoned.  In  that 
event,  Yucatan  and  Honduras  will  become  possessions  of  considerable 
importance  to  Spain. 

Still  further  east  than  Honduras  lie  the  two  provinces  of  Costa  Rica  and 
Veragua,  which  likewise  belong  to  the  viceroyalty  of  New  Spain ;  but 
both  have  been  so  much  neglected  by  the  Spaniards,  and  are  apparently 
of  such  small  value,  that  they  merit  no  particular  attention. 

The  most  important  province  depending  on  the  viceroyalty  of  Peru  is 
Chili.  The  Incas  had  established  their  dominion  in  some  of  its  northern 
districts ;  but  in  the  greater  part  of  the  country,  its  gallant  and  high  spirited 
inhabitants  maintained  their  independence.  The  Spaniards,  allured  by 
the  fame  of  its  opulence,  early  attempted  the  conquest  of  it  under  Diego 
Almagro;  and  after  his  death  Pedro  de  Valdivia  resumed  the  design. 
Both  met  with  fierce  opposition.  The  former  relinquished  the  enterprise 
in  the  manner  which  I  have  mentioned.!  The  latter,  after  having  given 
many  displays  both  of  courage  and  military  skill,  was  cut  off,  together 
with  a  considerable  body  of  troops  under  his  command.  Francisco  de 
Villagra,  Valdivia's  lieutenant,  by  his  spirited  conduct  checked  the  natives 
in  their  career,  and  saved  the  remainder  of  the  Spaniards  from  destruction. 
By  degrees,  all  the  champaign  country  along  the  coast  was  subjected  to 
the  Spanish  dominion.  The  mountainous  country  is  still  possessed  by  the 
Puelches,  Araucos,  and  other  tribes  of  its  original  inhabitants,  formidable 
neighbours  to  the  Spaniards  ;  with  whom,  during  the  course  of  two  centu- 
ries, they  have  been  obliged  to  maintain  an  almost  perpetual  hostility, 
suspended  only  by  a  few  intervals  of  insecure  peace. 

That  part  of  Chili,  then,  which  may  properly  be  deemed  a  Spanish 
province,  is  a  narrow  district,  extended  along  the  coast  from  the  desert  of 
Atacamas  to  the  island  of  Chiloe,  above  nine  hundred  miles.  Its  climate  is 
the  most  delicious  in 'the  New  World,  and  is  hardly  equalled  by  that  of 
any  region  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Though  bordering  on  the  Torrid  Zone, 
it  never  feels  the  extremity  of  heat,  being  screened  on  the  east  by  the 
Andes,  and  refreshed  from  the  west  by  cooling  sea  breezes.  The 
temperature  of  the  air  is  so  mild  and  equable,  that  the  Spaniards  give  it  the 
preference  to  that  of  the  southern  provinces  in  their  native  country.  The 
fertility  of  the  soil  corresponds  with  the  benignity  of  the  climate,  and  is 
wonderfully  accommodated  to  European  productions.  The  most  valuable 

*  Treaty  of  Paris,  Art.  xviii.  f  Real  Cedula,  Campomanes,  iii.  145.          $  Book  vi. 


AMERICA.  343 

•of  these,  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  abound  in  Chili  as  if  they  had  been  native  to 
the  country.  All  the  fruits  imported  from  Europe  attained  to  full  maturity 
there.  The  animals  of  our  hemisphere  not  only  multiply,  but  improve  in 
this  delightful  region.  The  horned  cattle  are  of  larger  size  than  those  of 
Spain.  Its  breed  of  horses  surpasses,  both  in  beauty  and  spirit,  the  famous 
Andalusian  race,  from  which  they  sprung.  Nor  has  nature  exhausted  her 
bounty  on  the  surface  of  the  earth ;  she  has  stored  its  bowels  with  riches. 
Valuable  mines  of  gold,  of  silver,  of  copper,  and  of  lead,  have  been  dis- 
covered in  various  parts  of  it. 

A  country  distinguished  by  so  many  blessings,  we  may  be  apt  to  con- 
clude, would  early  become  a  favourite  station  of  the  Spaniards,  and  must 
have  been  cultivated  with  peculiar  predilection  and  care.  Instead  of  this, 
a  great  part  of  it  remains  unoccupied.  In  all  this  extent  of  country, 
there  are  not  above  eighty  thousand  white  inhabitants,  and  about  three 
times  that  number  of  Negroes  and  people  of  a  mixed  race.  The  most  fer- 
tile soil  in  America  lies  uncultivated,  and  some  of  its  most  promising  mines 
remain  unwrought.  Strange  as  this  neglect  of  the  Spaniards  to  avail 
themselves  of  advantages  which  seemed  to  court  their  acceptance  mav 
appear,  the  causes  of  it  can  be  traced.  The  only  intercourse  of  Spain  witli 
its  colonies  in  the  South  Sea  was  carried  on  during  two  centuries  by  the 
annual  fleet  to  Porto  Bello.  All  the  produce  of  these  colonies  was  shipped 
in  the  ports  of  Callao  or  Arica  in  Peru,  for  Panama,  and  carried  from 
thence  across  the  isthmus.  All  the  commodities  which  they  received  from 
the  mother  countries  were  conveyed  from  Panama  to  the  same  harbours. 
Thus  both  the  exports  and  imports  of  Chili  passed  through  the  hands  of 
merchants  settled  in  Peru.  These  had  of  course  a  profit  on  each  ;  and  in 
both  transactions  the  Chilese  felt  their  own  subordination  ;  and  having  no 
direct  intercourse  with  the  parent  state,  they  depended  upon  another  pro- 
vince for  the  disposal  of  their  productions,  as  well  as  for  the  supply  of 
their  wants.  Under  such  discouragements,  population  could  not  increase, 
and  industry  was  destitute  of  one  chief  incitement.  But  now  that  Spain, 
from  motives  which  I  shall  mention  hereafter,  has  adopted  a  new  system, 
and  carries  on  her  commerce  with  the  colonies  in  the  South  Sea  by  ships 
which  go  round  Cape  Horn,  a  direct  intercourse  is  opened  between  Chili 
and  the  mother  country.  The  gold,  the  silver,  and  the  other  commodities 
of  the  province,  will  be  exchanged  in  its  wn  harbours  for  the  manufac- 
tures of  Europe.  Chili  may  speedily  rise  into  that  importance  among  the 
Spanish  settlements  to  which  it  is  entitled  by  its  natural  advantages.  It 
may  become  the  granary  of  Peru,  and  the  other  provinces  along  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  It  may  supply  them  with  wine,  with  cattle,  with  horses,  with 
hemp,  and  many  other  articles  for  which  they  now  depend  upon  Europe. 
Though  the  new  system  has  been  established  only  a  few  years,  those 
effects  of  it  begin  already  to  be  observed.*  If  it  shall  be  adhered  to  with 
any  steadiness  for  half  a  century,  one  may  venture  to  foretell  that  population, 
industry,  and  opulence  will  advance  in  this  province  with  rapid  progress 

To  the  east  of  the  Andes,  the  provinces  of  Tucuman  and  Rio  de  la  Plata 
border  on  Chili,  and  like  it  were  dependent  on  the  viceroyalty  of  Peru. 
These  regions  of  immense  extent  stretch  in  length  from  north  to  south 
above  thirteen  hundred  miles,  and  in  breadth  more  than  a  thousand.  This 
country,  which  is  larger  than  most  European  kingdoms,  naturally  forms 
itself  into  two  great  divisions,  one  on  the  north  and  the  other  on  the  south 
of  Rio  de  la  Plata.  The  former  comprehends  Paraguay,  the  famous 
missions  of  the  Jesuits,  and  several  other  districts.  But  as  disputes  have 
long  subsisted  between  the  courts  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  concerning  its 
boundaries,  which,  it  is  probable,  will  be  soon  finally  ascertained,  either 
amicably  or  by  the  decision  of  the  sword,  I  choose  to  reserve  my  account 

*  Campomanes,  ji.  157. 


^  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VII. 

of  this  northern  division,  until  I  enter  upon  the  history  of  Portuguese 
America,  with  which  it  is  intimately  connected;  and  in  relating  it,  I  shall 
be  able,  from  authentic  materials  supplied  both  by  Spain  and  Portugal,  to 

five  a  full  and  accurate  description  of  the  operations  and  views  of  the 
esuits,  in  rearing  that  singular  fabric  of  policy  in  America,  which  has 
drawn  so  much  attention,  and  has  been  so  imperfectly  understood.     The 
latter  division  of  the  province  contains  the  governments  of  Tucuman  and 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  to  these  I  shall  at  present  confine  my  observations. 

The  Spaniards  entered  this  part  of  America  by  the  river  De  la  Plata  ; 
and  though  a  succession  of  cruel  disasters  befell  them  in  their  early  attempts 
to  establish  their  dominion  in  it,  they  were  encouraged  to  persist  in  the 
design,  at  first  by  the  hopes  of  discovering  mines  in  the  interior  country, 
and  afterwards  by  the  necessity  of  occupying  it,  in  order  to  prevent  any 
other  nation  from  settling  there,  and  penetrating  by  this  route  into  their 
rich  possessions  in  JPeru.  But  except  at  Buenos  Ayres,  they  have  made 
no  settlement  of  any  consequence  in  all  the  vast  space  which  I  have 
mentioned.  There  are  indeed,  scattered  over  it,  a  lew  places  on  which 
they  have  bestowed  the  name  of  towns,  and  to  which  they  have«endeavoured 
to  add  some  dignity,  by  erecting  them  into  bishoprics ;  but  they  are  no 
better  than  paltry  villages,  each  with  two  or  three  hundred  inhabitants. 
One  circumstance,  however,  which  was  not  originally  foreseen,  has 
contributed  to  render  this  district,  though  thinly  peopled,  of  considerable 
importance.  The  province  of  Tucuman,  together  with  the  country  to  the 
south  of  the  Plata,  instead  of  being  covered  with  wood  like  other  parts  of 
America,  forms  one  extensive  open  plain,  almost  without  a  tree.  The  soil 
is  a  deep  fertile  mould,  watered  by  many  streams  descending  from  the 
Andes,  and  clothed  in  perpetual  verdure.  In  this  rich  pasturage,  the 
horses  and  cattle  imported  by  the  Spaniards  from  Europe  have  multiplied 
to  a  degree  which  almost  exceeds  belief.  This  has  enabled  the  inhabitants 
not  only  to  open  a  lucrative  trade  with  Peru,  by  supplying  it  with  cattle, 
horses,  and  mules,  but  to  carry,  on  a  commerce  no  less  beneficial,  by  the 
exportation  of  hides  to  Europe.  From  both,  the  colony  has  derived  great 
advantages.  But  its  commodious  situation  for  carrying  on  contraband  trade 
has  been  the  chief  source' of  its  prosperity.  While  the  court  of  Madrid 
adhered  to  its  ancient  system,  with  respect  to  its  communication  with 
America,  the  river  De  la  Plata  lay  so  much  out  of  the  course  of  Spanish 
navigation,  that  interlopers,  almost  without  any  risk  of  being  either  observed 
or  obstructed,  could  pour  in  European  manufactures  in  such  quantities,  that 
they  not  only  supplied  the  wants  of  the  colony,  but  were  conveyed  into  all 
the  eastern  districts  of  Peru.  When  the  Portuguese  in  Brazil  extended 
their  settlements  to  the  banks  of  Rio  de  la  Plata,  a  new  channel  was 
opened,  by  which  prohibited  commodities  flowed  into  the  Spanish  territories 
with  still  more  facility,  and  in  greater  abundance.  This  illegal  traffic, 
however  detrimental  to  the  parent  state,  contributed  to  the  increase  of  the 
settlement  which  had  the  immediate  benefit  of  it,  and  Buenos  Ayres  became 
gradually  a  populous  and  opulent  town.  What  may  be  the  effect  of  the 
alteration  lately  made  in  the  government  of  this  colony,  the  nature  of 
which  shall  be  described  in  the  subsequent  Book,  cannot  hitherto  be  known. 
All  the  other  territories  of  Spain  in  the  New  World,  the  islands  excepted, 
pf  whose  discovery  and  reduction  I  have  formerly  given  an  account,  are 
comprehended  under  two  great  divisions ;  the  former  denominated  the 
kingdom  of  Tierra  Firme,  the  provinces  of  which  stretch  along  the  At- 
lantic, from  the  eastern  frontier  of  New  Spain  to  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco ; 
the  latter,  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada,  situated  in  the  interior  country. 
With  a  short  view  of  these  I  shall  close  this  part  of  my  work. 

To  the  east  of  Veragua,  the  last  province  subject  to  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico,  lies  the  isthmus  of  Darien.  Though  it  was  in  this  part  of  the  con- 
tinent that  the  Spaniards  first  began  to  plant  colonies,  they  have  made  no 


AMERICA.  345 

Considerable  progress  in  peopling  it.  As  the  country  is  extremely  moun- 
tainous, deluged  with  rain  during  a  good  part  of  the  year,  remarkably  un- 
healthful,  and  contains  no  mines  of  great  value,  the  Spaniards  would  proba- 
bly have  abandoned  it  altogether,  i?  they  had  not  been  allured  to  continue 
by  the  excellence  of  the  harbour  of  Porto  Bello  on  the  one  sea,  and  that  of 
Panama  on  the  other.  These  have  been  called  the  keys  to  the  communi- 
cation between  the  north  and  south  sea,  between  Spain  and  her  most  valu- 
able colonies.  In  consequence  of  this  advantage,  Panama  has  become  a 
considerable  and  thriving  town.  The  peculiar  noxiousness  of  its  climate 
has  prevented  Porto  Bello  from  increasing  in  the  same  proportion.  As  the 
intercourse  with  the  settlements  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  now  carried  on  by 
another  channel,  it  is  probable  that  both  Porto  Bello  and  Panama  will  de- 
cline, when  no  longer  nourished  and  enriched  by  that  commerce  to  which 
they  were  indebted  for  their  prosperity,  and  even  their  existence. 

The  provinces  of  Carthagena  and  Santa  Martha  stretch  to  the  eastward 
of  the  isthmus  of  Danen.  The  country  still  continues  mountainous,  but  its 
valleys  begin  to  expand,  are  well  watered,  and  extremely  fertile.  Pedro 
de  Heredia  subjected  this  part  of  America  to  the  crown  of  Spain  about  the 
year  1532.  It  is  thinly  peopled,  and  of  course  ill  cultivated.  It  produces, 
however,  a  variety  of  valuable  drugs,  and  some  precious  stones,  particu- 
larly emeralds.  But  its  chief  importance  is  derived  from  the  harbour  of 
Carthagena,  the  safest  and  best  fortified  of  any  in  the  American  dominions 
of  Spain.  In  a  situation  so  favourable,  commerce  soon  began  to  flourish. 
As  early  as  the  year  1544,  it  seems  to  have  been  a  town  of  some  note. 
But  when  Carthagena  was  chosen  as  the  port  in  which  the  galeons  should 
first  begin  to  trade  on  their  arrival  from  Europe,  and  to  which  they  were 
directed  to  return,  in  order  to  prepare  for  their  voyage  homeward,  the  com- 
merce of  its  inhabitants  were  so  much  favoured  by  this  arrangement,  that 
it  soon  became  one  of  the  most  populous,  opulent,  and  beauti/ul  cities  in 
America.  There  is,  however,  reason  to  apprehend  that  it  has  reached  its 
highest  point  of  exaltation,  and  that  it  will  be  so  far  affected  by  the  change 
in  the  Spanish  system  of  trade  with  America,  which  has  withdrawn  from 
it  the  desirable  visits  of  the  galeons,  as  to  feel  at  least  a  temporary  decline. 
But  the  wealth  now  collected  there  will  soon  find  or  create  employment  for 
itself,  and  may  be  turned  with  advantage  into  some  new  channel.  Its 
harbour  is  so  safe,  and  so  conveniently  situated  for  receiving  commodities 
from  Europe,  its  merchants  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  convey  these 
into  all  the  adjacent  provinces,  that  it  is  probable  they  will  still  retain  this 
branch  of  trade,  and  Carthagena  continue  to  be  a  city  of  great  importance. 

The  province  contiguous  to  Santa  Martha  on  the  east,  was  first  visited 
by  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  in  the  year  1499  ;*  and  the  Spaniards,  on  their  land- 
ing there,  having  observed  some  huts  in  an  Indian  village,  built  upon  piles, 
in  order  to  raise  them  above  the  stagnated  water  which  covered  the  plain, 
were  led  to  bestow^  upon  it  the  name  of  Venezuela,  or  little  Venice,  by 
their  usual  propensity  to  find  a  resemblance  between  what  they  discovered 
in  America,  and  the  objects  which  were  familiar  to  them  in  Europe.  They 
made  some  attempts  to  settle  there,  but  with  little  success.  The  final 
reduction  of  the  province  was  accomplished  by  means  very  different  from 
those  to  which  Spain  was  indebted  for  its  other  acquisitions. in  the  New 
World.  The  ambition  of  Charles  V.  often  engaged  him  in  operations  of 
such  variety  and  extent,  that  his  revenues  were  not  sufficient  to  defray  the 
expense  of  carrying  them  into  execution.  Among  other  expedients  for 
supplying  the  deficiency  of  his  funds,  he  had  borrowed  large  sums  from 
the  Velsers  of  Augsburg,  the  most  opulent  merchants  at  that  time  in  Europe. 
By  way  of  retribution  for  these,  or  in  hopes,  perhaps,  of  obtaining  a  new 
loan,  he  bestowed  upon  them  the  province  of  Venezuela,  to  be  held  as  an 

*  Book  ii.  p.  48. 

VOL.  I.- 


34S  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  VII. 

hereditary  fief  from  the  crown  of  Castile,  on  condition  that  within  a  limited 
time  they  should  render  themselves  masters  of  the  country,  and  establish  a 
colony  there.  Under  the  direction  of  such  persons,  it  might  have  been 
expected  that  a  settlement  would  have  been  established  on  maxims  very 
different  from  those  of  the  Spaniards,  and  better  calculated  to  encourage 
such  useful  industry,  as  mercantile  proprietors  might  have  known  to  be  the 
most  certain  source  of  prosperity  and  opulence.  But  unfortunately  they 
committed  the  execution  of  their  plan  to  some  of  those  soldiers  of  fortune 
with  which  Germany  abounded  in  the  sixteenth  century.  These  adven- 
turers, impatient  to  amass  riches,  that  they  might  speedily  abandon  a 
station  which  they  soon  discovered  to  be  very  uncomfortable,  instead  of 
planting  a  colony  in  order  to  cultivate  and  improve  the  country,  wandered 
irom  district  to  district  in  search  of  mines,  plundering  the  natives  with  un- 
feeling rapacity,  or  oppressing  them  by  the  imposition  of  intolerable  tasks 
In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  their  avarice  and  exactions,  in  comparison 
with  which  those  of  the  Spaniards  were  moderate,  desolated  the  province 
so  completely,  that  it  could  hardly  afford  them  subsistence,  and  the  Velsers 
relinquished  a  property  from  which  the  inconsiderate  conduct  of  their  agents 
left  them  no  hope  of  ever  deriving  any  advantage.*  When  the  wretched 
remainder  of  the  Germans  deserted  Venezuela,  the  Spaniards  again  took 
possession  of  it ;  but  notwithstanding  many  natural  advantages,  it  is  one  of 
their  most  languishing^and  unproductive  settlements. 

The  provinces  of  Caraccas  and  Cumana  are  the  last  of  the  Spanish  ter- 
ritories on  this  coast ;  but  in  relating  the  origin  and  operations  of  the  mer- 
cantile company  in  which  an  exclusive,  right  of  trade  with  them  has  been 
vested,  I  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to  consider  their  state  and  pro- 
ductions. 

The  New  Kingdom  of  Granada  is  entirely  an  inland  country  of  great 
extent.  This  important  addition  was  made  to  the  dominions  of  Spain  about 
the  year  1536,  by  Sebastian  de  Benalcazar  and  Gonzalo  Ximenes  de  Que- 
sada,  two  of  the  bravest  and  most  accomplished  officers  employed  in  the 
conquest  of  America.  The  former,  who-  commanded  at  that  time  in  Quito, 
attacked  it  from  the  south ;  the  latter  made  his  invasion  from  Santa  Martha 
on  the  north.  As  the  original  inhabitants  of  this  region  were  further  ad- 
vanced in  improvement  than  any  people  in  America  but  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians,!  they  defended  themselves  with  great  resolution  and  good  con- 
duct. The  abilities  and  perseverance  of  Benalcazar  and  Quesada  sur- 
mounted all  opposition,  though  not  without  encountering  many  dangers, 
and  reduced  the  country  into  the  form  of  a  Spanish  province. 

The  New  Kingdom  of  Granada  is  so'  far  elevated  above  the  level  of  the 
sea  that  though  it  approaches  almost  to  the  equator,  the  climate  is  re- 
markably temperate.  The  fertility  of  its  valleys  is  not  inferior  to  that  of 
the  richest  districts  in  America,  and  its  higher  grounds  yield  gold  and 
precious  stones  of  various  kinds.  It  is  not  by  digging  into  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  that  this  gold  is  found ;  it  is  mingled  with  the  soil  near  the  sur- 
face, and  separated  from  it  by  repeated  washing  with  water.  This  ope- 
ration is  carried  on  'wholly  by  Negro  slaves ;  for  though  the  chill  subter- 
ranean air  has  been  discovered,  by  experience,  to  be  so  fatal  to  them,  that 
they  cannot  be  employed  with  advantage  in  the  deep  silver  mines,  they 
are  more  capable  of  performing  the  other  species  of  labour  than  Indians. 
As  the  natives  in  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada  are  exempt  from  that 
service,  which  has  wasted  their  race  so  rapidly  in  other  parts  of  America, 
the  country  is  still  remarkably  populous.  Some  districts  yield  gold  with  a 
profusion  no  less  wonderful  than  that  in  the  vale  of  Cineguilla,  which  I  have 
formerly  mentioned,  and  it.  is  often  found  in  large  petitas,  or  grains,  which 
manifest  the  abundance  in  which  it  is  produced.  On  a  rising  ground  near 

*  Civedo  y  Bagnos  Hist,  de  Venezuela. P.  11-  tc.  t  Book  iv.  p.  Ill,  <fcc. 


AMERICA.  347 

Pamplona,  single  labourers  have  collected  in  a  day  what  was  equal  in 
value  to  a  thousand  pesos.*  A  late  governor  of  Santa  Fe  brought  with 
him  to  Spain  a  lump  of  pure  gold,  estimated  to  be  worth  seven  hundred 
and  forty  pounds  sterling.  This,  which  is  perhaps  the  largest  and  finest 
specimen  ever  found  in  the  New  World,  is  now  deposited  in  the  royal 
cabinet  of  Madrid.  But  without  founding  any  calculation  on  what  is  rare 
and  extraordinary,  the  value  of  the  gold  usually  collected  in  this  country, 
particularly  in  the  provinces  of  Popayan  and  Choco,  is  of  considerable 
amount.  Its  towns  are  populous  and  flourishing.  The  number  of  inhabitants 
in  almost  every  part  of  the  country  daily  increases.  Cultivation  and  in- 
dustry of  various  kinds  begin  to  be  encouraged,  and  to  prosper.  A  con- 
siderable trade  is  carried  on  with  Carthagena,  the  produce  of  the  mines, 
and  other  commodities,  being  conveyed  down  the  great  river  of  St.  Magda- 
lene to  that  city.  On  another  quarter,  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada  has  a 
communication  with  the  Atlantic  by  the  river  Orinoco ;  but  the  country 
which  stretches  along  its  banks  towards  the  east,  is  little  known,  and  iro 
perfectly  occupied  by  the  Spaniards. 


BOOK  VIII. 

AFTER  tracing  the  progress  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  discoveries  and 
conquests  during  more  than  half  a  century,  I  have  conducted  them  to  that 
period  when  their  authority  was  established  over  almost  all  the  vast 
regions  in  the  New  World  still  subject  to  their  dominion.  The  effect  of 
their  settlements  upon  the  countries  of  which  they  took  possession,  the 
maxims  which  they  adopted  in  forming  their  new  colonies,  the  interior 
structure  and  policy  of  these,  together  with  the  influence  of  their  progres- 
sive improvement  upon  the  parent  state,  and  upon  the  commercial  inter- 
course of  nations,  are  the  objects  to  which  we  now  turn  our  attention. 

The  first  visible  consequence  of  the  establishments  made  by  the  Span- 
iards in  America,  was  the  diminution  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  to  a  degree 
equally  astonishing  and  deplorable.  I  have  already,  on  different  occasions, 
mentioned  the  disastrous  influence  under  which  the  connection  of  the  Ame- 
ricans with  the  people  of  our  hemisphere  commenced,  both  in  the  islands 
and  in  several  parts  of  the  continent,  and  have  touched  upon  various  causes 
of  their  rapid  consumption.  Wherever  the  inhabitants  of  America  had 
resolution  to  take  arms  in  defence  of  their  liberty  and  rights,  many  perished 
in  the  unequal  contest,  and  were  cut  off  by  their  fierce  invaders.  But  the 
greatest  desolation  followed  after  the  sword  was  sheathed,  and  the  con- 
querors were  settled  in  tranquillity.  It  was  in  the  islands,  and  in  those 
provinces  of  the  continent  which  stretch  from  the  Gulf  of  Trinidad  to  the 
confines  of  Mexico,  that  the  fatal  effects  of  the  Spanish  dominion/ were  first 
and  most  sensibly  felt.  All  these  were  occupied  either  by  wandering  tribes 
of  hiunters,  or  by  such  as  had  made  but  small  progress  in  cultivation  and 
industry.  When  they  were  compelled  by  their  new  masters  to  take  up  a 
fixed  residence,  and  to  apply  to  regular  labour  ;  when  tasks  were  imposed 
upon  them  disproportioned  to  their  strength,  and  were  enacted  with  unre- 
lenting severity,  they  possessed  not  vigour  either  of  mind  or  of  body  to 
sustain  this  unusual  load  of  oppression.  Dejection  and  despair  drove  many 
to  end  their  lives  by  violence.  Fatigue  and  famine  destroyed  more.  In 

*  Piedrahita  Hist,  del  N.  Reyno,  p.  481.  MS.  penes  me. 


348  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII 

all  those  extensive  regions,  the  original  race  of  inhabitants  wasted  away ; 
in  some  it  was  totally  extinguished.  In  Mexico,  where  a  powerful  and 
martial  people  distinguished  their  opposition  to  the  Spaniards  by  efforts  of 
courage  worthy  of  apetter  fate,  great  numbers  fell  in  the  field ;  and  there, 
as  well  as  in  Peru,  still  greater  numbers  perished  under  the  hardships  of 
attending  the  Spanish  armies  in  their  various  expeditions  and  civil  wars, 
worn  out  with  the  incessant  toil  of  carrying  their  baggage,  provisions,  and 
military  stores. 

But  neither  the  rage  nor  cruelty  pf  the  Spaniards  was  so  destructive  to 
the  people  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  as  the  inconsiderate  policy  with  which 
they  established  their  new  settlements.  The  former  were  temporary  ca- 
lamities, fatal  to  individuals  :  the  latter  was  a  permanent  evil,  which,  with 
gradual  consumption,  wasted  the  nation.  When  the  provinces  of  Mexico 
and  Peru  were  divided  among  the  conquerors,  each  was  eager  to  obtain  a 
district  from  which  he  might  expect  an  instantaneous  recompense  for  all 
his  services.  Soldiers,  accustomed  to  the  carelessness  and  dissipation  of  a 
military  life,  had  neither  industry  to  carry  on  any  plan  of  regular  cultiva- 
tion, nor  patience  to  wait  for  its  slow  but  certain  returns.  Instead  of  set- 
tling in  the  valleys  occupied  by  the  natives,  where  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
would  have  amply  rewarded  the  diligence  of  the  planter,  tney  chose  to 
fix  their  stations  in  some  of  the  mountainous  regions,  frequent  both  in  New 
Spain  and  in  Peru.  To  search  for  mines  of  gold  and  silver  was  the  chief 
object  of  their  activity.  The  prospects  which  this  opens,  and  the  alluring 
hopes  which  it  continually  presents,  correspond  wonderfully  with  the  spirit 
of  enterprise  and  adventure  that  animated  the  first  emigrants  to  America  in 
every  part  of  their  conduct.  In  order  to  push  forward  those  favourite 
projects,  so  many  hands  were  wanted,  that  the  service  of  the  natives  be- 
came indispensably  requisite.  They  were  accordingly  compelled  to 
.abandon  their  ancient  habitations  in. the  plains,  and  driven  in  crowds  to  the 
mountains.  This  sudden  transition  from  the  sultry  climate  of  the  valleys 
to  the  chill  penetrating  air  peculiar  to  high  lands  in  the  torrid  zone  ;  exor- 
bitant labour,  scanty  or  unwholesome  nourishment,  and  the  despondency 
occasioned  by  a  species  of  oppression  to  which  they  were  not  accustomed, 
and  of  which  they  saw  no  end,  affected  them  nearly  as  much  as  their  less 

•      i       .    •  .j*  •       .|         •   *         -f  mi  i  j         xi  **     j 


together  with 

malady  unknown  in  America,  and  extremely  fatal  to  the  natives,!  the  num- 
ber of  people  both  in  New  Spain  and  Peru  was  so  much  reduced,  that  in 
a  few  years  the  accounts  of  their  ancient  population  appeared  almost  incre- 
dible.! 

Such  are  the  most  considerable  events  and  causes  which,  by  their  com 
bi'ned  operation,  contributed  to  depopulate  America.  Without  attending 
to  these,  many  authors,  astonished  at  the  suddenness  of  the  desolation,  have 
ascribed  this  unexampled  event  to  a  system  of  policy  no  less  profound  than 
atrocious.  The  Spaniards,  as  they  pretend,  conscious  of  their  own  inability 
to  occupy  the  vast  regions  which  they  had.  discovered,  and  foreseeing  the 
impossibility  of  maintaining  their  authority  over  a  people  infinitely  supe- 
rior to  themselves  in  number,  in  order  to  preserve  the  possession  of  Ame- 
rica, resolved  to  exterminate  the  inhabitants,  and,  by  converting  a  great 
part  of  the  country  into  a  desert,  endeavoured  to  secure  their  own  domi- 
nion over  it  [165],  But  nations  seldom  extend  their  views  to  objects 'so 
remote,  or  lay  their  plans  so  deep  ;  and  for  the  honour  of  humanity  we 
may  observe,  that  no  nation  ever  deliberately  formed  such  an  execrable 
scheme.  The  Spanish  monarchs,  far  from  acting  upon  any  such  system  of 

*  Torquemada,  i.  613.  |  B.  Diaz,  c.  124.  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  4.  UHoa  Entreten  206. 
J  Torquerj,  615.  642,  643  [164]. 


AMERICA.  349 

destruction,  were  uniformly  solicitous  for  the  preservation  of  their  new 
subjects.  With  Isabella,  zeal  for  propagating  the  Christian  faith,  together 
with  the  desire  of  communicating  the  knowledge  of  truth,  and  the  conso- 
lations of  religion,  to  people  destitute  of  spiritual  light,  were  more  than 
ostensible  motives  for  encouraging  Columbus  to  attempt  his  discoveries. 
Upon  his  success,  she  endeavoured  to  fulfil  her  pious  purpose,  and  mani- 
fested the  most  tender  concern  to  secure  not  only^  religious  instruction,  but 
mild  treatment,  to  that  inoffensive  race  of  men  subjected  to  her  crown  f 166]. 
Her  successors  adopted  the  same  ideas ;  and,  on  many  occasions,  which  I 
have  mentioned,  their  authority  was  interposed,  in  the  most  vigorous  ex- 
ertions, to  protect  the  people  of  America  from  the  oppression  of  their  Span- 
ish subjects.  Their  regulations  for  this  purpose  were  numerous,  and  often 
repeated.  They  were  framed  with  wisdom,  and  dictated  by  humanity. 
After  their  possessions  in  the  New  World  became  so  extensive  as  might 
have  excited  some  apprehensions  of  difficulty  in  retaining  their  dominion 
over  them,  the  spirit  of  their  regulations  was  as  mild  as  when  their  set- 
tlements were  confined  to  the  islands  alone.  Their  solicitude  to  protect 
the  Indians  seems  rather  to  have  augmented  as  their  acquisitions  increased  : 
and  from  ardour  to  accomplish  this,  they  enacted,  and  endeavoured  to  enforce 
the  execution  of  laws,  which  excited  a  formidable  rebellion  in  one  of  their 
colonies,  and  spread  alarm  and  disaffection  through  all  the  rest.  But  the 
avarice  of  individuals  was  too  violent  to  be  controlled  by  the  authority  of 
laws.  Rapacious  and  daring  adventurers,  far  removed  from  the  seat  of 
government,  little  accustomed  to  the  restraints  of  military  discipline  while 
in  service,  and  still  less  disposed  to  respect  the  feeble  jurisdiction  of  civil 
power  in  an  infant  colony,  despised  or  eluded  every  regulation  that  set 
bounds  to  their  exactions  and  tyranny.  The  parent  state,  with  persevering 
attention,  issued  edicts  to  prevent  the  oppression  of  the  Indians  ;  the  colo- 
nists, regardless  of  these,  or  trusting  to  their  distance  for  impunity,  con- 
tinued to  consider  and  treat  them  as  slaves.  The  governors  themselves, 
and  other  officers  employed  in  the  colonies,  several  of  whom  were  as  indi- 
gent and  rapacious  as  the  adventurers  over  whom  they  presided,  were  too 
apt  to  adopt  their  contemptuous  ideas  of  the,  conquered  people  ;  and,  in- 
stead of  checking,  encouraged  or  connived  at  their  excesses.  The  desola- 
tion of  the  New  World  should  not  then  be  charged  on  the  court  of  Spain, 
or  be  considered  as  the  effect  of  any  system  of  policy  adopted  there.  It 
ought  to  be  imputed  wholly  to  the  indigent  and  often  unprincipled  adven- 
turers, whose  fortune  it  was  to  be  the  conquerors  and  first  planters  of 
America,  who,  by  measures  no  less  inconsiderate  than  unjust,  counter- 
acted the  edicts  of  their  sovereign,  and  have  brought  disgrace  upon  their 
country. 

With  still  greater  injustice  have  many  authors  represented  the  intolera- 
ting  spirit  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  as  the  cause  of  exterminating 
the  Americans,  and  have  accused  the  Spanish  ecclesiastics  of  animating 
their  countrymen  to  the  slaughter  of  that  innocent  people,  as  idolaters  and 
enemies  of  God.  But  the  first  missionaries  who  visited  America,  though 
weak  and  illiterate,  were  pious  men.  They  early  espoused  the  defence 
of  the  natives,  and  vindicated  their  character  from  the  aspersions  of  their 
conquerors,  who,  describing  them  as  incapable  of  being  formed  to  the 
offices  of  civil  life,  or  of  comprehending  the  doctrines  of  religion,  con- 
tended, that  they  were  a  subordinate  race  of  men,  on  whom  the  hand  of 
nature  had  set  the  mark  of  servitude.  From  the  accounts  which  I  have 
given  of  the  humane  and  persevering  zeal  of  the  Spanish  missionaries,  in 
protecting  the  helpless  flock  committed  to  their  charge,  they  appear  in  a 
light  which  reflects  lustre  upon  their  function.  They  were  ministers  of 
peace,  who  endeavoured  to  wrest  the  rod  from  the  hands  of  oppressors. 
To  their  powerful  interposition  the  Americans  were  indebted  for  every 
regulation  tending  to  mitigate  the  rigour  of  their  fate.  The  clergy  in  the 


350  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VI11. 

Spanish  settlements,  regular  as  well  as  secular,  are  still  considered  by  th<? 
Indians  as  their  natural  guardians,  to  whom  they  have  recourse  under  the 
hardships  and  exactions  to  which  they  are  too  often  exposed  [167]. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  rapid  depopulation  of  America,  a  very  consi- 
derable number  of  the  native  race  still  remains  both  in  Mexico  and  Peru, 
especially  in  those  parts  which  were  not  exposed  to  the  first  fury  of  the 
Spanish  arms,  or  desolated  by  the  first  efforts  of  their  industry,  still  more 
ruinous.  In  Guatimala,  Chiapa,  Nicaragua,  and  the  other  delightful  pro^ 
vinces  of  the  Mexican  empire,  which  stretch  along  the  South  Sea,  the  race 
of  Indians  Is  still  numerous.  Their  settlements  in  some  places  are  so 
populous  as  to  merit  the  name  of  cities  [168].  In  the  three  audiences  into 
which  New  Spain  is  divided,  there  are  at  least  two  millions  of  Indians ;  a 
pitiful  remnant,  indeed,  of  its  ancient  population,  but  such  as  still  forms  a 
body  of  people  superior  iri  number  to  that  of  all  the  other  inhabitants  of 
this  extensive  country  [169].  In  Peru  several  districts,  particularly  in  the 
kingdom  of  Quito,  are  occupied  almost  entirely  by  Indians.  In  other  pro- 
vinces they  are  mingled  with  the -Spaniards,  and  in  many  of  their  settle- 
ments are  almost  the  only  persons  who  practise  the  mechanic  arts,  and  fill 
most  of  the  inferior  stations  in  society.  As  the  inhabitants  both  of  Mexico 
and  Peru  were  accustomed  to  a  fixed  residence,  and  to  a  certain  degree  of 
regular  industry,  less  violence  was  requisite  in  bringing  them  to  some  con- 
formity with  the  European  modes  of  civil  life.  But  wherever  the  Span- 
iards  settled  among  the  savage  tribes  of  America,  their  attempts  to  incor- 
porate with  them  have  been  always  fruitless,  and  often  fatal  to  the  natives. 
Impatient  of  restraint,  and  disdaining  labour  as  a  mark  of  "servility,  they 
either  abandoned  their '  original  seats,  and  sought  for  independence  in 
mountains  and  forests  inaccessible  to  their  oppressors,  or  perished  when 
reduced  to  a  state  repugnant  to  their  ancient  ideas  and  habits.  In  the 
districts  adjacent  to  Carthage na,  to  ^Panama,  and  to  Buenos  Ayres,  the 
desolation,  is  more  general  than  even  in  those  parts  of  Mexico  ana  Peru  of 
which  the  Spaniards  have  taken-  most  full  possession. 

But  the  establishments  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  New  World,  though  fatal 
to  its  ancient  inhabitants,  were  made  a  ta  period  when  that  monarchy  was 
capable  of  forming  them  to  best  advantage.  By  the  union  of  all  its  petty 
kingdoms,  Spain  was  become  a  powerful  state,  equal  to  so  great  an  under- 
taking. Its^monarchs,  having  extended  their  prerogatives  far  beyond  the 
limits  which"  once  circumscribed  the  regal  power  in  every  kingdom  of 
Europe,  were  hardly  subject  to  control,  either  in  concerting  or  in  executing 
their  measures.  In  every  wide-extended  empire,  the  form  of  government 
must  be  simple,  and  the  sovereign  authority  such,  that  its  resolutions  may 
be  taken  with  promptitude,  and  may  pervade  the  whole  with  sufficient 
force.  Such  was  .the  power  of  the  Spanish  monarchs  when  they  were 
called  to  deliberate  concerning  the  mode  of  establishing  their  dominions 
over  the  most  remote  province's  which  had  ever  been  subjected  to  any- 
European  state.  In  this  deliberation,  they  felt  themselves  under  no  con- 
stitutional restraint,  and  that,  as  independent  masters  of  their  own  resolves, 
they  might  issue  the  edicts  requisite  for  modelling  the  government  of  the 
new  colonies,  by  a  mere  act  of  prerogative. 

This  early  interposition  of  the  Spanish  crown,  in  order  to  regulate  the 
policy  and  trade  of  its  colonies,  is  a  peculiarity  which  distinguishes  their 
progress  from  that  of  the  colonies  of  any  other  European  nation.  When 
the  Portuguese,  the  English,  and  French  took  possession  of  the  regions  in 
America  which  they  now  occupy,  the  advantages  which  these  promised 
to  yield  were  so  remote  and  uncertain,  that  their  colonies  were  suffered  to 
struggle  through  a  hard  infancy,  almost  without  guidance  or  protection  from 
the  parent  state.  But  gold  and  silver,  the  first  productions  of  the  Spanish 
settlements  in  the  New  World,  were  more  alluring,  and  immediately  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  their  monarchs.  Though  they  had  contributed 


AMERICA.  351 

little  to  the  discovery,  and  almost  nothing  to  the  conquest  of  the  New 
VVorld,  they  instantly  assumed  the  function  of  its  legislators  ;  and  having 
acquired  a  species  of  dominion  formerly  unknown,  they  formed  a  plan  for 
exercising  it,  to  which  nothing  similar  occurs  in  the  history  of  human 
affairs. 

The  fundamental  maxim  of  the  Spanish  jurisprudence,  with  respect  to 
America,  is  to  consider  what  has  been  acquired  there  as  vested  in  the 
crown,  rather  than  in  the  state.  By  the  bull  of  Alexander  VI.,  on  which, 
as  its  great  charter,  Spain  founded  its  right,  all  the  regions  that  had  been 
or  should  be  discovered  were  bestowed  as  a  free  gift  upon  Ferdinand  and, 
Isabella.  They  and  their  successors  were  uniformly  held  to  be  the  uni- 
versal proprietors  of  the  vast  territories  which  the  arms  of  their  subjects 
conquered  in  the  New  World.  From  them  all  grants  of, land  there  flowed, 
and  to  them  they  finally' returned.  The  leaders  who  conducted  the  various 
expeditions,  the  governors  who  presided  over  the  different  colonies,  the 
officers  of  justice,  and  the.  ministers  of  religion,  were  all  appointed  by 
meir  authority,  and  removable  at  their  pleasure.  The  people  who  com- 
posed infant  settlements  were  entitled  to  no  privileges  independent  of  the 
sovereign,  or  that  served  as  a  barrier  against  the  power  of  the  crown.  It 
is  true,  that  when  towns  were  built,  and  formed  into  bodies  corporate,  the 
citizens  were  permitted  to  elect  their  own  magistrates,  who  governed  them 
by  laws  which  the  community  enacted.  Even  in  the  most  despotic  states, 
this  feeble  spark  of  liberty  is  not  extinguished.  But  in  the  cities  of 
Spanish  America,  this  jurisdiction  is  merely  municipal,  and  is  confined  to 
the  regulation  of  their  own  interior  commerce  and  police.  In  whatever 
relates  to  public  government,  and  the  general  interest,  the  will  of  the 
sovereign  is  law.  No  political  power  originates  from  the  people.  All 
centres  in  the  crown,  and  in  the  officers  of  its  nomination. 

When  the  conquests  of  the  Spaniards  in  America  were  completed,  their 
monarchs,  in  forming  the  plan  of  internal  policy  for  their  new  dominions, 
divided  them  into  two  immense  governments,  one  subject  to  the  viceroy 
of  New  Spain,  the  other  to  the  viceroy  of  Peru*  The  jurisdiction  of  the 
former  extended  over  all  the  provinces  belonging  to  Spain  in  the  northern 
division  of  the  American  continent.  Under  that  of  the  latter,  was  com- 
prehended whatever  she  possessed  in  South  America.  This  arrangement, 
which,  from  the  beginning,  was  attended  with  many  inconveniences,  became 
intolerable  when  the  remote  provinces  of  each  viceroyalty  began  to  im- 
prove in  industry  and  population.  The  people  complained  of  their  sub- 
jection to  a  superior,  whose  place  of  residence  was  so  distant,  or  so  inac- 
cessible, as  almost  excluded  them  from  any  intercourse  with  the  seat  of 
government-  The  authority  of  the  viceroy  over  districts  so  far  removed 
from  his  own  eye  and  observation,  was  unavoidably  both  feeble  and  ill 
directed.  As  a  remedy  for  those  evils,  a  third  viceroyalty  has  been  esta- 
blished in  the  present  century,  at  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota,  the  capital  of  the 
new  kingdom  of  Granada,  the  jurisdiction  of  which  extends  over  the 
whole  kingdom  of  Tierra  Firme  and  the  province  of  Quito.*  Those 
viceroys  not  only  represent  the  person  of  their  sovereign,  but  possess  his 
regal  prerogatives  within  the  precincts  of  their  own  governments  in  their 
utmost  extent.  Like  him,  they  exercise  supreme  authority  in  every  de- 
partment of  government,  civil,  military,  and  criminal.  They  have  the 
sole  right  of  nominating  the  persons  who  hold  many  offices  of  the  highest 
importance,  and  the  occasional  privilege  of  supplying  those  which,  whon 
they  become  vacant  by  death,  are  in  the  royal  ffift,  until  the  successor 
tppointed  by  the  king  shall  arrive.  The  external  pomp  of  their  govern- 
ment is  suited  to  its  real  dignity  and  power.  Their  courts  are  formed  upon 
the  model  of  that  at  Madrid,  with  horse  and  foot  guards,  a  household 

*  Voy.  de  Ulloa,  i.  23. 255 


352  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIIL 

regularly  established,  numerous  attendants,  and  ensigns  of  command, 
displaying  such  magnificence  as  hardly  retains  the  appearance  of  delegated 
authority.* 

But  as  the  viceroys  cannot  discharge  in  person  the  functions  of  a  supreme 
magistrate  in  every  part  of  their  extensive  jurisdiction,  they  are  aided  in 
their  government  by  officers  and  tribunals  similar  to  those  in  Spain.  The 
conduct  of  civil  affairs  in  the  various  provinces  and  districts,  into  which  the 
Spanish  dominions  in  America  are  divided,  is  committed  to  magistrates  of 
various  orders  and  denominations  ;  some  appointed  by  the  king,, others  by 
the  viceroy,  but  all  subject  to  the  command  of  the  latter,  and  amenable  to 
his  jurisdiction.  The  administration  of  justice  is  vested  in  tribunals,  known 
by  the  name  of  Audiences,  and  formed  upon  the,  model  of  the  court  of 
Chancery  in  Spain.  These  are  eleven  in  number,  and  dispense  justice  to 
as  many  districts  into  which  the  Spanish  dominions  in  America  are 
divided  [170].  The  number  of  judges  in  the  Court  of  Audience  is  vari- 
ous, according  to  the  extent  and  importance  of  their  jurisdiction.  The 
station  is  no  less  honourable  than  lucrative,  and  is  commonly  filled  by  per- 
sons of  such  abilities  and  merit  as  render  this  tribunal  extremely  respect- 
able. Both  civil  and  criminal  causes  come  under  their  cognizance,  and 
for  each  peculiar  judges  are  set  apart.  Though  it  is  only  in  the  most 
despotic  governments  that  the  sovereign  exercises  in  person  the  formidable 
prerogative  of  administering  justice  to  his  subjects,  and,  in  absolving  or 
condemning,  consults  no  law  but  what  is  deposited  in  his  own  breast; 
though,  in  all  the  monarchies  of  Europe,  judicial  authority  is  committed  to 
magistrates,  whose  decisions  ar$  regulated  by  known  laws  and  established 
forms  ;  the  Spanish  viceroys  have  often  attempted  to  intrude  themselves 
into  the  seat  of  justice,  and,  with  an  ambition  which  their  distance  from 
the  control  of  a  superior  rendered  bold,  have  aspired  at  a  power  which 
their  master  does  not  venture  to  assume.  In  order  to:  check  a  usurpation 
which  must  have  annihilated  justice  and  security  in  the  Spanish  colonies, 
by;  subjecting  the  lives  and  property  of  all  to  the  will  of  a  single  man,  the 
viceroys  have  been  prohibited  in  the  most  explicit  terms,  by  repeated  laws, 
from  interfering  in  the  judicial  proceedings  of  the  Courts  of  Audience,  or 
from  delivering  an  opinion,  or  giving  a  voice,  with  respect  to  any  point 
litigated  before  them.f  In  some  particular  cases,  in  which  any  question 
of  civil  right  is  involved,  even  the  political  regulations  of  the  viceroy  may 
be  brought  under  the  review  of  the  Court  of  Audience,  which  in  those 
instances  may  be  deemed  an  intermediate  power  placed  between  him  and 
the  people,  as  a  constitutional  barrier  to  circumscribe  his  jurisdiction.  But 
as  legal  restraints  on  a  person  who  represents  the  sovereign,  and  is  clothed 
with  his  authority,  are  little  suited  to  the  genius  of  Spanish  policy ;  the 
hesitation  and  reserve  with  which  it  confers  this  power  on  the  Courts  of 
Audience  are  remarkable.  They  may  advise,  they  may  remonstrate  ;  but, 
in  the  event  oi  a  direct  collision  between  their  opinion  and  the  will  of  the 
viceroy,  what  he  determines  must  be  carried  into  execution,  and  nothing 
remains  for  them,  but  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  king  and  the  Council  of 
the  Indies.  J  But  to  be  entitled  to  remonstrate,  and  inform  against  a  person 
before  whom  all  others  must  be  silent,  and  tamejy  submit  to  his  decrees,  is  a 
privilege  which  adds  dignity  to  the  Courts  of  Audience.  This  is  further 
augmented  by  another  circumstance.  Upon  the  death  of  a  viceroy,  with- 
out any  provision  of  a  successor  by  the  king,  the  supreme  power  is  vested 
in  the  Court  of  Audience  resident  in  the  capital  of  the  viceroyalty  ;  and 
the  senior  judge,  assisted  by  his  brethren,  exercises  all  the  functions  of  the 
viceroy  while  the  office  continues  vacant. §  In  matters  which  come  under 

*  Ulloa,  Voy.  i.  432.    Gage,  61.  t  Recop.  lib.  ii.  tit.  xv.  1.  35.  38.  44.  lib.  iii.  tit.  iii.  1.  36,  37. 

{  Solorz.  de  Jure  Ind.  lib.  iv.  c.  3.  n.  40, 41.  Recop.  lib.  ii.  tit.  xv.  '.  36,  lib.  iii.  tit.  iii.  1.  34.  lib  v 
tit.  ix.  1.  1.  $  Recop.  lib.  ii.  tit.  xv.  1. 57,  &«. 


AMERICA.  353 

the  cognizance  of  the  Audiences,  in  the  course  of  their  ordinary  jurisdic- 
tion, as  courts  of  justice,  their  sentences  are  final  in  every  litigation  con- 
cerning property  of  less  value  thansix  thousand  pesos  ;  but  when  the  subject 
in  dispute  exceeds  that  sum,  their  decisions  are  subject  to  review,  and  may 
be  carried  by  appeal  before  the  royal  Council  of  the  Indies.*, 

In  this  council,  one  of  the  most  considerable  in  the  monarchy  for  dignity 
and  power,  is  vested  the  supreme  government  of  all  the  Spanish  dominions 
in  America.  It  was  first  established  by  Ferdinand  in  the  year  1511,  and 
brought  into  a  more  perfect  form  by  Charles  V..  in  the  year  1524:  Its 
jurisdiction  extends  to  every  department,  ecclesiastical, civil,  military,  and 
commercial.  All  laws  and  ordinances  relative  to  the  government  and  police 
of  the  colonies  originate  there,  and  must  be  approved  of  by  two-thirds  of 
the  members  before  they  are  issued  in  the  name  of  the  king.  All  the 
offices,  of  which  the  nomination  is  reserved  to  the  -crown,  are  conferred  in 
this  council.  To  it  each  person  employed  in  America,  from  the  viceroy 
downwards,  is  accountable.  It  reviews  their  conduct,  rewards  their  ser- 
vices, and  inflicts  the  punishments  due  to  their  malversations.!  _  Before  it 
is  laid  whatever  intelligence,  either  public  or  secret,  is  received  from 
America  ;  and  every  scheme  of  improving  the.  administration,  the  police, 
or  the  commerce  of  the  colonies,  is  submitted  'to  its  consideration.  From 
the  first  institution  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  it  has  been  the  constant 
object  of  the  Catholic  monarchs  to  maintain  its  authority,  and  to  make 
such  additions  from  time  to  time,  both  to  its  power  and  its  splendour,  as 
might  render  it  formidable  to  all  their  subjects  in  the  New  World.  What- 
ever degree  of  public  order  and  virtue  still  remains  in  that  country,  where 
so  many  circumstances  conspire  to  relax  the  former,  and  to  corrupt  the 
latter,  may  be  ascribed  in  a  great  measure  to  the  wise  regulations  and 
vigilant  inspection  of  this  respectable  tribunal.J 

As  the  king  is  supposed  to  be  always  present  in  his  Council  of  the 
Indies,  its  meetings  are  held  in  the  place  where  he  resides.  Another 
tribunal  has  been  instituted  in  order  to  regulate  such  commercial  affairs, 
as  required  the  immediate  and  personal  inspection  of  those  appointed  to 
superintend  them.  This  is  called  Casa  de  la  Contratacion,  or  the  house 
of  trade,  and  was  established  in  Seville,  the  port  to  which  commerce  with 
the  New  World  was  confined,  as  early  as  the  year  1501.  It  may  be  con- 
sidered both  as  a  board  of  trade,  and  as  a  court  of  judicature.  In  the 
former  capacity,  it  takes  cognizance  of  whatever  relates  to  the  intercourse 
of  Spain  with  America,  it  regulates  what  commodities  should  be  exported 
thither,  and  has  the  inspection  of  such  as  are  received  in  return.  It  decides 
concerning  the  departure  of  the  fleets  for  the  West  Indies,  the  freight  and 
burden  of  the  ships,  their  equipment  and  destination.  In  the  latter  capa- 
city, it  judges  with  respect  to  every  question,  civil,  commercial,  or  criminal, 
arising  in  consequence  of  the  transactions  of  Spain  with  America  j  and  in 
both  these  departments  its  decisions  are  exempted  from  the  review  of  any 
court  but  that  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies.§ 

Such  is  the  great  outline  of  that  system  of  government  which  Spain  has 
established  in  her  American  colonies.  To  enumerate  the  various  subor- 
dinate boards  and  officers  employed  in  the  administration  of  justice,  in 
collecting  the  public  revenue,  and  in  regulating  the  interior  police  of  the 
country  ;  to  describe  their  different  functions,  and  to  inquire  into  the  mode 
and  effect  of  their  operations ;  would  prove  a  detail  no  less  intricate  than 
minute  and  uninteresting. 

The  first  object  of  the  Spanish  monarchs  was  to  secure  the  productions 
of  the  colonies  to  the  parent  state,  by  an  absolute  prohibition  of  any  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations.  They  took  possession  of  America  by  right 

*  Recop.  lib.  v.  tit  \iii.  1. 1,  &c.  t  Ibid  Jib.  ii.  tit.  ii.  1. 1,  2,  &c.  J  Solorz.  de  Jure 

hid.  lib.  iv.  c.  12.  §  Rccop.  lib.  ix.  tit.  i.    Vcitia  Nortc  de  la  Contrntaricn,  lib.  i.  1. 

VOL.  L— 45  17 


364  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VIH, 

of  conquest,  and  conscious  not  only  of  the  feebleness  of  their  infant  settle* 
ments,  but  aware  of  the  difficulty  in  establishing  their  dominions  over 
regions  so  extensive,  or  in  retaining  so  many  reluctant  nations  under  the  yoke? 
they  dreaded  the  intrusion  of  strangers  ;  they  even  shunned  their  inspection,, 
and  endeavoured  to  keep  them  at  a  distance  from  their  coasts.  This  spirit 
of  jealousy  and  exclusion,  which  at  first  was  natural,  and  perhaps  necessary, 
augmented  as  their  possessions  in  America  extended,  and  the  value  of  them 
came  to  be  more  fully  understood.  In  consequence  of  it,  a  system  of 
colonising  was  introduced,  to  which  there  had  hitherto  been  nothing  similar 
among  mankind.  In  the  ancient  world,  it  was  not  uncommon  to  send  forth 
colonies.  But  they  were  of  two  kinds  only.  They  were  either  migrations, 
which  served  to  disburden  a  state  of  its  superfluous  subjects,  when  they 
multiplied  too  fast  for  the  territory  which  they  occupied ;  or  they  were 
military  detachments,  stationed  as  garrisons  in  a  conquered  province.  The 
colonies  of  some  Greek  republics,  and  the  swarms  of  northern  barbarians 
which  settled  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  were  of  the  first  species.  The 
Roman  colonies  were  of  the  second.  In  the  former,  the  connection  with 
the  mother  country  quickly  ceased,  and  they  became  independent  states. 
In  the  latter,  as  the  disjunction  was  not  complete,  the  dependence  continued. 
In  their  American  settlements,  the  Spanish  monarchs  took  what  was  pecu- 
liar to  each,  and  studied  to  unite  them.  By  sending  colonies  to  regions  so 
remote,  by  establishing  in  each  a  form  of  inferior  policy  and  administration, 
under  distinct  governors,  and  with  peculiar  laws,  they  disjoined  them  from 
the  mother  country.  By  retaining  in  .their  own  hands  the  rights  of  legis- 
lation, as  well  as  that  of  imposing  taxes,  together  with  the  power  of 
nominating  the  persons  who  filled  every  department  of  executive  govern- 
ment, civil  or  military,  they  secured  their  dependence  upon  the  parent 
state.  Happily  for  Spain,  the  situation  of  her  colonies  was  such  as  ren- 
dered it  possible  to  reduce  this  new  idea  into  practice.  Almost  all  the 
countries  which  she  had  discovered  and  occupied,  lay  within  the  tropics. 
The  productions  of  that  large  portion  of  the  globe  are  different  from  those 
of  Europe,  even  in  its  most  southern  provinces.  The  qualities  of  the 
climate  and  of  the  soil  naturally  turn  the  industry  of  such  as  settle  there 
into  new  channels.  When  the  Spaniards  first  took  possession  of  their 
dominions  in  America,  the  precious  metals  which  they  yielded  were  the 
only  object  that  attracted  their  attention.  Even  when  tneir  efforts  began 
to  take  a  better  direction,  they  employed  themselves  almost  wholly  in 
rearing  such  peculiar  productions  of  the  climate  as,  from  their  rarity  or 
value,  were  of  chief  demand  ip  the  mother  country.  Allured  by  vast 
prospects  of  immediate  wealth,  they  disdained  to  waste  their  industry  on 
what  was  less  lucrative,  but  of  superior  moment.  In  order  to  render  it 
impossible  to  correct  this  error,  and  to  prevent  them  from  making  any 
efforts  in  industry  which  might  interfere  with  those  of  the  mother  country, 
the  establishment  of  several  species  of  manufactures,  and  even  the  culture 
of  the  vine  or  olive,  are  prohibited  in  the  Spanish  colonies  [171],  under 
severe  penalties.*  They  must  trust  entirely  to  the  mother  country  for  the 
objects  of  primary  necessity.  Their  clothes,  their  furniture,  their  instru- 
ments of  labour,  their  luxuries,  and  even  a  considerable  part  of  the  pro- 
visions which  they  consume,  were  imported  from  Spain.  During  a  great 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Spain,  possessing  an  extensive  commerce 
and  flourishing  manufactures,  could  supply  with  ease  the  growing  demands 
of  her  colonies  from  her  own  stores.  The  produce  of  their  mines  and 
plantations  was  given  in  exchange  for  these.  But  all  that  the  colonies 
received,  as  well  as  all  that  they  gave,  was  conveyed  in  Spanish  bottoms 
No  vessel  belonging  to  the  colonies  was  ever  permitted  to  carry  the  com- 
modities of  America  to  Europe.  Even  the  commercial  intercourse  of  one 

*  B  Ulloa  RetaK  dcs  Manuf.  &e.  p.  206 


AMERICA.  355 

colony  with  another  was  either  absolutely  prohibited,  or  limited  by  many 
jealous  restrictions.  All  that  America  yields  flows  into  the  ports  of  Spain  ; 
all  that  it  consumes  must  issue  from  them.  No  foreigner  can  enter  its 
colonies  without  express  permission ;  no  vessel  of  any  foreign  nation  is 
received  into  their  harbours ;  and  the  pains  of  death,  with  confiscation  of 
moveables,  are  denounced  against  every  inhabitant  who  presumes  to  trade 
with  them.*  Thus  the  colonies  are  kept  in  a  state  of  perpetual  pupilage  ; 
and  by  the  introduction  of  this  commercial  dependence,  a  refinement  in 
policy  of  which  Spain  set  the  first  example  to  European  nations,  the 
supremacy  of  the  parent  state  hath  been  maintained  over. remote  colonies 
during  two  centuries  and  a  half. 

Such  'are  the  capital  maxims  to  which  the  Spanish  monarchs  seem,  to 
have  attended  in  forming  their  new  settlements  in  America.  But  they 
could  not  plant  with  the  same  rapidity  that  they  had'  destroyed  ;  and  from 
many  concurring  causes,  their  progress  has  been  extremely  slow  in  filling 
up  the  immense  void  which  their  devastations  had  occasioned.  As  soon  as 
the  rage  for  discovery  and  adventure  began  to  abate,  the  Spaniards  opened 
their  eyes  to  dangers  and  distresses  which  at  first  they  did  not  perceive, 
or  had  despised.  The  numerous  hardships  with  which  the  members  of 
infant  colonies  have  to  struggle,  the  diseases  of  unwholesome  climates  fatal 
to  the  constitution  of  Europeans ;  the  difficulty  of  bringing  a  country 
covered  with  forests  into  culture  ;  the  want  of  hands  necessary  for  labour 
in  some  provinces,  and  the  slow  reward  of  industry  in  all,  unless  where 
the  accidental  discovery  of  mines  enriched  a  few.  fortunate  adventurers, 
were  evils  universally  felt  and  magnified.  Discouraged  by  the  view  of 
these,  the  spirit  of  migration  was  so  much  damped,  that  sixty  years  after 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  the  number  of  Spaniards  in  all  its  pro- 
vinces is  computed  not  to  have  exceeded  fifteen  thousand  [172], 

The  mode  in  which  property  was  distributed  in  the  Spanish  colonies, 
and  the  regulations  established'with  respect  to  the  transmission  of  it,  whe- 
ther by  descent  or  by  sale,  were  extremely  unfavourable  to  population. 
In  order  to  promote  a  rapid  increase  of  people  in  any  new  settlement, 
property  in  land  ought  to  be  divided  into  small  shares,  and  the  alienation 
of  it  should  be  rendered  extremely  easy.J  But  the  rapaciousness  of  the 
Spanish  conquerors  of  the  New  World  paid  no  regard  to  this  fundamental 
maxim  of  policy  ;  and,  as  they  possessed  power  which  enabled  them  to 
gratify  the  utmost  extravagance  of  their  wishes,  many  seized  districts  of 
great  extent,  and  held  them  as  encomiendas.  By  degrees  they  obtained  the 
privilege  of  converting  a  part  of  these  into  Mayorasgos>  a  species  of  fief, 
introduced  into  the  Spanish  system  of  feudal  jurisprudence,!  which  can 
neither  be  divided  nor  alienated.  Thus  a  great  portion  of  landed  property 
under  this  rigid  form  of  entail,  is  withheld  from  circulation,  and  descends 
from  father  to  son  unimproved,  and  of  little  value  either  to  the  proprietor 
or  to  the  community.  In  the  account  which  I  have  given  of  the  reduction 
of  Peru,  various  examples  occur  of  enormous  tracts  of  country  occupied 
by  some  of  the  conquerors. §  The  excesses  in  other  provinces  were  simi- 
lar ;  for,  as  the  value  of  the  lands  which  the  Spaniards  acquired  was  ori- 
ginally estimated  according  to  the  number  of  Indians  which  lived  upon 
them,  America  was  in  general  so  thinly  peopled,  that  only  districts  of 
great  extent  could  afford  such  a  number  of  labourers-  as  might  be  employed 
in  the  mines  with  any  prospect  of  considerable  gain.  The  pernicious 
effects  of  those  radical  errors  in  the  distribution  and  nature  of  property  in 
the  Spanish  settlements  are  felt  through  every  department  of  industry,  and 
may  be  considered  as  one  great  cause  of  a  progress  in  population  so.  much 
slower  than  that  which  has  taken  place  in  better  constituted  colonies  [173], 

*  Recopil  lib.  ix.  tit.  xxvii.  1. 1. 4.  7,  &c.         j  n'«  Smith's  Inquiry,  ii<  166.         }  Recop.  Ub,  to. 
Hi.  iii.  ».  34.        §  Book  vi. 


35*  HISTORY  OF  [BooxVIIl, 

To  this  we  may  add,  that  the  support  of  the  enormous  and  expensive 
fabric  of  their  ecclesiastical  establishment  has  been  a  burden  on  the  Span 
ish  colonies,  which  has  greatly  retarded  the  progress  of  population  and 
industry.  The  payment  of  tithes  is  a  heavy  tax  on  industry  :  and  if  the 
exaction  of  them-  be  not  regulated  and  circumscribed  by  the  wisdom  of  the 
civil  magistrate,  it  becomes  intolerable  and  ruinous.  JBut,  instead  of  any 
restraint  on  the  claims  of  ecclesiastics,  the  inconsiderate  zeal  of  the  Span- 
ish legislators  admitted  them  into  America  in  their  full  extent,  and  at  once 
imposed  on  their  infant  colonies  a  burden  which  is  in  no  slight  degree 
oppressive  to  society,  even  in  its  most  improved  state.  As  early  as  the 
year  1501,  the  payment  of  tithes  in  the  colonies  was  enjoined,  and  the 
mode  of  it  regulated  by  law.  Every  article  of  primary  necessity,  towards 
which  the  attention  of  new  settlers  must  naturally  be  turned,  is  subjected 
to  that  grievous  exaction.*  Nor  were  the  demands  of  the  clergy  confined 
to  articles  of  simple  and  easy  culture.  Its  more  artificial  and  operose  pro- 
ductions, such  as  sugar,  indigo,  and  cochineal,  were  soon  declared  to  be 
titheable  ;|  and  thus  the  industry  of  the  planter  was  taxed  in  every  stage 
of  its  progress,  from  its  rudest  essay  to  its  highest  improvement.  To  me 
weight  of  this  legal  imposition,  the  bigotry  of  the  American  Spaniards  has 
made  many  voluntary  additions.  From  their  fond  delight  in  the  external 
pomp  and  parade  of  religion,  and  from  superstitious  reverence  for  ecclesi- 
astics of  every  denomination,  they  have  •  bestowed  profuse  donatives  on 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  have  unprofitably  wasted  a  large  proportion 
of  that  wealth,  which  might  have  nourished  and  given  vigour  to  productive 
labour  in  growing  colonies. 

But  so  fertile  and  inviting  are  the  regions  of  America,  which  the  Span- 
iards have  occupied,  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  circumstances  which  have 
checked  and  retarded  population,  it  has  gradually  increased,  and  filled  the 
colonies  of 'Spain  with  citizens  of  various  orders.  Among  these,  the  Span- 
iards who  arrive  from  Europe,  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Chapetones, 
are  the  first  in  rank  and  power.  From  the  jealous  attention  of  the  Span- 
ish court  to  secure  the  dependence  of  the  colonies  on  the  parent  state,  all 
departments  of  consequence  are  filled  by  persons  sent  from  Europe  ;  and  in 
order  to  prevent  any  of  dubious  fidelity  from  being  employed,,  each  must 
bring  proof  of  a  clear  descent  from  a  family  of  Old  Christians,  untainted 
with  any  mixture  of  Jewish  or  Mahometan  blood,  and  never  disgraced  by 
any  censure  of  the  Inquisition.^  In  such  pure  hands  power  is  deemed  to 
be  safely  lodged,  and  almost  'every  function,  from  the  viceroyalty  down- 
wards, is  committed  to  them  alone.  Every  person,  who,  by  his  birth  or 
residence  in  America,  may  be  suspected  of  any  attachment  or  interest 
adverse  to  the  mother  country,  is  the  object  of  distrust  to  such  a  degree, 
as  amounts  nearly  to  an  exclusion  from  ail  offices  of  confidence  or  authori- 
ty [174].  By  this  conspicuous  predilection  of  the  court,  the  Chapetones 
are  raised  ,to  such  pre-eminence  in  America,  that  they  look  down  with  dis- 
dain on  every  other  order  of  men. 

The  character  and  state  of  the  Creoles,  or  descendants  of  Europeans  set- 
tled in  America,  the  second  class  of  subjects  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  have 
enabled  the  Chapetones  to  acquire  other  advantages,  hardly  less  consider- 
able than  those  which  they  derived  from  the  partial  favour  of  government. 
Though  some  of  the  Creolian  race  are  descended  from  the  conquerors  of 
the  New  World ;  though  others  can  trace  up  their  pedigree  to  the  noblest 
families  in  Spain  ;  though  many  are  possessed  of  ample  fortunes  ;  yet,  by 
the  enervating  influence  of  a  sultry  climate,  by  the  rigour  of  a  jealous 
government,  and  by  their  despair  of  attaining  that  distinction  to  which 
mankind  naturally  aspire,  the  vigour  of  their  minds  is  so  entirely  broken, 

*  Recop.  lib.  i,  tit.  xiv,  1. 2.  t  Recop.  lib.  i.  tit.  xiv.  1.  3,  4.          J  Recop.  lib.  Is.  tit.  xxvi 


AMERICA.  357 

that  a  great  part  of  them  waste  life  in  luxurious  indulgences,  mingled  with 
an  illiberal  superstition  still  more  debasing. 

Languid  and  unenterprising,  the  operations  of  an  active  extended  com- 
merce would  be  to  them  so  cumbersome  and  oppressive,  that  in  almost 
every  part  of  America  they  decline  engaging  in  it.  The  interior  traffic  of 
every  colony,  as  well  as  any  trade  which  is  permitted  with  the  neighbour- 
ing provinces,  and  with  Spain  itself,  is  carried  on  chiefly  by  the  Chape- 
tones  ;*  who,  as  the  recompense  of  their  industry,  amass  immense  wealth, 
while  the  Creoles,  sunk  in  sloth,  are  satisfied  with  the  revenues  of  their 
paternal  estates. 

From  this  stated  competition  for  power  and  wealth  between  those  two 
orders  of  citizens,  and  the  various  passions  excited  by  a  rivalship  so  inter- 
esting, their  hatred  is  violent  and  implacable.  On  every  occasion,  symp- 
toms^of  this  aversion  break  out,  and  the  common  appellations  which  each 
bestows  on  the  other  are  as  contemptuous  as  those  which  flow  from  the 
inost  deep-rooted  national  antipathy «t  The  court  of  Spain,  from  a  refine- 
ment of  distrustful  policy,  cherishes  those  seeds  of  discord,  and  foments 
this  mutual  jealousy,  which  not  only  prevents  the  two  most  powerful 
classes  of  its  subjects  in  the  New  World  from  combining  against  the  parent 
state,  but  prompts  each,  with  the  most  vigilant  zeal,  to  observe  the  motions 
and  to  counteract  the  schemes  of  the  other. 

The  third  class  of  inhabitants  in  the  Spanish  colonies  is  a  mixed  race, 
the  offspring  either  of  a  European  and  a  Negro,  .or  of  a  European  and 
Indian,  the  former  called  Mulattoet,  the  latter  Mestizos.  As  the  court  of 
Spain,  solicitous  to  incorporate  its  new  vassals  with  its  ancient  subjects, 
early  encouraged  the  Spaniards  settled  in  America  to  marry  the  natives  of 
that  country,  several  alliances  of  this  kind  were  formed  in  their  infant  colo- 
nies. |  But  it  has  been  more  owing  to  licentious  indulgence,  than  to  com- 
pliance with  this  injunction  of  their  sovereigns,  that  this  mixed  breed  has 
multiplied  so  greatly  as  to  constitute  a  considerable  part  of  the  population 
in  all  the  Spanish  settlements.  The  several  stages  of  descent  in  this  race, 
and  the  gradual  variations  of  shade  until  the  African  black  or  the  copper 
colour  of  America  brighten  into  a  European  complexion,  are  accurately 
marked  by  the  Spaniards,  and  each  distinguished  by  a  peculiar  name. 
Those  of  the  first  and  second  generations  are  considered  and  treated  as 
mere  Indians  and  Negroes  ;  but  in  the  third  descent,  the  characteristic  hue 
of  the  former  disappears ;  and  in  the  fifth,  the  deeper  tint  of  the  latter  is 
so  entirely  effaced,  that  they  can  no  longer  be  distinguished  from  Europe- 
ans, and  "become,  entitled  to  all  their  privileges.§  It  is  chiefly  by  this 
mixed  race,  whose  frame  is  remarkably  robust  and  hardy,  that  the  me- 
chanic arts  are  carried  on  in  the  Spanish  settlements,  and  other  active  func- 
tions in  society  are  discharged,  which  the  two  higher  classes  of  citizens, 
from  pride,  or  from  indolence,  disdain  to  exercise.!! 

The  Negroes  hold  the  fourth  rank  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Spanish 
colonies.  The  introduction  of  that  unhappy  part  of  the  human  species 
into  America,  together  with  their  services  and  sufferings  there,  shall  be 
fully  explained  in  another  place  ;  here  they  are  mentioned  chiefly  in  order 
to  point  out  a  peculiarity  in  their  situation  under  the  Spanish  dominion.  In 
several  of  their  settlements,  particularly  in  New  Spain,  Negroes  are  mostly 
employed  in  domestic  service.  They  form  a  principal  part  in  the  train  of 
luxury,  and  are  cherished  and  caressed  by  their  superiors,  to  whose  vanity 
and  pleasures  they  are  equally  subservient.  Their  dress  and  appearance 
are  hardly  less  splendid  than  that  of  their  masters,  whose  manners  they 
imitate,  and  whose  passions  they  imbibe. IT  Elevated  by  this  distinction, 

*  Voy.de  Ulloa,  i.  27.  251.      Voy.  de  Frczier,  227.  f  Gage's  Survey,  p.  9.      Frezier.226. 

i  Recopil.  lib.  yi.  tit.  i.  1. 2.    Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  v.  c.  12.  dec.  3.  lib.  vii.  c.  2.        $  Voy.  de  Ulloa, 
i  p.  27.  ||  Ibid.  i.  29.      Voyage  de  Bouguer,  p.  104.     Melendez.  Tesoros  Verdaderos,  i.  354. 

\  Gage,  p.  56.    Voy.  de  Ulloa,  i.  451. 


353  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

they  have  assumed  such  a  tone  of  superiority  over  the  Indians,  and  treat 
them  with  such  insolence  and  scorn,  that  the  antipathy  between  the  two 
races  has  become  implacable.  Even  in  Peru,  where  Negroes  seem  to  be 
more  numerous,  and  are  employed  in  field  work  as  well  as  domestic  ser- 
vice, they  maintain  their  ascendant  over  the  Indians,  and  the  mutual  hatred 
of  one  to  the  other  subsists  with  equal  violence.  The  laws  have  indus- 
triously fomented  this  aversion,  to  which  accident  gave  rise,  and,  by  most 
rigorous  injunctions,  have  endeavoured1  to  prevent,  every  intercourse  that 
might  form  a  bond  of  union  between  the  two  races.  Thus,  by  an  artful 
policy,  the  Spaniards  derive  strength  from  that  circumstance  in  population 
which  is  the  weakness  of  other  European  colonies,  and  have  secured,  as 
associates  and  defenders,  those  very  persons  who  elsewhere  are  objects  of 
jealousy  and  terror.* 

The  Indians  form  the  last  and  mpst  depressed  order  of  men  in  the  coun 
try  which  belonged  to  their  ancestors.  I  have  already  traced  the  progress 
of  the  Spanish  ideas  with  respect  to  the.  condition  and  treatment  ofthat 
people  ;  and  .have  mentioned  the  most  important  of  their  more  early  regu- 
lations, concerning  a  matter  of  so  much  consequence  in  the  administration 
of  their  new  dominions.  But  since  the  period  to  which  I  have  brought 
down  the  history  of  America,  the  information  and  experience  acquired 
during  two  centuries  have  enabled  the  court  of  Spain  to  make  such  im- 
provements in  this  part  of  its  American  system,  that  a  short  view  of  the 
present  condition  of  the  Indians  may  prove  both  curious  and  interesting. 

By  the  famous  regulations  of  Charles  V.  in  1542,  which  have  been  so 
often  mentioned,  the  high  pretensions  of  the  conquerors  of  the  New  World, 
who  considered  its  inhabitants  as  slaves  to  whose  service  they  had  acquired 
a  full  right  of  property,  were  finally  abrogated.  From  that  period,  the 
Indians  nave  been  reputed  freemen,  and  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  sub- 
jects. When  admitted  into  this  rank,  it  was  deemed  just  tjiat  they  should 
contribute  towards  the  support  and  improvement  of  the  society  which  had 
adopted  them  -as  members.  But  as  no  considerable  benefit  could  be  exr 
pected  from  the  voluntary  efforts  of  men  unacquainted  with  regular  indus- 
try, and  averse  to  labour,  the  court  of  Spain  found  it  necessary  to  fix  and 
secure,  by  proper  regulations,  what  jt  thought  reasonable  to  exact  from 
them.  With  this  view,  an  annual  tax  was  imposed  upon  every  male,  from 
the  age  of  eighteen  to  fifty  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  nature  as  well  as 
the  extent  of  the  services,  which  they  might  be  required  to  perform,  was 
ascertained  with  precision.  This  tribute  varies  in  different  provinces ; 
but  if  we  take  that  paid  in  New  Spain  as  a  medium,  its  annual  amount  is 
nearly  four  shillings  a  head  ;  no  exorbitant  sum  in  countries  where,  as  at 
the  source  of  wealth,  the  value  of  money  is  extremely  low|  [175].  The 
right  of  levying  this  tribute  likewise  varies.  In  America,  every  Indian  is 
either  an  immediate  vassal  of  the  crown,  or  depends  upon  39016  subject  to 
whom  the  district  in  which  Jie  resides  has  been  granted  for  a  limited  time, 
under  the  denomination  of  an  encomienda.  In  the  former  case,  about 
three-fourths  of  the  tax  is  paid  in^o  the  royal  treasury ;  in  the  latter,  the 
same  proportion  of  it  belongs  to  the  holder  of  the  grant.  When  Spain  first 
took  possession  of  America,  the  greater  part  of  it  was  parcelled  out  among 
its  conquerors,  or  those  who  first  settled  there,  and  but  a  small  portion 
reserved  for  the  crown.  As  those  grants,  which  were  made  for  two  lives 
only,!  reverted  successively  to  the  sovereign,  he  had  it  in  his  power  either 
to  diffuse  his  favours  by  grants  to  new  proprietors,  or  to  augment  his  own 
revenue  by  valuable  annexations  [  176]. ,  Of  these,  the  latter  has  been 
frequently  chosen  ;  the  number  of  Indians  now  depending  immediately  on 


*  Recopil.  lib.  vii.  tit.  v.  1.  7  Herrera,  dec.  8.  lib.  yii.  c.  12.  Frezier,  2-14.  t  Recopil.  lib. 
yj.  tit.  v.  I.  43.  Hajduyt,  vol.  iji.  p.  461.  J  Rccopil.  lib.  vj,  tit.  yiii.  1, 48.  Solorz.  dc  Incl.  Jurt;. 
lib.  ii.  c.  16. 


AMERICA.  359 

the  crown  is  much  greater  than  in  the  first  stage  after  the  conquest,  and 
this  branch  of  the  royal  revenue  continues  to  extend. 

The  benefit  arising  from  the  services  of  the  Indians  accrues  either  to  the 
crown,  or  to  the  'holder  of  the  encomienda,  according  to  the  same  rule  ob- 
served in  the  payment  of  tribute.  Those  services,  however,  which  can 
now  be  legally  exacted,  are  very  different  from  the  tasks  originally  im- 
posed upon  the  Indians.  The  nature  of  the  work  which  they  must  perform 
is  defined,  and  an  equitable  recompense  is  granted  for  their  labour.  The 
stated  services  demanded  of  the  Indians  may  be  divided  into  two  branches 
They  are  either  employed  in  works  of  primary  necessity,  without  which 
society  cannot  subsist  comfortably,  or  are  compelled  to  labour  in  the  mines, 
from  which  the  Spanish  colonies  derive  their  chief  value  and  importance. 
In  consequence  of  the  former,  they  are  obliged  to  assist  in  the  culture  of 
maize,  and  other  grain  of  necessary  consumption ;  in  tending  cattle  ;  in 
erecting  edifices  of  public  utility ;  in  building  bridges  ;  and  in  forming  high 
roads  ;*  but  they  cannot  be  constrained  to  labour  in  raising  vines,  olives, 
and  sugar-canes,  or  any  species  of  cultivation  which  has  for  its  object  the 
gratification  of  luxury  or  commercial  profit.!  In  consequence  of  the  latter, 
the  Indians  are  compelled  to  undertake  the  more  unpleasant  task  of  ex- 
tracting ore  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  of  refining  it  by  successive 
processes,  no  less  unwholesome  than  operose  [177]. 

The  mode  of  exacting  both  these  services  is  the  same,  and  is  undei 
regulations  framed  with  a  view  of  rendering  it  as  little  oppressive  as  pos- 
sible to  the  Indians.  They  are  called  out  successively  in  divisions,  termed 
Mitas,  and  no  person  can  be  compelled  to  go  but  in  his  turn.  In  Peru,  the 
number  called  out  must  not  exceed  the  seventh  part  of  the  inhabitants  in 
any  district.  J  In  New  Spain,  where  the  Indians  are  more  numerous,  it  is 
fixed  at  four  in  the  hundred.^  During  what  time  the  labour  of  such  Indians 
as  are  employed  in  agriculture  continues,  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  [178]. 
But  in  Peru,  each  mita,  or  division,  destined  for  the  mines,  remains  there 
six  months  ;  and  while  engaged  in  this  service,  a  labourer  never  receives 
less  than  two  shillings  a  day,  and  often  earns  more  than  double  that  sum.|| 
No  Indian,  residing  at  a  greater  distance  than  thirty  miles  from  a  mine,  is 
included  in  the  rnita,  or  division  employed  working  it  ;1f  nor  are  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  low  country  exposed  now  to  certain  destruction,  as  they 
were  at  first  when  under  the  dominion  of  the  conquerors,  by  compelling 
them  to  remove  from  that  warm  climate  to  the  cold  elevated  regions  where 
minerals  abound**  [179]. 

The  Indians  who  live  in  the  principal  towns  are  entirely  subject  to  the 
Spanish  laws  and  magistrates  ;  but  in  their  own  villages  they  are  governed 
by  caziques,  some  of  whom  are  the  descendants  of  their  ancient  lords, 
others  are  named  by  the  Spanish  viceroys.  These  regulate  the  petty  affairs 
of  the  people  under  them,  according  to  maxims  of  justice  transmitted  to 
them  by  tradition  from  their  ancestors.  To  the  Indians  this  jurisdiction, 
lodged  in  such  friendly  hands,  affords  some  consolation  ;  and  so  little  formi- 
dable is  this  dignity  to  their  new  masters,  that  they  often  a  How  it  to  descend 
by  hereditary  right.tt  For  the  further  relief  of  men  so  much  exposed  to 
oppression,  the  Spanish  court  has  appointed  an  officer  in  every  district  with 
the  title  of  Protector  of  the  Indians.  It  is  his  function,  as  the  name  implies, 
to  assert  the  rights  of  the  Indians  ;  to  appear  as  their  defender  in  the  courts 
of  justice  ;  and,  by  the  interposition  of  his  authority,  to  set  bounds  to  the 
encroachments  and  exactions  of  his  coun1.rymen.Jf  A  certain  portion  of 
the  reserved  fourth  of  the  annual  tribute  is  destined  for  the  salary  of  the 

*  Recop  lib.  vi.  tot  xiii  1. 19.     Solorz.  de  Ind.  Jure,  ii.  lib.  i.  c.  6,  7.  9.  t  Recop.  lib.  vi.  tit. 

xiii.1.8.  Solorz.  lib.  i.  c.  7.  No.  41,  &c.  J  Recop.  lib.  vi.  tit.  xii.  1.  21.  §  Ibid.  lib.  vi.  1.  22. 
||  TJlloa  Entreten.  265,  266.  Tf  Recop.  lib.  vi.  tit.  xii.  1.  3.  **  Ibid.  lib.  vi,  tit.  xii.  1.  29,  tit.  i. 
1.  13.  tt  Solorz.  de  Jure  Ind.  lib.  i.  c.  26.  Recopil.  lib.  vi.  tit.  vii.  ;J  Solorz.  lib.  i.  c.  17.  p. 
201.  Recop.  lib.  vi.  tit.  vi, 


3f>0  HISTORY  Or  [BOOK  VIII. 

caziques  and  protectors ;  another  is  applied  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
clergy  employed  in  the  instruction  of  the  Indians.*  Another  part  seems 
to  be  appropriated  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians  themselves,  and  is  applied 
for  the  payment  of  their  tribute  in  years  of  famine,  or  when  a  particular 
district  is  affected  by  any;  extraordinary  local  calamity.!  Besides  this, 
provision  is  made  by  various  laws,  that  hospitals  shall  be  founded  in 
every  new  settlement  for  the  reception  of  Indians.J  Such  hospitals  have 
accordingly  been  erected^  both  for  the  indigent  and  infirm,  in  Lima,  in 
Cuzco,  and  in  Mexico,  where  the  Indians  are  treated  with  tenderness 
and  humanity  .§ 

Such  are  the  leading  principles  in  the  jurisprudence  and  policy  by  which 
the  Indians  are  now  governed  in  the  provinces  belonging  to  Spain;  In 
those  regulations  of  the  Spanish  monarchs,  we  discover  no  traces  of  that 
cruel  system  of  extermination,  which  they  have  been  charged  with  adopt- 
ing; ;  and  if  we  admit  that  the  necessity  of  securing  subsistence  for  their 
colonies,  or  the  advantages  derived  from  working  the  mines,  give  them  a 
right  to  avail  themselves  of  the  labour  of  the  Indians,  we  must  allow,  that 
the  attention  with  which  they  regulate  and  recompense  that  labour  is  pro- 
vident and  sagacious.  In  no  code  of  laws  is  greater  solicitude  displayed, 
or  precautions  multiplied  with  more  prudent  concern,  for  the  preservation, 
the  security,  and  the  happiness  of  the  subject,  than  we  discover  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  Spanish  laws  for  the  Indies.  But  those  latter  regulations, 
like  the  more  early  edicts  which  have  been  already  mentioned,  have  too 
often  proved  ineffectual  remedies  against  the  evils  which  they  were  intend- 
ed to  prevent.  In  every  age,  if  the  same  causes  continue  to  operate,  the 
same  effects  must  follow.  From  the  immense  distance  between  the  power 
intrusted  with  the  execution  of  laws,  and  that  by  whose  authority  they  are 
enacted,  the  vigour  even  of  the  most  absolute  government  must  relax,  and 
the  dread  of  a  superior,  too  remote  to  bbserve  with  accuracy  or  to  punish 
with  despatch,  must  insensibly  abate.  Notwithstanding  the  numerous 
injunctions  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  the  Indians  still  suffer,  on  many  occa- 
sions, both  from  the  avarice  of  individuals,  and  from  the  exactions  of  the 
magistrates  who  ought  to  have  protected  them ;  unreasonable  tasks  are 
imposed  ;  the  term  of  their  labour  is  prolonged  beyond  the  period  fixed 
by  law,  and  they  groan  under  many  of  the  insults  and  wrongs  which  are 
the  lot  of  a  dependent  people  [180],  From  some  information  on  which  I 
can  depend*  such  oppression  abounds  more  in  Peru  than  in  any  other  colony. 
But  it  is  not  general.  According  to  the  accounts  even  of  those  authors 
who  are  most  disposed  to  exaggerate  the  sufferings  of  the  Indians,  they,  in 
several  provinces,  enjoy  not  only  ease  but  affluence  ;  they  possess  large 
farms  ;  they  are  masters  of  numerous  herds  and  flocks  ;  and,  by  the  know- 
ledge which  they  have  acquired  of  European  arts  and  industry,  are  sup- 
plied not  only  with  the  necessaries  but  with  many  luxuries  of  life.ll 

After  explaining  the  form  of  civil  government  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  and 
the  state  of  the  various  orders  of  persons  subject  to  it,  the  peculiarities  in 
their  ecclesiastical  constitution  merit  consideration.  Notwithstanding  the 
superstitious  veneration  with  which  the  Spaniards  are  devoted  to  the  Etoly 
See,  the  vigilant  and  jealous  policy  of  Ferdinand  early  prompted  him  to 
take  precautions  against  the  introduction  of  the  Papal  dominion  in  America. 
With  this  view,  he  solicited  Alexander  VI.  for  a  grant  to  the  crown  of  the 
tithes  in  all  the  newly-discovered  countries^  which  he  obtained  on  condi- 
tion of  his  making  provision  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  natives. 
Soon  after  Julius  II.  conferred  on  him  and  his  successors,  the  right  of 
patronage,  and  the  absolute  disposal  of  all  ecclesiastical  benefices  there.** 

*  Eecop.  lib.  vi.  tit.  v.  1.  30.  tit.  xvi.  1.  12—15.  t  Ibid.  lib.  vi.  tit.  iv.  1. 13.  J  Ibid.  lib.  i.  tit. 
iv.  1.  1.  &c.  <S  Voy.  dc  Ullca,  i.  439. 509.  Churchill,  iv.  466.  ||  Gage's  Survey,  p.  85. 90. 104. 
U9,  &c.  IF  Bulla  Alex.  VI.  A.D.  1501,  ap.  Solorz.  de  Jure  Iiid.  ii.  p.  498.  **  Bulla  Julii  IJ. 
h  1508,  ap.  Solorz.  dc  Jure  Ind.  ii.  509. 


AMERICA  361 

But  these  Pontiffs,  unacquainted  with  the  value  of  what  he  demanded, 
bestowed  these  donations  with  an  inconsiderate  liberality,  which  their 
successors  have  often  lamented,  and  wished  to  recall.  In  consequence  of 
those  grants,  the  Spanish  monarchs  have  become  in  effect  the  heads  of  the 
American  church.  In  them  the  administration  of  its  revenues  is  vested. 
Their  nomination  of  persons  to  supply  vacant  benefices  is  instantly  con- 
firmed by  the  Pope.  Thus,  in  all  Spanish  America,  authority  of  every 
species  centres  in  the  crown.  There  no  collision  is  known  between 
spiritual  and  temporal  jurisdiction.  The  King  is  the  only  superior,  his 
name  alone  is  heard  of,  and  no  dependence  upon  any  foreign  power  has 
been  introduced.  Papal  bulls  cannot  be  admitted  into  America,  nor  are 
they  of  any  force  there  until  they  have  been  previously  examined  and 
approved  of  by  the  royal  council  of  the  Indies  ;*  and  if  any  bull  should 
be  surreptitiously  introduced  and  circulated  in  America  without  obtaining 
that  approbation,  ecclesiastics  are  required  not  only  to  prevent  it  from 
taking  effect,  but  to  seize  all  the  copies  of  it,  and  transmit  them  to  the 
council  of  the  Indies.!  To  this  limitation  of  the  Papal  jurisdiction, 
equally  singular,  whether  we  consider  the  age  and  nation  in  which  it  was 
devised,  or  the  jealous  attention  with  which  Ferdinand  and  his  succes- 
sors have  studied  to  maintain  it  in  full  force,J  Spain  is  indebted,  in  a 
great  measure,  for  the  uniform  tranquillity  which  has  reigned  in  her  Ame- 
rican doipinions. 

The  hierarchy  is  established  in  America  in  the  same  form  as  in  Spain, 
with  its  full  train  of  archbishops,  bishops,  deans,  and  other  dignitaries. 
The  inferior  clergy  are  divided  into  three  classes,  undef  the  denomination 
of  Curas,  Doctnneros,  and  Missioneros.  The  first  are  parish  priests  in 
those  parts  of  the  country  where  the  Spaniards  have  settled.  The  second 
have  the  charge  of  such  districts  as  are  inhabited  by  Indians  subjected  to 
the  Spanish  government,  and  living  under  its  protection.  The  third  are 
employed  in  instructing  and  converting  those  fiercer  tribes  which  disdain 
submission  to  the  Spanish  yoke,  and  live  in  remote  or  inaccessible  regions 
to  which  the  Spanish  arms  have  not  penetrated.  So  numerous  are  the 
ecclesiastics  or  all  those  various  orders,  and  such  the  profuse  liberality 
with  which  many  of  them  are  endowed,  that  the  revenues  of  the  church 
in  America  are  immense.  The  Romish  superstition  appears  with  its  utmost 
pomp  in  the  New  World.  Churches  and  convents  there  are  magnificent, 
and  richly  adorned ;  and  on  high  festivals,  the  display  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  precious  stones,  is  such  as  exceeds  the  conception  of  a  European.§ 
An  ecclesiastical  establishment  so  splendid  and  extensive  is  unfavourable, 
as  has  been  formerly  observed,  to  the  progress  of  rising  colonies  ;  but  in 
countries  where  riches  abound,  and  the  people  are  so  delighted  with  parade 
that  religion  must  assume  it  in  order  to  attract  their  veneration,  this  pro- 
pensity to  ostentation  has  been  indulged,  and  becomes  less  pernicious. 

The  early  institution  of  monasteries  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  and  the 
inconsiderate  zeal  in  multiplying  them,  have  been  attended  with  conse- 
quences more  fatal.  In  every  new  settlement,  the  first  object  should  be  to 
encourage  population,  and  to  incite  every  citizen  to  contribute  towards 
augmenting  the  number  and  strength  of  the  community.  During  the  youth 
and  vigour  of  society,  while  there  is  room  to  spread,  and  sustenance  is 
procured  with  facility,  mankind  increase  with  amazing  rapidity.  But  the 
Spaniards  had  hardly  taken  possession  of  America,  when,  with  a  most 
preposterous  policy,  they  began  to  erect  convents,  where  persons  of  both 
sexes  were  shut  up,  under  a  vow  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  nature,  and  to 
counteract  the  first  of  her  laws.  Influenced  by  a  misguided  piety,  which 
ascribes  transcendent  merit  to  a  state  of  celibacy,  or  allured  by  the  prospect 

*  Kecopil.  lib.  i.  tit.  ix.  1.  2.  and  Autas  del  Consf  jo  de  las  Indias,  clxi.        f  Recop.  lib.  i.  tit.  vii. 
j  55.        J  Id.  lib.  i.  tit.  vii.  1.  55.  passim.        §  Voy.  de  Ulloa,  i.  430. 

VOL.  I,—46 


362  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

of  that  listless  ease  .which  in  sultry  climates  is  deemed  supreme  felicity, 
numbers  crowded  into  those  mansions  of  sloth  and  superstition,  and  are 
lost  to  society.  As  none  but  persons  of  Spanish  extract  are  admitted  into 
the  monasteries  of  the  New  World,  the  evil  is  more  sensibly  felt,  and 
every  monk  or  nun  may  be  considered  as  an  active  person  withdrawn  from 
civil  life.  The  impropriety  of  such  foundations  in  any  situation  where  the 
extent  of  territory  requires  additional  hands  to  improve  it,  is  so  obvious, 
that  some  Catholic  states  have  expressly  prohibited  any  person  in  their 
colonies  from  taking  the  monastic  vows.*  Even  the  Spanish  monarchs, 
on  some  occasions,  seem  to  have  been  alarmed  with  the  spreading  of  a 
spirit  so  adverse  to  the  increase  and  prosperity  of  their  colonies,  that  they 
have  endeavoured  to  check  it.|  But  the  "Spaniards  in  America,  more 
thoroughly  under  the  influence  of  superstition  than  their  countrymen  in 
Europe,  and  directed  by  ecclesiastics  more  bigoted  and  illiterate,  have 
conceived  such  a  high  opinion  of  monastic  sanctity,  that  no  regulations  can 
restrain  their  zeal ;  and,  by  the  excess  of  their  ill  judged  bounty,  religious 
houses  have  multiplied  to  a  degree  no  less  amazing  than  pernicious  to 
society  [181]. 

In  viewing  the  state  of  colonies,  where  not  only  the  number  but  influ- 
ence of  ecclesiastics  is  so  great,  the  character  of  this  powerful  body  is  an 
object  that  merits  particular  attention.  A  considerable  part  of  the  secular 
clergy  in  Mexico  and  Peru  are  natives  of  Spain.  As  persons  long  accus- 
tomed, by  their  education,  to  the  retirement  and  indolence  of  academic 
life  are  more  incapable  of  active  enterprise,  and  less  disposed  to  strike  into 
new  paths  than  any  order  of  men,  the  ecclesiastical  adventurers  by  whom 
the  American  church  is  recruited,  are  commonly  such  as,  from  merit  or  rank 
in  life,  have  little  prospect  of  success  in  their  own  country.  Accordingly, 
the  secular  priests  in  the  New  World  are  still  less  distinguished  than  their 
brethren  in  Spain  for  literary  accomplishments  of  any  species ;  and  though, 
by  the  ample  provision  which  has  been  made  for  the  American  church, 
many  of  its  members  enjoy  the  ease  apd  independence  which  are  favourable 
to  the  cultivation  of  science,  the  body  of  secular  clergy  has  hardly,  during 
two  centuries  and  a  half,  produced  one  author  whose  works  convey  such 
useful  information,  or  possess  .such  a  degree  of  merit,  as  to  be  ranked 
among  those  which  attract  the  attention  of  enlightened  nations.  But  the 
greatest  ]part  of  the  ecclesiastics  in  the  Spanish  settlements  are  regulars. 
On  the  discovery  of  America,  a  new  field  opened  to  the  pious  zeal  of  the 
monastic  orders ;  and,  with  a  becoming  alacrity,  they  immediately  sent 
forth  missionaries  to  labour  in  it.  The  first  attempt  to  instruct  and  convert 
the  Americans  was  made  by  monks ;  and  as  soon  as  the  conquest  of  any 
province  was  completed,  and  'its  ecclesiastical  establishment  began  to 
assume  some  form,  the  Popes /permitted  the  missionaries  of  the  four  mendi- 
cant orders,  as  a  reward  for  their  services,  to  accept  of  parochial  charges 
in  America,  to  perform  all  spiritual  functions,  and  to  receive  the  tithes  and 
other  emoluments  of  the  benefice,  without  depending  on  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  bishop  of  the  diocess,  or  being  subject  to  his  censures.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  a  pew  career  of  usefulness,  as  well  as  new  objects  of  am- 
nition,  presented  themselves.  Whenever  a- call  is  made  for  a  fresn  supply 
of  missionaries,  men  of  the  most  ardent  and  aspiring  minds,  impatient 
under  the  restraint  of  a  cloister,  weary  of  its  insipid  uniformity,  and 
fatigued  with  the  irksome  repetition  of  its  frivolous  functions,  offer  their 
service  with  eagerness,  and  repair  to  the  New  World  in  quest  of  liberty 
and  distinction.  Nor  do  they  pursue  distinction  without  success.  The 
highest  ecclesiastical  honours,  as  well  as  the  most  lucrative  preferments  in 
Mexico  and  Peru,  are  often  in  the  hands  of  regulars  ;  and  it  is  chiefly  to 

*  Voy.  de  ITlloa,  ii.  124.      t  Herrera,  dec.  v.  lib.  ix.  c.  1,  2.    Rjcon.  Hb.  i.  tit.  Hi.  1. 1, 2.  tit.  iv.  c. 
H.    Solorz.lib.iii.c.23. 


AMERICA.  36§ 

tne  monastic  orders  that  the  Americans  are  indebted  for  any  portioiK-of 
science  which  is  cultivated  among  them.  They  are  almost  the  only 
Spanish  ecclesiastics  from  whom  we  have  received  any  accounts  eithe£  of 
the  civil  or  natural  history  of  the  various  provinces  in  America.  _  Some  of 
them,  though  deeply  tinged  with  the  indelible  superstition  of  their  profes-r 
Ston,  have  published  books  which  give  a  favourable  idea  of  their  abilities; 
The  natural  and  moral  history  of  the  New  World,  by  the  Jesuit  Acpsta, 
contains  more  accurate  observations,  perhaps,  and  more  sound  science.,  man 
are  to  be  found  in  any  description  of  remote  countries  published  in  the  $ix- 
teenth  century. 

But  the  same  disgust  with  monastic  life,  to  which  America  is  indebted 
for  some  instructers  of  worth  and  abilities,  filled  it  with  others  of  a  very 
different  character.  The  g;iddyy  the  profligate,  the  avaricious,  iq  vyhprn 
the  poverty  and  rigid  discipline  of  a  convent  are  intolerable,  consider  a 
mission  to  America  as  a  release  from  mortification  and  bondage.  There 
they  soon  obtain  some  parochial  charge  ;  and  far  removed,  by  their  situa- 
tion, from  the  inspection  of  their  monastic  superiors,  and  exempt^  by  their 
character,  from  the  jurisdiction  of  their  diocesan,*  they  are  hardly  sub- 
jected to  any  control.  According  to  the  testimony  of  the  most  zealous 
catholics,  many  of  the  regular  clergy  in  the  Spanish  settlements  are  not 
only  destitute  of  the  virtues  becoming  their  profession,  but  regardless  of 
that  external  decorum  and  respect  for  the  opinion  of  mankind,  which  pre- 
serve a  semblance  of  worth  where  the  reality  is  wanting.  Secure  of  im- 
punity, some  regulars,  in  contempt  of  their  vow  of  poverty,  engage  openly 
in  commerce,  and  are  so  rapaciously  eager  in  amassing  wealth,  that  they 
become  the  most  grievous  oppressors  of  the  Indians  whom  it  was  their 
duty  to  have  protected.  Others,  with  no  less  flagrant  -violation  of  their 
vow  of  chastity,  indulge  with  little  disguise  in  the:  most  dissolute  licen- 
tiousness [182J. 

Various  schemes  have  bee.n  proposed  for  redressing  enormities  so  mam 
fest  and  so  offensive.  Several  persons,  no  less  eminent  for  piety  than 
discernment,  have  contended,  that  the  regulars,, in  conformity  to  the  canons 
of  the  church,  ought  to  be  confined  within  the  ;walls  of  their  cloisters,  and 
should  no  longer  be  permitted  to  encroach  on  the,  functions  of  the  secular 
clergy.  Some  public-spirited  magistrates,  from  conviction  of  its  being 
necessary  to  deprive  the  regulars  of  a  privilege  bestowed  at  first  with 
good  intention,  but  of  which  time  and  experience  had  discovered  the  per- 
nicious effects,  openly  countenanced  the  secular  clergy  in  their  attempts 
to  assert  their  own  rights.  The  prince  D'Esquilache,  viceroy  of  Peru 
under  Philip  III.,  took  measures  so  decisive  and  effectual  for  circumscribing 
the  regulars  within  their  proper  sphere  as  struck  them  with  general  con- 
sternation [183].  They  had  recourse  to  their  usual  arts.  They  alarmed 
the  superstitious,  by  representing  the  proceedings  of  the  viceroy  as  inno- 
vations fatal  to  religion.  They  employed  all  the  refinements  of  intrigue  in 
order  to  gain  persons  in  power ;  and  seconded  by  the  powerful  influence 
of  the  Jesuits,  who  claimed  and  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  which  belonged  to 
the  Mendicant  orders  in  America,  they  made  a  deep  impression  on  a  bigoted 
prince  and  a  weak  ministry.  The  ancient  practice  was  tolerated.  The 
abuses  which  it  occasioned  continued  to  increase,  and  the  corruption  of 
monks,  exempt  from  the  restraints  of  discipline,  and  the  inspection  of  any 
superior,  became  a  disgrace  to  religion.  At  last,  as  the  veneration  of  the 
Spaniards  for  the  monastic  orders  began  to  abate,  and  the  power  of  the 
Jesuits  was  on  the  decline,  Ferdinand  VI.  ventured  to  apply  the  only 
effectual  remedy,  by  issuing  an  edict  [June  23,  1757],  prohibiting  regulars 
of  eveiy  denomination  from  taking  the  charge  of  any  parish  with  the  cure 
of  souls  ;  and  declaring  that  on  the  demise  of  the  present  incumbents, 

*  Avendano  Thcr.  Indie,  ii.  253. 


S64  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

none  but  secular  priests,  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  their  diocesans,  shall 
be  presented  to  vacant  benefices.*  If  this  regulation  is  carried  into  exe- 
cution with  steadiness  in  any  degree  proportional  to  the  wisdom  with  which 
it  is  framed,  a  very  considerable  reformation  may  take  place  in  the  eccle- 
siastical state  of  Spanish  America,  and  the  secular  clergy  may  gradually 
become  a  respectable  body  of  men.  The  deportment  of  many  ecclesiastics, 
even  at  present,  seems  to  be  decent  and  exemplary  ;  otherwise  we  can 
hardly  suppose  that  they  would  be  held  in  such  high  estimation,  and  pos- 
sess such  a  wonderful  ascendant  over  the  minds  of  their  countrymen 
throughout  all  the  Spanish  settlements. 

But  whatever  merit  the  Spanish  ecclesiastics  in  America  may  possess, 
the  success  of  their  endeavours  in  communicating  the  knowledge  of  true 
religion  to  the  Indians,  has  been  more  imperfect  than  might  have  been 
expected,  either  from  the  degree  of  their  zeal,  or  from  the  dominion  which 
they  had  acquired  over  that  people.  For  this,  various  reasons  may  be 
assigned.  The  first  missionaries,  in  their  ardour  to  make  proselytes, 
admitted  the  people  of  America  into  the  Christian  church  without  previous 
instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  religion,  and  even  before  they  themselves 
had  acquired  such  knowledge  in  the  Indian  language,  as  to  be  able  to 
explain  to  the  natives  the  mysteries  of  faith,  or  the  precepts  of  duty. 
Resting  upon  a  subtle  distinction  in  scholastic  theology,  between  that  degree 
of  assent  which  is  founded  on  a  complete  knowledge  and  conviction  of 
duty,  and  that  which  may  be  yielded  when  both  these  are  imperfect, 
they  adopted  this  strange  practice,  no  less  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  a 
religion  which  addresses  itself  to  the  understanding  of  men,  than  repug- 
nant to  the  dictates  of  reason.  As  soon  as  any  body  of  people  overawed 
by  dread  of  the  Spanish  power,  moved  by  the  example  of  their  own 
chiefs,  incited  by  levity,  or  yielding  from  mere  ignorance,  expressed  the 
slightest  desire  of  embracing  the  religion  of  their  conquerors,  they  were 
instantly  baptized.  While  this  rage  of  conversion  continued,  a  single 
clergyman  baptized  in  one  day  above  five  thousand  Mexicans,  and  diet  not 
desist  until  his  was  so  exhausted  by  fatigue  that  he  was  unable  to  lift  his 
hands.!  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  alter  the  reduction  of  the  Mexican 
empire,  the  sacrament  of  baptism  was  administered  to  more  than  four 
millions.];  Proselytes  adopted  with  such  inconsiderate  haste,  and  who  were 
neither  instructed  in  the  nature  of  the  tenets  to  which  it  was  supposed  they 
had  given  assent,  nor  taught  the  absurdity  of  those  which  they  were  required 
to  relinquish,  retained  their  veneration  lor  their  ancient  superstitions  in  full 
force,  or  mingled  an  attachment  to  its  doctrine  and  rites  with  that  slender 
knowledge  of  Christianity  which  they  had  acquired.  These  sentiments 
the  new  converts  transmitted  to  their  posterity,  into  whose  minds  they 
have  sunk  so  deep,  that  the  Spanish  ecclesiastics,  with  all  their  industry, 
have  not  been  able  to  eradicate  them.  The  religious  institutions  of  their 
ancestors,  are  still  remembered  and  held  in  honour  by  many  of  the  Indians, 
both  in  Mexico  and  Peru  ;  and  whenever  they  think  themselves  out  of 
reach  of  inspection  by  the  Spaniards,  they  assemble  and  celebrate  their 
idolatrous  rites. § 

But  this  is  not  the  most  unsurmountable  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Indians.  The  powers  of  their  uncultivated  understandings 
are  so  limited,  their  observations  and  reflections  reach  so  little  beyond  the 
mere  objects  of  sense,  that  they  seem  hardly  to  have  the  capacity  of  forming 
abstract  ideas,  and  possess  not  language  to  express  them.  To  such  men  the 
sublime  and  spiritual  doctrines  of  Christianity  must  be,  in  a  great  measure, 
incomprehensible.  The  numerous  and  splendid  ceremonies  of  the  Popish 

*  Real  Cedula  MS.  penes  me.  t  P.  Torribio,  MS.  Torquem.  Mond.  Ind.  lib.  xvi.  c.  6. 

J  Torribio,  M*.    Torquem.  lib.  xvi.  e.  8.  $  Voy.  de  UUoa,  i.  341.    Torquem.  lib.  xv.  c 

23.  lib.  xvi.  c.  23.    Gage,  171. 


AMERICA.  365 

worship  catch  the  eye,  please  and  interest  them  ;  but  when  their  instructed 
attempt  to  explain  the  articles  of  faith  with  which  those  external  observances 
are  connected,  though  the  Indians  may  listen  with  patience,  they  so  little 
conceive  the  meaning  of  what  they  hear,  that  their  acquiescence  does  not 
merit  the  name  of  belief.  Their  indifference  is  still  greater  than  their 
incapacity.  Attentive  only  to  the  present  moment,  and  engrossed  by  the 
objects  before  them,  the  Indians  so  seldom  reflect  upon  what  is  past,  or 
take  thought  for  what  is  to  come,  that  neither  the  promises  nor  threats  of 
religion  make  much  impression  upon  them  ;  and  while  their  foresight  rarely 
extends  so  far  as  the  next  day,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  inspire  mem  with 
solicitude  about  the  concerns  of  a  future  world.  Astonished  equally  at 
their  slowness  of  comprehension,  and  at  their  insensibility,  some  of  the 
early  missionaries  pronounced  them  a  race  of  men  so  brutish  as  to  be  inca- 
pable of  understanding  the  first  principles  of  religion.  A  council  held  at 
Lima  decreed,  that,  on  account  of  this  incapacity,  they  ought  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist.*  Though  Paul  III.,  by  his 
famous  bull  issued  in  the  year  1537,  declared  them  to  be  rational  creatures 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  Christians  ;f  yet,  after  the  lapse  of  two 
centuries,  during  which  they  have  been  members  of  the  church,  so  imper- 
fect are  their  attainments  in  knowledge  that  very  few  possess  such  a  portion 
of  spiritual  discernment  as  to  be  deemed  wormy  of  being  admitted  to  the 
holy  communion.j  From  this  idea  of  their  ipcapccity  and  imperfect 
knowledge  of  religion,  when  the  zeal  of  Priilip  IT.  established  the  inquisi- 
tion in  America  in  the  year  1570,  the  Indians  were  exempted  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  that  severe  tribunal,§  and  still  continue  under  the  inspection 
of  their  diocesans.  Even  after  the  most  perfect  instruction,  their  faith  is 
held  to  be  feeble  and  dubious  ;  and  though  some  of  them  have  been  taught 
the  learned  languages,  and  have  gone  through  the  ordinary  course  of 
academic  education  with  applause,  their  frailty  is  still  so  mucn  suspected, 
that  few  Indians  are  either  ordained  priests,  or  received  into  any  religious 
order||  [184]. 

From  this  brief  survey  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  interior  state 
of  the  Spanish  colonies.  The  various  productions  with  which  they  supply 
and  enrich  the  mother  country,  and  the  system  of  commercial  intercourse 
between  them,  come  next  in  order  to  be  explained.  If  the  dominions  of 
Spain  in  the  New  World  had  been  of  such  moderate  extent  as  bore  a  due 
proportion  to  the  parent  state,  the  progress  of  her  colonising  might  have 
been  attended  with  the  same  benefit  as  that  of  other  nations.  But  when, 
in  less  than  half  a  century,  her  inconsiderate  rapacity  had  seized  on  coun- 
tries larger  than  all  Europe,  her  inability  to  fill  such  vast  regions  with  a 
number  of  inhabitants  sufficient  for  the  cultivation  of  them  was  so  obvious, 
as  to  give  a  wrong  direction  to  all  the  efforts  of  the  colonists.  They  did 
not  form  compact  settlements,  where  industry,  circumscribed  within  proper 
limits,  both  m  its  views  and  operations,  is  conducted  with  that  sober  per* 
severing  spirit  which  gradually  converts  whatever  is  in  its  possession  to  a 
proper  use,  and  derives  thence,  the  greatest  advantage.  Instead  of  this, 
the  Spaniards,  seduced  by  the  boundless  prospect  which  opened  to  them, 
divided  their  possessions  in  America  into  governments  of  great  extent.  As 
their  number  was  too  small  to  attempt  the  regular  culture  of  the  immense 
provinces  which  they  occupied  rather  than  peopled,  they  bent  their  atten- 
tion to  a  few  objects  that  allured  them  with  hopes  of  sudaen  and  exorbitant 
gain,  and  turned  away  with  contempt  from  the  humbler  paths  of  industry, 
which  lead  more  slowly,  but  with  greater  certainty,  to  wealth  and  increase 
of  national  strength. 

Of  all  the  methods  by  which  riches  may  be  acquired,  th$t  of  searching 

*  Torquem.  lib.  xvi.  c.  20.  t  Id.  lib.  xvi.  c.  25.  Garcia  Origin  311.  i  Voy.  de  Ulloa.  i. 
343.  §  Recop.  lib.  vi.  til.  i.  1.  35.  U  Torouem.  lib.  xvii.  c.  13. 


866  HISTORY  O-F  [BooKVIlL 

for  the  precious  metals  is  one  of  the  most  inviting  to  men  who  are  either 
unaccustomed  to  the  regular  assiduity  with  which  the  culture  of  the  earth 
and  the  operations  of  commerce  must  be  carried  on,  or  who  are  so  enter- 
prising and  rapacious  as  not  to  be  satisfied  with  the  gradual  returns  of  profit 
which  they  yield.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  the  several  countries  in  America 
were  subjected  to  the  dominion  of  Spain,  this  was  almost  the  only  method 
of  acquiring  wealth  which  occurred  to  the  adventurers  by  whom  they 
were  conquered.  Such  provinces  of  the  continent  as  did  not  allure  them 
to  settle,  by  the  prospect  of  their  affording  gold  and  silver,  were  totally 
neglected.  Those  in  which  they  met  with  a  disappointment  of  the  sain 
guine  expectations  they  had  formed,  were  abandoned.  Even  the  value  of 
the  islands,  the  first  fruits  of  their  discoveries,  and  the  first  object  of  their 
attention,  sunk  so  much  in  their  estimation,  when  the  mines  which  had 
been  opened  in  them  were  exhausted,  that  they  were  deserted  by  many 
of  the  planters,  and  left  to  be  occupied  by  more  industrious  possessors.  All 
crowded  to  Mexico  and  Peru,  where  the  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  found 
among  the  natives,  who  searched  for  them  with  little  industry  and  less 
skill,  promised  an  unexhausted  store,  as  the  recompense  of  more  intelligent 
and  persevering  efforts.. 

During  several  years,  the  ardour  of  their  researches  was  kept  up  by 
hope  ratner  than,  success.  At  length,  the  rich  silver  mines  of  Potosi  in 
Perii  were  accidentally  discovered  in  the  year  1545*  by  an  Indian,  as  he 
was  clambering  up  the  mountains  in  pursuit  of  a  llama  which  had  strayed 
from  his  flqck.  Soon  after,  the  mines  of  Sacotecas  in  New  Spain,  little 
inferior  to  the  other  in  value,  were  opened.  From  that  time  successive 
discoveries  have  been  made  in  both  colonies,  and  silver  mines  are  now  so 
numerous,  that  the  working  of  them,  and  of  some  few  mines  of  gold  in  the 
provinces  of  Tierra  Firme,  and  the  new  kingdom  of  Granada,  has  become 
the  capital  occupation  of  the  Spaniards,  and  is  reduced  into  a  system  no 
less  complicated  than  interesting.  To  describe  the7nature  of  the  various 
ores,  the  mode  of  extracting  them  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  to 
explain  the  several  processes  by  which  the  metals  are  separated  from  the 
substances  with  which  they  are  mingled,  either  by  the  action  of  fire,  or  the 
attractive  powers  of  mercury,  is  the  province  of  the  natural  philosopher  or 
chymist,  rather  than  of  the  historian. 

The  exuberant  profusion  with  which  the  mountains  of  the  New  World 
poured  forth  their  treasures  astonished  mankind,  who  had  been  accustomed 
hitherto  to  receive  a  penurious  supply  of  the  precious  metals  from  the  more 
scanty  stores  contained  in  the  mines  of  the  ancient  hemisphere.  According 
to  principles  of  computation,  which  appear, to  be  extremely  moderate,  the 
quantity  of  gold  and  silver  that  has  been  regularly  entered  in  the  ports  of 
Spain,  is  equal  in  value  to  four  millions  sterling  annually,  reckoning  from 
the  year  1492,  in  which  America  was  discovered,  to  the  present  time. 
This,  in  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  years,  amounts  to  eleven  hundred 
and  thirty-two  millions.  Immense  as  this  sum  is,  the  Spanish  writers  con^ 
tend,  that  as  much  more  ought  to  be  added  to  it  in  consideration  of  treasure 
which  has  been  extracted  from  the  mines,  and  imported  fraudulently  into 
Spain  without  paying  duty  to  the  King.  By  this  account,  Spain  has  drawn 
from  the  New  World  a  supply  of  wealth  amounting  at  least  to  two  thousand 
millions  of  pounds  sterling!  [185]« 

The  mines,  which  have  yielded  this  amazing  quantity  of  treasure,  are 
not  worked  at  the  expense  of  the  crown  or  of  the  public.  In  order  to 
encourage  private  adventurers,  the  person  who  discovers  and  works  a  new 
vein  is  entitled  to  the  property  of  it.  Upon  laying  his  claim  to  such  a  dis- 
covery  before,  the  governor  of  the  province,  a  certain  extent  of  land  is 

*  Fernandez,  p.  1.  lib,  xi  c<  11.  t  Uztariz  Theor.  y  Pract.  de  Commercia,  c.  3     Herrfcra. 

dec,  rlii.  Jib.  xi.  c,  15, 


AMERICA.  3G7 

measured  off,  and  a  certain  number  of  Indians  allotted  him,  under  the 
obligation  of  his  opening  the  mine  within  a  limited  time,  and  of  his  paying 
the  customary  duty  to  the  King  for  what  it  shall  produce.  Invited  by  the 
facility  with  which  such  grants  are  obtained,  and  encouraged  by  some 
striking  examples  of  success  in  this  line  of  adventure,  not  only  the  sanguine 
and  the  bold,  but  the  timid  and  diffident,  enter  upon  it  with  astonishing- 
ardour.  With  vast  objects  always  iri  view,  fed  continually  with  hope,  ana 
expecting  every  moment  that  fortune  will  unveil  her  secret  stores,  and  give 
up  the  wealth  which  they  contain  to  their  wishes,  they  deem  every  other 
occupation  insipid  and  uninteresting.  The  charms  of  this  pursuit,  like  the 
rage  for  deep  play,  are  so  bewitching,  and  take  such  full  possession  of  the 
mind,  as  even  to  give  a  new  bent  to  the  natural  temper.  Under  its  in- 
fluence the  cautious  become  enterprising,  and  the  covetous  profqse.  Pow 
erful  as  this  charm  naturally  is,  its  force  is  augmented  by  th«  arts  of  an 
order  of  men  known  in  Peru  by  the  cant  name  of  searchers.  These  are 
commonly  persons  of  desperate  fortune,  who,  availing  themselves  of  some 
skill  in  mineralogy,  accompanied,  with  the  insinuating  manner  and  confident 
pretensions  peculiar  to  projectors,  address  the  wealthy  and  the  credulous 
By  plausible  descriptions  of  the  appearances  which  they  have  discovered 
of  rich  veins  hitherto  unexplore.d  ;  by  producing,  when  requisite,  specimens 
of  promising  ore  ;  by  affirming,  with  an  imposing  assurance,  that  success  is 
certain,  and  that  the  expense  must  be  trifling,  they  seldom  fail  to  persuade. 
An  association  is  formed  ;  a  small  sum  is  advanced  by  each  copartner  ;  the 
mine  is  opened  ;  the  searcher  is  intrusted  with  the  sole  direction  of  every 
operation  :  unforeseen  difficulties  occur  ;  new  demands  of  money  are  made  ; 
but,  amidst  a  succession  of  disappointments  and  delays,  hope  is  never  ex- 
tinguished, and  the  ardour  of  expectation  hardly  abates.  For  it  is  observed, 
that  if  any  person  once  enters  this  seducing  path,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
return  ;  his  ideas  alter,  he  seems  to  be  possessed  with  another  spirit ; 
visions  of  imaginary  wealth  are  continually  before  his  eyes,  and  he  thinks, 
and  speaks,  and  dreams  of  nothing  else.* 

Such  is  the  spirit  that  must  be  formed,  wherever  the  active  exertions  of 
any  society  are  chiefly  employed  in  working  mines  of  gold  and  silver.  No 
spirit  is  more  adverse  to  such  improvements  in  agriculture  and  commerce 
as  render  a  nation  really  opulent. '  If  the  system  of  administration  in  the 
Spanish  colonies  had  been  founded  upon  principles  of  sound  policy,  the 
power  and  ingenuity  of  the  legislator  would  have  been  exerted  with  as 
much  ardour  in  restraining  its  subjects  from  such  pernicious  industry,  as  is 
now  employed  in  -alluring  them  towards  it.  "  Projects  of  mining,"  says  a 
good  judge  of  the  political  conduct  of  nations,, "  instead  of  replacing  the 
capital  employed  in  them,  together  with  the  ordinary  profit  of  stock, 
commonly  absorb  both  capital  and  profit.  They  are  the  projects,  there- 
fore, to  which,  of  all  others,  a  prudent  lawgiver,  who  desired  to  increase 
the  capital  of  his  nation,  would  least  choose  to  give  any  extraordinary 
encouragement,  or  to  turn  towards  them  a  greater  share  of  that  capital 
than  would  go  to  them  of  its  own  accord.  Such,  in  reality,  is  the  absurd 
confidence  which  all  men  have  in  their  own  good  fortune,  that  wherever 
there  is  the  least  probability  of  success,  too  great  a  share  of,  it  is  apt  to  go 
to  them  of  its  own  accord. '|  But  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  government  is 
studious  to  cherish  a  spirit  which  it  should  have  laboured  to  depress,  and, 
by  the  sanction  of  its  approbation,  augments  that  inconsiderate  credulity 
which  has  turned  the  active  industry  of  Mexico  and  Peru  into  such  an  im- 
proper channel.  To  this  may  be  imputed  the  slender  progress  which 
Spanish  America  has  made,  during  two  centuries  and  a  half,  either  in  useful 
manufactures,  or  in  those  lucrative  branches  of  cultivation  which  furnish 

*  Ulloa  Entreten.  p.  223.  J  Dr.  Smith's  Inquiry,  &c.  ii.  J55k 


368  HISTORY  OF  [Boos  VIII. 

the  colonies  of  other  nations  with  their  staple  commodities.  In  comparison 
with  the  precious  metals  every  bounty  of  nature  is  so  much  despised,  that 
this  extravagant  idea  of  their  value  has  mingled  with  the  idiom  ot  language 
in  America,  and  the  Spaniards  settled  there,  denominate  a  country  rich,  not 
from  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  the  abundance  of  its  crops,  or  the  exuberance 
of  its  pastures,  but  on  account  of  the  minerals  which  its  mountains  con- 
tain, In  quest  of  these,  they  abandon  the  delightful  plains  of  Peru  and 
Mexico,  and  resort  to  barren  and  uncomfprtable  regions,  where  they  have 
built  some  of  the  largest  towns  which  they  possess  in  the  New  World. 
As  the  activity  and  enterprise  of  the  Spaniards  originally  took  this  direc- 
tion, it  is  how  so  difficult  to  bend  them  a  different  way,  that  although,  from 
various  causes,  the  gain  of  working  mines  is  mucn  decreased,  the  fascination 
continues,  and  almost  every  person,  who  takes  any  active  part  in  the  com- 
merce of  New  Spain  or  Peru,  is  still  engaged  in  some  adventure  of  this 
kind  [186]. 

But  though  mines  are  the  chief  object  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  precious 
metals  which  these  yield  form  the  principal  article  in  their  commerce 
with  America  ;  the  iertile  countries  which  they  possess  there  abound  with 
other  commodities  of  such  value,  or  scarcity,  as  to  attract  a  considerable 
degree  of  attention.  Cochineal  is  a  production  almost  peculiar  to  New 
Spain,  of  such  demand  in  commerce  that  the  sale  is  always  certain,  and 
yet  yields  such  profit  as  amply  rewards  the  labour  and  care  employed  in 
rearing  the  curious  insects  of  which  this  valuable  drug  is  composed,  and 
preparing  it  for  the  market.  Quinquina,  or  Jesuits'  Bark,  the  most  salutary 
simple,  perhaps,  and  of  most  restorative  virtue,  that  Providence,  in  com- 
passion to  human  infirmity,  has  made  known  unto  man,  is  found  only  in 
Peru,  to  which  it  affords  a  lucrative  branch  of  commerce.  The  Indigo  ot 
Guatimala  is  superior  in  quality  to  that  of  any  province  in  America,  arid 
cultivated -to  a  considerable  extant.  Cacao,  though  not  peculiar  to  the 
Spanish  colonies,  attains  to  its  highest  state  of  periection  there,  and,  from 
the  g-reat  consumption  of  chocolate  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  America,  is  a 
valuable  commodity.  The  Tobacco  of  Cuba,  of  more  exquisite  flavour 
than  any  brought  from  the  New  World ;  the  Sugar  raised  in  that  island, 
in  Hispaniola,  and  in  New  Spain,  together  with  drugs  of  various  kinds, 
may  be  mentioned  among  the  natural  productions  of  America  which  enrich 
the  Spanish  commerce.  To  these  must  be  added  an  article  of  no  incon- 
siderable account,  the  exportation  of  hides  ;  for  which,  as  well  as  for  many 
of  those  which  1  have  enumerated,  the  Spaniards  are  more  indebted  to  the 
wonderful  fertility  of  the  country-,  than  to  their  own  foresight  and  industry. 
The  domestic  animals  of  Europe,  particularly  homed  cattle,  have  multiplied 
in  the  New  World  with  a  rapidity  which  almost  exceeds  belief,  A  few 
years  after  the  Spaniards  settled  there,  the  herds  of  tame  cattle  became  so 
numerous  that  their  proprietors  reckoned  them  by  thousands.*  Less  atten- 
tion being  paid  to  them  as  they  continued  to  increase,  they  were  suffered 
to  run  wild ;  and  spreading  over  a  country  of  boundless  extent,  under  a 
mild  climate  and  covered  with  rich  pasture,  their  number  became  im- 
mense. They  range  qver  the  vast  plains  which  extend  from  Buenos  Ayres 
towards  the  Andes,  in  herds  of  thirty  or  forty  thousand  ;  and  the  unlucky 
traveller  who  once  falls  In  among  them,  may  proceed  several  days  before 
he  ,Can  disentangle  himself  from  among  the  crowd  that  covers  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  seems  to  have  no  end.  They  are  hardly  less  numerous-  in 
New  Spain,  and  in  several  other  provinces :  they  are  killed  merely  for 
the  sake  of  their  hides ;  and  the  slaughter  at  certain  seasons  is  so  great 
that  the  stench  of  the  carcasses,  which  are  left  in  the  field,  would  infect 
the  air,  if  large  packs  of  wild  dogs,  and  vast  flocks  of  gallmazos,  or 

*  Ovicdo  ap;  Raraus,  HI.  101,  B.    Haklnyt,  lit  46fir511. 


AMERICA  369 

American  vultures,  the  most  voracious  of  all  the  feathered  kind,  did  not 
instantly  devour  them.  The  number  of  those  hides  exported  in  every 
fleet  to  Europe,  is  very  great,  and  is  a  lucrative  branch  of  commerce.* 

Almost  all  these  may  be  considered  as  staple  commodities  peculiar  to 
America,  and  different,  if  we  except  that  last  mentioned,  from  the  produc- 
tions of  the  mother  country. 

When  the  importation  into  Spain  of  those  various  articles  from  her  colo- 
nies first  became  active  and  considerable,  her  interior  industry  and  manu- 
factures were  in  a  state  so  prosperous,  that  with  the  product  of  these  she 
was  able  both  to  purchase  the  commodities  of  the  New  World,  and  to 
answer  its  growing  demands.  Under  the  reigns  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
and  Charles  V.,  Spain  was  one  of  the  most  industrious  countries  in  Europe. 
Her  manufactures  in  wool,  and  flax,  and  silk,  were  so  extensive,  as  not  only 
to  furnish  what  was  sufficient  for  her  own  consumption,  but  to  afford  a  sur- 
plus for  exportation.  When  a  market  for  them,  formerly  unknown,  and 
to  which  she  alone  had  access,  opened  in  America,  she  had  recourse  to  her 
domestic  store,  and-  found  there  an  abundant  supply  [187].  This  new  em- 
ployment must  naturally  have  added  vivacity  to  the  spirit  of  industiy. 
Nourished  and  invigorated  by  it,  the  manufactures,  the  population,  and 
wealth  of  Spain,  might  have  gone  on  increasing  in  the  same  proportion 
with  the  growth  of  her  colonies.  Nor  was  the  state  of  the  Spanish  marine 
at  this  period  less  flourishing  than  that  of  its  manufactures.  In  the  begin- 
ning ot  the  sixteenth  century,  Spain  is  said  to  have  possessed  above  a 
thousand  merchant  ships,f  a  number  probably  far  superior  to  that  of  any 
nation  in  Europe  in  that  age.  By  the  aid  which  foreign  trade  and  domes- 
tic industry  give  reciprocally  to  each  other  in  their  progress,  the  augmen- 
tation of  both  must  have  been  rapid  and  extensive,  and  Spain  might  have 
received  the  same  accession  of  opulence  and  vigour  from  her  acquisitions 
in  the  New  World  that  other  powers  have  derived  from  their  colonies 
there. 

But  various  causes  prevented  this.  The  same  thing  happens  to  nations 
as  to  individuals.  Wealth,  which  flows  in  gradually,  and  with  moderate 
increase,  feeds  and  nourishes  that  activity  which  is  friendly  to  commerce, 
and  calls  it  forth  into  vigorous  and  well  conducted  exertions  ;  but  when 
opulence  pours  in  suddenly,  and  with  too  full  a  stream,  it  overturns  all 
sober  plans  of  industry,  and  brings  along  with  it  a  taste  for  what  is  wild 
and  extravagant  and  daring  in  business  or  in  action.  Such  was  the  great 
and  sudden  augmentation  of  power  and  revenue  that  the  possession  of 
America  brought  into  Spain  ;  and  some  symptoms  of  its  pernicious  influ- 
ence upon  the  political  operations  of  that  monarchy  soon  began  to  appear. 
For  a  considerable  time,  however,  the  supply  of  treasure  from  the  New- 
World  was  scanty  and  precarious  ;  and  the  genius  of  Charles  V.  conducted 
public  measures  with  such  prudence,  that  the  effects  of  this  influence  were 
little  perceived.  But  when  Philip  II.  ascended  the  Spanish  throne,  with 
talents  far  inferior  to  those  of  his  father,  and  remittances  from  the  colonies 
became  a  regular  and  considerable  branch  of  revenue,  the  fatal  operation 
of  this  rapid  change  in  the  state  of  the  kingdom,  both  oh  the  monarch  and 
his  people,  was  at  once  conspicuous.  Philip,  possessing  that  spirit  of  un- 
ceasing assiduity  which  often  characterizes  the  ambition  of  men  of  mode- 
rate talents,  entertained  such  a  high  opinion  of  his  own  resources  that  he 
thought  nothing  too  arduous  for  him  to  undertake.  Shut  up  himself  in 
the  solitude  of  the  Escurial,  he  troubled  and  annoyed  all  the  nations  around 
him.  He  waged  open  war  with  the  Dutch  and  English  ;  he  encouraged 
and  aided  a  rebellious  faction  in  France  ;  he  conquered  Portugal,  and 
maintained  armies  and  garrisons  in  Italy,  Africa,  and  both  the  Indies.  By 


*  Acosta,  lib.  iii  c.  33.     Ovallo  Hist  of  Chili.     C'liurcli.  Collect,  iii    47.  sept      Ibid,  v.  p.  f>?0 
(392.    Lettres  Edif.  xiii.  235.     FeuilJe,  i.  210         t  t:5i"ii»oman'es.  ii.  14.0. 

VOL.  1.-47 


370  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  V11I. 

such  a  multiplicity  of  great  and  complicated  operations,  pursued  with 
ardour  during1  the  course  of  a  long  reign,  Spain  was  drained  both  of  men 
and  money.  Under  the  weak  administration  of  his  successor,  Philip  III. 
[A.  D.  1611],  the  vigour  of  the  nation  continued  to  decrease,  and  sunk  into 
the  lowest  decline,  when  the  inconsiderate  bigotry  of  that  monarch  expel 
led  at  once  near  a  million  of  his  most  industrious  subjects,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  exhausted  state  of  the  kingdom  required  some  extraordinary  ex- 
ertion of  political  wisdom  to  augment  its  numbers,  and  to  revive  its  strength. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Spain  felt  such  a  diminution  in  the  nufti 
ber  of  her  people,  that  from  inability  to  recruit  her  armies  she  was  obliged 
to  contract  her  operations.  Her  flourishing  manufactures  were  fallen  into 
decay.  Her  fleets,  which  had  been  the  terror  of  all  Europe,  were  ruined. 
Her  extensive  foreign  commerce,  was  lost.  The  trade  between  different 
parts  of  her  own  dominions  was  interrupted,  and  the  ships  which  attempt- 
ed to  carry  it  on  were  taken  and  plundered  by  enemies  whom  she  once 
despised.  Even  agriculture,  the  primary  object  of  industry  in  every  pros- 
perous state,  was  neglected,  and  one  of  the  most  fertile  countries  in  Europe 
hardly  raised  what  was  sufficient  for,  the  support  of  its  own  inhabitants. 

In  proportion  as  the  population  and  manufactures  of  the  parent  state  de- 
clined, the  demands  of  her  colonies  continued  to  increase.  The  Spaniards, 
like  their  monarchs,  intoxicated  with  the  wealth  which  poured  in  annually 
upon  them,  deserted  the  paths  of  industry  to  which  they  had  been  accus- 
tomed, and  repaired  with  eagerness  to  those  regions  from  which  this  opu- 
lence issued.  By  this  rage  of  emigration  another  drain  was  opened,  and 
the  strength  of  the  colonies  augmented  by  exhausting  that  of  the  mother 
country.  All  those  emigrants,  as  well,  as  the  adventurers  who  had  at  first 
settled  in  America,  depended  absolutely  upon  Spain  for  almost  every  arti- 
cle of  necessary  consumption.  Engaged  in  more, alluring  and  lucrative 
pursuits,  or  prevented  by  restraints  which  government  imposed,  they  could 
not  turn  their  own  attention  towards  establishing  the  manufactures  requisite 
for  comfortable  subsistence.  They  received"  (as  I  have  observed  in  another 
place)  their  clothing,  their  furniture,  whatever  ministers  to  the  ease  or  lux- 
ury of  life,  and  even  their  instruments  of  labour,  from  Europe.  Spain, 
thinned  of  people  and  decreasing  in  industry, 'was  unable  to  supply  their 
growing  demands.  She  had  recourse  to  her  neighbours.  The  manufac- 
tures of  the  Low  Countries,' of  England,  of  France,  and  of  Italy,  which 
her  wants  called  into  existence  or  animated  with  new  vivacity,  Furnished 
in  abundance  whatever  she  required.  In  vain  did  the  fundamental  law, 
concerning  the  exclusion  of  foreigners  from  trade  with  America,  oppose 
this  innovation.  Necessity,  more  powerful  than  any  statute,  defeated  its 
operation,  and  constrained  the  Spaniards  themselves  to,  concur  in  eluding 
it.  The  English,  the  French,  and  Dutch,  relying  on  the  fidelity  and  honour 
of  Spanish  merchants,  who  lend  their  names  to  cover  the  deceit,  send  out 
their  manufactures  to  America,  and  receive  the  exorbitant  price  for  which 
they  are  sold  there,  either  in  specie,  or  in  the  rich  commodities  of  the 
New  World.  Neither  the  dread  of  danger,  nor  the  allurement  of  profit 
ever  induced  a  Spanish  factor  to  betray  or  defraud  the  person  who  confided 
in  him  ;*  and  that  probity,  which  is  the  pride  and  distinction  of  the  nation, 
contributes  to  its  ruinw  In  a  short  time,  not  above  a  twentieth  part  of  the 
commodities  exported^  to  America,  was  of  Spanish  growth  or  fabric.!  All 
the  rest  was  the  property  of  foreign  merchants,  though  entered  in  the 
name  of  Spaniards.  The  treasure  of  the  New  World  may  be  said  hence- 
forward not  to  have  belonged  to  Spain.  Before  it  reached  Europe  it  was 
anticipated  as  the  price  of  goods  purchased  from  foreigners.  That  wealth 
which  by  an  internal  circulation,  would  have  spread  through  each  vein  of 
industry,  and  have  conveyed  life  and  movement  to  every  branch  of  manu- 

*  Zavala  Representation,  p.  226.        t  Campomanes,  ii.  138. 


AMERICA.  371 

facture,  flowed  out  of  the  kingdom  with  such  a  rapid  course  as  neither 
enriched  nor  animated  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  artisans  of  rival  nations, 
encouraged  by  this  quick  sale  of  their  commodities,  improved  so  much  in 
skill  and  industry  as  to  be  able  to  afford  them  at  a  rate  so  low,  that  the 
manufactures  of  Spain,  which  could  not  vie  with  theirs  either  in  quality 
or  cheapness  of  work,  were  still  further  depressed.  This  destructive 
commerce  drained  off  the  riches  of  the  nation  faster  and  more  completely 
than  even  the  extravagant  schemes  of  ambition  carried  on  by  its  monarchs. 
Spain  was  so  much  astonished  and  distressed  at  beholding  her  American 
treasures  vanish  almost  as  soon  as  they  were  imported,  that  Philip  III.,  un- 
able to  supply  what  was  requisite  in  circulation,  issued  an  edict,  by  which 
he  endeavoured  to  raise  copper  money  to  a  value  in  currency  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  silver  ;*  and  the  lord  of  the  Peruvian  and  Mexican  mines  was 
reduced  to  a  wretched  expedient,  which  is  the  last  resource  of  petty  im- 
poverished states. 

Thus  the  possessions  of  Spain  in  America  have  not  proved  a  source  ot 
population  and  of  wealth  to  her  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  other 
nations.  In  the  countries  of  Europe,  where  the  spirit  of  industry  subsists 
in  full  vigour,  every  person  settled  in  such  colonies  as  are  similar  in  their 
situation  to  those  of  Spain,  is  supposed  to  give  employment  to  three  or 
four  at  home  in  supplying  his  wants.t  But  wherever  the  mother  country 
cannot  afford  this  supply,  every  emigrant  may  be  considered  as  a  citizen 
lost  to  the  community,  and  strangers  must  reap  all  the  benefit  of  answer- 
ing his  demands. 

Such  has  been  the  internal  state  of  Spain  from  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  such  her  inability  to  supply  the  growing  wants  of  her  colonies. 
The  fetal  effects  of  this  disproportion  between  their  demands,  and  her 
capacity  of  answering  them,  have  been  much  increased  by  the  mode  in 
which  Spain  has  endeavoured  to  regulate  the  intercourse  between  the 
mother  country  and  her  colonies.  It  is  from  her  idea  of  monopolising  the 
trade  with  America,  and  debarring  her  subjects  there  from  any  communi- 
cation with  foreigners,  that  all  her  jealous  and  systematic  arrangements 
have  arisen.  These  are  so  singular  in  their  nature  and  consequences  as 
to  merit  a  particular  explanation.  In  order  to  secure  the  monopoly  at 
which  she  aimed,  Spain  did  not  vest  the  trade  with  her  colonies  in  an 
exclusive  company,  a  plan  which  has  been  adopted  by  nations  more  com- 
mercial, and  at  a  period  when  mercantile  policy  was  an  object  of  greater 
attention,  and  ought  to  have  been  better  understood.  The  Dutch  gave  up 
the  whole  trade  with  their  colonies,  both  in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  to 
exclusive  companies.  The  English,  the  French,  the  Danes,  have  imitated 
their  example  with  respect  to  the  East  Indian  commerce  ;  and  the  two 
former  have  laid  a  similar  restraint  upon  some  branches  of  their  trade  with 
the  New  World.  The  wit  of  man  cannot,  perhaps,  devise  a  method  for 
checking  the  progress  of  industry  and  population  in  a  new  colony  more  effec- 
tual than  this.  The  interest  of  the  colony,  and  of  the  exclusive  company, 
must  in  every  point  be  diametrically  opposite  ;  and  as  the  latter  possesses 
such  advantages  in  this  unequal  contest,  that  it  can  prescribe  at  pleasure 
the  terms  of  intercourse,  the  former  must  not  only  buy  dear  and  sell  cheap, 
but  must  suffer  the  mortification  of  having  the  increase  of  its  surplus  stock 
discouraged  by  those  very  persons  to  whom  alone  it  can  dispose  of  its 
productions.^ 

Spain,  it  is  probable,  was  preserved  from  falling  into  this  error  of  policy 
by  the  high  ideas  which  she  early  formed  concerning  the  riches  of  the 
New  World.  Gold  and  silver  were  commodities  of  too  high  a  value  to 
vest  a  monopoly  of  them  in  private  hands.  The  crown  wished  to  retain  the 
direction  of  a  commerce  so  inviting  ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  that,  ordained 

*  Uztarez.  e  JO*        t  Child  on  Trade  and  Colonies.       ;  Smith's  Inquiry,  ii.  171. 


•372  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

the  cargo  of  every  ship  fitted  out  for  America  to  be  inspected  by  the 
officers  of  the  Casa  de  Contratacion  in  Seville  before  it  could  receive  a 
license  to  make  the  voyage  ;  and  that,  on  its  return,  a  report  of  the  com- 
modities which  it  brought  should  be  made  to  the  same  board  before  it 
could  be  permitted  to  land  them.  In  consequence  of  this  regulation,  all 
the  trade  of  Spain  with  the  New  World  centred  originally  in  the  port  of 
Seville,  and  was  gradually  brought  into  a  form,  in  which  it  has  been  con- 
ducted, with  little  variation,  from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  almost 
to  our  own  times.  For  the  greater  security  of  the  valuable  cargoes  sent 
to  America,  as  well  as  for  the  more  easy  prevention  of  fraud,  the  commerce 
of  Spain  with  its  colonies  is  carried  on  by  fleets  which  sail  under  strong 
convoys.  These  fleets,  consisting  of  two  squadrons,  one  distinguished  by 
the  name  of  the  Galeons,  the  other  by  that  of  the  Flota,  are  equipped 
annually.  Formerly  they  took  their  departure  from  Seville  ;  but  as  the 
port  of  Cadiz  has  been  ibund  more  commodious,  they  have  sailed  from  it 
since  the  year  1720. 

The  Galeons  destined  to  supply  Tierra  Firme,  and  the  kingdoms  of 
Peru  and  Chili,  with  almost  every  article  of  luxury  or  necessary  consump 
tion,  that  an  opulent  people  can  demand,  touch  first  at  Carthagena,  and 
then  at  Porto  Bello.  To  the  former,  the  merchants  of  Santa  Martha, 
Caraccas,  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada,  and  several  other  provinces, 
resort.  The  latter  is  the  great  mart  for  the  rich  commerce  of  Peru  and 
Chili.  At  the  season  when  the  Galeons  are  expected,  the  product  of  all 
the  mines  in  these  two  kingdoms,  together  with  theip  other  valuable  com- 
modities, is  transported  by  sea  to  Panama.  From  thence,  as  soon  as  the 
appearance  of  the  fleet  from  Europe  is  announced,  they  are  conveyed 
across  the  isthmus,  partly  on  mules  and  partly  down  the  river  Chagre  to 
Porto  Bello.  This  paltry  village,  the  climate  of  which,  from  the  pernicious 
union  of  excessive  heat,  continual  moisture,  and  the  putrid  exhalations 
arising  from  a  rank  soil,  is  more  fatal  to  life  than  any  perhaps  in  the  known 
world,  is  immediately  filled  with  people.  From  beingj  the  residence  of  a 
few  Negroes  and  Mulattoes,  and  of  a  miserable  garrison  relieved  every 
three  months,  Porto  Bello  assumes  suddenly  a  very  different  aspect,  and 
its  streets  are  crowded  with  opulent  merchants  from  every  corner  of  Peru 
and  the  adjacent  provkices.  A  fair  is  opened,  the  wealth  of  America  is 
exchanged  for  the  manufactures  of  Europe  ;  and,  during  its  prescribed  term 
of  forty  days,  the  richest  traffic  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is  begun  and 
finished, with  that  simplicity  of  transaction,  and  that  unbounded  confidence, 
which  accompany  extensive  commerce  [188].  The  Flota  holds  its  course 
to  Vera  Cruz.  The  treasures  and  commodities  of  New  Spain,  and  the 
depending  provinces,  which  were  deposited  at  Puebla  de  los  Angeles,  in 
expectation  of  its  arrival,  are  carried  thither  ;  and  the  commercial  opera- 
tions of  Vera  Cruz,  conducted  in  the  samex  manner  with.' those  of  Porto 
Bello,  are  inferior  to  them  only  in  importance  and  value.  Both  fleets,  as 
soon  as  they  have  completed  their  cargoes  from  America,  rendezvous  at 
the  Havana,  and  return  in  company  jo  Europe. 

The  trade  of  Spain  with  her  colonies,  while  thus  fettered  and  restricted, 
came  necessarily  to  be  conducted  with  the  same  spirit,  and  upon  the  same 
principles  as  that  of  an  exclusive  company.  Being  confined  to  a  single 
port,  it  was  of  course  thrown  into  a  few  hands,  and  almost  the  whole  of  it 
was  gradually  engrossed  by  a  small  number  of  wealthy  houses,  formerly 
in  Seville,  and  now  in  Cadiz.  These  by  combinations,  which  they  can 
easily  form,  may  altogether  prevent  that  competition  which  preserves 
commodities  at  their  natural  price  ;  and  by  acting  in  concert,  to  which 
they  are  prompted  by  their  mutual  interest*,  they  may  raise  or  lower  the 
value  of  them  at  pleasure.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  price  of  European 
goods  in  America  is  always  high,  and  often  exorbitant.  A  hundred,  two 
hundred,  and  even  three  hundred  per  cent.,  are  profits  not  uncommon  in 


AMERICA.  373 

the  commerce  of  Spain  with  her  colonies.*  From  the  same  engrossing 
spirit  it  frequently  happens  that  traders  of  the  second  order,  whose  ware- 
houses do  not  contain  a  complete  assortment  of  commodities  for  the  Ameri- 
can market,  cannot  purchase  from  the  more  opulent  merchants  such  goods 
as  they  want  at  a  lower  price  than  that  for  which  they  are  sold  in  the 
colonies.  With  the  same  vigilant  jealousy  that  an  exclusive  company 
guards  against  the  intrusion  of  the  free  trader,  those  overgrown  monopolists 
endeavour  to  check  the  progress  of  every  one  whose  encroachments  they 
dread. t  This  restraint  of  the  American  commerce  to  one  port  not  only 
aflects  its  domestic  state,  but  limits  its  foreign  operations.  A  monopolist  may 
acquire  more,  and  certainly  will  hazard  less,  by  a  confined  trade  which 
yields  exorbitant  profit,  than  by  an  extensive  commerce  in  which  he  receives 
only  a  moderate  return  of  gain.  It  is  often  his  interest  not  to  enlarge,  but 
to  circumscribe  the  sphere  of  his  activity  ;  and  instead  of  calling  forth 
more  vigorous  exertions  of  commercial  industry,  it  may  be  the  object  of 
his  attention  to  check  and  set  bounds  to  them.  By  some  such  maxim  the 
mercantile  policy  of  Spain  seems  to  have  regulated  its  intercourse  with 
America.  Instead  of  furnishing  the  colonies  with  European  goods  in  such 
quantity  as  might  render  both  the  price  and  the  profit  moderate,  the  mer- 
chants of  Seville  and  Cadiz  seem  to  have  supplied  them  with  a  sparing 
hand,  that  the  eagerness  of  competition,  among  customers  obliged  to  pur- 
chase in  a  scanty  market,  might  enable  the  Spanish  factors  to  dispose  of 
their  cargoes  with  exorbitant  gain.  About  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
when  the  exclusive  trade  to  America  from  Seville  was  in  its  most  flourishing 
state,  the  burden  of  the  two  united  squadrons  of  the  Galeons  and  Flota  did 
not  exceed  twenty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  tons.J  The  supply  which 
such  a  fleet  could  carry  must  have  been  very  inadequate  to  the  demands 
of  those  populous  and  extensive  colonies,  which  depended  upon  it  for  all 
the  luxuries  and  many  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

Spain  early  became  sensible  of  her  declension  from  her  former  pros- 
perity ;  and  many  respectable  and  virtuous  citizens  employed  their  thoughts 
in  devising  methods  for  reviving  the  decaying  industry  and  commerce  of 
their  country.  From  the  violence  of  the  remedies  proposed,  we  may 
judge  how  desperate  and  fatal  the  malady  appeared.  Some,  confounding 
a  violation  of  police  with  criminality  against  the  state,  contended  that,  in 
order  to  check  illicit  commerce,  every  person  convicted  of  carrying  it  on 
should  be  punished  with  death,  and  confiscation  of  all  his  effects.^  Others, 
forgetting  the  distinction  between  civil  offences  and  acts  of  impiety,  insisted 
that  contraband  trade  should  be  ranked  among  the  crimes  reserved  for  the 
cognisance  of  the  Inquisition  ;  that  such  as  were  guilty  of  it  might  be 
tried  and  punished  according  to  the  secret  and  summary  form  in  which 
that  dreadful  tribunal  exercises  its  jurisdiction.!!  Others,  uninstructed  by 
observing  the  pernicious  effects  of  monopolies  in  every  country  where  they 
have  been  established,  have  proposed  to  vest  the  trade  with  America  in 
exclusive  companies,  which  interest  would  render  the.most  vigilant  guardians 
of  the  Spanish  commerce  against  the  encroachment  of  the  interlopers.  1T 

Besides  these  wild  projects,  many  schemes,  better  digested  and  more 
beneficial,  were  suggested.  But  under  the  feeble  monarchs  with  whom 
the  reign  of  the  Austrian  line  in  Spain  closed,  incapacity  and  indecision 
are  conspicuous  in  every  department  of  government.  Instead  of  taking 
for  their  model  the  active  administration  of  Charles  V.,  they  affected  to 
imitate  the  cautious  procrastinating  wisdom  of  Philip  II.  3  and  destitute  of 
his  talents,  they  deliberated  perpetually,  but  determined  nothing.  No 
remedy  was  applied  to  the  evils  under  which  the  national  commerce, 

*-B.  Ulloa  Ketabliss.  part  ii.  p.  191.  t  Smith's  Inquiry,  ii.  171.  Campomanes,  Educ.  Popul. 
I.  43.  t  Ibid.  i.  435.  ii.  140.  $  M.  de  Santa  Cruz  Commercia  Suelto,  p.  142.  ||  Moncada 
Restauracion  politica  de  Espagna,  p.  41.  Ii  Zavalla  y  Augnon  Representacion,  &c.  p.  190 


374  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  VIIT. 

domestic  as  well  as  foreign,  languished.  These  evils  continued  to  increase  • 
and  Spain,  with  dominions  more  extensive  and  more  opulent  than  any 
European  state,  possessed  neither  vigour,  nor  money  [189],  nor  industry.  At 
length,  the  violence  of  a  great  national  convulsion  roused  the  slumbering 
genius  of  Spain.  The  efforts  of  the  two  contending  parties  in  the  civil 
war  kindled  by  the  dispute  concerning  the  succession  of  the  crown  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  called  forth,  in  isome  degree,  the  ancient  spirit 
and  vigour  of  the  nation.  While  men  were  thus  forming,  capable  of 
adopting  sentiments  more  liberal  than  those  which  had  influenced  the 
councils  of  the  monarchy  during  the  course  of  a  century,  Spain  derived 
from  an  unexpected  source  the  means  of  availing  itself  of  their  talents. 
The  various  powers  who  favoured  the  pretensions  either  of  the  Austrian 
or  Bourbon  candidate  for  the  Spanish  throne,  sent  formidable  fleets  and 
armies  to  their  support ;  France,  England,  and  Holland  remitted  immense 
sums  to  Spain.  These  were  spent  in  the  provinces  which  became  the 
theatre  of  war.  Part  of  the  American  treasure,  of  which  foreigners  had 
drained  the  kingdom,  flowed  back  thither.  From  this  era  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  Spanish  authors  dates  the  revival  of  the  monarchy  ;  and,  how- 
ever humiliating  the  truth  may  be,  he  acknowledges,  that  it  is  to  her 
enemies  his  country  is  indebted  for  the  acquisition  of  a  fund  of  circulating 
specie  in  some  measure  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  public.* 

As  soon  as  the  Bourbons  obtained  quiet  possession  of  the  throne,  they 
discerned  this  change  in  the  spirit  of  the  people  and  in  the  state  of  the 
nation,  and  took  advantage  of  it ;  for  although  that  family  has  not  given 
monarchs  to  Spain  remarkable  for  superiority  of  genius,  they  have  all  been 
beneficent  princes,  attentive  to  the  happiness  of  their  subjects,  and  solicit- 
ous to  promote  it.  It  was,  accordingly,  the  first  object  of  Philip  V.  to 
suppress  an  innovation  which  had  crept  in  during  the  course  of  the  war, 
and  had  overturned  the  whole  system  of  the  Spanish  commerce  with 
America.  The  English  and  Dutch,  by  their  superiority  in  naval  power, 
having  acquired  such  command  of  the  sea  as  to  cut  off  all  intercourse  be- 
tween Spain  and  her  colonies,  Spain,  in  order  to  furnish  her  subjects  in 
America  those  necessaries  of  life  without  which  they  could  not  exist,  and 
as  the  only  means  of  receiving  from  thence  any  part  of  their  treasure,  de- 
parted so  far  from  the  usual  rigour  of  its  maxims  as  to  open  the  trade  with 
Peru  to  her  allies  the  French.  The  merchants  of  St.  Malo,  to  whom 
Louis  XIV.  granted  the  privilege  of  this  lucrative  commerce,  engaged  in 
it  with  vigour,  and  carried  it  on  upon  principles  very  different  from  those 
of  the  Spaniards.  They  supplied  Peru  with  European  commodities  at  a 
moderate  price,  and  not  in  stinted  quantity.  The  goods  which  they  im- 
ported were  conveyed  to  every  province  ot  Spanish  America  in  such  abun- 
dance as  had  never  been  known  in  any  former  period.  If  this  intercourse 
had  been  continued,  the  exppftation  of  European  commodities  from  Spain 
must  have  ceased,  and  the  dependence  of  the  colonies  on  the  mother  coun- 
try have  been  at  an  end.  The  most  peremptory  injunctions  were  therefore 
issued  [1713],  prohibiting  the  admission  of  foreign  vessels  into  any  port  of 
Peru  or  Chifi,t  and  a  Spanish  squadron  was  employed  to  clear  the  South 
Sea  of  intruders,  whose  aid  was  no  longer  necessary. 

But  though,  on  the  cessation  of  the  war  which  was  terminated  by  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  Spain  obtained  relief  from  one  encroachment  on  her 
commercial  system,  she  was  exposed  to  another  which  she  deemed  hardly 
less  pernicious.  As  an  inducement  that  might  prevail  with  Queen  Anne 
to  conclude  a  peace,  which  France  and  Spain  desired  with  equal  ardour, 
Philip  V.  not  only  conveyed  to  Great  Britain  the  Assiento,  or  contract  foi 
supplying  the  Spanish  colonies  with  Negroes,  which  had  formerly  been 

*  Campomanes,  i.  420,  t  F/ezier  Voy.  258..  B.  Ulloa  Retab.  ji.  104,  &c.  Alcedo  y  Herrera, 
Aviao,  &c,  236. 


AMERICA.  375 

enjoyed  by  France,  but  granted  it  the  more  extraordinary  privilege  of 
sending  annually  to  the  fair  of  Porto  Bello  a  ship  of  five  hundred  tons, 
laden  with  European  commodities.  In  consequence  of  this,  British  facto- 
ries were  established  at  Carthagena,  Panama,  Vera  Cruz,  Buenos  Ayres, 
and  other  Spanish  settlements.  The  veil  with  which  Spain  had  hitherto 
covered  the  state  and  transactions  of  her  colonies  was  removed.  The 
agents  of  a  rival  nation,  residing  in  the  towns  of  most  extensive  trade,  and 
of  chief  resort,  had  the  best  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted,  with 
the  interior  condition  of  the  American  provinces,  of  observing  their  stated 
and  occasional  wants,  and  of  knowing  what  commodities  might  be  imported 
into  them  with  the  greatest  advantage.  In  consequence  of  information 
so  authentic  and  expeditious,  the  merchants  of  Jamaica  and  other  English 
colonies  who  traded  to  the  Spanish  main  were  enabled  to  assort  and  pro- 
portion their  cargoes  so  exactly  to  the  demands  of  the  market,  that  the 
contraband  commerce  was  carried  on  with  a  facility  and  to  an  extent  un- 
known in  any  former  period.  This,  however,  was  not  the  most  fatal  con- 
sequence of  the  Assiento  to  the  trade  of  Spain.  The  agents  of  the  British 
South  Sea  Company,  under  cover  of  the  importation  which  they  were  au- 
thorized to  make  by  the  ship  sent  annually  to  Porto  Belle,  poured  in  their 
commodities  on  the  Spanish  continent  without  limitation  or  restraint.  In- 
stead of  a  ship  of  five  hundred  tons,  as  stipulated  in  the  treaty,  they  usually 
employed  one  which  exceeded  nine  hundred  tons  in  burthen.  She  was 
accompanied  by  two  or  three  smaller  vessels,  which,  mooring  in  some  neigh- 
bouring creek,  supplied  her  clandestinely  with  fresh  bales  of  goods  to 
replace  such  as  were  sold.  The  inspectors  of  the  fair,  and  officers  of  the 
revenue,  gained  by  exorbitant  presents,  connived  at  the  fraud  [190].  Thus, 
partly  by  the  operations  of  the  company,  and  partly  by  the  activity  of 
private  interlopers,  almost  the  whole  trade  of  Spanish  America  was  engross- 
ed by  foreigners.  The  immense  commerce  of  the  Galeons,  formerly  the 
pride  of  Spain,  and  the  envy  of  other  nations,  sunk  to  nothing  [1737]  ;  and 
the  squadron  itself,  reduced  from  fifteen  thousand  to  two  thousand  tons,* 
served  hardly  any  purpose  but  to  fetch  home  the  royal  revenue  arising 
from  the  fifth  on  silver. 

While  Spain  observed  those  encroachments,  and  felt  so  sensibly  their 
pernicious  effects,  it  was  impossible  not  to  make  some  effort  to  restrain 
them.  Her  first  expedient  was  to  station  ships  of  force,  under  the  appel- 
lation of  guarda  costas,  upon  the  coasts  of  those  provinces  to  which  inter- 
lopers most  frequently  resorted.  As  private  interest  concurred  with  the 
duty  which  they  owed  to  the  public,  in  rendering  the  officers  who  com- 
manded those  vessels  vigilant  and  active,  some  check  was  given  to  the 
progress  of  the  contraband  trade,  though  in  dominions  so  extensive  and  so 
accessible  by  sea,  hardly  any  number  of  cruisers  was  sufficient  to  guard 
against  its  inroads  in  every  quarter.  This  interruption  of  an  intercourse 
which  had  been  carried  on  with  so  much  facility,  that  the  merchants  in  the 
British  colonies  were  accustomed  to  consider  it  almost  as  an  allowed  branch 
of  commerce,  excited  murmurs  and  complaints.  These,  authorized  in 
some  measure,  and  rendered  more  interesting  by  several  unjustifiable  acts 
of  violence  committed  by  the  captains  of  the  Spanish  guarda  costas,  pre- 
cipitated Great  Britain  into  a  war  with  Spain  [1739J  ;  in  consequence  of 
which  the  latter  obtained  a  final  release  from  the  Assiento,  and  was  left  at 
liberty  to  regulate  the  commerce  of  her  colonies  without  being  restrained 
by  any  engagement  with  a  foreign  power. 

As  the  formidable  encroachments  of  the  English  orj  their  American 
trade,  had  discovered  to  the  Spaniards  the  vast  consumption  of  European 
goods  in  their  colonies,  and  taught  them  the  advantage  of  accommodating 
their  importations  to  the  occasional  demand  of  the  various  provinces,  they 

*  Alcedo  y  Herreia,  p. 359.      Campomanes,  i.  436 


376  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

perceived  the  necessity  of  devising  some  method  of  supplying  their  colo- 
nies, different  from  their  ancient  one  of  sending  thither  periodical  fleets. 
That  mode  of  communication  had  been  found  not  only  to  be  uncertain,  as 
the  departure  of  the  Galeons  and  Flota  was  sometimes  retarded  by  various 
accidents,  and  often  prevented  by  the  wars  which  raged  in  Europe  ;  but 
long  experience  had  shown  it  to  be  ill  adapted  to  afiord  America  a  regu- 
lar and  timely  supply  of  what  it  wanted.  The  scarcity  of  European 
goods  in  the  Spanish  ^settlements  frequently  became  excessive  ;  their  price 
rose  to  an  enormous  height ;  the  vigilant  eye  of  mercantile  attention  did 
not  fail  to  observe  this  favourable  opportunity  ;  an  ample  supply  was  poured 
in  by  interlopers  from  the  English,  the  French,  and  Dutch  islands ;  and 
when  the  Galeons  at  length  arrived,  they  found  the  markets  so  glutted  by 
this  illicit  commerce,  that  there  was  no  demand  for  the  commodities  with 
which  they  were  loaded.  In  order  to  remedy  this,  Spain  has  permitted  a 
considerable  part  of  her  commerce  with  America  to  be  carried  on  by  regis- 
ter ships.  These  are  fitted  out  during;  the  intervals  between  the  stated 
seasons  when  the  Galeons  and  Flota  sail,  by  merchants  in  Seville  or  Cadiz, 
upon  obtaining  a  license  from  the  council  of  the  Indies,  for  which  they  pay 
a  very  high  premium,  and  are  destined  for  those  ports  in  America  where 
any  extraordinary  demand  is  foreseen  or  expected.  By  this  expedient, 
such  a  regular  supply  of  the  commodities  for  which  there  is  the  greatest 
demand  is  conveyed,  to  the  American  market,  that  the  interloper  is  no 
longer  allured  by  the  same  prospect  of  excessive  gain,  or  the  people  in  the 
colonies  urged  by  the  same  necessity  to  engage  in  the  hazardous  adventures 
of  contraband  trade. 

In  proportion  as  experience  manifested  the  advantages  of  carrying  on 
trade  in  this  mode,  the  number  of  register  ships  increased  ;  and  at  length, 
in  the  year  1748,  the  Galeons,  after  having  been  employed  upwards  of 
two  centuries,  were  finally  laid  aside.  From  that  period  there  has  been 
no  intercourse  with  Chili  and  Peru  but  by  single  ships,  despatched  from 
time  to  time  as  occasion  requires,  and  when  the  merchants  expect  a  profit- 
able market  will  open,  i  These  ships  sail  round  Cape  Horn,  and  convey 
directly  to  the  ports  in  the  South  Sea  the  productions  and.  manufactures  of 
Europe,  for  which  the  people  settled  in  those  countries  were  formerly 
obliged  to  repair  to  Porto  Bello  or  Panama.  These  towns,  as  has  been 
formerly  observed,  must  gradually  decline,  when  deprived  of  that  com- 
merce to  which  they  owed  their  prosperity.  This  disadvantage,  however, 
is  more  than  compensated  by  the  beneficial  effects  of.  this  new  arrange- 
ment, as  the  whole  continent  of  South  America  receives  new  supplies  of 
European  commodities  with  so  much  regularity,  and  in  such  abundance,  as 
must  not  only  contribute  greatly  to  the  happiness,  but  increase  'the  popu- 
lation of  all  -the  colonies  settled  there.  But  as  all  the  register  ships  destined 
for  the  South  Seas  must  still  take  their  departure  from  Cadiz,  and  are 
obliged  to  return  thither,*  this  branch  of  the  American  commerce,  even  in 
its  new  and  improved  form,  continues  subject  to  the  restraints  of  a  species 
of  monopoly,  and  feels  those  pernicious  effects  of  it  which  I  have  already 
described. 

Nor  has  the  attention  of  Spain  been  confined  to  regulating1  the  trade 
with  its  more  flourishing  colonies  ;  it  has  extended  likewise  to  the  reviving 
commerce  in  those  settlements  where  it  was  neglected,  or  had  decayed. 
Among  the  new  tastes  which  the  people  of  Europe  have  acquired  in  con- 
sequence of  importing  the  productions  of  those  countries  which  they 
conquered  in  America,  that  for  chocolate  is  one  of  the  most  universal. 
The  use  of  this  liquor,  made  with  a  paste  formed  of  the  nut  or  almond 
of  the  cacao  tree  compounded  with  various  ingredients,  the  Spaniards  first 
learned  from  the  Mexicans ;  and  it  has  appeared  to  them,  and  to  the  other 

*  Campomanes,  i  43-f,  440 


AMERICA.  377 

European  nations,  so  palatable,  so  nourishing,  and  so  wholesome,  that  it 
has  become  a  commercial  article  of  considerable  importance.  The  cacao 
tree  grows  spontaneously  in  several  parts  of  the  torrid  zone  ;  but  the  nuts 
of  the  best  quality,  next  to  those  of  Guatimala  on  the  South  sea,  are  pro- 
duced in  the  rich  plains  of  Caraccas,  a  province  of  Tierra  Firme.  In 
consequence  of  this  acknowledged  superiority  in  the  quality  of  cacao  in 
that  province,  and  its  communication  with  the  Atlantic,  which  facilitates 
the  conveyance  to  Europe,  the  culture  of  the  cacao  there  is  more  extensive 
than  in  any  district  of  America.  But  the  Dutch,  by  the  vicinity  of  their 
settlements  in  the  small  islands  of  Curazoa  and  Buenos  Ayres,  to  the  coast 
of  Caraccas,  gradually  engrossed  the  greatest  part  of  the  cacao  trade. 
The  traffic  with  the  mother  country  for  this  valuable  commodity  ceased 
almost  entirely ;  and  such  was  the  supine  negligence  of  the  Spaniards,  or 
the  defects  of  their  commercial  arrangements,  that  they  were  obliged  to 
receive  from  the  hands  of  foreigners  this  production  of  their  own  colonies 
at  an  exorbitant  price.  In  order  to  remedy  an  evil  no  less  disgraceful  than 
pernicious  to  his  subjects,  Philip  V.,  in  the  year  1728,  granted  to  a  body 
of  merchants  an  exclusive  right  to  the  commerce  with  Caraccas  and 
Cumana,  on  condition  of  their  employing,  at  their  own  expense,  a  sufficient 
number  of  armed  vessels  to  clear  the  coast  of  interlopers.  This  society, 
distinguished  sometimes  by  the  name  of  the  Company  of  Guipuscoa,  from 
the  province  of  Spain  in  which  it  is  established,  and  sometimes  by  that  of 
the  Company  of  Caraccas,  from  the  district  of  America  to  which  it  trades, 
has  carried  on  its  operations  with  such  vigour  and  success,  that  Spain  has 
recovered  an  important  branch  of  commerce  which  she  had  suffered  to  be 
wrested  from  her,  and  is  plentifully  supplied  with  an  article  of  extensive 
consumption  at  a  moderate  price.  Not  only  the  parent  state,  but  .the  colony 
of  Caraccas,  has  derived  great  advantages  from  this  institution ;  for 
although,  at  the  first  aspect,  it  may  appear  to  be  one  of  those  monopolies 
whose  tendency  is  to  check  the  spirit  of  industry  instead  of  calling  it  forth 
to  new  exertions,  it  has  been  prevented  from  operating  in  this  manner  by 
several  salutary  regulations  framed  upon  foresight  of  such  bad  effects,  and 
on  purpose  to  obviate  them.  The  planters  in  the  Caraccas  are  not  left  to 
depend  entirely  on  the  company,  either  for  the  importation  of  European 
commodities  or  the  sale  of  their  own  productions.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
Canary  islands  have  the  privilege  of  sending  thither  annually  a  register 
ship  of  considerable  burden ;  and  from  Vera  Cruz,  in  New  Spain,  a  free 
trade  is  permitted  in  every  port  comprehended  in  the  charter  of  the 
company.  In  consequence  of  this,  there  is  such  a  competition,  that  both 
with  respect  to  what  the  colonies  purchase  and  what  they  sell,  the  price 
seems  to  be  fixed  at  its  natural  and  equitable  rate.  The  company  has  not 
the  power  of  raising  the  former,  or  of  degrading  the  latter,  at  pleasure  ; 
and  accordingly,  since  it  was  established,  the  increase  of  culture,  of  popu- 
lation, and  of  live  stock,  in  the  province  of  Caraccas,  has  been  very  consi- 
derable [191]. 

But  as  it  is  slowly  that  nations  relinquish  any  system  which  time  has 
rendered  venerable,  and  as  it  is  still  more  slowly  that  commerce  can  be 
diverted  from  the  channel  in  which  it  has  long  been  accustomed  to  flow, 
Philip  V.,  in  his  new  regulations  concerning  the  American  tirade,  paid  such 
deference  to  the  ancient  maxim  of  Spain,  concerning  the  limitation  of 
importation  from  the  New  World  to  one  harbour,  as  to  oblige  both  the 
register  ships  which  returned  from  Peru,  and  those  of  the  Guipuscoan 
Company  from  Caraccas,  to  deliver  their  cargoes  in  the  port  of  Cadiz. 
Since  his  jeign,  sentiments  more  liberal  and  enlarged  begin  to  spread  in 
Spain.  The  spirit  of  philosophical  inquiry,  which  it  is  the  glory  of  the 
present  age  to  have  turned  from  frivolous  or  abstruse  speculations  to  the 
business  and  affairs  of  men,  has  extended  its  influence  beyond  the  ^Pyre- 
nees. In  the  researches  of  ingenious  authors  concerning  the  police  or 

VOL.  I.-48  18 


378  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

commerce  of  nations,  the  errors  and  defects  of  the  Spanish  system  with 
respect  to  both  met  every  eye,  and  have  not  only  been  exposed  with  seve- 
rity, but  are  held  up  as  a  warning  to  other  states.  The  Spaniards,  stung 
with  the  reproaches  of  these  authors,  or  convinced  by  their  arguments, 
and  admonished  by  several  enlightened  writers  of  their  own  country,  seem 
at  length  to  have  discovered  the  destructive  tendency  of  those  narrow 
maxims,  which,  by  cramping  commerce  in  all  its  operations,  have  so  long 
retarded  its  progress.  It  is  to  the  monarch  now  on  the  throne  that  Spain  is 
indebted  for  the  first  public  regulation  formed  in  consequence  of  such 
enlarged  ideas. 

While  Spain  adhered  with  rigour  to  her  ancient  maxim  concerning  her 
commerce  with  America,  she  was  so  much  afraid  of  opening  any  channel 
by  which  an  illicit  trade  might  find  admission  into  the  colonies,  that  she 

§  almost  shut  herself  out  from  any  intercourse  with  them  but  that  which  was 

carried  on  by  her  annual  fleets.  There  was  no  establishment,  for  a  regular 
communication  of  either  public  or  private  intelligence,  between  the  mother 
country  and  its  American  settlements.  From  the  want  of  this  necessary 
institution,  the  operations  of  the  state,  as  well  as  the  business  of  individuals, 
were  retarded,  or  conducted  unskilfully,  and  Spain  often  received  from 
foreigners  he,r  first  information  with  respect  to  very  interesting  events  in 
her  own  colonies.  But  though  this  defect  in  police  was  sensibly  felt,  and 
the  remedy  for  it  was  obvious,  that  jealous  spirit  with  which  the  Spanish 
monarchs  guarded  the  exclusive  trade,  restrained  them  from  Applying  it. 
At  length  Charles  II I., surmounted  those  considerations  which  had  deterred 
his  predecessors,  and  in  the  year  1764  appointed  packet  boats  to  be 
despatched  on  the  first  day  of  each  month  from  Corugna  to  the  Havanna 
or  Porto  Rico.  From  thence  letters  are  conveyed  in  smaller  vessels  to 
Vera  Cruz  and  Porto  Bello,  and  transmitted  by  post  through  the  kingdoms 
of  Tierra  Firme,  Granada,  Peru,  and  New  Spain.  With  no  less  regularity 
packet  boats  sail  once  in  two  months  to  Rio  de  la  Plata,  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  provinces  to  the  east  of  the  Andes.  Thus  provision  is  made 
for  a  speedy  and  certain  circulation  of  intelligence  throughout  the  vast 
dominions  of  Spain,  from  which  equal  advantages  must  redound  to  the 
political  and  mercantile  interest  of  the  kingdom.*  With  this  new  ar- 
rangement a  scheme  of  extending  commerce  has  been  more  immediately 
connected.  Each  of  the  packet  boats,  which  are  vessels  of  some  consi- 
derable burden,  is  allowed  to  take  in  half  a  loading  of  such  commodities 
as  are  the  product  of  Spain,  and  most  in  demand  in  the  ports  whither  they 
are  bound.  In  return  for  these,  they  may  bring  home  to  Corugna  an  equal 
quantity  of  American  productions.!  This  may  be  considered  as  the  first 
relaxation  of  those  rigid  laws,  which  confined  the  trade  with  the  New 
World  to  a  single  port,  and  the  first  attempt  to  admit  the  rest  of  the  kingdom 
to  some  share  in  it. 

It  was  soon  followed  by  one  more  decisive.  In  the  year  1765,  Charles 
III.  laid  open  the  trade  to  the  windwarcf  islands,  Cuba,  Hispaniola,  Porto 
Rico,  Margarita,  and  Trinidad,  to  his  subjects  in  every  province  of  Spain. 
He  permitted  them  to  sail  from  certain  ports  in  each  province,  which  are 
specified  in  the  edict,  at  any  season,  and  with  whatever  cargo  they  deemed 
most  proper,  without  any  other  warrant  than  a  simple  clearance  from  the 
custom-house  of  the  place  whence  they  took  their  departure.  He  released 
them  from  the  numerous  and  oppressive  duties  imposed  on  goods  exported 
to  America,  and  in  place  of  the  whole  substituted  a  moderate  tax  of  six 
in  the  hundred  on  the  commodities  sent  from  Spain.  He  allowed  them  to 
return  either  to  the  same  port,  or  to  any  other  where  they  might  hope  for  a 
more  advantageous  market,  and  there  to  enter  the  homeward  cargo  or 
payment  of  the  usual  duties.  This  ample  privilege,  which  at  once  brok 

*  Pontz  Viage  de  Espagna,  vi.  Prol.  p.  15  t  Append,  ii.  a  la  Educ.  Pop.  p.  31. 


AMERICA  379 

through  all  the  fences  which  the  jealous  policy  of  Spain  had  been  labouring 
for  two  centuries  and  a  half  to  throw  round  its  commercial  intercourse 
with  the  New  World,  was  soon  after  extended  to  Louisiana,  and  to  the 
provinces  of  Yucatan  and  Campeachy.* 

The  propriety  of  this  innovation,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  most 
liberal  effort  of  Spanish  legislation,  has  appeared  from  its  effects.  Prior 
to  the  edict  in  favour  of  the  free  trade,  Spain  derived  hardly  any  benefit 
from  its  neglected  colonies  in  Hispanipla,  Porto  Rico,  Margarita,  and  Trini- 
dad. Its  commerce  with  Cuba  was  inconsiderable,  and  that  of  Yucatan 
and  Campeachy  was  engrossed  almost  entirely  by  interlopers.  But  as  soon 
as  a  general  liberty  of  trade  was  permitted,  the  intercourse  with  those  pro- 
vinces revived,  and  has  gone  on  with  a  rapidity  of  progression  of  which 
there  are  few  examples  in  the  history  of  nations.  In  less  than  ten  years, 
the  trade  of  Cuba  has  been  more  than  tripled.  Even  in  those  settlements 
where,  from  the  languishing  state  of  industry,  greater  efforts  were  requisite 
to  restore  its  activity,  their  commerce  has  been  doubled.  It  is  computed 
that  such  a  number  of  ships  is  already  employed  in  the  free  trade,  that  the 
tonnage  of  them  far  exceeds  that  of  the  Galeons  and  Flota  at  the  most 
flourishing  era  of  their  commerce.  The  benefits  of  this  arrangement  are 
not  confined  to  a  few  merchants  established  in  a  favourite  port.  They  are 
diffused  through  every  province  of  the  kingdom  ;  and,  by  opening  a  new 
market  for  their  various  productions  and  manufactures,  must  encourage 
and  add  vivacity  to  the  industry  of  the  farmer  and  artificer.  Nor  does 
the  kingdom  profit  only  by  what  it  exports  ;  it  derives  advantage  likewise 
from  what  it  receives  in  return,  and  has  the  prospect  of  being  soon  able  to 
supply  itself  with  several  commodities  of  extensive  consumption,  for  which 
it  formerly  depended  on  foreigners.  The  consumption  of  sugar  in  Spain 
is  perhaps  as  great,  in  proportion  to  the  number  ot  its  inhabitants,  as  that 
of  any  European  kingdom.  But  though  possessed  of  countries  in  the 
New  World  whose  soil  and  climate  are  most  proper  for  rearing  the  sugar- 
cane ;  though  the  domestic  culture  of  that  valuable  plant  in  the  kingdom  of 
Granada  was  once  considerable ;  such  has  been  the  fatal  tendency  of  ill 
judged  institutions  in  America,  and  such  the  pressure  of  improper  taxes  in 
Europe,  that  Spain  has  lost  almost  entirely  this  branch  of  industry,  which 
has  enriched  other  nations.  This  commodity,  which  has  now  become  an 
article  of  primary  necessity  in  Europe,  the  Spaniards  were  obliged  to  pur* 
chase  of  foreigners,  and  had  the  mortification  to  see  their  country  drained 
annually  of  .great  sums  on  that  account.!  But,  if  that  spirit  which  the  per- 
mission of  free  trade  has  put  in  motion  shall  persevere  in  its  efforts  with  the 
same  vigour,  the  cultivation  of  sugar  in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  >may  increase 
so  much,  that  in  a  few  years  it  is  probable  that  their  growth  of  sugars  may 
be  equal  to  the  demand  of  the  kingdom. 

Spain  has  been  induced,  by  her  experience  of  the  beneficial  conse- 
quences resulting  from  having  relaxed  somewhat  of  the  rigour  of  her  ancient 
laws,  with  respect  to  the  commerce  of  the  mother  country  with  the  colo- 
nies, to  permit  a  more  liberal  intercourse  of  one  colony  with  another.  By 
one  of  the  jealous  maxims  of  the  old  system,  all  the  provinces  situated  on 
the  South  seas  were  prohibited,  under  the  most  severe  penalties,  from 
holding  any  communication  with  one  another.  Though  each  of  these  yields 
peculiar  productions,  the  reciprocal  exchange  of  which  might  have  added 
to  the  happiness  of  their  respective  inhabitants,  or  have  facilitated  their 
progress  in  industry,  so  solicitous  was  the  Council  of  the  Indies  to  prevent 
their  receiving  any  supply  of  their  wants  but  by  the  periodical  fleets  from 
Europe,  that,  in  order  to  guard  against  this,  it  cruelly  debarred  the  Span- 
iards in  Peru,  in  the  southern  provinces  of  New  Spain,  in  Guatimala,  and 
the  new  kingdom  of  Granada,  from  such  a  correspondence  with  their  fellow 

*  Append,  ii.  a  la  Educ.  Pop.  37. 54.  91.  f  Jztariz,  c.  94. 


380  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

•subjects  as  tended  manifestly  to  their  mutual  prosperity.  Of  all  the  nume- 
rous restrictions  devised  by  Spain  for  securing  the  exclusive  trade  with  her 
American  settlements,  none  perhaps  was  more  illiberal,  none  seems  to 
have  been  more  sensibly  felt,  or  to  have  produced  more  hurtful  effects. 
This  grievance,  coeval  with  the  settlements  of  Spain  in  the  countries  situ- 
ated on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  is  at  last  redressed.  In  the  year  1774,  Charles 
III.  published  an  edict,  granting  to  the  four  great  provinces  which  I  have 
mentioned  the  privilege  of  a  free  trade  with  each  other.*  [192]  What 
may  be  the  effects  of  opening  this  communication  between  countries  des- 
tined by  their  situation  for  reciprocal  intercourse,  cannot  yet  be  determined 
by  experience.  They  can  hardly  fail  of  being  beneficial  and  extensive. 
The  motives  for  granting  this  permission  are  manifestly  no  less  laudable 
than  the  principle  on  which  it  is  founded  is  liberal ;  and  both  discover  the 
progress  of  a  spirit  in  Spain,  far  elevated  above  the  narrow  prejudices  and 
maxims  on  which  her  system  for  regulating  the  trade  and  conducting  the 
government  of  her  colonies  was  originally  founded. 

At  the  same  time  that  Spain  has  been  intent  on  introducing  regulations, 
suggested  by  more  enlarged  views  of  policy,  into  her  system  of  American 
commerce,  she  has  not  been  inattentive  to  the  interior  government  of  her 
colonies.  Here,  too,  there  was  much  room  for  reformation  and  improve- 
ment ;  and  Don  Joseph  Galvez,  who  has  now  the  direction  of  the  depart- 
ment of  Indian  affairs  in  Spain,  has  enjoyed  the  best  opportunities,  not  only 
of  observing  the  defects  and  corruption  in  the  political  frame  of  the  colo- 
nies, but  of  discovering  the  sources  of  those  evils.  After  being  employed 
seven  years  in  the  New  World  on  an  extraordinary  mission,  and  with  very- 
extensive  powers,  as  inspector-general  of  New  Spain  ;  after  visiting  in  per- 
son the  remote  provinces  of  Cinaloa,  Sonora,  and  California,  and  making 
several  important  alterations  in  the  state  of  the  police  and  revenue  ;  he 
began  his  ministry  with  a  general  reformation  of  the  tribunals  of  justice  in 
America.  In  consequence  of  the  progress  of  population  and  wealth  in  the 
colonies,  the  business  of  the  Courts  of  Audience  has  increased  so  much 
that  the  number  of  judges  of  which  they  were  originally  composed  has 
been  found  inadequate  to  the  growing  labours  and  duties  of  the  office,  and 
the  salaries  settled  upon  them  have  been  deemed  inferior  to  the  dignity  of 
the  station.  As  a  remedy  for  both,  he  obtained  a  royal  edict,  establishing 
an  additional  number  of  judges  in  each  Court  of  Audience,  with  higher 
titles,  and  more  ample  appointments.! 

To  the  same  intelligent  minister  Spain  is  indebted  for  a  new  distribution 
of  government  in  its  American  provinces.  Even  since  the  establishment  ot 
a  third  viceroyalty  in  the  new  Kingdom  of  Granada,  so  great  is  the  extent 
of  the  Spanish  dominions  in  the  New  World,  that  several  places  subject  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  each  viceroy  were  at  such  an  enormous  distance  from 
the  capitals  in  which  they  resided,  that  neither  their  attention  nor  their 
authority  could  reach  so  tar.  Some  provinces  subordinate  to  the  viceroy 
of  New  Spain  lay  above  two  thousand  miles  from  Mexico.  There  were 
countries  subject  to  the  viceroy  of  Peru  still  further  from  Lima.  The 
people  in  those  remote  districts  could  hardly  be  said  to  enjoy  the  benefit 
.of  civil  government.  The  oppression  and  insolence  of  its  interior  ministers 
they  often  feel,  and  rather  suomit  to  these  in  silence  than  involve  them- 
selves in  the  expense  and  trouble  of  resorting  to  the  distant  capital,  where 
alone  they  can  find  redress.  As  a  remedy  for  this,  a  fourth  viceroyalty 
has  been  erected,  [Aug.  1776]  to  the  jurisdiction  of  which  are  subjected 
the  provinces  of  Rio  de  la  Plata,  Buenos  Ayres,  Paraguay,  Tucuman, 
Potosi,  St.  Cruz  de  la  Sierra  Charcas,  and  the  towns  of  Mendoza  and  St. 
Juan.  By  this  well  judged  arrangement  two  advantages  are  gained.  All 

*  Real  Cedula  penes  me.    Pontz  Viage  de  Espagna  vi.  Prclogo,  p.  2.          f  Gazeta  de  Madrid 
19th  March,  177 


.AMERICA.  381 

the  inconveniences  occasioned  by  the  remote  situation  of  those  provinces, 
which  had  been  long  felt,  and  long  complained  of,  are  in  a  great  measure 
removed.  The  countries  most  distant  from  Lima  are  separated  from  the 
viceroyalty  of  Peru,  and  united  under  a  superior,  whose  seat  of  govern- 
ment at  Buenos  Ayres  will  be  commodious  and  accessible.  The  contraband 
trade  with  the  Portuguese,  which  was  become  so  extensive  as  must  have 
put  a  final  stop  to  the  exportation  of  commodities  from  Spain  to  her 
southern  colonies,  may  be  checked  more  thoroughly,  and  with  greater 
facility,  when  the  supreme  magistrate,  by  his  vicinity  to  the  places  in 
which  it  is  carried  on,  can  view  its  progress  and  effects  with  his  own  eyes. 
Don  Pedro  Zevallos,  who  has  been  raised  to  this  new  dignity,  with 
appointments  equal  to  those  of  the  other  viceroys,  is  well  acquainted  both 
with  the  state  and  the  interests  of  the  countries  over  which  he  is  to  preside, 
having  served  in  them  long,  and  with  distinction.  By  this  dismemberment, 
succeeding  that,  which  took  place  at  the  erection  of  the  viceroyalty  of  the 
new  kingdom  of  Granada,  almost  two-third  parts  of  the  territories  ori- 
ginally subject  to  the  viceroys  of  Peru,  are  now  lopped  off  from  their 
jurisdiction. 

The  limits  of  the  viceroyalty  of  New  Spain  have  likewise  been  conside- 
rably circumscribed,  and  with  no  less  propriety  and  discernment.  Four  of 
its  most  remote  provinces,  Sonora,  Cinaloa,  California,  and  New  Navarre, 
have  been  formed  into  a  separate  government.  The  Chevalier  de  Crpix, 
who  is  intrusted  with  this  command,  is  not  dignified  with  the  title  of  vice- 
roy, nor  does  he  enjoy  the  appointments  belonging  to  that  rank;  but  his 
jurisdiction  is  altogether  independent  on  the  viceroyalty  of  New  Spain. 
The  erection  of  this  last  government  seems  to  have  been  suggested  not  only 
by  the  consideration  of  the  remote  situation  of  those  provinces  from  Mexico, 
but  by  attention  to  the  late  discoveries  made  there  which  I  have  men- 
tioned.* Countries  containing  the  richest  mines  of  gold  that  have  hitherto 
been  discovered  in  the  New  World,  and  which  probably  may  rise  into 
greater  importance,  required  the  immediate  inspection  of  a  governor  to 
whom  they  should  be  specially  committed.  As  every  consideration  of 
duty,  of  interest,  and  of  vanity,  must  concur  in  prompting  those  new 
governors  to  encourage  such  exertions  as  tend  to  diffuse  opulence  and  pros- 
perity through  the  provinces  committed  to  their  charge,  the  beneficial 
effects  of  this  arrangement  may  be  considerable.  Many  districts  in  Ame- 
rica, long  depressed  by  the  languor  and  feebleness  natural  to  provinces 
which  compose  the  extremities  of  an  overgrown  empire,  may  be  animated 
with  vigour  and  activity  when  brought  so  near  the.  seat  of  power  as  to  feel 
its  invigorating  influence. 

Such,  since  the  accession  of  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  to  the 
throne  of  Spain,  has  been  the  progress  of  their  regulations,  arid  the  gradual 
expansion  of  their  views  with  respect  to  the  commerce  and  government  of 
their  American  colonies.  Nor  has  their  attention  been  so  entirely  engrossed 
by  what  related  to  the  more  remote  parts  of  their  dominions,  as  tcTrender 
them  neglectful  of  what  was  still  more  important,  the  reformation  of  domes- 
tic errors  and  defects  in  policy.  Fully  sensible  of  the  causes  to  which  the 
declension  of  Spain  from  her  former  prosperity  ought  to  be  imputed,  they 
have  made  it  a  great  object  of  their  policy  to  revive  a  spirit  of  industry 
among  their  subjects,  and  to  give  such  extent  and  perfection  to  their  manu- 
factures as  may  enable  them  to  supply  the  demands  of  America  from  their 
own  stock,  and  to  exclude  foreigners  from  a  branch  of  commerce  which  has 
been  so  fatal  to  the  kingdom.  This  they  have  endeavoured  to  accomplish 
by  a  variety  of  edicts  issued  since  the  peace  of  Utrecht.  They  have 
granted  bounties  for  the  encouragement  of  some  branches  of  industry  ;  they 
have  lowered  the  taxes  on  others  ;  they  have  either  entirely  prohibited,  or 


382  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

have  loaded  with  additional  duties,  such  foreign  manufactures  as  come  in 
competition  with  their  own  ;  they  have  instituted  societies  for  the  improve- 
ment of  trade  and  agriculture  ;  they  have  planted  colonies  of  husbandmen 
in  some  uncultivated  districts  of  Spain,  and  divided  among  them  the  waste 
fields  ;  they  have  had  recourse  to  every  expedient  devised  by  commercial 
wisdom  or  commercial  jealousy,  for  reviving  their  own  industry,  and  dis- 
countenancing 4hat  of  other  nations.  These,  however,  it  is  not  my  pro- 
vince to  explain,  or  to  inquire  into  their  propriety  and  effects.  There  is 
no  effort  of  legislation  more  arduous,  no  experiment  in  policy  more  uncer- 
tain than  an  attempt  to  revive  the  spirit  of  industry  where  it  has  declined, 
or  to  introduce  it  where  it  is  unknown.  Nations,  already  possessed  of 
extensive  commerce,  enter  into  competition  with  such  advantages,  derived 
from  the  large  capitals  and  extensive  credit  of  their  merchants,  the  dexterity 
of  their  manufacturers,  and  the  alertness  acquired  by  habit  in  every  depart- 
ment of  business,  that  the  state  which  aims  at  rivalling  or  supplanting  them, 
must  expect  to  struggle  with  many  difficulties,  and  l>e  content  to  advance 
slowly.  If  the  quantity  of  productive  industry,  now  in  Spain,  be  compared 
with  that  of  the  kingdom  under  the  last  listless  moriarchs  of  the  Austrian 
line,  its  progress  must  appear  considerable,  and  is  sufficient  to  alarm  the 
jealousy,  and  to  call  forth  the  most  vigorous  efforts  of  the  nations  now  in 
possession  of  the  lucrative  trade  which  the  Spaniards  aim  at  wresting  from 
them.  One  circumstance  may  render  those  exertions  of  &pain  an  object 
of  more  serious  attention  to  the  other  European  powers.  They  are  not  to 
be  ascribed  wholly  to  the  influence  of  the  crown  and  its  ministers.  The 
sentiments  and  spirit  of  the  people  seem  to  second  the  provident  care  of 
their  monarchs,  and  to  give  it  greater  effect.  The  nation  has  adopted  more 
liberal  ideas,  not  only  with  respect  to  commerce,  but  domestic  policy.  In 
all  the  later  Spanish  writers,  defects  in  the  arrangement  of  their  country 
concerning  both  are  acknowledged,  and  remedies  proposed,  which  ignorance 
rendered  their  ancestors  incapable  of  discerning,  and  pride  would  not  have 
allowed  them  to  confess  [193].  But  after  all  that  the  Spaniards  have 
done,  much  remains  to  do.  Many  pernicious  institutions  and  abuses,  deeply 
incorporated  with  the  system  of  internal  policy  and  taxation,  which  has 
been  long  established  in  Spain,  must  be  abolished  before  industry  and 
manufactures  can  recover  an  extensive  activity. 

Still,  however,  the  commercial  regulations  of  Spain  with  respect  to  her 
colonies  are  too  rigid  and  systematical  to  be  carried  into  complete  execu- 
tion. The  legislature  that  loads  trade  with  impositions  too  heavy,  or  fet- 
ters it  by  restrictions  too  severe,  defeats  its  own  intention,  and  is  only  mul- 
tiplying the  inducements  to  violate  its  statutes,  and  proposing  a  high  pre- 
mium to  encourage  illicit  traffic.  The  Spaniards,  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  being  circumscribed  in  their  mutual  intercourse,  by  the  jealousy 
of  the  crown,  or  oppressed  by  its  exactions,  have  their  invention  continually 
on  the  stretch  how  to  elude  its  edicts.  The  vigilance  and  ingenuity  of 
private  interest  discover  means  of  effecting  this,  which  public  wisdom  can- 
not foresee  nor  public  authority  prevent.  This  spirit,  counteracting  that 
of  the  laws,  pervades  the  commerce  of  Spain  with  America  in  all  its 
branches ;  and  from  the  highest  departments  in  government  descends  to 
the  lowest.  The  very  officers  appointed  to  check  contraband  trade  are 
often  employed  as  instruments  in  carrying  it  on  ;  and  the  boards  instituted 
to  restrain  and  punish  it  are  the  channels  through  which  it  flows.  The 
King  is  supposed,  by  the  most  intelligent  Spanish  writers,  to  be  defrauded, 
by  various  artifices,  of  more  than  one  half  of  the  revenue  which  he  ought 
to  receive  from  America  ;*  and  as  long1  as  it  is  the  interest  of  so  many 
persons  to  screen  those  artifices  from  detection,  the  knowledge  of  them 
will  never  reach  the  throne.  "  How  many  ordinances,"  says  Corita,  "  how 

*  Sotorz.  de  Ind.  Jure,  ii.  lib.  v,' 


AMERICA.  383 

many  instructions,  how  many  letters  from  our  sovereign,  are  sent  in  order 
to  correct  abuses !  and  how  little  are  they  observed,  and  what  small  ad- 
vantage is  derived  from  them  !  To  me  the  old  observation  appears  just, 
thai  where  there  are  many  physicians  and  many  medicines,  there  is  a  want 
of  health ;  where  there  are  many  laws  and  many  judges,  there  is  want 
of  justice.  We  have  viceroys,  presidents,  governors,  oydors,  corrigidors, 
alcaldes  ;  and  thousands  of  alguazils  abound  every  where  ;  but  notwith- 
standing all  these,  public  abuses  continue  to  multiply."*  Time  has  in- 
creased the  evils  which  he  lamented  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Philip  II. 
A  spirit  of  corruption  has  infected  all  the  colonies  of  Spain  in  America. 
Men  far  removed  from  the  seal  of  government ;  impatient  to  acquire  wealth, 
that  they  may  return  speedily  from  what  they  are  apt  to  consider  as  a  state 
of  exile  in  a  remote  unhealthful  country ;  allured  by  opportunities  too 
tempting  to  be  resisted,  and  seduced  by  me  example  of  those  around  them  ; 
find  their  sentiments  of  honour  and  of  duty  gradually  relax.  In  private 
life  they  give  themselves  up  to  a  dissolute  luxury,  while  in  their  public 
conduct  they  become  unmindful  of  what  they  owe  to  their  sovereign  and 
to  their  country. 

Before  I  close  this  account  of  the  Spanish  trade  in  America  there  remains 
one  detached  but  important  branch  of  it  to  be  mentioned.  Soon  after  his 
accession  to  the  throne,  Philip  II.  formed  a  scheme  of  planting;  a  colony  in 
the  Philippine  islands  which  had  been  neglected  since  the  time  of  their 
discovery  ;  and  he  accomplished  it  by  means  of  an  armament  fitted  out 
from  New  Spainj  [1564].  Manila,  in  the  island  of  Luconia,  was  the  sta- 
tion chosen  for  the  capital  of  this  new  establishment.  From  it  an  active 
commercial  intercourse  began  with  the  Chinese,  and  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  that  industrious  people,  allured  by  the  prospect  of  gain,  settled  in 
the  Philippine  islands  under  the  Spanish  protection.  They  supplied  the 
colony  so  amply  with  all  the  valuable  productions  and  manufactures  of  the 
East  as  enabled  it  to  open  a  trade  with  America,  by  a  course  of  navigation 
the  longest  from  land  to  land  on  our  globe.  In  the  infancy  of  this  trade, 
it  was  carried  on  with  Callao,  on  the  coast  of  Peru  ;  but  experience  having 
discovered  the  impropriety  of  fixing  upon  that  as  the  port  of  communica- 
tion with  Manila,  the  staple  of  the  commerce  between  the  East  and  West 
was  removed  from  Callao  to  Acapulco,  on  the  coast  of  New  Spain. 

After  various  arrangements  it  has  been  brought  into  a  regular  form.  One 
or  two  ships  depart  annually  from  Acapulco,  which  are  permitted  to  carry 
out  silver  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  thousand  pesos  ;J  but  they  have 
hardly  any  thing  else  of  value  on  board  ;  in  return  for  which  they  bring 
back  spices,  drugs,  china,  and  japan  wares,  calicoes,  chintz,  muslins,  silks, 
and  every  precious  article  with  which  the  benignity  of  the  climate,  or  the 
ingenuity  of  its  people  has  enabled  the  East  to  supply  the  rest  of  the 
world.  For  some  time  the  merchants  of  Peru  were  admitted  to  partici- 
pate in  this  traffic,  and  might  send  annually  a  ship  to  Acapulco,  to  wait 
the  arrival  of  the  vessels  from  Manila,  and  receive  a  proportional  share  of 
the  commodities  which  they  imported.  At  length  the  Peruvians  were  ex- 
cluded from  this  trade  by  most  rigorous  edicts,  arid  all  the  commodities 
from  the  East  reserved  solely  for  the  consumption  of  New  Spain. 

In  consequence  of  this  indulgence,  the  inhabitants  of  that  country  enjoy 
advantages  unknown  in  the  other  Spanish  colonies.  The  manufactures  of 
the  East  are  not  only  more  suited  to  a  warm  climate,  and  more  showy 
than  those  of  Europe,  but  can  be  sold  at  a  lower  price  ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  the  profits  upon  them  are  so  considerable  as  to  enrich  ail  those  who 
are  employed  either  in  bringing  them  from  Manila  or  vending  them  in 
New  Spain.  As  the  interest  both  of  the  buyer  and  seller  concurred  in 
favouring  this  branch  of  commerce,  it  has  continued  to  extend  in  spite  of 

*  Mrf.  penes  me.        f  Torquem.  i.  lib.  v.  c.  14.        J  Kecop.  lib.  ix.  e.  45. 1.  6. 


384  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

regulations  concerted  with  the  most  anxious  jealousy  to  circumscribe  it. 
Under  cover  of  what  the  laws  permit  to  be  imported,  great  quantities  of 
India  goods  are  poured  into  the  markets  of  New  Spain  [194]  ;  and  when 
the  Flota  arrives  at  Vera  Cruz  from  Europe,  it  often  finds  the  wants  of  the 
peoole  already  supplied  by  cheaper  and  more  acceptable  commodities. 

There  is  not,  in  the  commercial  arrangements  of  Spain,  any  circum- 
stance more  inexplicable  than  the  permission  of  this  trade  between  New 
Spain  and  the  Philippines,  or  more  repugnant  to  its  fundamental  maxim 
ot  holding  the  colonies  in  perpetual  dependence  on  the  mother  country,  by 
prohibiting  any  commercial  intercourse  that  might  suggest  to  them  the  idea 
of  receiving  a  supply  of  their  wants  from  any  other  quarter.  This  per- 
mission must  appear  still  more  extraordinary,  from  considering  that  Spain 
herself  carries  on  no  direct  trade  with  her  settlements  in  the  Philippines, 
and  grants  a  privilege  to  one  of  her  American  colonies  which  she  denies  to 
her  subjects  in  Europe.  It  is  probable  that  the  colonists,  who  originally 
took  possession  of  the  Philippines,  having  been  sent  out  from  New  Spain, 
began  this  intercourse  with  a  country  which  they  considered,  in  some 
measure,  as  their  parent  state,  before  the  court  of  Madrid  was  aware  of 
its  consequences,  or  could  establish  regulations  in  order  to  prevent  it. 
Many  remonstrances  have  been  presented  against  this  trade,  as  detrimental 
to  Spain,  by  diverting  into  another  channel  a  large  portion  of  that  trea- 
sure which  ought  to  flow  into  the  kingdom,  as  tending  to  give  rise  to  a 
spirit  of  independence  in  the  colonies,  and  to  encourage  innumerable 
frauds,  against  which  it  is  impossible  to  guard,  in  transactions  so  far  re- 
moved from  the  inspection  of  government.  But  as  it  requires  no  slight 
effort  of  political  wisdom  and  vigour  to  abolish  any  practice  which  num- 
bers are  interested  in  supporting,  and  to  which  time  has  added  the  sanc- 
tion of  its  authority ,  the  commerce  between  New  Spain  and  Manila  seems 
to  be  as  considerable  as  ever,  and  may  be  considered  as  one  chief  cause 
of  the  elegance  and  splendour  conspicuous  in  this  part  of  the  Spanish 
dominions. 

But  notwithstanding  this  general  conniption  in  the  colonies  of  Spain,  and 
the  diminution  of  the  income  belonging  to  the  public,  occasioned  by  the 
illicit  importations  made  by  foreigners,  as  well  as  by  the  various  frauds  of 
which  the  colonists  themselves  are  guiltyin  their  commerce  with  the  parent 
state,  the  Spanish  monarchs  receive  a  very  considerable  revenue  from  their 
American  dominions.  This  arises  from  taxes  of  various  kinds,  which  may 
be  divided  into  three  capital  branches.  The  first  contains  what  is  paid 
to  the  King,  as  sovereign,  or  superior  lord  of  the  New  World  :  to  this  class 
belongs  the  duty  on  the  gold  and  silver  raised  from  the  mines,  and  the 
tribute  exacted  from  the  Indians ;  the  former  is  termed  by  the  Spaniards 
the  right  of  signiory,  the  latter  is  the  duty  of  vassalage.  The  second 
branch  comprehends  the  numerous  duties  upon  commerce  which  accom- 
pany and  oppress  it  in  every  step  of  its  progress,  from  the  greatest  transactions 
of  the  wholesale  merchant  to  the  petty  traffic  of  the  vender  by  retail.  The 
third  includes  what  accrues  to  the  king,  as  head  of  the.  church,  and  adminis- 
trator of  ecclesiastical  funds  in  the  New  World.  In  consequence  of  this 
he  receives  the  first  fruits,  annates,  spoils,  and  other  spiritual  revenues, 
levied  by  the  apostolic  chamber  in  Europe  ;  and  is  entitled  likewise  to  the 
profit  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  bull  of  Cruzado.  This  bull,  which  is 
published  every  two  years,  contains  an  absolution  from  past  offences  by  the 
Pope,  and,  among  other  immunities,  a  permission  to  eat  several  kinds  of 
prohibited  food  during  Lent,  and  on  meagre  days.  The  monks  employed 
in  dispersing  those  bulls  extol  their  virtues  with  all  the  fervour  of  interested 
eloquence ;  the  people,  ignorant  and  credulous,  listen  with  implicit  assent ; 
and  every  person  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  of  European,  Creolian,  or  mixed 
race,  purchases  a  bull,  which  is  deemed  essential  to  his  salvation,  at  the 
rate  set  upon  it  by  government  [195]. 


AMERICA.  385 

What  may  be  the  amount  of  those  various  funds,  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  determine  with  precision.  The  extent  of  the  Spanish  dominions  in 
America,  the  jealousy  of  government,  which  renders  them  inaccessible  to 
foreigners,  the  mysterious  silence  which  the  Spaniards  are  accustomed 
to  observe  with  respect  to  the  interior  state  of  their  colonies,  combine  in 
covering  this  subject  with  a  veil  which  it  is  not  easy  to  remove.  But  an 
account,  apparently  nd  less  accurate  than  it  is  curious,  has  lately  been 
published  of  the  royal  revenue  in  New  Spain,  from  which  we  ma*y  form 
some  idea  with  respect  to  what  is  collected  in  the  other  provinces. 
According  to  that  account  the  crown  does  not  receive  from  all  the  depart- 
ments of  taxation  in  New  Spain  above  a  million  of  our  money,  from  which 
one  half  must  be  deducted  as  the  expense  of  the  provincial  establish- 
ment [196].  Peru,  it  is  probable,  yields  a  sum  not  inferior  to  this  ;  and  if 
we  suppose  that  all  the  other  regions  oT  America,  including  the  islands, 
furnish  a  third  share  of  equal  value,  we  shall  not  perhaps  be  far  wide 
from  the  truth  if  we  conclude  that  the  net  public  revenue  of  Spain,  raised 
in  America,  does  not  exceed  a  million  and  a  half  sterling.  This  falls  far 
short  of  the  immense  sums  to  which  suppositions,  founded  upon  conjecture, 
have  raised  the  Spanish  revenue  in  America  [197].  .  It  is  remarkable, 
however,  upon  one  account.  Spain  and  Portugal  are  the  only  European 
powers  who  derive  a  direct  revenue  from  their  colonies.  All  the  advan- 
tage that  accrues  to  other  nations  from  their  American  dominions  arise? 
from  the  exclusive  enjoyment  of  their  trade  :  but  besides  this,  Spain  has 
brought  her  colonies  towards  increasing  the  power  of  the  state*  and,  in 
return  for  protection,  to  bear  a  proportional  share  of  the  common  burden. 

Accordingly,  the  sum  which  I  have  computed  to  be  the  amount  of  the 
Spanish  revenue  from  America  arises  wholly  from  the  taxes  collected 
there,  and  is  far  from  being  the  whole  of  what  accrues  to  the  king  from 
his  dominions  in  the  New  World.  The  heavy  duties  imposed  on  the  com- 
modities exported  from  Spain  to  America  [198],  as  well  as  what  is  paid 
by  those  which  she  sends  home  in  return  ;  the  tax  upon  the  Negro  slaves 
with  which  Africa  supplies  the  New  World,  together  with  several  smaller 
branches  of  finance,  bring  large  sums  into  the  treasury,  the  precise  extent 
of  which  1  cannot  pretend  to  ascertain. 

But  if  the  revenue  which  Spain  draws  from  America  be  great,  the 
expense  of  administration  in  her  colonies  bears  proportion  to  it.  In  every 
department,  even  of  her  domestic  police  and  finances,  Spain  has  adopted 
a  system  more  complex,  and  more  encumbered  with  a  variety  of  tribunals 
and  a  multitude  of  officers,  than  that  of  any  European  nation  in  which  the 
sovereign  possesses  such  extensive  power.  From  the  jealous  spirit  with 
which  opain  watches  over  her  American  settlements,  and  her  endeavours 
to  guard  against  fraud  in  provinces  so  remote  from  inspection,  boards 
and  officers  have  been  multiplied  there  with  still  more  anxious  attention. 
In  a  country  where  the  expense  of  living  is  great,  the  salaries  allotted  to 
every  person  in  public  office  must  be  high,  and  must  load  the  revenue  with 
an  immense  burden.  The  parade  of  government  greatly-  augments  the 
weight  of  it.  The  viceroys  of  Mexico,  Peru,  and  the  new  kingdom  of 
Granada,  as  representatives  of  the  king's  person,  among  people  fond  of 
ostentation,  maintain  all  the  state  and  dignity  of  royalty.  Their  courts 
are  formed  upon  the  model  of  that  at  Madrid,  with  horse  and  foot  guards, 
a  household  regularly  established,  numerous  attendants,  and  ensigns  of 
power,  displaying  such  pomp  as  hardly  retains  the  appearance  of  a  dele- 
gated authority.  All  the  expense  incurred  by  supporting  the  external  and 
permanent  order  of  government  is  defrayed  by  the  crown.  .The  viceroys 
have,  besides,  peculiar  appointments  suited  to  their  exalted  station.  The 
salaries  fixed  by  law  are  indeed  extremely  moderate  ;  that  of  the 
viceroy  of  Peru  is  only  thirty  thousand  ducats;  and  that  of  the  viceroy- 

VOL.  I.— 49 


386  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  VIII. 

of  Mexico  twenty  thousand  ducats.*    Of  late  they  have  been  raised  to  forty 
thousand. 

These  salaries,  however,  constitute  but  a  small  part  of  the  revenue 
enjoyed  by  the  viceroys.  The  exercise  of  an  absolute  authority  extending 
to  every  department  of  government,  and  the  power  of  disposing  of  many 
lucrative  offices,  afford  mem  many  opportunities  of  accumulating  wealth. 
To  these,  which  may  be  considered  as  legal  and*  allowed  .emoluments, 
large  sums  are  often  added  by  exactions,  which, -in  countries  so  far  removed 
from  the  seat  of  government,  it  is  not  easy  to  discover,  and  impossible  to 
restrain.  By  monopolising  some  branches  of  commerce,  by  a  lucrative 
concern  in  others,  by  conniving  at  the  frauds  of  merchants,  a  viceroy  may 
raise  such  an  annual  revenue  as  no  subject  of  any  European  monarch 
enjoys  [199].  From  the  single  article  of  presents  made  to  him  on  the 
anniversary  of  his  Name-day  (which  is  always  observed  as  a  high  festival), 
1  am  informed  that  a  viceroy  has  been  known  to  receive  sixty  thousand 
pesos.  According  to  a  Spanish  saying,  the  legal  revenues  of  a  viceroy  are 
unknown,  his  real  profits  depend  upon  his  opportunities  and  his  conscience. 
Sensible  of  this,  the  kingvS  of  Spain,  as  I  have  formerly  observed,  grant  a 
commission  to  their  viceroys  only  for  a  few  years.  This  circumstance, 
however,  renders  them  often  more  rapacious,  and  adds  to  the  ingenuity  and 
ardour  wherewith  they  labour  to  improve  every  moment  of  a  power  which 
they  know  is  hastening  fast  to  a  period ;  and  short  as  its  duration  is,  it 
usually  affords  sufficient  time  for  repairing  a  shattered  fortune,  or  for 
creating  a  new  one.  But  even  in  situations  so  trying  to  human  frailty,  there 
are  instances  of  virtue  that  remains  unreduced.  In  the  year  1772,  the 
Marquis  de  Croix  finished  the  term  of  his  viceroyalty  in  New  Spain  with 
unsuspected  integrity  ;  and,  instead  of  bringing  nome  exorbitant  wealth, 
returned  with  the  admiration  and  applause  of  a  grateful  people,  whom  his 
government  had  rendered  happy. 

*R6cop.lib.iiLtit.Hi.c.78. 


THE 

HISTORY    OF   AMERICA. 

BOOKS  IX.  AND  X. 


CONTAINING    THE 


HISTORY  OF  VIRGINIA 

TO  THE  YEAR  1688; 


AND  THE 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

TO  THE  YEAR  1652 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  original  plan  of  my  father*  the  late  Dr.  Robertson,  with  respect  to 
the  history  of  America,  comprehended  not  only  an  account  of  the  discovery 
of  that  countiy,  and  of  the  conquests  and  colonies  of  the  Spaniards,  but 
embraced  also  the  history  of  the  British  and  Portuguese  establishments  in 
the  New  World,  and  of  the  settlements  made  by  the  several  nations  of 
Europe  in  the  West  India  Islands.  It  was  his  intention  not  to  have  pub- 
lished any  part  of  the  Work  until  the  whole  was  completed.  In  the 
Preface  to  his  History  of  America,  he  has  stated  the  reasons  which  induced 
him  to  depart  from  that  resolution,  and  to  publish  the  two  volumes  which 
contain  an  account  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  and  of  the  progress 
of  the  Spanish  arms  and  colonies  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe.  He  says, 
"  he  had  made  some  progress  in  the  History  of  British  America ;"  and  he 
announces  his  intention  to  return  to  that  part  of  his  Work  as  soon  as  the 
ferment  which  at  that. time  prevailed  in  the  British  colonies  in  America 
should  subside,  and  regular  government  be  re-established.  Various  causes 
concurred  in  preventing  him  from  fulfilling  his  intention. 

During  the  course  of  a  tedious  illness,  which, he  early  foresaw  would 
have  a  fatal  termination,  Dr.  Robertson  at  different  times'  destroyed  many 
of  his  papers.  But  after  his  death,  I  found  that  part  of  the  History  of 
British  America  which  he  had  wrote  many  years  before,  and  which  is  now 
offered  to  the  Public.  It  is  written  with  his  own  hand,  as  all  his  Works 
were ;  it  is  as  carefully  corrected  as  any  part  of  his  manuscripts  which  1 
have  ever  seen;  and  he  had  thought  it  worthy  of  being  preserved,  as  it 
escaped  the  flames  to  which  so  many  other  papers  had  been  committed. 
I  read  it  with  the  utmost  attention;  but,  before  I  came  to  any  resolution 
about  the  publication,  I  put  the  MS.  into  the  hands  of  some  of  those  friends 
whom  my  father  used  to  consult  on  such  occasions,  as  it  would  have  been 
rashness  and  presumption  in  me  to  have  trusted  to  my  own  partial  decision. 
It  was  perused  by  some  other  persons  also,  in  whose  taste  and  judgment 
I  have  the  greatest  confidence  :  by  all  of  them  I  was  encouraged  to  offer  it 
to  the  Public,  as  a  fragment  curious  and  interesting  in  itself,  and  not  inferior 
to  any  of  my  father's  works. 

When  I  determined  to  follow  that  advice,  it  was  a  circumstance  of  great 
weight  with  me,  that  as  I  never  could  think  myself  at  liberty  to  destroy 
those  papers  which  my  father  had  thought  worthy  of  being  preserved,  and 
as  I  could  not  know  into  whose  hands  they  might  hereafter  fall,  I  con- 
sidered it  as  certain  that  they  would  be  published  at  some  future  period, 
when  they  might  meet  with  an  editor  who,  not  being  actuated  by  the  same 
sacred  regard  for  the  reputation  of  the  Author,  which  I  feel,  might  make 
alterations  and  additions,  and  obtrude  the  whole  on  the  public  as  a  genuine 
and  authentic  work.  The  MS.  is  now  published,  such  as  it  was  left  by 
the  Author;  nor  have  I  presumed  to  make  any  addition,  alteration,  or  cor- 
rection whatever. 

WM.  ROBERTSON. 

Q.UEEN-ST.,  EDINBURGH,  April,  1796 


THE 


HISTORY   OF  AMERICA 


BOOK  IX. 


THE  dominions  of  Great  Britain  in  America  are  next  in  extent  to  those 
of  Spain.  Its  acquisitions  there  are  a  recompense  due  to  those  enterprising 
talents  which  prompted  the  English  to  enter  early  on  the  career  of  discovery, 
and  to  pursue  it  with  persevering  ardour.  England  was  the  second  nation 
that  ventured  to  visit  the  New  World.  The  account  of  Columbia's  suc- 
cessful voyage  filled  all  Europe  with  astonishment  and  admiration.  But 
in  England  it  did  something  more  ;  it  excited  a  vehement  desire  of  emula- 
ting the  glory  of  Spain,  and  of  aiming  to  obtain  some  share  in  those  advan- 
tages which  were  expected  in  this  new  field  opened  to  national  activity. 
The  attention  of  the  English  court  had  been  turned  towards  the  discovery 
of  unknown  countries  by  its  negotiation  with  Bartholomew  Columbus. 
Henry  VII.  having  listened  to  his  propositions  with  a  more  favourable  ear 
than  could  have  been  expected  from  a  cautious,  distrustful  prince,  averse 
by  habit  as  well  as  by  temper  to  new  and  hazardous  projects,  he  was  more 
easily  induced  to  approve  of  a  voyage  for  discovery,  proposed  by  some 
of  his  own  subjects  soon  after  the  return  of  Christopher  Columbus. 

But  though  the  English  had  spirit  to  form  the  scheme,  they  had  not  at 
that  period  attained  to  such  skill  in  navigation  as  qualified  them  ior. carry- 
ing it  into  execution.  From  the  inconsiderate  ambition  of  its  monarchs, 
the  nation  had  long  wrasted  its  genius  and  inactivity  in  pernicious  and  inef- 
fectual efforts  to  conquer  P'rance.  When  this  ill-directed  ardour  began  to 
abate,  the  fatal  contest  between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  turned 
the  arms  of  one  half  of  the  kingdom  against  the  other,  and  exhausted  the 
vigour  of  both.  During  the  course  of  two  centuries,  while  industry  and 
commerce  were  making  gradual  progress,  both  in  the  south  and  north  of 
Europe,  the  English  continued  so  blind  to  the  advantages  of  their  own 
situation  that  they  hardly  began  to  bend  their  thoughts  towards  those 
objects  and  pursuits  to  which  they  are  indebted  for  their  present  opulence 
and  power.  While  the  trading  vessels  of  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  Hans  Towns,  visited  the  most  remote  ports  in  Europe, 
and  carried  on  an  active  intercourse  with  its  various  nations,  the  English 
did  little  more  than  creep  along  their  own  coasts,  in  small  barks,  which 
conveyed  the  productions  of  one  country  to  another.  Their  commerce 
was  almost  wholly  passive.  Their  wants  were  supplied  by  strangers  ; 
and  whatever  necessary  or  luxury  of  life  their  own  country  did  not  yield 
was  imported  in  foreign  bottoms.  The  cross  of  St.  George  was  seldom 
displayed  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  narrow  seas.  Hardly  any  English 


390  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

ship  traded  with  Spain  or  Portugal  before  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century ;  and  half  a  century  more  elapsed  before  the  English  marines 
became  so  adventurous  as  to  enter  the  Mediterranean. 

In  this  infancy  of  navigation,  Henry  could  not  commit  the  conduct  ot 
an  armament  destined  to  explore  unknown  regions  to  his  own  subjects. 
He  invested  Giovanni  Gaboto,  a  Venetian  adventurer,  who  had  settled  in 
Bristol,  with  the  chief  command  ;  and  issued  a  commission  to  him  and  his 
three  sons,  empowering  them  to  sail,  under  the  banner  of  England,  towards 
the  east,  nortn,  or  west,  in  order  to  discover  countries  unoccupied  by  any 
Christian  state  ;  to  take  possession  of  them  in  his  name,  and  to  carry  on  an 
exclusive  trade  with  the  inhabitants,  under  condition  of  paying  a  fifth  part 
of  the  free  profit  on  every  voyage  to  the  crown.  This  commission  was 
granted  on  March  5th,  1495,  in  less  than  two  years  after  the  return  of 
7  "ohimbus  from  America.*  But  Cabot  (for  that  is  the  name  he  assumed 
rti  England,  and  by  which  he  is  best  known)  did  not  set  out  on  his  voyage 
for  two  years.  He,  together  with  his  second  son  Sebastian,  embarked  at 
Bristol  [May,  1497],  on  board  a  ship  furnished  by  the  king,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  four  small  barks  fitted  out  by  the  merchants  of'  that  city. 

As  in  that  age  the  most  eminent  navigators,  formed  by  the  instructions  of 
Columbus,  or  animated -by  his  example,  were  guided  by  ideas  derived 
from  his  superior  knowledge  and  experience,  Cabot  had  adopted  the  system 
of  that  great  man  concerning  the. probability  of  opening  a  new  and  shorter 
passage  to  the  East  Indies  by  holding  a  western  course.  The  opinions 
which  Columbus  had  formed  with  respect  to  the  islands  which  he  had 
discovered,  were  universally  received.  They  were  supposed  to  lie  con- 
tiguous to  the  great  continent  of  India, -and  to  constitute  a  part  of  the  vast 
countries  comprehended  under  that  general  name.  Cabot  accordingly 
deemed  it  probable,  that,  by  steering  to  the  north-west,  he  might  reach 
India  bj  a  snorter  course  than  that  which  Columbus  had  taken,  and  hoped 
to  fall  in  with  tlie  coast  of  Cathay,  or  China,  of  whose  fertility  and  opu 
lence  the  descriptions  of  Marco  Polo  had  excited  high  ideas.  After  saifing 
for  some  weeks  due  west,  and  nearly  on  the  parallel  of  the  port  from  which 
lie  took  his  departure,  he  discovered  a  large  island,  which  he  called  Prima 
Vista,  and  his  sailors  Newfoundland :  arid  in  a  few  days  he  descried  a 
smaller  isle,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  John.  He  landed  on 
both  these  [June  24],  made  some  observations  on  their  soil  and  productions, 
and  brought  off  three  of  the  natives.  Continuing  his  course  westward, 
he  soon  reached  the  continent  of  North  America,  and  sailed  along  it  from 
the  fifty-sixth  to  the  thirty-eighth  degree  of  latitude,  from  the  coast  of 
Labrador  to  that  of  Virginia.  As  his  chief  object  was  to  discover  some 
inlet  that  might  open  a  passage  to  the  west,  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
landed  any  where  during  this  extensive  run  ;  and  he  returned  to  England 
Ayithout  attempting  either  settlement  or  conquest  in  any  part  of  that  con- 
tinent.! 

•  If  it  had  been  Henry's  purpose  to  prosecute  the  object  of  the  commis- 
sion given  by  him  to  Cabot,  and  to  take  possession  of  the  countries  which 
he  had  discovered,  the  success  of  this  voyage  must  have  answered  his  most 
sanguine  expectations.  Hi$  subjects  were  undoubtedly  the  first  Europeans 
who  had  visited  that  part  of  the  American  continent,  and  were  entitled  to 
whatever  right  of  property  prior  discovery  is  supposed  to  confer.  Coun- 
tries which  stretched  in  an  uninterrupted  course  through  such  a  large 
portion  of  the  temperate  zone,  opened  a  prospect  of  settling  to  advantage 
under  mild  climates,  and  in  a  fertile  soil.  By  the  time  that  Cabot  returned 
to  England,  he  found  both  the  state  of  affairs  and  the  king's  inclination 
unfavourable  to  any  scheme  the  execution  of  which  would  have  required 
tranquillity  and  leisure.  Henry  was  involved  in  a  war  with  Scotland,  and 

*  Hakluyt,  iii  4.  f  Monsou's  Naval  Tracts,  in  Churchill's  Collect  iii.  211. 


AMERICA.  391 

life  kingdom  was  not  yet  fully  composed  after  the  commotion  excited  by  a 
formidable  insurrection  of  his  own  subjects  in  the  west.  An  ambassador 
from  Ferdinand  of  Arragon  was  then  in  London  ;  and  as  Henry  set  a  high 
value  upon  the  friendship  of  that  monarch,  for  whose  character  he  professed 
much  admiration,  perhaps  from  its  similarity  to  his  own, 'and  was  endea- 
vouring to  strengthen  their  union  by  negotiating  the  marriage  which  after- 
wards took  place  between  his  eldest  son  and  the  Princess  Catharine,  he 
was  cautious  of  giving  any  offence  to  a  prince  jealous  to  excess  of  all  his 
rights.  Froin  the  position  of  the  islands  and  continent  which  Cabot  had 
discovered,  it  Was  evident  that  they  lay  within  the  limits  of  the  ample 
donative  which  the  bounty  of  Alexander  VI.  had  conferred  upon  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella.  No  person  in  that  age  questioned  the  validity  of  a  papal 
grant ;  and  Ferdinand  was  not  of  a  temper  to  relinquish  any  claim  to 
which  he  had  a  shadow  of  title.  Submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Pope, 
and  deference  for  an  ally  whom  he  courted,  seem  to  have  concurred  with 
Henry's  own  situation  in  determining  him  to  abandon  a  scheme  in  which 
he  had  engaged  with  some  degree  of  ardour  and  expectation.  No  attempt 
towards  discovery  was  made  in  England  during  the  remainder  of  his  reign  ; 
and  Sebastian  Cabot,  rinding  no  encouragement  for  his  active  talents  there, 
entered  into  the  service  of  Spain.* 

This  is  the  most  probable  account  of  the  sudden  cessation  of  Henry's 
activity,  after  such  success  in  his  first  essay  as  might  have  encouraged 
him  to  persevere.  The  advantages  of  commerce,  as  well  as  its  nature, 
were  so  little  understood  in  England  about  this  period,  that  by  an  act  of 
parliament  in  the  year  1488,  the  taking  of  interest  for  the  use  of  m'oney 
was  prohibited  under  severe  penalties.!  And  by  another  law,  the  profit 
arising  from  dealing  in  bills  of  exchange  was  condemned  as  savouring  of 
usury.!  ft  is  n°t  surprising,  then,  that  no  great  effort  should  be  made  to 
extend  trade  by  a  nation  whose  commercial  ideas  were  still  so  crude  and 
illiberal.  But  it  is  more  difficult  to  discover  what  prevented  this  scheme 
of  Henry  VII.  from  being  resumed  during  the  reigns  of  his  son  and  grand- 
son ;  and  to  give  any  reason  why  no  attempt  was  made,  either  to  explore 
the  northern  continent  of  America  more  fully,  or  to  settle  in  it.  Jiefiry 
VIII.  was  frequently  at  open  enmity  with  Spam  :•  the  value  of  the  Spanish 
acquisitions  in  America  had  become  so  well  known,  as  might  have  excited 
his  desire  to  obtain  some  footing  in  those  opulent  regions;  and  during  a 
considerable  part  of  his  reign,  the  prohibitions  in  a  papal  bull  would  not 
have  restrained  him  from  maKing  encroachment  upon  the  Spanish  dominions. 
But  the  reign  of  Henry  was  not  favourable  to  the  progress  of  discovery. 
During  one  period  of  it,  the  active  part  which  he  took  in  tho  affairs  of  the 
continent,  and  the  vigour  with  which  he  engaged  in  the  contest  between 
the  two  mighty  rivals,  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.,  gave  full  occupation  to 
the  enterprising  spirit  both  of  the  king  and  his  nobility.  During  another 
period  of  his  administration,  his  famous  controversy  with  the  court  of 
Rome  kept  the  nation  in  perpetual  agitation  and  suspense.  Engrossed  by 
those  objects,  neither  the  king  nor  the  nobles  had  inclination  or  leisure  to 
turn  their  attention  to  new  pursuits ;  and  without  their  patronage  and  aid, 
the  commercial  part  of  the  nation  was  too  inconsiderable  to  make  any 
effort  of  consequence.  Though  England  by  its  total  separation  from  the 
church  of  Rome  soon  after  the  accession  ot  Edward  VI,,  disclaimed  that 
authority  which,  by  its  presumptuous  partition  of  the  globe  between  two 

*  Some  schemes  of  discovery  seem  to  have  heen  formod  in  England  towards  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  But  as  there  is  no  other  memorial  of  them  than  what  remains  in  a  pafent 
granted  by  the  King  to  the  adventurers,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  feeble  or  abortive  projects. 
If  any  attempt  had  been  made  in  consequence  of  this  patent,  it  would  not  have  escaped  the  know- 
ledge of  a  compiler  so  industrious  and  inquisitive  as  Hakluyt.  In  his  patent,  Henry  restricts  the 
adventurers  from  encroaching  on  the  countries  discovered  by  the  kings  of  Portugal,  or  any  other 
prince  in  confederacy  with  England.  Rymer's  Foedera,  vol.  xiii.  p.  37 

t  3  Hen.  VII.  c  5.  {  3  Hen.  VII.  c.  6. 


392  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

favourite  nations,  circumscribed  the  activity  of  every  other  state  within 
very  narrow  limits  ;  yet  a  feeble  minority,  distracted  with  faction,  was  not 
a  juncture  for  forming  schemes  of  doubtful  success  and  remote  utility. 
The  bigotry  of  Mary,  and  her  marriage  with  Philip,  disposed  her  to  pay 
a  sacred  regard  to  that  grant  of  the  Holy  See,  which  vested  in  a  husband, 
on  whom  she  doted,  an  exclusive  right  to  every  part  of  the  New  World. 
Thus,  through  a  singular  succession  of  various  causes,  sixty-one  years 
elapsed  from  the  time  that  the  English  discovered  North  America,  during 
which  their  monarchs  gave  little  attention  to  that  country  which  was 
destined  to  be  annexed  to  their  crown,  and  to  be  a  chief  source  of  its 
opulence  and  power. 

But  though  the  public  contributed  little  towards  the  progress  of  disco- 
very, naval  skill,  knowledge  of  commerce,  and  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  began 
to  spread  among  the  English.  During  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  several 
new  channels  of  trade  were  opened,  and  private  adventurers  visited  remote 
countries,  with  which  England  had  formerly  no  intercourse.  Some  mer- 
chants of  Bristol,  having  fitted  out  two  ships  for  the  southern  regions  of 
America,  committed  the  conduct  of  them  to  Sebastian  Cabot,  who  had 
quitted  the  service  of  Spain.  He  visited  the  coasts  of  Brazil,  and  touched 
at  the  islands  of  Hispaniola  and  Puerto  Rico ;  and  though  this  voyage 
seems  not  to  have  been  beneficial  to  the  adventurers,  it  extended  the  sphere 
of  English  navigation,  and  added  to  the  national  stock  of  nautical  science.* 
Though  disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  profit  in  this  first  essay,  the 
merchants  were  not  discouraged.  They  sent,  successively,  several  vessels 
from*  different  ports  towards  the  same  quarter,  and  seem  to  have  carried  on 
an  interloping  trade  in  the  Portuguese  settlements  with  success.!  Nor 
was  it  only  towards  the  West,  that  the  activity  of  the  English  was  directed. 
Other  merchants  began  to  extend  their  commercial  views  to  the  East ;  and 
by  establishing  an  intercourse  with  several  islands  in  the  Archipelago,  and 
with  some  of  the  towns  on  the  coast  of  Syria,  they  found  a  new  market 
for  woollen  cloths  (the  only  manufacture  which  the  nation  had  begun  to 
cultivate,)  and  supplied  their  countrymen  with  various  productions  of  the 
Eaet,  formerly  unknown,  or  received  from  the  Venetians  at  an  exorbitant 
price.! 

But  the  discovery  of  a  shorter  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  by  the  north- 
west, was  still  the  favourite  project  of  the  nation,  which  beheld  with  envy 
the  vast  wealth  that  flowed  into  Portugal  from  its  commerce  with  those 
regions.  The  scheme  was  accordingly  twice  resumed  under  the  long 
administration  of  Henry  VIII.  [1527  and  1536]  ;  first,  with  some  slender 
aid  from  the  king,  and  then  by  private  merchants.  Both  voyages  were 
disastrous  and  unsuccessful.  In  the  former,  one  of  the  ships  was  lost.  In 
the  latter,  the  stock  of  provisions  was  so  ill  proportioned  to  the  number  of 
the  crew,  that,  although  they  were  but  six  months  at  sea,  many  perished 
with  hunger,  and  the  survivors  were  constrained  to  support  life  by  feeding 
on  the  bodies  of  their  dead  companions. § 

The  vigour  of  a  commercial  spirit  did  not  relax  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI.  The  great  fishery  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  became  an  object 
of  attention ;  and  from  some  regulations  for  the  encouragement  of  that 
branch  of  trade,  it  seems  to  have  been  prosecuted  with  activity  and  suc- 
cess.H  But  the  prospect  of  opening  a  communication  with  China  and  the 
Spice  Islands,  by  some  other  route  than  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
still  continued  to  allure  the  English  more  than  any  scheme  of  adventure. 
Cabot,  whose  opinion  was  deservedly  of  high  authority  in  whatever 
related  to  naval  enterprise,  warmly  urged  the  English  to  make  another 
attempt  to  discover  this  passage.  As  it  had  been  thrice  searched  for 
in  vain,  by  steering  towards  the  north-west,  he  proposed  that  a  trial 

*  Hakluyt,  iii  498.  *  Id.  iii  700  {  Id.  ii.  96,  &c.  §  Id.  i.  213,  &c.  iii.  129,  130  ||  Id. 
lii.  131. 


AMERICA.  393 

should  now  be  made  by  the  north-east ;  and  supported  this  advice  by 
such  plausible  reasons  and  conjectures  as  excited  sanguine  expectations 
of  success.  Several  noblemen  and  persons  of  rank,  together  with  some 
principal  merchants,  having  associated  for  this  purpose,  were  incorporated 
by. a  charter  from  the  King,  under  the  title  of  The  Company  of  Merchant 
Adventurers  for  the  Discovery  of  Regions,  Dominions,  Islands,  and  Places 
unknown.  Cabot,  who  was  appointed  governor  of  this  company,  soon 
fitted  out  two  ships  and  a  bark,  furnished  with  instructions  in  his  own 
hang!,  which  discover  the  great  extent  both  of  his  naval  skill  and  mercantile 
sagacity. 

Sir  Hugh  Willoughby,  who  was  intrusted  with  the  command,  stood 
dir  ctly  northwards  along  the  coast  of  Norway  [May  10],  and  doubled  the 
North  Cape.  But  in  that  tempestuous  ocean,  his  small  squadron  was  sepa- 
rated in  a  violent  storm.  Willougnby's  ship  and  bark  took  refuge  in  an 
obscure  harbour  in  a  desert  part  of  Russian  Lapland,  where  he  and  all  his 
companions  were  frozen  to  death.  Richard  Chancelour,  the  captain  of 
the  other  vessel,  was  more  fortunate ;  he  entered  the  White  Sea,  and  win- 
tered in  safety  at  Archangel.  Though  no  vessel  of  any  foreign  nation  had 
ever  visited  that  quarter  of  the  globe  before,  the  inhabitants  received  their 
new  visiters  with  an  hospitality  which  would  have  done  honour  to  a  more 
polished  people.  The  English  learned  there,  that  this  was  a  province  of 
a  vast  empire,  subject  to  the  Great  Duke  or  Czar  of  Muscovy,  who  resided 
in  a  great  city  twelve  hundred  miles  from  Archangel.  Chancelour,  with 
a  spirit  becoming  an  officer  employed  in  an  expedition  for  discovery,  did 
not  hesitate  a  moment  about  the  part  which  he  ought  to  take,  and  set  out 
for  that  distant  capital.  On  his  arrival  in  Moscow,  he  was  admitted  to 
audience,  and  delivered  a  letter  which  the  captain  of  each  ship  had  received 
from  Edward  VI.  for  the  sovereign  of  whatever  country  they  should  dis- 
cover, to  John  Vasilowitz,  who  at  that  time  filled  the  Russian  throne. 
John,  though  he  ruled  over  his  subjects  with  the  cruelty  and  caprice  of  a 
barbarous  despot,  was  not  destitute  of  political  sagacity.  He  instantly 
perceived  the  happy  consequences  that  might  flow  irom  opening  an  inter- 
course between  his  dominions  and  the  western  nations  of  Europe ;  and, 
delighted  with  the  fortunate  event  to  which  he  was  indebted  for  mis  unex- 
pected benefit,  he  treated  Chancelour  with  great  respect ;  and.  by  a  letter 
to  the  King  of  England  [Feb.  1554],  invited  his  subjects  to  trade  in  the 
Russian  dominions,  with  ample  promises  of  protection  and  favour.* 

Chancelour,  on  his  return,  found  Mary  seated  on  the  English  throne. 
The  success  of  this  voyage,  the  discovery  of  a  new  course  of  navigation, 
the  establishment  of  commerce  with  a  •  vast  empire,  the  name  of  which 
was  then  hardly  known  in  the  West,  and  the  hope  of  arriving,  in  this  direc- 
tion, at  those  regions  which  had  been  so  long  the  object  of  desire,  excited 
a  wonderful  ardour  to  prosecute  the  design  with  greater  vigour.  Mary, 
implicitly  guided  by  her  husband  in  every  act  of  administration,  was  not 
unwilling  to  turn  the  commercial  activity  of  her  subjects  towards  a  quarter 
where  it  ccald  not  excite  the  jealousy  of  Spain  by  encroaching  on  its  pos- 
sessions in  the  New  World.  She  wrote  to  John  Vasilowitz  in  the  most 
respectful  terois,  courting  his  friendship.  She  confirmed  the  charter  of 
Edward  VI.,  empowered  Chancelour,  and  two  agents  appointed  by  the 
company,  to  negotiate  with  the  Czar  in  her  name  ;  and,  according  to  the 
spirit  of  that  age,  she  granted  an  exclusive  right  of  trade  with  Russia  to 
the  Corporation  of  Merchant  Adventurers.!  In  virtue  of  this,  they  not 
only  established  aa  active  and  gainful  commerce  with  Russia,  but,  in  hopes 
of  reaching  China,  they  pushed  their  discoveries  eastwaid  to  the  coast  of 
Nova  Zembla,  the  Straits  of  Waigatz,  and  towards  the  mouth  of  the  great 
river  Oby.  But  in  those  frozen  seas,  which  Nature  seems  not  to  nave 

*  Haki.uyt  i.  226,  &c.  t  Id.  i.  258,  &c. 

VOL.  I.— 50 


394  HISTORY  OF  [BooKlX. 

destined  for  navigation,  thejr  were  exposed  to  innumerable  disasters,  and 
met  with  successive  disappointments. 

Nor  were  their  attempts  to  open  a  communication  with  India  made  only 
in  this  channel.  They  appointed  some  of  their  factors  to  accompany  the 
Russian  caravans  which  travelled  into  Persia  by  the  way  of  Astracan  and 
the  Caspian  Sea,  instructing-  them  to  penetrate  as  far  as  possible  towards 
the  east,  and  to  endeavour  not  only  to  establish  a  trade  with  those  coun- 
tries, but  to  acquire  every  information  that  might  afford  any  light  towards 
the  discovery  of  a  passage  to  China  by  the  north-east.*  Notwithstanding 
a  variety  of  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed  in  travelling  through  so 
many  provinces  inhabited  by  fierce  and  licentious  nations,  some  of  these 
factors  reached  Bokara  in  the  province  of  Chorassan  ;  and  though  prevented 
from  advancing  further  by  the  civil  wars  which  desolated  the  country,  they 
returned  to  Europe  with  some  hopes  of  extending  the  commerce  of  the 
Company  into  Persia,  and  with  much  intelligence  concerning  the  state  of 
those  remote  regions  of  the  East.f 

The  successful  progress  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers  in  discovery 
roused  the  emulation  of  their  countrymen,  and  turned  their  activity  into 
new  channels.  A  commercial  intercourse,  hitherto  unattempted  by  the 
English,  having  been  opened  with  the  coast  of  Barbary,  the  specimens 
which  that  afforded  of  the  valuable  productions  of  Africa  invited  some 
enterprising  navigators  to  visit  the  more  remote  provinces  of  that  quarter 
of  the  globe.  They  sailed  along  its  western  shore,  traded  in  different 
ports  on  both  sides  of  the  Line,  and,  after  acquiring  considerable  knowledge 
of  those  countries,  returned  with  a  cargo  of  gold  dust,  ivory,  and  other  rich 
commodities  little  known  at  that  time  in  England.  This  commerce  with 
Africa  seems  to  have  been  pursued  with  vigour,  and  was  at  that  time  no 
less  innocent  thafn  lucrative :  for,  as  the  English  had  then  no  demand  for 
slaves,  they  carried  it  ^on  for  many  years  without  violating  the  rights  of 
humanity.  Thus  far  did  the  English  advance  during  a  period  which  may 
be  considered  as  the  infant  state  of  their  navigation  and  commerce ;  and 
feeble  as  its  steps  at  that  time  may  appear  to  us,  we  trace  them  with  an 
interesting  curiosity,  and  look  back  with  satisfaction  to  the  early  essays  of 
that  spirit  which  we  now  behold  in  the  full  maturity  of  its  strength.  Even 
in  those  first  efforts  of  the  English,  an  intelligent  ODserverwill  discern  pre- 
sages of  their  future  improvement.  As  soon  as  the.  activity  of  the  nation 
was  put  in  motion,  it  took  various  directions,  and  exerted  itself  in  each, 
with  that  steady,  persevering  industry  which  is  the  soul  and  guide  of  com- 
merce. Neither  discouraged  by  the  hardships  and  dangers  to  which  they 
were  exposed  in  those  northern  seas  which  they  first  attempted  to  explore, 
nor  afraid  of  venturing  into'  the  sultry  climates  of  the  torrid  zone,  the  Eng- 
lish, during  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  and  Mary,  opened 
some  of  the  most  considerable  sources  of  their  commercial  opulence,  and 
gave  a  beginning  to  their  trade  with  Turkey,  with  Africa,  with  Russia,  and 
with  Newfoundland. 

By  the  prbgress  which  England  had  already  made  in  navigation  and 
commerce,  it  was  now  prepared  for  advancing  further ;  and  on  the  acces- 
sion of  Elizabeth  to  the  throne,  a  period  commenced  extremely  auspicious 
to  this  spirit  which  was  rising  in  the  nation.  The  domestic  tranquillity  of 
the  kingdom,  maintained,  almost  without  interruption,  during  the  course  of 
a  long  and  prosperous  reign  ;  the  peace  with  foreign  nations,  that  subsisted 
more  than  twenty  years  after  Elizabeth  was  seated  on  the  throne  ;  the 
Queen's  attentive  economy,  which  exempted  her  subjects  from  the  burden 
of  taxes  oppressive  to  trade ;  the  popularity  of  her  administration  ;  were 
all  favourable  to  commercial  enterprise,  and  called  it  forth  into  vigorous 
exertion.  The  discerning  eye  of  Elizabeth  having  early  perceived  that 

*  Hakluyt,  i.  301  f  H.  1  310,  £c. 


AMERICA.  395 

the  security  of  a  kingdom  environed  by  the  sea  depended  on  its  naval 
force,  she  began  her  government  with  adding  to  the  number  and  strength  of 
the  royal  navy ;  which,  during  a  factious  minority,  and  a  reign  intent  on 
no  object  but  that  of  suppressing  heresy,  had  been  neglected,  and  suffered 
to  decay.  She  filled  her  arsenals  with  naval  stores ;  she  built  several 
ships  of  great  force,  according  to  the  ideas  of  that  age,  and  encouraged 
her  subjects  to  imitate  her  example,  that  they  might  no  longer  depend  on 
foreigners,  from  whom  the  English  had  hitherto  purchased  all  vessels  oi 
any  considerable  burden.*  By  those  efforts  the  skill  of  the  English  artificers 
was  improved,  the  number  of  sailors  increased,  and  the  attention  of  the 
public  turned  to  the  navy,  as  the  most  important  national  object.  Instead 
of  abandoning  any  of  the  new  channels  of  commerce  which  had  been 
opened  in  the  three  preceding  reigns,  the  English  frequented  them  with 
greater  assiduity,  and  the  patronage  of  their  sovereign  added  vigour  to  all 
their  efforts.  In  order  to  secure  to  them  the  continuance  of  their  exclusive 
trade  with  Russia,  Elizabeth  cultivated  the  connection-with  John  Vasilo- 
witz,  which  had  been  formed  by  her  predecessor,  and,  by  successive  em- 
bassies gained  his  confidence  so  thoroughly,  that  the  English  enjoyed  that 
lucrative  privilege  during  his  long  reign.  She  encouraged  the  Company 
of  Merchant  Adventurers,  whose  monopoly  of  the  Russian  trade  was  con- 
firmed by  act  of  parliament,!  to  resume  their  design  of  penetrating  into 
Persia  by  land.  Their  second  attempt,  conducted  with  greater  prudence, 
or  undertaken  at  a  more  favourable  juncture  than  the  first,  was  more  suc- 
cessful. Their  agents  arrived  in  the  Persian  court,  and  obtained  such  pro- 
tection and  immunities  from  the  Shah,  that  for  a  course  of  years  they 
carried  on  a  gainful  commerce  in  his  kingdom  ;|  and  by  frequenting  the 
various  provinces  of  Persia,  became  so  well  acquainted  with  the  vast  riches 
of  the  East,  as  strengthened  their  design  of  opening  a  more  direct  inter- 
course with  those  fertile  regions  by  sea. 

But  as  every  effort  to  accomplish  this  by  the  north-east  had  proved 
abortive,  a  scheme  was  formed,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick, the  head  of  the  enterprising  family  of  Dudley,  to  make  a  new 
attempt,  by  holding  an  opposite  course  by  the  north-west.  The  conduct 
of  this  enterprise  was  committed  to  Martin  Frobisher,  an  officer  of  ex- 
perience and  reputation.  In  three  successive  voyages  [1576,  1577,  and 
1578,]  he  explored  the  inhospitable  coast  of  Labrador,  and  that  of  Green 
land  (to  which  Elizabeth  gave  the  name  of  Meta  Incognita],  without  dis 
covering  any  probable  appearance  of  that  passage  to  India  for  which  he 
sought.  This  new  disappointment  was  sensibly  felt,  and  might  have 
damped  the  spirit  of  naval  enterprise  among  the  English,  if  it  had  not 
resumed  fresh  vigour,  amidst  the  general  exultation  of  the  nation,  upon  the 
successful  expedition  of  Francis  Drake.  That  bold  navigator,  emulous  of 
the  glory  which  Magellan  had  acquired  by  sailing  round  the  globe,  formed 
a  scheme  of  attempting  a  voyage,  which  all  Europe  had  admired  for  sixty 
years,  without  venturing  to  follow  the  Portuguese  discoverer  in  his  adven- 
turous course.  Drake  undertook  this  with  a  feeble  squadron,  in  which 
the  largest  vessel  did  not  exceed  a  hundred  tons,  and  he  accomplished  it 
with  no  less  credit  to  himself  than  honour  to  his  country.  Even  in  this 
voyage,  conducted  with  other  Views,  Drake  seems  not  to  have  been 
inattentive  to  the  favourite  object  of  his  countrymen,  the  discovery  of  a 
new  route  to  India.  Before  he  quitted  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  order  to  stretch 
towards  the  Philippine  Islands,  he  ranged  along  the  coast  of  California,  as 
high  as  the  latitude  of  forty-two  degrees  north,  in  hopes  of  discovering,  on 
that  side,  the  communication  between  the  two  seas,  which  had  so  often 
been  searched  for  in  vain  on  the  other.  But  this  was  the  only  unsuccessful 
attempt  of  Drake.  The  excessive  cold  of  the  climate,  intolerable  to  men 

*  Camd  Annales,  p.  70.  edit.  1615 ;  fol.  t  Hakluyt,  i.  369.  f  id.  i.  344,  &c. 


296  HISTORY  OF  f BOOK  IX. 

who  had  long  been  accustomed  to  tropical  heat,  obliged  him  to  stop  short 
in  his  progress  towards  the  north  ;  and  whether  or  not  there  be  any  passage 
from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  that  quarter  is  a  point  still  un- 
ascertained.* 

From  this  period,  the  English  seem  to  have  confided  in  their  own 
abilities  and  courage,  as  equal  to  any  naval  enterprise.  They  had  now 
visited  every  region  to  which  navigation  extended  in  that  age,  and  had 
rivalled  the  nation  of  highest  repute  for  naval  skill  in  its  most  splendid  ex- 
ploit. But  notwithstanding  the  knowledge  which  they  had  acquired  of 
the  different  quarters  of  the  globe,  they  had  not  hitherto  attempted  any 
settlement  out  of  their  own  country.  Their  merchants  had  not  yet  ac- 
quired such  a  degree  either  of  wealth  or  of  political  influence,  as  was 
requisite  towards  carrying  a  scheme  of  colonization  into  execution.  Per- 
sons of  noble  birth  were  destitute  of  the  ideas  and  information  which  might 
have  disposed  them  to  patronise  such  a  design.  The  growing  power  of 
Spain,  however,  and  the  ascendant  over  the  other  nations  of  Europe  to 
which  it  had  attained  under  Charles  V.  and  bis  son,  naturally  turned  the 
attention  of  mankind  towards  the  importance  of  those  settlements  in  the 
New  World,  to  which  they  were  so  much  indebted  for  that  pre-eminence. 
The  intercourse  between  Spain  and  England,  during  the  reign  of  Philip 
and  Mary;  the  resort  of  the  Spanish  nobility  to  the  English  court,  while 
Philip  resided  there  ;  the  study  of  the  Spanish  language,  which  became 
fashionable  ;  and  the  translation  of  several  histories  of  America  into  Eng- 
lish;  diffused  gradually  through  the  nation  a  more  distinct  knowledge  of  the 
policy  of  Spain  in  planting  Jts  colonies,  and  of  the  advantages  which  it 
derived  from  them.  When  hostilities  commenced  between  Elizabeth  and 
Philip,  the  prospect  of  annoying  Spain  by  sea  opened  a  new  career  to  the 
enterprising  spirit  of  the  English  nobility.  Almost  every  eminent  leader 
of  the  age  aimed  at  distinguishing  himself  by  naval  exploits.  That  service, 
and  the  ideas  connected  with  it,  the  discovery  of  unknown  countries,  the 
establishment  of  distant  colonies,  and  the  enriching  of  commerce  by  new 
commodities,  became  familiar  to  persons  of  rank. 

In  consequence  of  all  those  concurring  causes,  the  English  began  seriously 
to  form  plans  of  settling  colonies  in  those  parts  of  America  which  hitherto 
they  had  only  visited.  The  projectors  and  patrons  of  these  plans  were 
mostly  persons  of  rank  and  influence.  Among  them,  Sir  Humphry  Gilbert, 
of  Compton  in  Devonshire,  ought  to  be  mentioned  with  the  distinction  due 
to  the  conductor  of  the  first  English  colony  to  America.  He  had  early 
rendered  himself  conspicuous  by  his  military  services  both  in  France  and 
Ireland ;  and  having  afterwards  turned  his  attention  to  naval  affairs,  he 
published  a  discourse  concerning  the  probability  of  a  north-west  passage, 
which  discovered  no  inconsiderable  portion  both  of  learning  and  ingenuity, 
mingled  with  the  enthusiasm,  the  credulity,  and  the  sanguine  expectations 
which  incite  men  to  new  and  hazardous  undertakings.!  With  those  talents 
he  was  deemed  a  proper  person  to  be  employed  in  establishing  a  new 
colony,  and  easily  obtained  from  the  Queen  letters  patent  [June  11, 1578,] 
vesting  in  him  sufficient  powers  for  this  purpose. 

As  this  is  the  first  charter  to  a  colony  granted  by  the  crown  of  England, 
the  articles  in  it  merit  particular  attention,  as  they  unfold  the  ideas  of  that 
age  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  such  settlements.  Elizabeth  authorizes 
him  to  discover  and  take  possession  of  all  remote  and  barbarous  lands,  un- 
occupied by  any  Christian  prince  or  people.  She  vests  in  him,  his  heirs 
and  assigns  for  ever,  the  full  right  of  property  in  the  soil  of  those  countries 
whereof  he  shall  take  possession.  She  permits  such  of  her  subjects  as 
were  willing  to  accompany  Gilbert  in  his  voyage,  to  go  and  settle  in  the 
countries  which  he  shall  plant.  She  empowers  nim,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 

*  Hakluyt,  iii.  440.    Caind,  Annal.  301,  &c.  t  Hakluyt,  iii.  11, 


AMERICA.  397 

to  dispose  of  whatever  portion  of  those  lands  he  shall  judge  meet,  to  per- 
sons settled  there,  in  fee  simple,  according  to  the  laws  ol  England,  ohe 
ordains,  that  all  the  lands  granted  to  Gilbert  shall  hold  of  the  crown  of 
England  by  homage,  on  payment  of  the  fifth  part  of  the  gold  or  silver  ore 
found  there.  She  confers  upon  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  the  complete 
jurisdictions  and  royalties,  as  well  marine  as  other,  within  the  said  lands 
and  seas  thereunto  adjoining ;  and  as  their  common  safety  and  interest 
would  render  good  government  necessary  in  their  new  settlements,  she 
gave  Gilbert,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  full  power  to  convict,  punish,  pardon, 
govern,  and  rule,  by  their  good  discretion  and  policy ,  as  well  in  causes 
capital  or  criminal  as  civil,  both  marine  and  other,  all  persons  who  shall, 
from  time  to  time,  settle  within  the  said  countries,  according  to  such 
statutes,  laws,  and  ordinances,  as  shall  be  by  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 
devised  and  established  for  their  better  government.  She  declared,  that 
all  who  settled  there  should  have  and  enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  free  denizens 
and  natives  of  England,  any  law,  custom,  or  usage  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. And  finally,  she  prohibited  all  persons  from  attempting  to 
settle  within  two  hundred  leagues  of  any  place  which  Sir  Humphry  Gil- 
bert, or  his  associates,  shall  have  occupied  during  the.  space  of  six  years.* 

With  those  extraordinary  powers,  suited  to  the  high  notions  of  authority 
and  prerogative  prevalent  in  England  during  the  sixteenth  century,  but 
very  repugnant  to  more  recent  ideas  with  respect  to  the  rights  of  free  men, 
who  voluntarily  unite  to  form  a  colony,  Gilbert  began  to  collect  associates, 
and  to  prepare  for  embarkation.  His  own  character,  and  the  zealous 
efforts  of  his  half  brother  Walter  Ralegh,  who  even  in  his  early  youth  dis- 
played those  splendid  talents,  and  that  undaunted  spirit,  which  create 
admiration  and  confidence,  soon  procured  him  a  sufficient  number  of  fol- 
lowers. But  his  success  was  not  suited  either  to  the  sanguine  hopes  of  his 
countrymen,  or  to  the  expense  of  his  preparations.  Two  expeditions,  both 
of  which  he  conducted  in  person,  ended  disastrously  [1580].  In  the  last 
he  himself  perished,  without  having  effected  his  intended  settlement  on  the 
continent  of. America,  or  performing  any  thing  more  worthy  of  notice,  than 
the  empty  formality  of  taking  possession  of  the  Island  of  Newfoundland  in 
the  name  of  his  sovereign.  The  dissensions  among  his  officers  ;  the  licen- 
tious and  ungovernable  spirit  of  some  of  his  crew  ;  his  total  ignorance  of 
the  countries  which  he  purposed  to  occupy ;  his  misfortune  in  approaching 
the  continent  too  far  towards  the  north,  where  the  inhospitable  coast  of 
Cape  Breton  did  not  invite  them  to  settle  ;  the  shipwreck  of  his  largest 
vessel ;  and,  above  all,  the  scanty  provision  which  the  funds  of  a  private 
man  could  make  of  what  was  requisite  for  establishing  a  new  colony,  were 
the  true  causes  to  which  the  failure  of  the  enterprise  must  be  imputed,  not 
to  any  deficiency  of  abilities  or  resolution  in  its  leader,  t 

But  the  miscarriage  of  a  scheme,  in  which  Gilbert  had  wasted  his  fortune, 
did  not  discourage  Ralegh.  He  adopted  all  his  brother's  ideas ;  and 
applying  to  the  Queen,  in  whose  favour  he  stood  high  at  that  time,  he  pro- 
cured, a  patent  [March  26,  1584],  with  jurisdiction  and  prerogatives  as 
ample  as  had  been  granted  unto  Gilbert.  J  Ralegh,  no  less  eager  to  execute 
than  to  undertake  the  scheme,  instantly  despatched  two  small  vessels 
[April  27],  under  the  command  of  Amadas  and  Barlow,  two  officers  of 
trust,  to  visit  the  countries  which  he  intended  to  settle,  and  to  acquire  some 
previous  knowledge  of  their  coasts,  their  soil,  and  productions.  In  order 
to  avoid  Gilbert's  error,  in  holding  too  far  north,  they  took  their  course  by 
the  Canaries  and  the  West  India  islands,  and  approached  the  North 
American  continent  by  the  Gulf  of  Florida.  Unfortunately,  their  chief 
researches  were  made  in  that  part  of  the  country  now  known  by  the  name 
of  North  Carolina,  that  province  in  America  most  destitute  of  commodious 

*  Hakluyt,  iii.  135.  f  Ibid,  i'i-  243,  &c.  }  Ibid.  iii.  24:1 


398  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

harbours.  They  touched  first  at  an  island,  which  they  call  Wokocori 
(probably  Ocakoke,)  situated  on  the  inlet  into  Pamplicoe  sound,  and  then 
at  Roanoke,  near  the  mouth  of  Albermarle  sound.  In  both  they  had  some 
intercourse  with  the  natives,  whom  they  found  to  be  savages  with  all  the 
characteristic  qualities  of  uncivilized  life,  bravery,  aversion  to  labour,  hos- 
pitality, a  propensity  to  admire,  and  a  willingness  to  exchange  their  rude 
productions  for  English  commodities,  especially  for  iron,  or  any  of  the 
useful  metals  of  which  they  were  destitute.  Alter  spending  a  few  weeks 
in  this  traffic,  and  in  visiting  some  parts  of  the  adjacent  continent,  Amadas 
and  Barlow  returned  to  England  [Sept.  15],  with  two  of  the  natives,  and 
gave  such  splendid  descriptions  of  the  beauty  of  the  country,  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  and  the  mildness  of  the  climate,  that  Elizabeth,  delighted  with 
the  idea  of  occupying  a  territory  superior,  so  far,  to  the  barren  regions 
towards  the  north  hitherto  visited  by  her  subjects,  bestowed  on  it  the  name 
of  Virginia ;  as  a  memorial  that  this  happy  discovery  had  been  made  under 
a  virgin  queen.* 

Their  report  encouraged  Ralegh  to  hasten  his  preparations  for  taking 
possession  of  such  an  inviting  property.  He  fitted  out  a  squadron  of  seven 
small  ships,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Richard  Greenville,  a  man  of  honour- 
able birth,  and  of  courage  so  undaunted  as  to  be  conspicuous  even  in  that 
gallant  age.  But  the-spirit  of  that  predatory  war  which  the  English  carried 
on  against  Spain,  mingled  with  this  scheme  of  settlement ;  and  on  this 
account,  as  well  as  from  unacquaintance  with  a  more  direct  and  shorter 
course  to  North  America,  Greenville  sailed  by  the  West  India  islands. 
He  spent  some  time  in  cruising  among  these,  and  in  taking  prizes ;  so  that 
it  was  towards  the  close  of  June  before  he  arrived  on  the  coast  of  North 
America.  He  touched  at  both  the  islands  where  Amadas  and  Barlow  had 
landed,  and  made  some  excursions  into  different  parts  of  the  continent 
round  Pamplicoe  and  Albermarle  sounds.  But  as,  unfortunately,  he  did  not 
advance  far  enough  towards  the  north,  to  discover  the  noble  bay  of  Chesa- 
peak,  he  established  the  colony  [Aug.  25],  which  he  left  on  the  island  of 
Koanoke,  an  incommodious  station,  without  any  safe  harbour,  and  almost 
uninhabited.! 

This  colony  consisted  only  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  persons,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Lane,  assisted  by  some  men  of  note,  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  whom  was  Hariot,  an  eminent  mathematician.  Their  chief 
employment,  during  a  residence  of  nine  months,  was  to  obtain  a  more  exten- 
sive knowledge  of  the  country  ;  and  their  researches  were  carried  on  with 
greater  spirit,  and  reached  further  than  could  have  been  expected  from  a 
colony  so  feeble,  and  in  a  station  so  disadvantageous.  But  from  the  same 
impatience  of  indigent  adventurers  to  acquire  sudden  wealth  which  gave 
a  wrong  direction  to  the  industry  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  settlements,  the 
greater  part  of  the  English  seem  to  have  considered  nothing  as  worthy  of 
attention  but  mines  of  gold  and  silver.  These  they  sought  for  wherever 
they  came  :  these  they  inquired  after  with  unwearied  eagerness.  The 
savages  soon  discovered  the  favourite  objects  which  allured  them,  and  art- 
fully amused  them  with  so  many  tales  concerning  rjearl  fisheries,  and  rich 
mines  of  various  metals,  that  Lane  and  his  companions  wasted  their  time 
and  activity  in  the  chimerical  pursuit  of  these,  instead  of  labouring  to  raise 
provisions  for  their  own  subsistence.  On  discovering  the  deceit  of  the 
Indians,  they  were  so  much  exasperated,  that  from  expostulations  and 
reproaches  they  proceeded  to  open  hostility  [1586].  The  supplies  of  pro- 
vision which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  receive  from  the  natives  were 
of  course  withdrawn.  Through  their  own  negligence  no  other  precaution 
had  been  taken  for  their  support.  Ralegh,  having  engaged  in  a  scheme 
too  expensive  for  his  narrow  funds,  had  not  been  able  to  send  them  that 

*  Haklnyt,  Hi.  246  t  Id.  iii.  251 


AMERICA.  399 

recruit  of  stores  with  which  Greenville  had  promised  to  furnish  them  early 
in  the  spring.  The  colony,  reduced  to  the  utmost  distress,  and  on  the 
point  of  perishing  with  famine,  was  preparing1  to  disperse  into  different 
districts  of  the  country  in  quest  of  food,  when  Sir  Francis  Drake  appeared 
with  his  fleet  [June  1 J,  returning  from  a  successful  expedition  against  the 
Spaniards  in  me  West  Indies.  A  scheme  which  he  formed,  of  furnishing 
Lane  and  his  associates  with  such  supplies  as  might  enable  them  to  remain 
with  comfort  in  their  station,  was  disappointed,  by  a  sudden  storm,  in 
which  a  small  vessel  that  he  destined  for  their  service  was  dashed  to  pieces , 
and  as  he  could  not  supply  them  with  another,  at  their  joint  request,  as  they 
were  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  famine,  he  carried  them  home  to  England* 
[June  19]. 

Such  was  the  inauspicious  beginning  of  the  English  settlements  in  the 
New  World  ;  and,  after  exciting  high  expectations,  this  first  attempt  pro- 
duced no  effect  but  that  of  affording  a  more  complete'  knowledge  of  the 
country  ;  as  it  enabled  Hariot,  a  man  of  science  and  observation,  to 
describe  its  soil,  climate,  productions,  and  the  manners  of  its  inhabitants, 
with  a  degree  of  accuracy  which  merits  no  inconsiderable  praise,  when 
compared  with  the  childish  and  marvellous  tales  published  by  several 
of  the  early  visitants  of  the  New  World.  There  is  another  consequence 
of  this  abortive  colony  important  enough  to  entitle  it  to  a  place  in  his- 
tory. Lane  and  his  associates,  by  their  constant  intercourse  with  the 
Indians,  had  acquired  a  relish  for  their  favourite  enjoyment  of  smoking 
tobacco ;  to  the  use  of  which,  the  credulity  of  that  people  not  only  ascribed 
a  thousand  imaginary  virtues,  but  their  superstition  considered  the  plant 
itself  as  a  gracious  gift  of  the  gods,  for  the  solace  of  human  kind,  and  the 
most  acceptable  offering  which  man  can  present  to  heaven.f  They  brought 
with  them  a  specimen  of  this  new  commodity  to  England,  and  taught  their 
countrymen  the  method  of  using  it ;  which  Ralegh  and  some  young  men  of 
fashion  fondly  adopted.  From  imitation  of  them,  from  love  of  novelty,  and 
from  the  favourable  opinion  of  its  salutary  qualities  entertained  by  several 
physicians,  the  practice  spread  among  the  English.  The  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese  had,  previous  to  this,  introduced  it  into  other  parts  of  Europe. 
This  habit  of  taking  tobacco  gradually  extended  from  the  extremities  of 
the  north  to  those  of  the  south,  and  in  one  form  or  other  seems  to  be  equally 
grateful  to  the  inhabitants  of  every  climate ;  and  by  a  singular  caprice  of 
the  human  species,  no  less  inexplicable  than  unexampled  (so  bewitching 
is  the  acquired  taste  for  a  weed  of  no  manifest  utility,  and  at  first  not  only 
unpleasant  but  nauseous),  that  it  has  become  almost  as  universal  as  the 
demands  of  those  appetites  originally  implanted  in  our  nature.  Smoking 
was  the  first  mode  of  taking  tobacco  in  England  ;  and  we  learn  from  the 
comic  writers  towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth,  that  this  was  deemed  one  of  the  accomplishments  of  a 
man  of  fashion  and  spirit. 

A  few  days  after  Drake  departed  from  Roanoke,  a  small  bark,  despatched 
by  Ralegh  with  a  supply  of  stores  for  the  colony,  landed  at  the  place 
where  the  English  had  settled  ;  but  on  finding  it  deserted  by  their  coun- 
trymen they  returned  to  England.  The  bark  was  hardly  gone,  when  Sir 
Richard  Greenville  appeared  with  three  ships.  After  searching  in  vain 
for  the  colony  which  he  had  planted,  without  being  able  to  learn  wrhat 
had  befallen  it,  he  left  fifteen  of  his  crew  to  keep  possession  of  the  island. 
This  handful  of  men  was  soon  overpowered  and  cut  in  pieces  by  the 
savages.^ 

Though  all  Ralegh's  efforts  to  establish  a  colony  in  Virginia  had  hitherto 
proved  abortive,  arid  had  been  defeated  by  a  succession  of  disasters  and 

*  Uakluyi.  ii.  c-i53.  Grand.  Anna!.  387.  f  Hariot  ap.  Hakluyl,  iii.  271.  DC  Dry.  America,  pars  i. 
J  Hakluy',  iii.  235.  233 


400  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX, 

disappointments,  neither  his  hopes  nor  resources  were  exhausted.  Early 
in  the  following  year  [1587],  he  fitted  out  three  ships,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  John  White,  who  carried  thither  a  colony  more  numerous  than 
that  which  had  been  settled  under  Lane.  On  their  arrival  in  Virginia, 
after  viewing  the  face  of  the  country  covered  with  one  continued  forest, 
which  to  them  appeared  an  uninhabited  wild,  as  it  was  occupied  only  by 
a  few  scattered  tribes  of  savages,  they  discovered  that  they  were  destitute 
of  many  things  which  they  deemed  essentially  necessary  towards  their 
subsistence  in  such  an  uncom(  stable  situation ;  and  with  one  voice, requested 
White,  their  commander,  to  return  to  England,  as  the  person  among  them 
most  likely  to  solicit,  with  efficacy,  the  supply  on  which  depended  the 
existence  of  the  colony.  White  landed  in  his  native  country  at  a  most 
unfavourable  season  for  the  negotiation  which  he  had  undertaken.  He 
found  the  nation  in  universal  alarm  at  the  formidable  preparations  of 
Philip  II.  to  invade  England,  and  collecting  all  its  force  to  oppose  the 
fleet  to  which  he  had  arrogantly  given  the  name  of  the  Invincible  Armada., 
Ralegh,  Greenville,  and  all  the  most  zealous  patrons  of  the  new  settlement, 
were  called  to  act  a  distinguished  part  in  the  operations  of  a  year  [1588], 
equally  interesting  and  glorious  to  England.  Amidst  danger  so  imminent, 
and  during  a  contest  for  the  honour  of  their  sovereign  and  the  independence 
of  their  country,  it  was  impossible  to  attend  to  a  less  important  and  remote 
object.  The  unfortunate  colony  in  Roanoke  received  no  supply,  and 
perished  miserably  by  famine,  or  by  the  unrelenting  cruelty  of  those  bar- 
barians by  whom  they  were  surrounded. 

During  the  remainder  of-  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  scheme  of  establishing  a 
colony  in  Virginia  was  not  resumed.  Ralegh,  with  a  most  aspiring  mind 
and  extraordinary  talents,  enlightened  by  knowledge  no  less  uncommon, 
had  the  spirit  and  the  defects  of  a  projector.  Allured  by  new  objects, 
and  always  giving  the  preference  to  such  as  were  most  splendid  and 
arduous,  he  was  apt  to  engage  in  undertakings  so  vast  and  so  various  as 
to  be  far  beyond  his  power  of  accomplishing.  He  was  now  intent  on 
peopling  and  improving  a  large  district  of  country  in  Ireland,  of  which  he 
had  obtained  a  grant  from  the  Queen.  He  was  a  deep  adventurer  in  the 
scheme  of  fitting  out  a  powerful  armament  against  Spain,  in  order  to 
establish  Don  Antonio  on  the  throne  of  Portugal.  He  had  begun  to  form 
his  favourite  but  visionary  plan,  of  penetrating  into  the  province  of  Guiana, 
where  he  fondly  dreamed  of  taking  possession  of  inexhaustible  wealth 
flowing  from  the  richest  mines  in  the  New  World.  Amidst  this  multi- 
plicity of  projects,  of  such  promising  appearance,  and  recommended  by 
novelty,  he  naturally  became  cold  towards  his  ancient  and  hitherto  unpro- 
fitable scheme  of  settling  a  colony  in  Virginia,  and  was  easily  induced  to 
assign  his  right  of  property  in  that  country,  which  he  had  never  visited, 
together  with  all  the  privileges  contained  in  his  patent,  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith 
and  a  company  of  merchants  in  London  [March,  1596].  This  company, 
satisfied  with  a  paltry  traffic  carried  on  by  a  few  small  barks,  made  no 
attempt  to  take  possession  of  the  country.  Thus,  after  a  period  of  a 
hundred  and  six  years  from  the  time  that  Cabot  discovered  North  America 
in  the  name  of  Henry  VII.,  and  of  twenty  years  from  the  time  that  Ralegh 
planted  the  first  colony,  there  was  not  a  single  Englishman  settled  there  at 
the  demise  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  ihe  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
three 

I  have  already  explained  the  c  ause  of  this  during  the  period  previous  ta 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth.  Other  causes  produced  the  same  effect  under 
her  administration.  Thougn  for  one  half  of  her  reign  England  was  engaged 
in  no  foreign  war,  and  commerce  enjoyed  that  perfect  security  which  is 
friendly  to  its  progress  ;  though  the  glory  of  her  later  years  gave  the 
highest  tone  of  elevation  and  vigour  to  the  national  spirit ;  the  Queen  her- 
self, from  her  extreme  parsimony,  and  her  aversion  to  demand  extraordinary 


AMERICA.  401 

supplies  of  her  subjects,  was  more  apt  to  restrain  than  to  second  the  ardent 
genius  of  her  people.  Several  of  the  most  splendid  enterprises  in  her 
reign  were  concerted  and  executed  by  private  adventurers.  All  the 
schemes  for  colonization  were  carried  on  by  the  funds  of  individuals, 
without  any  public  aid.  Even  the  felicity  oi  her  government  was  averse 
to  the  establishment  of  remote  colonies.  So  powerful  is  the  attraction  oi 
our  native  soil,  and  such  our  fortunate  partiality  to  the  laws  and  manners  of 
our  own  country,  that  men  seldom  choose  to  abandon  it,  unless  they  be  driven 
away  by  oppression,  or  allured  by  vast  prospects  of  sudden  wealth.  But 
the  provinces  of  America,  in  which  the  English  attempted  to  settle,  did 
not,  like  those  occupied  by  Spain,  invite  them  thither  by  any  appearance 
of  silver  or  gold  mines.  All  their  hopes  of  gain  were  distant ;  and  they 
saw  that  nothing  could  be  earned  but  by  persevering  exertions  of  industry. 
The  maxims  of  Elizabeth's  administration  were,  in  their  general  tenor, 
so  popular,  as  did  not  force  her  subjects  to  emigrate  in  order  to  escape 
from  the  heavy  or  vexatious  hand  of  power.  It  seems  to  have  been  with 
difficulty  that  these  slender  bands  of  planters  were  collected,  on  which 
the  writers  of  that  age  bestow  the  name  of  the  first  and  second  Virginian 
colonies.  The  fulness  of  time  for  English  colonization  was  not  yet 
arrived. 

But  the  succession  of  the  Scottish  line  to  the  crown  of  England  [1603] 
hastened  its  approach.  James  was  hardly  seated  on  the  throne  before  he 
discovered  his  pacific  intentions,  and  he  soon  terminated  the  long  war 
which  had  been  carried  on  between  Spain  and  England,  by  an  amicable 
treaty.  From  that  period,  uninterrupted  tranquillity  continued  during  his 
reign.  Many  persons  of  high  rank,  and  of  ardent  ambition,  to  whom  the 
war  with  Spain  had  afforded  constant  employment,  and  presented  alluring 
prospects  not  only  of  fame  but  of  wealth,  soon  became  so  impatient  of 
languishing  at  home  without  occupation  or  object,  that  their  invention  was 
on  the  stretch  to  find  some  exercise  for  their  activity  and  talents.  To 
both  these  North  America  seemed  to  open  a  new  field,  and  schemes  of 
carrying  colonies  thither  became  more  general  and  more  popular. 

A  voyage  undertaken  by  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  in  the  last  year  of  the 
Queen,  facilitated  as  well  as  encouraged  the  execution  of  these  schemes. 
He  sailed  from  Falmouth  in  a  small  Ibark  with  thirty-two  men.  Instead 
of  following  former  navigators  in  their  unnecessary  circuit  by  the  West 
India  isles  and  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  Gosnold  steered  due  west  as  nearly  as 
the  winds  would  permit,  and  was  the  first  English  commander  who  reached 
America  by  this  shorter  and  more  direct  course.  That  part  of  the  conti- 
nent which  he  first  descried  was  a  promontory  in  the  province  now  called 
Massachusets  Bay,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cape  Cod.  Holding 
along  the  coast  as  it  stretched  towards  the  south-west,  he  touched  at  two 
islands,  one  of  which  he  called  Martha's  Vineyard,  the  other  Elizabeth's 
Island  ;  and  visited  the  adjoining  continent,  and  traded  with  its  inhabitants. 
He  and  his  companions  were  so  much  delighted  every  where  with  the 
inviting  aspect  of  the  country,  that  notwithstanding  the  smallness  of  their 
number,  a  part  of  them  consented  to  remain  there.  But  when  they  had 
leisure  to  reflect  upon  the  fate  of  former  settlers  in  America,  they  retracted 
a  resolution  formed  in  the  firsi  warmth  of  their  admiration  ;  and  Gosnold 
returned  to  England  in  less  than  four  months  from  the  time  of  his 
departure.* 

This  voyage  however  inconsiderable  it  may  appear,  had  important 
effects.  The  English  now  discovered  the  aspect  of  the  American  continent 
to  be  extremely  inviting  far  to  the  north  of  the  place  where  they  had 
formerly  attempted  to  settle.  The  coast  of  a  vast  country,  stretching  through 
the  most  desirable  climates,  lay  before  them.  The  richness  of  its  virgir 

*  Purchas,  iv.  p.  1047 

VOL.  I.— 51  19 


402  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

soil  promised  a  certain  recompense  to  their  industry.  In  its  interior  pro- 
vinces unexpected  sources  of  wealth  might  open,  and  unknown  objects  of 
commerce  might  be  found.  Its  distance  from  England  was  diminished 
almost  a  third  part  by  the  new  course  which  Gosnold  had  pointed  out. 
Plans  for  establishing  colonies  began  to  be  formed  in  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom  ;  and  before  these  were  ripe  for  execution,  one  small  vessel  was 
sent  out  by  the  merchants  of  Bristol,  another  by  the  Earl  of  Southampton 
and  Lord  Arundel  of  Wardour,  in  order  to  learn  whether  Gosnold's  account 
of  the  country  was  to  be  considered  as  a  just  representation  of  its  state, 
or  as  the  exaggerated  description  of  a  fond  discoverer.  Both  returned 
with  a  full  confirmation  of  his  veracity,  and  with  the  addition  of  so  many 
new  circumstances  in  favour  of  the  country,  acquired  by  a  more  extensive 
view  of  it,  as  greatly  increased  the  desire  of  planting  it. 

The  most  active  and  efficacious  promoter  of  this  was  Richard  Hakluyt, 
prebendary  of  Westminster,  to  whom  England  is  more  indebted  for  its 
American  possessions  than  to  any  man  of  that  age.  Formed  under  a  kins- 
man of  the  same  name,  eminent  for  naval  and  commercial  knowledge,  he 
imbibed  a  similar  taste,  and  applied  early  to  the  study  of  geography  and 
navigation.  These  favourite  sciences  engrossed  his  attention,  and  to  diffuse 
a  relish  for  them  was  the  great  object  of  his  life.  In  order  to  excite  his 
countrymen  to  naval  enterprise,  by  flattering  their  national  vanity,  he 
published,  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  his 
valuable  collection  of  voyages  and  discoveries  made  by  Englishmen.  In 
order  to  supply  them  with  what  information  might  be  derived  from  the 
experience  of  the  most  successful  foreign  navigators,  he  translated  some  of 
the  best  accounts  of  the  progress  of  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  in  their 
voyages  both  to- the  East  and  West  Indies,  into  (he  English  tongue.  He  was 
consulted  with  respect  to  many  of  the  attempt?  towards  discovery  or  colo- 
nization during  the  latter  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  He  corresponded  with 
the  officers  who  conducted  them,  directed  their  researches  to  proper  objects, 
and  published  the  history  of  their  exploits.  By  the  zealous  endeavours  of 
a  person  equally  respected  by  men  of  rank  and  men  of  business,  many  of 
both  orders  formed  an  association  to  establish  colonies  in  America,  and 
petitioned  the  king  for  the  sanction  of  his  authority  to  warrant  the  execution 
of  their  plans. 

James,  who  prided  himself  on  his  profound  skill  in  the  science  of  govern- 
ment, and  who  had  turned  his  attention  to  consider  the  advantages  which 
might  be  derived  from  colonies,  at  a  time  when  he  patronized  his  scheme 
for  planting  them  in  some  of  the  ruder  provinces  of  his  ancient  kingdom, 
with  a  view  of  introducing  industry  and  civilization  there,*  was  now  no 
less  fond  of  directing  the  active  genius  bf  his  English  subjects  towards 
occupations  not  repugnant  to  his  own  pacific  maxims,  and  listened  with  a 
favourable  ear  to  their  application.  But  as  the  extent  as  well  as  value  of 
the  American  continent  began  now  to  be  better  known,  a  grant  of  the 
whole  of  such  a  vast  region  to  any  one  body  of  men,  however  respectable, 
appeared  to  him  an  act  of  impolitic  and  profuse  liberality.  For  this  rea- 
son he  divided  that  portion  of  North  America,  which  stretches  from  the 
thirty-fourth  to  the  fifty-fifth  degree  of  latitude,  into  two  districts  nearly 
equal ;  the  one  called  the  first  or  south  colony  of  Virginia,  the  other,  the 
second  or  north  colony  [April  10,  1616].  He  authorized  Sir  Thomas 
Gates,  Sir  George  Summers,  Richard  Hakluyt,  and  their  associates,  mostly 
resident  in  London,  to  settle  any  part  of  the  former  which  they  should 
choose,  and  vested  in  them  a  right  of  property  to  the  land  extending  along 
the  coast  fifty  miles  on  each  side  of  the  place  of  their  first  habitation,  and 
reaching  into  the  interior  country  a  hundred  miles.  The  latter  district  he 
allotted,  as  the  place  of  settlement  to  sundry  knights,  gentlemen,  and  mer- 

*  Hist,  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii. 


AMERICA.  403 

chants  of  Bristol,  Plymouth,  and  other  parts  in  the  west  of  England,  with 
a  similar  grant  of  territory.  Neither  the  monarch  who  issued  this  charter, 
nor  his  subjects  who  received  it,  had  any  conception  that  they  were  pro- 
ceeding to  lay  the  foundation  of  mighty  and  opulent  states.  What  James 
granted  was  nothing  more  than  a  simple  charter  of  corporation  to  a  trading 
company,  empowering  the  members  of  it  to  have  a  common  seal,  and  to 
act  as  a  body  politic.  But  as  the  object  for  which  they  associated  was 
new,  the  plan  established  for  the  administration  of  their  affairs  was  uncom- 
mon. Instead  of  the  power  usually  granted  to  corporations,  of  electing 
officers  and  framing  by-laws  for  the  conduct  of  their  own  operations,  the 
supreme  government  of  the  colonies  to  be  settled  was  vested  in  a  council 
resident  in  England,  to  be  named  by  the  king,  according  to  such  laws  and 
ordinances  as  should  be  given  under  his  sign  manual ;  and  the  subordinate 
jurisdiction  was  committed  to  a  council  resident  in  America,  which  was 
likewise  to  be  nominated  by  the  king,  and  to  act  conformably  to  his 
instructions.  To  this  important  clause,  which  regulated  the  form  of  their 
constitution,  was  added  the  concession  of  several  immunities  to  encourage 
persons  to  settle  in  the  intended  colonies.  Some  of  those  were  the  same 
which  had  been  granted  to  Gilbert  and  Ralegh .;  such  as  the  securing  to 
the  emigrants  and  their  descendants  all  the  rights  of  denizens,  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  they  had  remained  or  had  been  born  in  England  ;  and  grant- 
ing them  the  privilege  of  holding  their  lands  in  America  by  the  freest  and 
least  burdensome  tenure.  Others  were  more  favourable  than  those  granted 
by  Elizabeth.  He  permitted  whatever  was  necessary  for  the  sustenance 
or  commerce  of  the  new  colonies  to  be  exported  from  England,  during  the 
space  of  seven  years,  without  paying  any  duty ;  and,  as  a  further  incite- 
ment to  industry,  he  granted  them  liberty  of  trade  with  other  nations,  and 
appropriated  the  duty  to  be  levied  on  foreign  commodities,  for  twenty-one 
years,  as  a  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  colony.* 

In  this  singular  charter,  the  contents  of  which  have  been  little  attended 
to  by  the  historians  of  America,  some  articles  are  as  unfavourable  to  the 
rights  of  the  colonists  as  others  are  to  the  interest  of  the  parent  state.  By 
placing  the  legislative  and  executive  powers  in  a  council  nominated  by  the 
crown,  and  guided  by  its  instructions,  every  person  settling  in  America 
seems  to  be  bereaved  of  the  noblest  privilege  of  a  free  man ;  by_  the 
unlimited  permission  of  trade  with  foreigners,  the  parent  state  is  deprived 
of  that  exclusive  commerce  which  has  been  deemed  the  chief  advantage 
resulting  from  the  establishment  of  colonies.  But  in  the  infancy  of  colo- 
nization, and  without  the  guidance  of  observation  or  experience,  the  ideas 
of  men,  with  respect  to  the  mode  of  forming  new  settlements,  were  not 
fully  unfolded  or  properly  arranged.  At  a  period  when  they  could  not 
foresee  the  future  grandeur  and  importance  of  the  communities  which  they 
were  about  to  call  into  existence,  they  were  ill  qualified  to  concert  the  best 
plan  for  governing  them.  Besides,  the  English  of  that  age,  accustomed  to 
the  high  prerogative  and  arbitrary  rule  of  their  monarchs,  were  not  ani- 
mated with  such  liberal  sentiments,  either  concerning  their  own  personal  or 
political  rights,  as  have  become  familiar  in  the  more  mature  and  improved 
state  of  their  constitution. 

Without  hesitation  or  reluctance  the  proprietors  of  both  colonies  prepared 
to  execute  their  respective  plans ;  and  under  the  authority  of  a  charter, 
which  would  now  be  rejected  with  disdain  as  a  violent  invasion  of  the 
sacred  and  inalienable  rights  of  liberty,  the  first  permanent  settlements  of 
the  English  in  America  were  established.  From  this  period,  the  progress 
of  the  two  provinces  of  Virginia  and  New  England  forms  a  regular  and 
connected  story.  The  former  in  the  south,  and  the  latter  in  the  north,  may 
be  considered  as  the  original  and  parent  colonies  ;  in  imitation  of  which, 

*  Stith.  Hidt.  of  Virginia,  p.  33     Ant:end.  p.  1.    Piurlias,  v.  ]t;K3.. 


404  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  1   . 

and  under  whose  shelter,  all  the  others  have  been  successively  planted  and 
reared. 

The  first  attempts  to  occupy  Virginia  and  New  England  were  made  by 
very  feeble  bodies  of  emigrants.  As  these  settled  under  great  disadvan- 
tages, among  tribes  of  savages,  and  in  an  uncultivated  desert ;  as  they 
attained  gradually,  after  long  struggles  and  many  disasters,  to  that  maturity 
of  strength,  and  order  of  policy,  which  entitle  them  to  be  considered  as 
respectable  states,  the  history  of  their  persevering  efforts  merits  particular 
attention.  It  will  exhibit  a  spectacle  no  less  striking  than  instructive,  and 
presents  an  opportunity  which  rarely  occurs,  of  contemplating  a  society  in 
the  first  moment  of  its  political  existence,  and  of  observing  how  its  spirit 
forms  in  its  infant  state,  how  its  principles  begin  to  unfold  as  it  advances, 
and  how  those  characteristic  qualities  which  distinguish  its  maturer  age 
are  successively  acquired.  The  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  other 
English  colonies,  undertaken  at  periods  when  the  importance  of  such  pos- 
sessions was  better  understood,  and  effected  by  more  direct  and  vigorous 
exertions  of  the  parent  state,  is  less  interesting.  I  shall  therefore  relate 
the  history  of  the  two  original  colonies  in  detail.  With  respect  to  the  sub- 
sequent settlements,  some  more  general  observations  concerning  the  time, 
the  motives,  and  circumstances  of  their  establishment  will  be  sufficient. 
I  begin  with  the  history  of  Virginia,  the  most  ancient  and  most  valuable  of 
the  British  colonies  in  North  America. 

Though  many  persons  of  distinction  became  proprietors  in  the  company 
which  undertook  to  plant  a  colony  in  Virginia,  its  funds  seem  not  to  have 
been  considerable,  and  its  first  effort  was  certainly  extremely  feeble.  A 
small  vessel  of  a  hundred  tons,  and  two  barks,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Newport,  sailed  [Dec.  19]  with  a  hundred  and  five  men  destined 
to  remain  in  the  country.  Some  of  these  were  of  respectable  families, 
particularly  a  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  several  officers 
who  had  served  with  reputation  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Newport,  I 
know  not  for  what  reason,  followed  the  ancient  course  by  the  West  Indies, 
and  did  not  reach  the  coast  of  North  America  for  four  months  [April  26, 
1607].  But  he  approached  it  with  better  fortune  than  any  former  navi- 
gator ;  for,  having  been  driven,  by  the  violence  of  a  storm,  to  the  north- 
ward of  Roanoke,  the  place  of  his  destination,  the  first  land  he  discovered 
was  a  promontory  which  he  called  Cape  Henry,  the  southern  boundary  of 
the  Bay  of  Chesapeak.  The  English  stood  directly  into  that  spacious  inlet, 
which  seemed  to  invite  them  to  enter  ;  and  as  they  advanced,  contem- 
plated, with  a  mixture  of  delight  and  admiration,  that  grand  reservoir, 
into  which  are  poured  the  waters  of  all  the  vast  rivers,  which  not  only 
diffuse  fertility  through  that  district  of  America,  but  open  the  interior  parts 
of  the  country  to  navigation,  and  render  a  commercial  intercourse  more 
extensive  and  commodious  than  in  any  other  region  of  the  globe.  New- 
port, keeping  along  the  southern  shore,  sailed  up  a  river  which  the  natives 
called  Powhatan,  and  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  James  River.  After 
viewing1  its  banks,  during  a  run  of  above  forty  miles  from  its  mouth,  they 
all  concluded  that  a  country,  where  safe  and  convenient  harbours  seemed 
to  be  numerous,  would  be  a  more  suitable  station  for  a  trading  colony  than 
the  shoaly  and  dangerous  coast  to  the  south,  on  which  their  countrymen 
had  formerly  settled.  Here  then  they  determined  to  abide  ;  and  having 
chosen  a  proper  spot  for  their  residence,  they  gave  this  infant  settlement 
the  name  of  James  Town,  which  it  still  retains  ;  and  though  it  has  never 
become  either  populous  or  opulent,  it  can  boast  of  being  the  most  ancient 
habitation  of  the  English  in  the  New  World.  But  however  well  chosen 
the  situation  might  be,  the  members  of  the  colony  were  far  from  availing 
themselves  of  its  advantages.  Violent  animosities  had  broke  out  among 
some  of  their  leaders,  during  their  voyage  to  Virginia.  These  did  not  sub- 
side on  their  arrival  there.  The  first  deed  of  the  council,  which  assume* 


AMERICA.  405 

the  government  in  virtue  of  a  commission  brought  from  England  under  the 
seal  of  the  company,  and  opened  on  the  day  after  they  landed,  was  an 
act  of  injustice.  Captain  Smith,  who  had  been  appointed  a  member  of 
the  council,  was  excluded  from  his  seat  at  the  board,  by  the  mean  jealousy 
of  his  colleagues,  and  not  only  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  private  man, 
but  of  one  suspected  and  watched  by  his  superiors.  This  diminution  of 
his  influence,  and  restraint  on  his  activity,  was  an  essential  injury  to  the 
colony,  which  at  that  juncture  stood  in  need  of  the  aid  of  both,  tor  soon 
after  they  began  to  settle,  the  English  were  involved  in  a  war  with  the 
natives,  partly  by  their  own  indiscretion,  and  partly  by  the  suspicion  and 
ferocity  of  those  barbarians.  And  although  the  Indians,  scattered  over  the 
countries  adjacent  to  James  River,  were  divided  into  independent  tribes, 
so  extremely  feeble  that  hardly  one  of  them  could  muster  above  two  hun- 
dred warriors,*  they  teased  and  annoyed  an  infant  colony  by  their  inces- 
saii  hostilities.  To  this  was  added  a  calamity  still  more  dreadful ;  the 
stock  of  provisions  left  lor  their  subsistence,  on  the  departure  of  their  ships 
for  England  [June  15],  was  so  scanty  and  of  such  bad  quality,  that  a 
scarcity,  approaching  almost  to  absolute  famine,  soon  followed.  Such  poor 
unwholesome  fare  brought  on  diseases,  the  violence  of  which  was  so  much 
increased  by  the  sultry  heat  of  the  climate,  and  the  moisture  of  a  country 
covered  with  wood,  that  before  the  beginning  of  September  one  half  of 
their  number  died,  and  most  of  the  survivors  were  sickly  and  dejected. 
In  such  trying  extremities,  the  comparative  powers  of  every  individual  are 
discovered  and  called  forth,  and  each  naturally  takes  that  station,  and 
assumes  that  ascendant,  to  which  he  is  entitled  by  his  talents  and  force  of 
mind.  Every  eye  was  now  turned  towards  Smith,  and  all  willingly 
devolved  on  him  that  authority  of  which  they  had  formerly  deprived  him. 
His  undaunted  temper,  deeply  tinctured  with  the  wild  romantic  spirit  cha- 
racteristic of  military  adventurers  in  that  age,  was  peculiarly  suited  to  such 
a  situation.  The  vigour  of  his  constitution  continued  fortunately  still  unim- 
paired by  disease,  and  his  mind  was  never  appalled  by  danger.  He  instantly 
adopted  the  only  plan  that  could  save  them  from  destruction.  He  began 
by  surrounding  James  Town  with  such  rude  fortifications  as  were  a  suffi- 
cient defence  against  the  assaults  of  savages.  He  then  marched,  at  the 
head  of  a  small  detachment,  in  quest  of  their  enemies.  Some  tribes  he 
gained  by  caresses  and  presents,  and  procured  from  them  a  supply  of 
provisions.  Others  he  attacked  with  open  force  ;  and  defeating  them  on 
every  occasion,  whatever  their  superiority  in  numbers  might  be,  compelled 
them  to  impan  to  him  some  portion  of  their  winter  stores.  As  the  recom- 
pense of  all  his  toils  and  dangers,  he  saw  abundance  and  contentment 
re-established  in  the  colony,  and  hoped  that  he  should  be  able  to  maintain 
them  in  that  happy  state,  until  the  arrival  of  ships  from  England  in  the 
spring  ;  but  in  one  of  his  excursions  he  was  surprised  by  a  numerous  body 
of  Indians,  and  in  making  his  escape  from  them,  after  a  gallant  defence,  he 
sunk  to  the  neck  in  a  swamp,  and  was  obliged  to  surrender.  Though  he 
knew  well  what  a  dreadful  fate  awaits  the  prisoners  of  savages,  his  pre- 
sence of  mind  did  not  forsake  him.  He  showed  those  who  had  taken 
him  captive  a  mariner's  compass,  and  amused  them  with  so  many  wonder- 
ful accounts  of  its  virtues  as  filled  them  with  astonishment  and  veneration, 
which  began  to  operate  very  powerfully  in  his  favour.  They  led  him, 
however,  in  triumph  through  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  conducted 
him  at  last  to  Powhatan,  the  most  considerable  Sacbim  in  that  part  of 
Virginia.  There  the  doom  of  death  being  pronounced,  he  was  led  to  the 
place  of  execution,  and  his  head  already  bowed  down  to  receive  the  fatal 
blow,  when  that  fond  attachment  of  the  American  women  to  their  Euro- 

*  Purchas,  vol.  Iv.  1692.    Smith's  Travels,  p.  23. 


406  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

pean  invaders,  the  beneficial  effects  of  which  the  Spaniards  often  expe- 
rienced, interposed  in  his  behalf.  The  favourite  daughter  of  Powhatan 
rushed  in  between  him  and  the  executioner,  and  by  her  entreaties  and 
tears  prevailed  on  her  father  to  spare  his  life.  The  beneficence  of  his 
deliverer,  whom  the  early  English  writers  dignify  with  the  title  of  the 
Princess  Pocahuntas,  did  not  terminate  here  ;  she  soon  after  procured  his 
liberty,  and  sent  from  time  to  time  seasonable  presents  of  provisions.* 

Smith,  on  his  return  to  James  Town,  found  the  colony  reduced  to  thirty- 
eight  persons,  who,  in  despair  were  preparing  to  abandon  a  country  which 
did  not  seem  destined  to  be  the  habitation  of  Englishmen.  He  employed 
caresses,  threats,  and  even  violence,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  executing 
this  fatal  resolution.  With  difficulty  he  prevailed  on  them  to  defer  it  so 
long,  that  the  succour  anxiously  expected  from  England  arrived.  Plenty 
was  instantly  restored  ;  a  hundred  new  planters  were  added  to  their 
number  ;  ana  an  ample  stock  of  whatever  was  requisite  for  clearing  and 
sowing  the  ground  was  delivered  to  them.  But  an  unlucky  incident  turned 
their  attention  from  that  species  of  industry  which  alone  could  render  their 
situation  comfortable.  In  a  small  stream  of  water  that  issued  from  a  bank 
of  sand  near  James  Town,  a  sediment  of  some  shining  mineral  substance, 
which  had  some  resemblance  of  gold,  was  discovered.  At  a  time  when 
the  precious  metals  were  conceived  to  be  the  peculiar  and  only  valuable 
productions  of  the  New  World,  when  every  mountain  was  supposed  to 
contain  a  treasure,  and  every  rivulet  was  searched  for  its  golden  sands, 
this  appearance  was  fondly  considered  as  an  infallible  indication  of  a  mine. 
Evejy  hand  was  eager  to  dig  ;  large  quantities  of  this  glittering  dust  were 
amassed.  From  some  assay  of  its  nature,  made  by  an  artist  as  unskilful 
as  his  companions  were  credulous,  it  was  pronounced  to  be  extremely  rich. 
"  There  was  now,"  says  Smith,  "  no  talk,  no  hope,  no  work,  but  dig  gold, 
wash  gold,  refine  gold."!  With  this  imaginary  wealth  the  first  vessel 
returning  to  England  was  loaded,  while  the  culture  of  the  land  and  every 
useful  occupation  were  totally  neglected. 

The  effects  of  this  fatal  delusion  were  soon  felt.  Notwithstanding  all 
the  provident  activity  of  Smith,  in  procuring  corn  from  the  natives  by  traffic 
or  by  force,  the  colony  began  to  suffer  as  much  as  formerly  from  scarcity 
of  food,  and  was  wasted  by  the  same  distempers.  In  hopes  of  obtaining 
some  relief,  Smith  proposed,  as  they  had  not  hitherto  extended  their 
researches  beyond  the  countries  contiguous  to  James  River,  to  open  an 
intercourse  with  the  more  remote  tribes,  and  to  examine  into  the  state  of 
culture  and  population  among  them.  The  execution  of  this  arduous  design 
ne  undertook  himself,  in  a  small  open  boat,  with  a  feeble  crew,  and  a  very 
scanty  stock  of  provisions.  He  began  his  survey  at  Cape  Charles,  and  in 
twooifferent  excursions,  which  continued  above 7our  months,  he  advanced 
as  far  as  the  river  Susquehannah,  which  flows  into  the  bottom  of  the  bay. 
tie  visited  all  the  countries  both  on  the  east  and  west  shores  ;  he  entered 
most  of  the  considerable  creeks  ;  he  sailed  up  many  of  the  great  rivers  as 
far  as  their  falls.  He  traded  with  some  tribes  ;  he  fought  with  others  ;  he 
observed  the  nature  of  the  territory  which  they  occupied,  their  mode  of 
subsistence,  the  peculiarities  in  their  manners  ;  and  left  among  all  a  won- 
derful admiration  either  of  the  beneficence  or  valour  of  the  English.  After 
sailing  above  three  thousand  miles  in  a  paltry  vessel,  ill  fitted  for  such  an 
extensive  navigation,  during  which  the  hardships  to  which  he  was  exposed, 
as  well  as  the  patience  with  which  he  endured,  and  the  fortitude  with 
which  he  surmounted  them,  equal  whatever  is  related  of  the  celebrated 
Spanish  discoverers  in  their  most  daring  enterprises,  he  returned  to  James 
Town ;  he  brought  with  him  an  account  of  that  large  portion  of  the 

*  Smith's  Travels,  p.  44,  &c.     Purehas,  iv.  1704.     Stith,  p.  45,  &c.       t  Smith's  Travels,  p.  53. 


AMERICA.  407 

American  continent  now  comprehended  in  the  two  provinces  of  Virginia 
and  Maryland,*  so  full  and  exact,  that  after  the  progress  of  information  and 
research  for  a  century  and  a  half,  his  map  exhibits  no  inaccurate  view  of 
both  countries,  and  is  the  original  upon  which  all  subsequent  delineations 
and  descriptions  have  been  formed.f 

But  whatever  pleasing  prospect  of  future  benefit  might  open  upon  this 
complete  discovery  of  a  country  formed  by  nature  to  be  the  seat  of  an 
exclusive  commerce,  it  afforded  but  little  relief  for  their  present  wants. 
The  colony  still  depended  for  subsistence  chiefly  on  supplies  from  the 
natives  ;  as,  after  all  the  efforts  of  their  own  industry,  hardly  thirty  acres 
of  ground  were  yet  cleared  so  as  to  be  capable  of  culture. J  By  Smith's 
attention,  however,  the  stores  of  the  English  were  so  regularly  tilled  that 
for  some  time  they  felt  no  considerable  distress  ;  and  at  this  juncture  a 
change  was  made  in  the  constitution  of  the  company,  which  seemed  to 
promise  an  increase  of  their  security  and  happiness.  That  supreme  di- 
rection of  all  the  company's  operations,  which  the  King  by  his  charter  had 
reserved  to  himself,  discouraged  persons  of  rank  or  property  from  becoming 
members  of  a  society  so  dependent  on  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  crown. 
Upon  a  representation  of  this  to  James,  he  granted  them  a  newT  charter 
[May  23, 1609],  with  more  ample  privileges.  He  enlarged  the  boundaries 
of  the  colony  ;  he  rendered  the  powers  of  the  company,  as  a  corporation, 
more  explicit  and  complete ;  he  abolished  the  jurisdiction  of  the  council 
resident  in  Virginia  ;  he  vested  the  government  entirely  in  a  council  re- 
siding in  London  ;  he  granted  to  the  proprietors  of  the  company  the  right 
of  electing  the  persons  who  were  to  compose  this  council,  by  a  majority 
of  voices  ;  he  authorized  this  council  to  establish  such  laws,  orders,  and 
forms  of  government  and  magistracy,  for  the  colony  and  plantation,  as  they 
in  their  discretion  should  think  to  be  fittest  for  the  good  of  the  adventurers 
and  inhabitants  there  ;  he  empowered  them  to  nominate  a  governor  to  have 
the  administration  of  affairs  in  the  colony ;  and  to  carry  their  orders  into 
execution. §  In  consequence  of  these  concessions,  the  company  having 
acquired  the  power  of  regulating  all  its  own  transactions,  the  number  of 
proprietors  increased,  and  among  them  we  find  the  most  respectable  names 
in  the  nation. 

The  first  deed  of  the  new  council  was  to  appoint  Lord  Delaware  go- 
vernor and  captain-general  of  their  colony  in  Virginia.  To  a  person  of 
his  rank  those  high  sounding  titles  could  be  no  allurement ;  and  by  his 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  progress  and  state  of  the  settlement,  he 
knew  enough  of  the  labour  and  difficulty  with  which  an  infant  colony  is 
reared,  to  expect  any  thing  but  anxiety  and  care  in  discharging  the  duties 
of  that  delicate  office.  But,  from  zeaf  to  promote  an  establishment  which 
he  expected  to  prove  so  highly  beneficial  to  his  country,  he  was  willing  to 
relinquish  all  the  comforts  of  an  honourable  station,  to  undertake  a  long 
voyage  to  settle  in  an  uncultivated  region,  destitute  of  every  accommoda- 
tion to  which  he  had  been  accustomed,  and  where  he  foresaw  that  toil, 
and  trouble,  and  danger  awaited  him.  But  as  he  could  not  immediately 
leave  England,  the  council  despatched  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  Sir  George 
Summers,  the  former  of  whom  had  been  appointed  lieutenant-general  and 
the  latter  admiral,  with  nine  ships  and  five  hundred  planters.  They 
carried  with  them  commissions  by  which  they  were  empowered  to  super- 
sede the  jurisdiction  of  the  former  council,  to  proclaim  Lord  Delaware 
governor,  and  until  he  should  arrive,  to  take  the  administration  of  affairs 
into  their  own  hands.  A  violent  hurricane  separated  the  vessel  in  which 
Gates  and  Summers  had  embarked  from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  and  stranded 
it  on  the  coast  of  Bermudas  [Aug.  11].  The  other  ships  arrived  safely 
at  James  Town.  But  the  fate  of  their  commanders  was  unknown.  Their 

*  Smith's  Travels,  p.  65.  &c.       |  Stith,  p.  83  J  Ibid,  p  97.         $  Ibid.  Append.  8. 


408  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  DC. 

commission  for  new  modelling  the  government,  and  all  other  public  papers, 
were  supposed  to  be  lost  together  with  them.  The  present  form  of 
government,  however,  was  held  to  be  abolished.  No  legal  warrant  could 
be  produced  for  establishing  any  other.  Smith  was  not  in  a  condition  at 
this  juncture  to  assert  his  own  rights,  or  to  act  with  his  wonted  vigour. 
By  an  accidental  explosion  of  gunpowder,  he  had  been  so  miserably 
scorched  and  mangled  that  he  was  incapable  of  moving,  and  under  the 
necessity  of  committing  himself  to  the  guidance  of  his  friends,  who 
carried  him  aboard  one  of  the  ships  returning  to  England,  in  hopes  that 
he  might  recover  by  more  skilful  treatment  than  he  could  meet  with  in 
Virginia.* 

After  his  departure,  every  thing  tended  fast  to  the  wildest  anarchy. 
Faction  and  discontent  had  often  risen  so  high  among  the  old  settlers  that 
they  could  hardly  be  kept  within  bounds.  The  spirit  of  the  new  comers 
was  too  ungovernable  to  bear  any  restraint.  Several  among  them  of  better 
rank  were  such  dissipated  hopeless  young  men,  as  their  friends  were  glad 
to  send  out  in  quest  of  whatever  fortune  might  betide  them  in  a  foreign 
land.  Of  the  lower  order  many  were  so  profligate,  or  desperate,  that  their 
country  was  happy  to  throw  them  out  as  nuisances  in  society.  Such  per- 
sons were  little  capable  of  the  regular  subordination,  the  strict  economy, 
and  persevering  industry,  which  their  situation  required.  The  Indians 
observing  their  misconduct,  and  that  every  precaution  for  sustenance  or 
safety  was  neglected,  not  only  withheld  the  supplies  of  provisions  which 
they  were  accustomed  to  furnish,  but  harassed  them  with  continual  hos- 
tilities. All  their  subsistence  was  derived  from  the  stores  which  they  had 
brought  from  England ;  these  were  soon  consumed ;  then  the  domestic 
animals  sent  out  to  breed  in  the  country  were  devoured ;  and  by  this  in- 
considerate waste,  they  were  reduced  to  such  extremity  of  famine,  as  not 
only  to  eat  the  most  nauseous  and  unwholesome  roots  and  berries,  but  to 
feed  on  the  bodies  of  the  Indians  whom  they  slew,  and  even  on  those  of 
their  companions  who  sunk  under  the  oppression  of  such  complicated  dis- 
tress. In  less  than  six  months,  of  five  hundred  persons  whom  Smith  left  in 
Virginia,  only  sixty  remained ;  and  these  so  feeble  and  dejected  that  they 
could  not  have  survived  for  ten  days,  if  succour  had  not  arrived  from  a 
quarter  whence  they  did  not  expect  it.f 

When  Gates  and  Summers  were  thrown  ashore  on  Bermudas,  fortunately 
not  a  single  person  on  board  their  ship  perished.  A  considerable  part  of 
their  provisions  and  stores  too,  was  saved,  and  in  that  delightful  spot, 
Nature,  with  spontaneous  bounty,  presented  to  them  such  a  variety  of  her 
productions,  that  a  hundred  and  fifty  people  subsisted  in  affluence  for  ten 
months  on  an  uninhabited  island.  Impatient,  however,  to  escape  from  a 
place  where  they  were  cut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  mankind,  they  set 
about  building  two  barks  with  such  tools  and  materials  as  they  had,  and 
by  amazing  efforts  of  perseverance  and  ingenuity  they  finished  them.  In 
these  they  embarked,  and  steered  directly  towards  Virginia,  in  hopes  of 
finding  an  ample  consolation  for  all  their  toils  and  dangers  in  the  embraces 
of  their  companions,  and  amidst  the  comforts  of  a  flourishing  colony.  After 
a  more  prosperous  navigation  than  they  could  have  expected  in  their  ill 
constructed  vessels,  they  landed  at  James  Town  [May  23].  But  instead 
of  that  joyful  interview  for  which  they  fondly  looked,  a  spectacle  pre- 
sented itself  which  struck  them  with  horror.  They  beheld  the  miserable 
remainder  of  their  countrymen  emaciated  with  famine  and  sickness,  sunk 
in  despair,  and  in  their  figure  and  looks  rather  resembling  spectres  than 
human  beings.  As  Gates  and  Summers,  in  full  confidence  of  finding  plenty 
of  provisions  in  Virginia,  had  brought  with  them  no  larger  stock  (han  was 

*  Purchas,  iv.  1734,  &c.    Smith's  Travels,  p.  89.    Stith,  p.  102,  &c.  f  Stith,  p.  116. 

Purchas,  iv.  1748 


AMERICA.  409 

deemed  necessary  for  their  own  support  during  the  voyage,  their  inability 
to  afford  relief  to  their  countrymen  added  to  the  anguish  with  which  they 
viewed  this  unexpected  scene  of  distress.  Nothing  now  remained  but  in- 
stantly to  abandon  a  countiy  where  it  was  impossible  to  subsist  any  longer ; 
and  though  all  that  could  be  found  in  the  stores  of  the  colony  when  added 
to  what  remained  of  the  stock  brought  from  Bermudas,  did  not  amount  to 
more  than  what  was  sufficient  to  support  them  for  sixteen  days,  at  the  most 
scanty  allowance,  they  set  sail,  in  hopes  of  being  able  to  reach  Newfound- 
land, where  they  expected  to  be  relieved  by  their  countrymen  employed 
at  that  season  in  the  fishery  there.* 

But  it  was  not  the  will  of  Heaven  that  all  the  labour  of  the  English,  in 
planting  this  colony,  as  well  as  all  their  hopes  of  benefit  from  its  future 
prosperity,  should  be  for  ever  lost.  Before  Gates  and  the  melancholy 
companions  of  his  voyage  had  reached  the  mouth  of  James  River,  they 
were  met  by  Lord  Delaware  with  three  ships,  that  brought  a  large  recruit 
of  provisions,  a  considerable  number  of  new  settlers,  and  every  thing  re- 
quisite for  defence  or  cultivation.  By  persuasion  and  authority  he  prevailed 
on  them  to  return  to  James  Town,  where  they  found  their  fort,  their  ma- 
gazines, and  houses  entire,  which  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  by  some  happy 
chance,  had  preserved  from  being  set  on  fire  at  the  time  of  their  departure. 
A  society  so  feeble  and  disordered  in  its  frame  required  a  tender  and 
skilful  hand  to  cherish  it,  and  restore  its  vigour.  This  it  found  in  Lord 
Delaware  :  he  searched  into  the  causes  of  their  misfortunes,  as  far  as  he 
could  discover  them,  amidst  the  violence  of  their  mutual  accusations  ;  but 
instead  of  exerting  his  power  in  punishing  crimes  that  were  past,  he  em- 
ployed his  prudence  in  healing  their  dissensions,  and  in  guarding  against  a 
repetition  of  the  same  fatal  errors.  By  unwearied  assiduities,  by  the 
respect  due  to  an  amiable  and  beneficent  character,  by  knowing  how  to 
mingle  severity  with  indulgence,  and  when  to  assume  the  dignity  of  his 
office,  as  well  as  when  to  display  the  gentleness  natural  to  his  own  temper, 
he  gradually  reconciled  men  corrupted  fry  anarchy  to  subordination  and 
discipline,  he  turned  the  attention  of  the  idle  and  profligate  to  industry, 
and  taught  the  Indians  again  to  reverence  and  dread  the  English  name. 
Under  such  an  administration,  the  colony  began  once  more  to  assume  a 
promising  appearance  ;  when  unhappily  for  it,  a  complication  of  diseases 
brought  on  by  the  climate  obliged  Lord  Delaware  to  quit  the  country! 
[March  28,  1611] ;  the  government  of  which  he  committed  to  Mr.  Percy. 

He  was  soon  superseded  by  the  arrival  [May  10]  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale ; 
in  whom  the  company  had  vested  more  absolute  authority  than  in  any  01 
his  predecessors,  empowering  him  to  rule  by  martial  law ;  a  short  code  of 
which,  founded  on  the  practice  of  the  armies  in  the  Low  Countries,  the 
most  rigid  military  school  at  that  time  in  Europe,  they  sent  out  with  him. 
This  system  of  government  is  so  violent  and  arbitrary,  that  even  the  Spa- 
niards themselves  had  not  ventured  to  introduce  it  into  their  settlements  ; 
for  among  them,  as  soon  as  a  plantation  began,  and  the  arts  of  peace  suc- 
ceeded to  the  operations  of  war,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  magistrate 
was  uniformly  established.  But  however  unconstitutional  or  oppressive 
this  may  appear,  it  was  adopted  by  the  advice  of  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  the 
most  enlightened  philosopher,  and  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  of  the 
age.J  The  company,  well  acquainted  with  the  inefficacy  of  every  method 
which  they  had  hitherto  employed  for  restraining  the  unruly  mutinous 
spirits  which  ihey  had  to  govern,  eagerly  adopted  a  plan  that  had  the 
sanction  of  such  high  authority  to  recommend  it.  Happily  for  the  colony, 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  who  was  intrusted  with  this  dangerous  power,  exercised 

*  A  minute  and  curious  account  of  the  shipwreck  of  Gates  and  Summers,  and  of  their  adven- 
tures in  Eermudas,  was  composed  by  Strachy,  a  gentleman  who  accompanied  them,  and  was  pub- 
lished by  Purchas,  iv.  1734.  t  Stith,  p.  117.  Purchaa,  iv.  1764.  i  Bacon,  Essay  on 
Plantations,  p.  3. 

VOL.  L— 52 


410  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

it  with  prudence  and  moderation.  By  the  vigour  which  the  summary 
mode  of  military  punishment  gave  to  his  administration,  he  introduced  into 
the  c6lony  more  perfect  order  than  had  ever  been  established  there  ;  and 
at  the  same  time  he  tempered  his  vigour  with  so  much  discretion,  that  no 
alarm  seems  to  have  been  given  by  mis  formidable  innovation.* 

The  regular  form  which  the  colony  now  began  to  assume  induced  the 
king  to  issue  a  new  charter  for  the  encouragement  of  the  adventurers  [March 
12,  1612],  by  which  he  not  only  confirmed  all  their  former  privileges,  and 
prolonged  me  term  of  exemption  from  payment  of  duties  on  the  commodi- 
ties exported  by^  them,  but  granted  them  more  extensive  property,  as  well 
as  more  ample  jurisdiction.  All  the  islands  lying  within  three  hundred 
leagues  of  the  coast  were  annexed  to  the  province  of  Virginia.  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  the  company  took  possession  of  Bermudas  and  the  other 
small  islands  discovered  by  Gates  and  Summers,  and  at  the  same  time 
prepared  to  send  out  a  considerable  reinforcement  to  the  colony  at  James 
Town.  The  expense  of  those  extraordinary  efforts  was  defrayed  by  the 
profits  of  a  lottery,  which  amounted  nearly  to  thirty  thousand  pounds. 
This  expedient  they  were  authorized  to  employ  by  their  new  charter  ;t 
and  it  is  remarkable,  as  the  first  instance  in  the  English  history  of  any  public 
countenance  given  to  this  pernicious  seducing  mode  of  levying  money. 
But  the  House  of  Commons,  which  towards  the  close  of  this  reign  be^an 
to  observe  every  measure  of  government  with  jealous  attention,  having 
remonstrated  against  the  institution,  as  unconstitutional  and  impolitic,  James 
recalled  the  license  under  the  sanction  of  which  it  had  been  established.;); 

By  the  severe  discipline  of  martial  law,  the  activity  of  the  colonists  was 
forced  into  a  proper  direction,  and  exerted  itself  in  useful  industry.  This, 
aided  by  a  fertile  soil  and  favourable  climate,  soon  enabled  them  to  raise 
such  a  large  stock  of  provisions,  that  they  were  no  longer  obliged  to  trust 
for  subsistence  to  the  precarious  supplies  which  they  obtained  or  extorted 
from  the  Indians.  In  proportion  as  the  English  became  more  independent, 
the  natives  courted  their  friendship  upon  more  equal  terms..  The  happy 
effects  of  this  were  quickly  felt.  Sir  Thomas  Dale  concluded  a  treaty 
with  one  of  their  most  powerful  and  warlike  tribes,  situated  on  the  river 
Chickahominy,  in  which  they  consented  to  acknowledge  themselves  sub- 
jects to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  to  assume  henceforth  the  name  of  Eng- 
lishmen, to  send  a  body  of  their  warriors  to  the  assistance  of  the  English 
as  often  as  they  took  the  field  against  any  enemy,  and  to  deposite  annually 
a  stipulated  quantity  of  Indian  corn  in  the  storehouses  of  the  colony. § 
An  event,  which  the  early  historians  of  Virginia  relate  with  peculiar  satis- 
faction, prepared  the  way  for  this  union.  Pocahuntas.  the  favourite 
daughter  of  the  great  Chief  Powhatan,  to  whose  intercession  Captain 
Smith  was  indebted  for  his  life,  persevered  in  her  partial  attachment  to 
the  English ;  and  as  she  frequently  visited  their  settlements,  where  she 
was  always  received'  with  respectful  hospitality,  her  admiration  of  their 
arts  and  "manners  continued  to  increase.  During  this  intercourse,  her 
beauty,  which  is  represented  as  far  superior  to  that  of  her  countrywomen, 
made  such  impression  on  the  heart  of  Mr.  Rolfe,  a  young  man  of  rank  in 
the  colony,  that  he  warmly  solicited  her  to  accept  of  him  as  a  husband. 
Where  manners  are  simple,  courtship  is  not  tedious.  Neither  artifice  pre- 
vents, nor  ceremony  forbids,  the  heart  from  declaring  its  sentiments. 
Pocahuntas  readily  ^ave  her  consent ;  Dale  encouraged  the  alliance,  and 
Powhatan  did  not  disapprove  it.  The  marriage  was  celebrated  with  ex- 
traordinary pomp ;  and  from  that  period  a  friendly  correspondence  sub- 
sisted between  the  colony  and  all  the  tribes  subject  to  Powhatan,  or  that 
stood  in  awe  of  his  power.  Rolfe  and  his  princess  (for  by  that  name  the 

*  Stith,  p.  112.  f  n>-  P-  191.    Appendix,  23,  &c.  »  f  Chalmers'  Annals,  i.  32 

$  Houier  Solida  Narratio,  ap.  de  Bry,  pars  x.  p.  33.    Stith,  p.  130. 


AMERICA.  411 

writers  of  the  last  age  always  distinguish  her,)  set  out  for  England,  where 
she  was  received  by  James  and  his  Queen  with  the  respect  suited  to  her 
birth.  Being  carefully  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  faith, 
she  was  publicly  baptized,  but  died  a  few  years  after,  on  her  return  to 
America,  leaving  one  son,  from  whom  are  sprung  some  of  the  most  re- 
spectable families  in  Virginia,  who  boast  of  their  descent  from  the  ra^e  of 
the  ancient  rulers  of  their  country.*  But  notwithstanding  the  visible  good 
effects  of  that  alliance,  none  of  Kolfe's  countrymen  seem  to  have  imitated 
the  example  which  he  set  them,  of  intermarrying  with  the  natives.  Of  all 
the  Europeans  who  have  settled  in  America,  the  English  have  availed 
themselves  the  least  of  this  obvious  method  of  conciliating  the  affection  of 
its  original  inhabitants ;  and,  either  from  the  shyness  conspicuous  in  their 
national  character,  or  from  the  want  of  that  pliant  facility  of  manners  which 
accommodates  itself  to  every  situation,  they  have  been  more  averse  than 
the  French  and  Portuguese,  or  even  the  Spaniards,  from  incorporating  with 
the  native  Americans.  The  Indians,  courting  such  a  union,  offeree!  their 
daughters  in  marriage  to  their  new  guests  :  and  when  they  did  not  accept 
of  the  proffered  alliance,  they  naturally  imputed  it  to  pride,  and  to  their 
contempt  of  them  as  an  inferior  order  of  beings.j 

During  the  interval  of  tranquillity  procured  by  the  alliance  with  Pow- 
hatan,  an  important  change  was  made  in  the  state  of  the  colony.  Hitherto 
no  right  of  private  property  in  land  had  been  established.  The  fields  that 
were  cleared  had  been  cultivated  by  the  joint  labour  of  the  colonists;  their 
product  was  carried  to  the  common  storehouses,  and  distributed  weekly 
to  every  family,  according  to  its  number  and  exigencies.  A  society,  des- 
titute of  the  first  advantages  resulting  from  social  union,  was  not  formed  to 
prosper.  Industry,  when  not  excited  by  the  idea  of  property  in  what  was 
acquired  by  its  own  efforts,  made  no  vigorous  exertion.  The  head  had  no 
inducement  to  contrive,  nor  the  hand  to  labour.  The  idle  and  improvident 
trusted  entirely  to  what  was  issued  from  the  common  store  ;  the  assiduity 
even  of  the  sober  and  attentive  relaxed,  when  they  perceived  that  others 
were  to  reap  the  fruit  of  their  toil ;  and  it  was  computed,  that  the  united 
industry  of  the  colony  did  not  accomplish  as  much  work  in  a  week  as 
might  have  been  performed  in  a  day,  if  each  individual  had  laboured  on 
his  own  account.  In  order  to  remedy  this,  Sir  Thomas  Dale  divided  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  land  into  small  lots,  and  granted  one  of  these  to 
each  individual  in  full  property.  From  the  moment  that  industry  had  the 
certain  prospect  of  a  recompense,  it  advanced  with  rapid  progress.  The 
articles  of  primary  necessity  were  cultivated  with  so  much  attention  as 
secured  the  means  of  subsistence ;  and  such  schemes  of  improvement  were 
formed  as  prepared  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  opulence  into  the  colony.  J 

The  industrious  spirit  which  began  to  rise  among  the  planters  was  soon 
directed  towards  a  new  object ;  and  they  applied  to  it  for  some  tin^e  with 
such  inconsiderate  ardour  as  was  productive  of  fatal  consequences.  The 
culture  of  tobacco,  which  has  since  become  the  staple  of  Virginia,  and  the 
source  of  its  prosperity,  was  introduced  about  this  time  [1616],  into  the 
colony.  As  the  taste  for  that  weed  continued  to  increase  in  England,  not- 
withstanding the  zealous  declamations  of  James  against  it,  the  tobacco 
imported  from  Virginia  came  to  a  ready  market ;  and  though  it  was  so 
much  inferior  in  quality  or  in  estimation  to  that  raised  by  the  Spaniards  in 
the  West  Indian  islands,  that  a  pound  of  the  latter  sold  for  eighteen  shilling* 
and  of  the  former  for  no  more  than  three  shillings,  it  yielded  a  considerable 
profit.  Allured  by  the  prospect  of  such  a  certain  and  quick  return,  every 
other  species  of  industry  was  neglected.  The  land  which  ought  to  have 
been  reserved  for  raising  provisions,  and  even  the  streets  of  James  Town, 

*  Hamer  Solida  Narratio,  ap.  do  Cry,  pars  x.  p.  23.     Stitli,  p.  129.  146.     Smith's  Travels,  p.  113 
121,  t  Beverley's  Hist,  of  Virg.  p.  2.3.  {  Smith's  Travels,  p.  114.  Stitb,  p.  131. 


412  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

were  planted  with  tobacco.  Various  regulations  were  framed  to  restrain 
this  ill  directed  activity.  But,  from  eagerness  for  present  gain,  the  plant- 
ers disregarded  every  admonition.  The  means  of  subsistence  became  so 
scanty,  as  forced  them  to  renew  their  demands  upon  the  Indians,  who 
seeing  no  end  of  thpse  exactions,  their  antipathy  to  the  English  name 
revived  with  additional  rancour,  and  they  began  to  form  schemes  of  ven- 
geance, with  a  secrecy  and  silence  peculiar  to  Americans.* 

Meanwhile  the  colony,  notwithstanding  this  error  in  its  operations,  and 
the  cloud  that  was  gathering  over  its  head,  continued  to  wear  an  aspect  of 
prosperity.  Its  numbers  increased  by  successive  migrations  ;  the  quantity 
of  tobacco  exported  became  every  year  more  considerable,  and  several 
of  the  planters  were  not  only  in  an  easy  situation,  but  advancing  fast  to 
opulence  ;t  and  by  two  events,  which  happened  nearly  at  the  same  time, 
both  population  and  industry  were  greatly  promoted.  As  few  women  had 
hitherto  ventured  to  encounter  the  hardships  which  were  unavoidable  in  an 
unknown  and  uncultivated  country,  most  of  the  colonists,  constrained  to 
live  single,  considered  themselves  as  no  more  than  sojourners  in  a  land  to 
which  they  were  not  attached  by  the  tender  ties  of  a  family  and  children. 
In  order  to  induce  them  to  settle  there,  the  company  took  advantage  of  the 
apparent  tranquillity  in  the  country,  to  send  out  a  considerable  number  of 
young  women  of  humble  birth -indeed,  but  of  unexceptionable  character, 
and  encouraged  the  planters,  by  premiums  and  immunities,  to  marry  them.{ 
These  new  companions  were  received  with  such  fondness,  and  many  oi 
them  so  comfortably  established,  as  invited  others  to  follow  their  example  ; 
and  by  degrees  thoughtless  adventurers,  assuming  the  sentiments  of  vir- 
tuous citizens  and  of  provident  fathers  of  families,  became  solicitous  about 
the  prosperity  of  a  country  which  they  now  considered  as  their  own.  As 
the  colonists  "began  to  form  more  extensive  plans  of  industry,  they  were 
unexpectedly  furnished  with  means  of  executing  them  with  greater  facility. 
A  Dutch  ship  from  the  coast  of  Guinea,  having  sailed  up  James  River, 
sold  a  part  of  her  cargo  of  Negroes  to  the  planters  ;§  and  as  that  hardy 
race  was  found  more  capable  of  enduring  fatigue  under  a  sultry  climate 
than  Europeans,  their  number  has  been  increased  by  continual  importation  ; 
their  aid  seems  now  to  be  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  colony,  and  the 
greater  part  of  field  labour  in  Virginia  is  performed  by  servile  hands. 

But  as  the  condition  of  the  colony  improved,  the  spirits  of  its  members 
became  more  independent.  To  Englishmen  the  summary  and  severe 
decisions  of  martial  law,  however  tempered  by  the  mildness  of  their 
governors,  appeared  intolerably  oppressive ;  and  they  longed  to  recover 
the  privileges  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  under  the  liberal  form 
of  government  in  their  native  country.  In  compliance  with  this  spirit,  Sir 
George  Yeardly,  in  the  year  1619  [June],  called  the  first  general  assembly 
that  was  ever  held  in  Virginia ;  and  the  numbers  of  the  people  were  now 
so  increased,  and  their  settlements  so  dispersed,  that  eleven  corporations 
appeared  by  their  representatives  in  this  convention,  where  they  were 
permitted  to  assume  legislative  power,  and  to  exercise  the  noblest  functions 
of  free  men.  The  laws  enacteq  in  it  seem  neither  to  have  been  many  nor 
of  great  importance  ;  but  the  meeting  was  highly  acceptable  to  the  people, 
as  they  now  beheld  among  themselves  an  image  of  the  English  constitution, 
which  they  reverenced  as  the  most  perfect  model  oi  free  government.  In 
order  to  render  this  resemblance  more  complete,  and  the  rights  of  the 
planters  more  certain,  the  company  issued  a  charter  of  ordinance  [July  24], 
which  gave  a  legal  and  permanent  form  to  the  government  of  the  colony. 
The  supreme  legislative  authority  in  Virginia,  in  imitation  of  that  in  Great 
Britain,  was  divided  and  lodged  partly  in  the  governor,  who  held  the 

*  Stith,  p.  140. 147. 164. 163.    Smith,  p.  130.    Purchas.  iv.  1787.  t  Smith,  p.  139. 

t  Stith,  p.  166.  197.  $  Beverley,  p.  37. 


AMERICA.  413 

place  of  the  sovereign  ;  partly  in  a  council  of  state  named  by  the  company, 
which  possessed  some  of  the  distinctions,  and  exercised  some  of  the  func- 
tions belonging  to  the  peerage ;  partly  in  a  general  council  or  assembly 
composed  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  in  which  were  vested 
powers  and  privileges  similar  to  those  of  the  House  of  Commons.  In  both 
these  councils  all  questions  were  to  be  determined  by  the  majority  of 
voices,  and  a  negative  was  reserved  to  the  governor  ;  but  no  law  or  ordi- 
nance, though  approved  of  by  all  the  three  members  of  the  legislature, 
was  to  be  ot  force  until  it  was  ratified  in  England  by  a  general  court  of  the 
company,  and  returned  under  its  seal.*  Thus  the  constitution  of  the  colony 
was  fixed,  and  the  members  of  it  are  henceforth  to  be  considered,  not 
merely  as  servants  of  a  commercial  company  dependent  on  the  will  and 
orders  of  their  superior,  but  as  free  men  and  citizens. 

The  natural  effect  of  that  happy  change  in  their  condition  was  an  increase 
of  their  industry.  The  product  of  tobacco  in  Virginia  was  now  equal, 
not  only  to  the  consumption  of  it  in  Great  Britain,!  but  could  furnish  some 
quantity  for  a  foreign  market.  The  company  opened  a  trade  for  it  with 
Holland,  and  established  warehouses  for  it  in  Middelburg  and  Flushing. 
James  and  his  privy  council,  alarmed  at  seeing  the  commerce  of  a  com- 
modity, for  which  the  demand  was  daily  increasing,  turned  into  a  channel 
that  tended  to  the  diminution  of  the  revenue,  by  depriving  it  of  a  consider- 
able duty  imposed  on  the  importation  of  tobacco,  interposed  with  vigour  to 
check  this  innovation.  Some  expedient  was  found,  by  which  the  matter 
was  adjusted  for  the  present ;  but  it  is  remarkable  as  the  first  instance  of 
a  difference  in  sentiment  between  the  parent  state  and  the  colony,  concern- 
ing their  respective  rights.  The  former  concluded,  that  the  trade  of  the 
colony  should  be  confined  to  England,  and  all  its  productions  be  landed 
there.  The  latter  claimed,  not  only  the  general  privilege  of  Englishmen 
to  carry  their  commodities  to  the  best  market,  but  pleaded  the  particular 
concessions  in  their  charter,  by  which  an  unlimited  freedom  of  commerce 
seemed  to  be  granted  to  them,  j  The  time  for  a  more  full  discussion  of  this 
important  question  was  not  yet  arrived. 

But  while  the  colony  continued  to  increase  so  fast  that  settlements  were 
scattered,  not  only  along  the  banks  of  James  and  York  rivers,  but  began 
to  extend  to  the  Rapahannock,  and  even  to  the  Potowmack,  the  English, 
relying  on  their  own  numbers,  and  deceived  by  this  appearance  of  pros- 
perity, lived  in  full  security.  They  neither  attended  to  the  movements  of 
the  Indians,  nor  suspected  their  machinations  ;  and  though  surrounded  by 
a  people  whom  they  might  have  known  from  experience  to  be  both  artful 
and  vindictive,  they  neglected  every  precaution  for  their  own  safety  that 
was  requisite  in  such  a  situation.  Like  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  a 
society  completely  established,  they  were  no  longer  soldiers  but  citizens, 
and  were  so  intent  on  what  was  subservient  to  the  comfort  or  embellishment 
of  civil  life  that  every  martial  exercise  began  to  be  laid  aside  as  unne- 
cessary. The  Indians,  whom  they  commonly  employed  as  hunters,  were 
furnished  with  fire  arms,  and  taught  to  use  them  with  dexterity.  They 
were  permitted  to  frequent  the  habitations  of  the  English  at  all  hours,  and 
received  as  innocent  visitants  whom  there  was  no  reason  to  dread.  This 
inconsiderate  security  enabled  the  Indians  to  prepare  for  the  execution  of 

*  Stith,  Appendix,  p.  32,  &c. 

t  It  is  a  matter  of  some  curiosity  to  trace  the  progress  of  the  consumption  of  this  unnecessary 
commodity.  The  use  of  tobacco  seems  to  have  been  first  introduced  into  England  about  the  year 
1586.  Possibly  a  few  seafaring  persons  may  have  acquired  a  relish  for  it  by  their  intercourse  with 
the  Spaniards  previous  to  that  period ;  but  the  use  of  it  cannot  be  denominated  a  national  habit 
sooner  than  the  time  I  have  mentioned.  Upon  an  average  of  the  seven  years  immediately  prece- 
ding the  year  1622,  the  whole  import  of  tobacco  into  England  amounted  to  a  hundred  and  forty-two 
thousand  and  eighty-five  pounds  weigtn.  Stith,  p.  246.  From  this  it  appears,  that  the  taste  had 
spread  with  a  rapidity  which  is  remarkable.  But  how  inconsiderable  is  that  quantity  to  what  ia 
now  consumed  in  Great  Britain  I 

t  Stith,  p.  200,  &c. 


414  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK  IX. 

that  plan  of  vengeance,  which  they  meditated  with  all  the  deliberate  fore- 
thought which  is  agreeable  to  their  temper.  Nor  did  they  want  a  leader 
capable  of  conducting  their  schemes  with  address.  On  the  death  oi 
Powhatan,  in  the  year  1618,  Opechancanough  succeeded  him,  not  only  as 
wirowanee,  or  chief  of  his  own  tribe,  but  in  that  extensive  influence  over 
all  the  Indian  nations  of  Virginia,  which  induced  the  English  writers  to 
distinguish  him  by  the  name  of  Emperor.  According  to  the  Indian  tradi- 
tion, he  was  not  a  native  of  Virginia,  but  came  from  a  distant  country  to 
the  south-west,  possibly  from  some  province  of  the  Mexican  empire.* 
But  as  he  was  conspicuous  for  all  the  qualities  of  highest  estimation  among 
savages,  a  fearless  courage,  great  strength  and  agility  of  body,  and  crafty 
policy,  he  quickly  rose  to  eminence  and  power. — Soon  after  his  elevation 
to  the  supreme  command,  a  general  massacre  of  the  English  seems  to  have 
been  resolved  upon  ;  and  during  four  years,  the  means  of  perpetrating  it 
with  the  greatest  facility  and  success  were  concerted  with  amazing  secrecy 
All  the  tribes  contiguous  to  the  English  settlements  were  successively  gained, 
except  those  on  the  eastern  shore,  from  whom,  on  account  of  their  peculiar 
attachment  to  their  new  neighbours,  every  circumstance  that  might  discover 
what  they  intended  was  carefully  concealed.  To  each  tribe  its  station 
was  allotted,  and  the  part  it  was  to  act  prescribed.  On  the  morning  of 
the  day  consecrated  to  vengeance  [March  22],  each  was  at  the  place  of 
rendezvous  appointed,  while  the  English  were  so  little  aware  of  the 
impending  destruction  that  they  received  with  unsuspicious  hospitality 
several  persons  sent  by  Opechancanough,  under  pretext  of  delivering 
presents  of  venison  ana  fruits,  but  in  reality  to  observe  their  motions. 
Finding  them  perfectly  secure,  at  midday,  the  moment  that  was  previously 
fixed  for  this  deed  of  horror,  the  Indians  rushed  at  once  upon  them  in  all 
their  different  settlements,  and  murdered  men,  women,  and  children,  with 
undistinguishing  rage,  and  that  rancorous  cruelty  with  which  savages  treat 
their  enemies.  In  one  hour  nearly  a  fourth  part  of  the  whole  colony  was 
cut  off,  almost  without  knowing  by  whose  hands  they  fell.  The  slaughter 
would  have  been  universal,  if  compassion,  or  a  sense  of  duty,  had  not 
moved  a  converted  Indian,  to  whom  the  secret  was  communicated  the 
night  before  the  massacre,  to  reveal  it  to  his  master  in  such  time  as  to  save 
James  Town  and  some  adjacent  settlements  ;  and  if  the  English  in  other 
districts  ha,d  not  run  to  their  arms  with  resolution  prompted  by  despair, 
and  defended  themselves  so  bravely  as  to  repulse  their  assailants,  who, 
in  the  execution  of  their  plan,  did  not  discover  courage  equal  to  the  sagacity 
and  art  with  which  they  had  concerted  it.j 

But  though  the  blow  was  thus  prevented  from  descending  with  its  full 
effect,  it  proved  very  grievous  to  an  infant  colony.  In  some  settlements 
not  a  single  Englishman  escaped.  Many  persons  of  prime  note  in  the 
colony,  and  among  these  -several  members  of  the  council,  were  slain. 
The  survivors,  overwhelmed  with  grief,  astonishment,  and  terror,  aban- 
doned all  their  remote  settlements,  and,  crowding  together  for  safety  to 
James  Town,  did  not  occupy  a  territory  of  greater  extent  than  had  been 
planted  soon  after  the  arrival  of  their  countrymen  in  Virginia.  Confined 
within  those  narrow  boundaries,  they  were  less  intent  on  schemes  of  industry 
than  on  thoughts  of  revenge.  Every  man  took  arms.  A  bloody  war 
against  the  Indians  commenced ;  ana,  bent  on  exterminating  the  whole 
race,  neither  old  nor  young  were  spared.  The  conduct  of  the  Spaniards 
in  the  southern  regions  of  America  was  openly  proposed  as  the  most  proper 
model  to  imitate  ;J  and  regardless,  like  them,  of  those  principles  of  faith, 
honour,  and  humanity,  which  regulate  hostility  among  civilized  nations 
and  set  bounds  to  its  rage,  the  English  deemed  every  thing  allowable  that 
tended  to  accomplish  their  design.  They  hunted  the  Indians  like  wild 

*  Beverley,  p.  51.          t  Stith,  p.  208,  &c.    Purchas,  iv.  1788,  &c        J  Stith,  p.  233. 


AMERICA.  415 

beasts  rather  than  enemies  ;  and  as  the  pursuit  of  them  to  their  places  of 
retreat  in  the  woods,  which  covered  their  country,  was  both  difficult  and 
dangerous,  they  endeavoured  to  allure  them  from  their  inaccessible  fastness 
by  offers  of  peace  and  promises  of  oblivion,  made  with  such  an  artful 
appearance  of  sincerity  as  deceived  their  crafty  leader,  and  induced  them 
to  return  to  their  former  settlements,  and  resume  their  usual  peaceful  oc- 
cupations [1623],  The  behaviour  of  the  two  people  seemed  now  to  be 
perfectly  reversed.  The  Indians,  like  men  acquainted  with  the  principles 
of  integrity  and  good  faith,  on  which  the  intercourse  between  nations  is 
founded,  confided  in  the  reconciliation,  and  lived  in  absolute  security  with- 
out suspicion  of  danger ;  while  the  English,  with  perfidious  craft,  were 
preparing  to  imitate  savages  in  their  revenge  and  cruelty.  On  the  approach 
of  harvest,  when  they  knew  a  hostile  attack  would  be  most  formidable 
and  fatal,  they  fell  suddenly  upon  all  the  Indian  plantations,  murdered 
every  person  on  whom  they  could  lay  hold,  and  drove  the  rest  to  the 
woods,  where  so  many  perished  with  hunger,  that  some  of  the  tribes 
nearest  to  the  English  were  totally  extirpated.  This  atrocious  deed, 
which  the  perpetrators  laboured  to  represent  as  a  necessary  act  of  retalia- 
tion, was  followed  by  some  happy  effects.  It  delivered  the  colony  so 
entirely  from  any  dread  of  the  Indians,  that  its  settlements  began  again  to 
extend,  and  its  industry  to  revive. 

But  unfortunately  at  this  juncture  the  state  of  the  company  in  England, 
in  which  the  property  of  Virginia  and  the  government  of  the  colony 
settled  there  were  vested,  prevented  it  from  seconding  the  efforts  of  the 
planters,  by  such  a  reinforcement  of  men,  and  such  a  supply  of  necessa- 
ries, as  were  requisite  to  replace  what  they  had  lost.  The  company  was 
originally  composed  of  many  adventurers,  and  increased  so  fast  by  the 
junction  of  new  members,  allured  by  the  prospect  of  gain,  or  the  desire  of 
promoting  a  scheme  of  public  utility,  that  its  general  courts  formed  a 
numerous  assembly.*  The  operation  of  every  political  principle  and 
passion,  that  spread  through  the  kingdom,  was  felt  in  those  popular  meet- 
ings, and  influenced  their  decisions.  As  towards  the  close  of  James's 
reign  more  just  and  enlarged  sentiments  with  respect  to  constitutional 
liberty  were  diffused  among  the  people,  they  came  to  understand  their 
rights  better  and  to  assert  them  with  greater  boldness  ;  a  distinction  formerly 
little  known,  but  now  familiar  in  English  policy,  began  to  be  established 
between  the  court  and  country  parties,  and  the  leaders  of  each  endea- 
voured to  derive  power  and  consequence  from  every  quarter.  Both 
exerted  themselves  with  emulation,  in  order  to  obtain  the  direction  of  a 
body  so  numerous  and  respectable  as  the  company  of  Virginian  adven- 
turers. In  consequence  of  this,  business  had  been  conducted  in  every 
general  court  for  some  years,  not  with  the  temperate  spirit  of  merchants 
deliberating  concerning  their  mutual  interest,  but  with  the  animosity  and 
violence  natural  to  numerous  assemblies,  by  which  rival  factions  contend 
for  superiority.! 

As  the  king  did  not  often  assemble  the  great  council  of  the  nation  in 
parliament,  the  general  courts  of  the  company  became  a  theatre  on  which 
popular  orators  displayed  their  talents ;  the  proclamations  of  the  crown, 
and  acts  of  the  privy  council,  with  respect  to  the  commerce  and  police  of 
the  colony,  were  canvassed  there  with  freedom,  and  censured  with  seve- 
rity, ill  suited  to  the  lofty  ideas  which  James  entertained  of  his  own 
wisdom,  and  the  extent  ot  his  prerogative.  In  order  to  check  this  growing 
spirit  of  discussion,  the  ministers  employed  all  their  address  and  influence 
to  gain  as  many  members  of  the  company  as  might  give  them  the  direc- 
tion of  their  deliberations.  But  so  unsuccessful  were  they  in  this  attempt, 
that  every  measure  proposed  by  them  was  reprobated  by  a  vast  majority, 

*  3tith,  p.  272.  276.  *  Ihirt.  j>.  229,  &c.     Chalmers,  p.  59. 


416  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

and  sometimes  without  any  reason  but  because  they  were  the  proposers 
of  it.  James,  little  favourable  to  the  power  of  any  popular  assembly, 
and  weary  of  contending  with  one  over  which  he  had  laboured  in  vain  to 
obtain  an  ascendant,  began  to  entertain  thoughts  of  dissolving  the  com- 
pany, and  new  modelling  its  constitution.  Pretexts,  neither  unplausible 
nor  destitute  of  some  foondation,  seemed  to  justify  this  measure.  The 
slow  progress  of  the  colony,  the  large  sums  of  money  expended,  and  great 
number  of  men  who  had  perished  in  attempting  to  plant  it,  the  late  massacre 
by  the  Indians,  and  every  disaster  that  had  befallen  the  English  from  their 
first  migration  to  America,  were  imputed  solely  to  the  inability  of  a  nume- 
rous company  to  conduct  an  enterprise  so  complex  and  arduous.  The 
nation  felt  sensibly  its  disappointment  in  a  scheme  in  which  it  had  engaged 
with  sanguine  expectations  of  advantage,  and  wished  impatiently  for  such 
an  impartial  scrutiny  into  former  proceedings  as  might  suggest  more 
salutary  measures  in  the  future  administration  of  the  colony.  The  pre- 
sent state  of  its  affairs,  as  well  as  the  wishes  of  the  people,  seemed  to  call 
for  the  interposition  of  the  crown ;  and  James,  eager  to  display  the  supe- 
riority of  his  royal  wisdom,  in  correcting  those  errors  into  which  the 
company  had  been  betrayed  by  inexperience  in  the  arts  of  government, 
boldly  undertook  the  work  of  reformation  [May  9,  1623].  Without 
regarding  the  rights  conveyed  to  the  company  by  their  charter,  and  without 
the  formality  of  any  judicial  proceeding  for  annulling  it,  he,  by  virtue  of 
his  prerogative,  issued  a  commission,  empowering  some  of  the  judges,  and 
other  persons  of  note,  to  examine  into  all  the  transactions  of  the  company 
from  its  first  establishment,  and  to  lay  the  result  of  their  inquiries,  together 
with  their  opinion  concerning  the  most  effectual  means  of  rendering  the 
colony  more  prosperous,*  before  the  privy  council.  At  the  same  time,  by 
a  strain  of  authority  still  higher,  he  ordered  all  the  records  and  papers  of 
the  company  to  be  seized,  and  two  of  its  principal  officers  to  be  arrested. 
Violent  and  arbitrary  as  these  acts  of  authority  may  now  appear,  the  com- 
missioners carried  on  their  inquiry  without  any  obstruction,  but  what  arose 
from  some  feeble  and  ineffectual  remonstrances  of  the  company.  The 
commissioners,  though  they  conducted  their  scrutiny  with  much  activity 
and  vigour,!  did  not  communicate  any  of  their  proceedings  to  the  com- 
pany ;  but  their  report,  with  respect  to  its  operations,  seems  to  have  been 
very  unfavourable,  as  the  king,  in  consequence  of  it,  signified  to  the  com- 
pany [Oct.  8],  his  intention  of  vesting  the  supreme  government  of  the 
company  in  a  governor  and  twelve  assistants,  to  be  resident  in  England, 
and  the  executive  power  in  a  council  of  twelve,  which  should  reside  in 
Virginia.  The  governor  and  assistants  were  to  be  originally  appointed  by 
the  king.  Future  vacancies  were  to  be  supplied  by  me  governor  and  his 
assistants,  but  their  nomination  was  not  to  take  effect  until  it  should  be 
ratified  by  the  privy  council.  The  twelve  counsellors  in  Virginia  were  to 
be  chosen  by  tne  governor  and  assistants  ;  and  this  choice  was  likewise 
subjected  to  the  review  of  the  privy  council.  With  an  intention  to  quiet 
the  minds  of  the  colonists,  it  was  declared  that  private  property  should 
be  deemed  sacred ;  and  for  the  more  effectual  security  of  it,  all  grants  of 
lands  from  the  former  company  were  to  be  confirmed,  by  the  new  one. 
In  order  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  this  plan,  the  king  required  the  com- 
pany instantly  to  surrender  its  charter  into  his  hands.J 

But  here  James  and  his  ministers  encountered  a  spirit  of  which  they 
seem  not  to  have  been  aware.  They  found  the  members  of  the  company 
unwilling  tamely  to  relinquish  rights  of  franchises,  conveyed  to  them  with 
such  legal  formality,  that  upon  faith  in  their  validity  they  had  expended 
considerable  sums  ;§  and  still  more  averse  to  the  abolition  of  a  popular 
form  of  government,  in  which  every  proprietor  had  a  voice,  in  order  to 

*  Slith,  p.  288.       t  Smith's  Travels,  p.  lf>5,  &c.        J  Stith,  p  293,  &c.       $  Chalmers,  p.  61. 


AMERICA.  417 

subject  a  colony,  in  which  they  were  deeply  interested,  to  the  dominion 
«f  a  small  junto  absolutely  dependent  on  the  crown.  Neither  promises 
nor  threats  could  induce  them  to  depart  from  these  sentiments  ;  and  in  a 
general  court  [Oct.  20],  the  king's  proposal  was  almost  unanimously 
rejected,  and  a  resolution  taken  to  defend  to  the  utmost  their  chartered 
rights,  if  these  should  be  called  in  question  in  any  court  of  justice.  James, 
highly  offended  at  their  presumption  in  daring  to  oppose  his  will,  directed 
[Nov.  10]  a  writ  of  quo  warranto  to  be  issued  against  the  company,  that 
the  validity  of  its  charter  might  be  tried  in  the  Court  of  King  s  Bench  ; 
and  in  order  to  aggravate  the  charge,  by  collecting  additional  proofs  of 
maladministration,  he  appointed  some  persons  in  whom  he  could  confide, 
to  repair  to  Virginia  to  inspect  the  state  of  the  colony,  and  inquire  into  the 
conduct  of  the  company,  and  of  its  officers  there. 

The  lawsuit  in  the  King's  Bench  did  not  hang  long  in  suspense.  It 
terminated,  as  was  usual  in  that  reign,  in  a  decision  perfectly  consonant  to 
the  wishes  of  the  monarch.  The  charter  was  forfeited,  the  company  was 
dissolved  [June,  1624],  and  all  the  rights  and  privileges  conferred  upon  it 
returned  to  the  King,  from  whom  they  flowed.* 

Some  writers,  particularly  Stith,  the  most  intelligent  and  best  informed 
historian  of  Virginia,  mention  the  dissolution  of  the  company  as  a  most 
disastrous  event  to  the  colony.  Animated  with  liberal  sentiments,  imbibed 
in  an  age  when  the  principles  of  liberty  were  more  fully  unfolded  than 
under  the  reign  of  James,  they  viewed  his  violent  and  arbitrary  proceed- 
ings on  this  occasion  with  such  indignation  that  their  abhorrence  of  the 
means  which  he  employed  to  accomplish  his  designs,  seems  to  have  ren- 
dered them  incapable  of  contemplating  its  effects  with  discernment  and 
candour.  There  is  not  perhaps  any  mode  of  governing  an  infant  colony 
less  friendly  to  its  liberty  than  the  dominion  of  an  exclusive  corporation 
possessed  of  all  the  powers  which  James  had  conferred  upon  the  company 
of  adventurers  in  Virginia.  During  several  years  the  colonists  can  hardly  be 
considered  in  any  other  light  than  as  servants  to  the  company,  nourished 
out  of  its  stores,  bound  implicitly  to  obey  its  orders,  and  subjected  to  the 
most  rigorous  of  all  forms  of  government,  that  of  martial  law.  Even  after 
the  native  spirit  of  Englishmen  began  to  rouse  under  oppression,  and  had 
extorted  from  their  superiors  the  right  of  enacting  laws  for  the  government 
of  that  community  of  which  they  were  members,  as  no  act,  though 
approved  of  by  all  the  branches  of  the  provincial  legislature,  was  held  to 
be  of  legal  force  until  it  was  ratified  by  a  general  court  in  England,  the 
company  still  retained  the  paramount  authority  in  its  own  hands.  Nor 
was  the  power  of  the  company  more  favourable  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
colony  than  to  its  freedom.  A  numerous  body  of  merchants,  as  long  as  its 
operations  are  purely  commercial,  may  carry  them  on  with  discernment 
and  success.  But  the  mercantile  spirit  seems  ill  adapted  to  conduct  an 
enlarged  and  liberal  plan  of  civil  policy,  and  colonies  have  seldom  grown 
up  to  maturity  and  vigour  under  its  narrow  and  interested  regulations. 
To  the  unavoidable  effects  in  administration  which  this  occasioned,  were 
added  errors  arising  from  inexperience.  The  English  merchants  of  that 
age  had  not  those  extensive  views  which  a  general  commerce  opens  to  such  as 
have  the  direction  of  it.  When  they  first  began  to  venture  out  of  the  beaten 
track,  they  groped  their  way  with  timidity  and  hesitation.  Unacquainted 
with  the  climate  and  soil  of  America,  and  ignorant  of  the  productions  best 
suited  to  them,  they  seem  to  have  had  no  settled  plan  of  improvement,  and 
their  schemes  were  continually  varying.  Their  system  of  government 
was  equally  fluctuating.  In  the  course  of  eighteen  years  ten  different 
persons  presided  over  the  province  as  chief  governors.  No  wonder  that, 
under  such  administration,  all  the  efforts  to  give  vigour  and  stability  to  the 

*  llymer,  vol.  xvii.  p.  618,  &c.    Chalmers,  p.  62. 

VOL.  I.— 53 


418  HISTORY  OF  [BooKlX, 

colony  should  prove  abortive,  or  produce  only  slender  effects.  These 
efforts,  however,  when  estimated  according  to  the  ideas  of  that  age,  either 
with  respect  to  commerce  or  to  policy,  were  very  considerable,  and  con- 
ducted with  astonishing  perseverance. 

Above  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  were  expended  in  this  first 
attempt  to  plant  an  English  colony  in  America;*  and  more  than  nine 
thousand  persons  were  sent  out  from  the  mother  country  to  people  this  new 
settlement.  At  the  dissolution  of  the  company,  the  nation,  in  return  for 
this  waste  of  treasure  and  of  people,  did  not  receive  from  Virginia  an 
annual  importation  of  commodities  exceeding  twenty  thousand  pounds  in 
value  ;  and  the  colony  was  so  far  from  having  added  strength  to  the  state 
by  an  increase  of  population,  that  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred 
and  twenty-four,  scarcely  two  thousand  persons  survived  ;f  a  wretched 
remnant  of  the  numerous  emigrants  who  had  flocked  thither  with, sanguine 
expectations  of  a  very  different  fate. 

The  company,  like  all  unprosperous  societies,  fell  unpitied.  The  violent 
hand  with  which  prerogative  had  invaded  its  rights  was  forgotten,  and  new 
prospects  of  success  opened,  under  a  form  of  government  exempt  from  all 
the  defects  to  which  past  disasters  were  imputed.  The  King  and  the 
nation  concurred  with  equal  ardour  in  resolving  to  encourage  the  colony. 
Soon  after  the  final  judgment  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  against  the 
company,  James  appointed  a  council  of  twelve  persons  [Aug.  26],  to  take 
the  temporary  direction  of  affairs  in  Virginia  that  he  might  have  leisure  to 
frame  with  deliberate  consideration  proper  regulations  for  the  permanent 
government  of  the  colony  .J  Pleased  with  such  an  opportunity  of  exercising 
his  talents  as  a  legislator,  he  began  to  turn  his  attention  towards  the 
subject ;  but  death  prevented  him  from  completing  his  plan. 

Charles  I.,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne  [March  27,  1625],  adopted  all 
his  father's  maxims  with  respect  to  the  colony  in  Virginia.  He  declared 
it  to  be  a  part  of  the  empire  annexed  to  the  crown,  and  immediately 
subordinate  to  its  jurisdiction  :  he  conferred  the  title  of  Governor  on  Sir 
George  Yardely,  and  appointed  him,  in  conjunction  with  a  council  of 
twelve,  and  a  secretary,  to  exercise  supreme  authority  there,  and  enjoined 
them  to  conform,  in  every  point,  to  such  instructions  as  from  time  to  time 
they  might  receive  from  him.§  From  the  tenor  of  the  king's  commission, 
as  well  as  from  the  known  spirit  of  his  policy,  it  is  apparent  that  he  intended 
to  invest  every  power  of  government,  both  legislative  and  executive,  in 
the  governor  and  council,  without  recourse  to  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  as  possessing  a  right  to  enact  laws  for  the  community,  or  to  impose 
taxes  upon  it. — Yardely  and  his  council,  who  seem  to  have  been  fit  instru- 
ments for  carrying  this  system  of  arbitrary  rule  into  execution,  did  not  fail 
to  put  such  a  construction  on  the  words  of  their  commission  as  was  most 
favourable  to  their  own  jurisdiction.  During  a  great  part  of  Charles's 
reign,  Virginia  knew  no  other  law  than  the  will  of  the  Sovereign.  Statutes 
were  published  and  taxes  imposed,  without  once  calling  the  representatives 
of  the  people  to  authorize  them  by  their  sanction.  At  the  same  time  that 
the  colonists  were  bereaved  of  their  political  rights,  which  they  deemed 
essential  to  freemen  and  citizens,  their  private  property  was  violently  invaded. 
A  proclamation  was  issued,  by  which,  under  pretexts  equally  absurd  and 
frivolous,  they  were  prohibited  from  selling  tobacco  to  any  person  but 
certain  commissioners  appointed  by  the  king  to  purchase  it  on  nis  account  ;i) 
and  they  had  the  cruel  mortification  to  behold  the  sovereign,  who  should 
have  afforded  them  protection,  engross  all  the  profits  of  their  industry,  by 
seizing  the  only  valuable  commodity  which  they  had  to  vend,  and  retain- 
ing the  monopoly  of  it  in  his  own  hands.  While  the  staple  of  the  colony 

*  Smith's  Travels,  p.  42. 167.  t  Chalmers'  Annals,  p.  69.  J  Rymer,  xvii  618,.  &a, 

$  Ibid,  xviii.  72.  311.  |J  Ibid,  xviii.  19. 


AMERICA.  413 

111  Virginia  sunk  in  value  under  the  oppression  and  restraints  of  a  monopoly, 
property  in  land  was  rendered  insecure  by  various  grants  of  it,  which 
Charles  inconsiderately  bestowed  upon  his  favourites.  These  were  not 
only  of  such  exorbitant  extent  as  to  be  unfavourable  to  the  progress  ot 
cultivation,  but  from  inattention,  or  imperfect  acquaintance  with  the 
geography  of  the  country,  their  boundaries  were  so  inaccurately  defined, 
that  large  tracts  already  occupied  and  planted  were  often  included  in 
them. 

The  murmurs  and  complaints  wrhich  such  a  system  of  administration 
excited,  were  augmented  by  the  rigour  with  which  Sir  John  Harvey,  who 
succeeded  Yardely  in  the  government  of  the  colony,*  enforced  every  act 
of  power  [1627].  Rapacious,  unfeeling,  and  haughty,  he  added  insolence 
to  oppression,  and  neither  regarded  the  sentiments  nor  listened  to  the 
remonstrances  of  the  people  under  his  command.  The  colonists,  far  from 
the  seat  of  government,  and  overawed  by  authority  derived  from  a  roya. 
commission,  submitted  long  to  his  tyranny  and  exactions.  Their  patience 
was  at  last  exhausted  ;  and  in  a  transport  of  popular  rage  and  indignation, 
they  seized  their  governor,  and  sent  him  a  prisoner  to  England,  accompa- 
nied by  two  of  their  number,  whom  they  deputed  to  prefer  their  accusa- 
tions against  him  to  the  king.  But  this  attempt  to  redress  their  own 
wrongs,  by  a  proceeding  so  summary  and  violent  as  is  hardly  consistent 
with  any  idea  of  regular  government,  and  can  be  justified  only  in  cases  of 
such  urgent  necessity  as  rarely  occur  in  civil  society,  was  altogether  repug- 
nant to  every  notion  which  Charles  entertained  with  respect  to  the  obe- 
dience due  by  subjects  to  their  sovereign.  To  him  the  conduct  of  the 
colonists  appeared  to  be  not  only  a  usurpation  of  his  right  tojudge  and  to 
punish  one  of  his  own  officers,  by  an  open  and  audacious  act  of  rebellion 
against  his  authority.  Without  deigning  to  admit  their  deputies  into  his 
presence,  or  to  hear  one  article  of  their  charge  against  Harvey,  the  king 
instantly  sent  him  back  to  his  former  station,  with  an  ample  renewal  of  afi 
the  powers  belonging  to  it.  But  though  Charles  deemed  this  vigorous 
step  necessary  in  order  to  assert  his  own  authority,  and  to  testify  his  dis- 
pleasure with  those  who  had  presumed  to  offer  such  an  insult  to  it,  he 
seems  to  have  been  so  sensible  of  the  grievances  under  which  the  colonists 
groaned,  and  of  the  chief  source  from  which  they  flowed,  that  soon  after 
[1639]  he  not  only  removed  a  governor  so  justly  odious  to  them,  but  named 
as  a  successor  Sir  William  Berkeley,  a  person  far  superior  to  Harvey  in 
rank  and  abilities,  and  still  more  distinguished,  by  possessing  all  the  popu- 
lar virtues  to  which  the  other  was  a  stranger.f 

Under  his  government  the  colony  in  Virginia  remained,  with  some  short 
intervals  of  interruption,  almost  forty  years  ;  and  to  his  mild  and  prudent 
administration  its  increase  and  prosperity  are  in  a  great  measure  to  be 
ascribed.  It  was  indebted,  however,  to  the  king  himself  for  such  a  reform 
of  its  constitution  and  policy,  as  gave  a  different  aspect  to  the  colony,  and 
animated  all  its  operations  with  new  spirit.  Though  the  tenor  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Berkeley's  commission  was  the  same  with  that  of  his  predecessor,  he 
received  instructions  under  the  great  seal,  by  which  he  was  empowered  to 
declare,  that  in  all  its  concerns,  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical,  the  colony 
was  to  be  governed  according  to  the  laws  of  England  :  he  was  directed  to 
issue  writs  for  electing  representatives  of  the  people,  who,  in  conjunction 
with  the  governor  and  council,  were  to  form  a  general  assembly,  and  to 
possess  supreme  legislative  authority  in  the  community  :  he  was  ordered 
to  establish  courts  of  justice,  in  which  all  questions,  whether  civil  or  crimi- 
nal, were  to  be  decided  agreeably  to  the  forms  of  judicial  procedure  in  the 
mother  country.  It  is  not  easy  to  discover  what  were  the  motives  which 
induced  a  monarch,  tenacious  in  adhering  to  any  opinion  or  system  which 

*  Rymer,  xviii.  980.        t  Bcverley's  Hist,  of  Virg.  p.  50.    Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  118,  &c. 


42fr  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX,  1 

he  had  once  adopted,  jealous  to  excess  of  his  own  rights,  and  adverse  or» 
every  occasion  to  any  extension  of  the  privileges  claimed  by  his  people, 
to  relinquish  his  original  plan  of  administration  in  the  colony,  and  to  grant 
such  immunities  to  his  subjects  settled  there.  From  the  historians  of  Vir- 
ginia, no  less  ^ superficial  than  ill  informed,  no  light  can  be  derived  with 
respect  to  this  T>9int.  It  is  most  probable,  the  dread  of  the  spirit  then 
rising  in  Great  Britain,  extorted  from  Charles  concessions  so  favourable  to 
Virginia.  After  an  intermission  of  almost  twelve  years,  the  state  of  his 
affairs  compelled  him  to  have  recourse  to  the  great  council  of  the  nation. 
There  his  subjects  would  find  a  jurisdiction  independent  of  the  crown, 
and  able  to  control  its  authority.  There  they  hoped  for  legal  redress  of 
all  their  grievances.  As  the  colonists  in  Virginia  had  applied  for  relief  to 
a  former  parliament,  it  might  be  expected  with  certainty  that  they  would 
lay  their  case  before  the  first  meeting  of  an  assembly  in  which  they  were 
secure  of  a  favourable  audience.  Charles  knew  (hat,  if  the  spirit  of  his 
administration  in  Virginia  were  to  be  tried  by  the  maxims  of  the  English 
constitution,  it  must  be  severely  reprehended.  He  was  aware  that  many 
measures  of  greater  moment  in  his  government  would  be  brought  under  a 
strict  review  in  parliament ;  and,  unwilling  to  give  malecontents  the  advan- 
tage of  adding  a  charge  of  oppression  in  the  remote  parts  of  his  dominion* 
to  a  catalogue  of  domestic  grievances,  he  artfully  endeavoured  to  take  the 
merit  of  having  granted  voluntarily  to  his  people  in  Virginia  such  privi- 
leges as  he  foresaw  would  be  extorted  from  him. 

But  though  Charles  established  the  internal  government  of  Virginia  or> 
a  model  similar  to  that  of -the  English  constitution,  and  conferred  on  his 
subjects  there  all  the  rights  of  freemen  and  citizens,  he  was  extremely 
solicitous  to  maintain  its  connexion  with  the  parent  state.  With  this  view 
he  instructed  Sir  William  Berkeley  strictly  to  prohibit  any  commerce  of 
the  colony  with  foreign  nations ;  and  in  order  more  certainly  to  secure 
exclusive  possession  of  all  the  advantages  arising  from  the  sale  of  its  pro- 
ductions, he  was  required  to  take  a  bond  from  the  master  of  each  vessel 
that  _  sailed  from  Virginia,  to  land  his  cargo  in  some  part  of  the  King's 
dominions  in  Europe,*  Even  under  this  restraint,  such  is  the  kindly  influ- 
ence of  free  government  on  society,  the  colony  advanced  so  rapidly  ir> 
industry  and  population  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war  the  English 
settled  in  it  exceeded  twenty  thousand^ 

Gratitude  towards  a  monarch  from  whose  hands  they  had  received 
immunities  which  they  had  long  wished  but  hardly  expected  to  enjoy,  the 
influence  and  example  of  a  popular  governor  passionately  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  his  master,  concurred  in  preserving  inviolated  loyalty  among 
the  colonists.  Even  after  monarchy  was  abolished,  after  one  King  had 
been  beheaded,  and  another  driven  into  exile,  the  authority  of  the  crown 
continued  to  be  acknowledged  and  revered  in  Virginia  [1650].  Irritated 
at  this  open  defiance  of  its  power,  the  parliament  issued  an  ordinance, 
declaring,  that  as  the  settlement  in  Virginia  had  been  made  at  the  cost  and 
by  the  people  of  England,  it  ought  to  be  subordinate  to  and  dependent  upon 
the  English  commonwealth,  and  subject  to  such  laws  and  regulations  as  are 
or  shall  be  made  in  parliament ;  that,  instead  of  this  dutiful  submission,  the 
colonists  had  disclaimed  the  authority  of  the  state,  and  audaciously  rebel- 
led against  it ;  that  on  this  account  they  were  denounced  notorious  traitors, 
and  not  only  all  vessels  belonging  to  natives  of  England,  but  those  of 
foreign  nations,  were  prohibited  to  enter  their  ports,  or  carry  on  any  com- 
merce with  them. 

It  was  not  the  mode  of  that  age  to  wage  a  war  of  words  alone.  The 
efforts  of  a  high  spirited  government  in  asserting  its  own  dignity  were 
prompt  and  vigorous.  A  powerful  squadron,  with  a  considerable  body  of 

»  Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  219.  232.         t  Ibid.  P- 125* 


A  M  ERIC  A.  421 

land  forces,  was  despatched  to  reduce  the  Virginians  to  obedience.  After 
compelling  the  colonies  in  Barbadoes  and  the  other  islands  to  submit  to  the 
commonwealth,  the  squadron  entered  the  Bay  of  Chesapeak  [1651]. 
Berkeley,  with  more  courage  than  prudence,  took  arms  to  oppose  this 
formidable  armament ;  but  he  could  not  long  maintain  such  an  unequal 
contest.  His  gallant  resistance,  however,  procured  favourable  terms  to  the 
people  under  his  government.  A  general  indemnity  for  all  past  offences 
was  granted  ;  they  acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  were  admitted  to  a  participation  of  all  the  rights  enjoyed  by  citizens.* 
Berkeley,  firm  to  his  principles  of  loyalty,  disdained  to  make  any  stipula- 
tion for  himself ;  and,  choosing  to  pass  his  days  far  removed  from  the  seat 
of  a  government  which  he  detested,  continued  to  reside  in  Virginia  as  a 
private  man,  beloved  and  respected  by  all  over  whom  he  had  formerly 
presided. 

Not  satisfied  with  taking  measures  to  subject  the  colonies,  the  common- 
wealth turned  its  attention  towards  the  most  effectual  mode  of  retaining 
them  in  dependence  on  the  parent  state,  and  of  securing  to  it  the  benefit 
of  their  increasing  commerce.  With  this  view  the  parliament  framed  two 
laws,  one  of  which  expressly  prohibited  all  mercantile  intercourse  between 
the  colonies  and  foreign  states,  and  the  other  ordained  that  no  production 
of  Asia,  Africa,  or  America,  should  be  imported  into  the  dominions  of  the 
•commonwealth  but  in  vessels  belonging  to  English  owners,  or  to  the  people 
of  the  colonies  settled  there,  and  navigated  by  an  English  commander,! 
and  by  crews  of  which  the  greater  part  must  be  Englishmen.  But  while 
the  wisdom  of  the  commonwealth  prescribed  the  channel  in  which  the 
trade  of  the  colonies  was  to  be  carried  on,  it  was  solicitous  to  encourage 
the  cultivation  of  the  staple  commodity  of  Virginia,  by  an  act  of  parlia- 
ment [1652],  which  gave  legal  force  to  all  the  injunctions  of  James  and 
Charles  against  planting  tobacco  in  England.^ 

Under  governors  appointed  by  the  commonwealth,  or  by  Cromwell  when 
he  usurped  the  supreme  power,  Virginia  remained  almost  nine  years  in 
perfect  tranquillity.  During  that  period,  many  adherents  to  the  royal 
party,  and  among  these  some  gentlemen  of  good  families,  in  order  to  avoid 
danger  and  oppression,  to  which  they  were  exposed  in  England,  or  in  hopes 
of  repairing  their  ruined  fortunes,  resorted  thither.  Warmly  attached  to 
the  cause  for  which  they  had  fought  and  suffered,  and  animated  with  all 
the  passions  natural  to  men  recently  engaged  in  a  fierce  and  long  pro- 
tracted civil  war,  they,  by  their  intercourse  with  the  colonists,  confirmed 
them  in  principles  of  loyalty,  and  added  to  their  impatience  and  indignation 
under  the  restraints  imposed  on  their  commerce  by  their  new  masters. 
On  the  death  of  Matthews,  the  last  governor  named  by  Cromwell,  the 
sentiments  and  inclination  of  the  people,  no  longer  under  the  control  of 
authority,  burst  out  with  violence.  They  forced  Sir  William  Berkeley  to 
quit  his  retirement ;  they  unanimously  elected  him  governor  of  the  colony : 
and  as  he  refused  to  act  under  a  usurped  authority,  they  boldly  erected 
the  royal  standard,  and  acknowledging  Charles  II.  to  be  their  lawful  sove- 
reign, proclaimed  him  with  all  his  titles  ;  and  the  Virginians  long  boasted, 
that  as  they  were  the  last  of  the  king's  subjects  who  renounced  their  alle- 
giance, they  were  the  first  who  returned  to  their  duty.§ 

Happily  for  the  people  of  Virginia,  a  revolution  in  England,  no  less 
sudden  than  unexpected,  seated  Charles  on  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  and 
saved  them  from  the  severe  chastisement  to  which  their  premature  de- 
claration in  his  favour  must  have  exposed  them.  On  receiving  the  firs* 
account  of  this  event,  the  joy  and  exultation  of  the  colony  were  universal 
and  unbounded.  These,  however,  were  not  of  long  continuance.  Gracious 

*  Tliurlow's  State  Papers,  i.  197.  Chalmers'  Annals,  p.  122.  Beverley's  Hist.  p.  53.  |  Sco 
bel's  Acts,  p.  132,  167.  J  Ib.  p.  117.  $  Beverley,  p.  55.  Chalmers,  p.  124, 


422  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  IX. 

but  unproductive  professions  of  esteem  and  good  will  were  the  only  return 
made  by  Charles  to  loyalty  and  services  which  in  their  own  estimation 
were  so  distinguished  that  no  recompense  was  beyond  what  they  might 
claim.  If  the  king's  neglect  and  ingratitude  disappointed  all  the  sanguine 
hopes  which  their  vanity  had  founded  on  the  merit  of  their  past  conduct, 
the  spirit  which  influenced  parliament  in  its  commercial  deliberations 
opened  a  prospect  that  alarmed  them  with  respect  to  their  future  situation. 
In  framing  regulations  for  the  encouragement  of  trade,  which,  during  the 
convulsions  of  civil  war,  and  amidst  continual  fluctuations  in  government, 
had  met  with  such  obstruction  that  it  declined  in  every  quarter ;  the  House 
of  Commons,  instead  of  granting  the  colonies  that  relief  which  they  ex- 
pected from  the  restraints  in  their  commerce  imposed  by  the  common- 
wealth and  Cromwell,  not  only  adopted  all  their  ideas  concerning  this 
branch  of  legislation,  but  extended  them  further.  This  produced  the  act 
of  navigation,  the  most  important  and  memorable  of  any  in  the  statute-book 
with  respect  to  the  history  of  English  commerce.  By  it,  besides  several 
momentous  articles  foreign  to-  the  subject  of  this  work,  it  was  enacted, 
that  no  commodities  should  be  imported  into  any  settlement  in  Asia,  Africa, 
or  America,  or  exported  from  them,  but  in  vessels  of  English  or  plantation 
built,  whereof  the  master  and  three-fourths  of  the  mariners  shall  be  English 
subjects,  under  pain  of  forfeiting  ship  and  goods ;  that  none  but  natural 
born  subjects,  or  such  as  have  been  naturalized,  shall  exercise  the  occupa- 
tion of  merchant  or  factor  in  any  English  settlement,  under  pain  of  for- 
feiting their  goods  •  and  chattels ;  that  no  sugar,  tobacco,  cotton,  wool, 
indigo,  ginger,  or  woods  used  in  dyeing,  of  the  growth  or  manufacture  of 
th  colonies,  shall  be  shipped  from  them  to  any  other  country  but  England  ; 
and  in  order  to  secure  the  performance  of  this,  a  sufficient  bond,  with  one 
surety,  shall  be  given  before  sailing  by  the  owners,  for  a  specific  sum  pro- 
portional to  the  rate  of  the  vessel  employed  by  them.*  The  productions 
subjected  to  this  restriction  are  distinguished,  in  the  language  of  commerce 
and  finance,  by  the  name  of  enumerated  commodities ;  and  as  industry  in 
its  progress  furnished  new  articles  of  value,  these  have  been  successively 
added  to  the  roll,  and  subjected  to  the  same  restraint.  Soon  after  [1663], 
the  act  of  navigation  was  extended,  and  additional  restraints  were  imposed, 
by  a  new  law,  which  prohibited  the  importation  of  any  European  com- 
modity into  the  colonies,  but  what  was  laden  in  England  in  vessels  navi- 
gated and  manned  as  the  act  of  navigation  required.  More  effectual  pro- 
vision was  made  by  this  law  for  exacting  the  penalties  to  which  the 
transgressors  of  the  act  of  navigation  were  subjected ;  and  the  principles 
of  policy,  on  which  the  various  regulations  contained  in  both  statutes  are 
founded,  were  openly  avowed  in  a  declaration,  that  as  the  plantations 
beyond  seas  are  inhabited  and  peopled  by  subjects  of  England,  they  may 
be  kept  in  a  firmer  dependence  upon  it,  and  rendered  yet  more  beneficial 
and  advantageous  unto  it,  in  the  further  employment  and  increase  of  Eng- 
lish shipping  and  seamen,  as  well  as  in  the  vent  of  English  woollen  and 
other  manufactures  and  commodities  ;  and  in  making  England  a  staple,  not 
only  of  the  commodities  of  those  plantations,  but  also  of  the  commodities 
of  other  countries  and  places,  for  the  supplying  of  them  ;  and  it  being  the 
usage  of  other  nations  to  keep  the  trade  of  their  plantations  to  themselves.! 
In  prosecution  of  those  favourite  maxims,  the  English  legislature  pro- 
ceeded a  step  further.  As  the  act  of  navigation  had  left  the  people  of  the 
colonies  at  liberty  to  export  the  enumerated  commodities  from  one  planta- 
tion to  another  without  paying  any  duty  [1672],  it  subjected  them  to  a  tax 
equivalent  to  what  was  paid  by  the  consumers  of  these  commodities  in 
England.J 
By  these  successive  regulations,  the  plan  of  securing  to  England  a  mo 

*Car.  II.  c.  18.  1 15  Car.  II.  c.  7.  J  25  Car.  II.  c.  7 


AMERICA.  423 

ysopoly  of  the  commerce  with  its  colonies,  and  of  shutting  up  every  other 
channel  into  which  it  might  be  diverted,  was  perfected,  and  reduced  into 
complete  system.  On  one  side  of  the  Atlantic  these  regulations  have  been 
extolled  as  an  extraordinary  effort  of  political  sagacity,  and  have  been 
considered  as  the  great  charter  of  national  commerce,  to  which  the  parent 
state  is  indebted  for  all  its  opulence  and  power.  On  the  other,  they  have 
been  execrated  as  a  code  of  oppression,  more  suited  to  the  illiberally  of 
mercantile  ideas  than  to  extensive  views  of  legislative  wisdom.  Which  of 
these  opinions  is  best  founded,  I  shall  examine  at  large  in  another  part  of 
this  work.  But  in  writing  the  history  of  the  English  settlements  in 
America,  it  was  necessary  to  trace  the  progress  of  those  restraining  laws 
with  accuracy,  as  in  every  subsequent  transaction  we  may  observe  a  per- 
petual exertion,  on  the  part  of  the  mother  country,  to  enforce  and  extend 
them ;  and  on  the  part  of  the  colonies,  endeavours  no  less  unremitting  to 
elude  or  to  obstruct  their  operation. 

Hardly  was  the  act  of  navigation  known  in  Virginia,  and  its  effects  begun 
to  be  felt,  when  the  colony  remonstrated  against  it  as  a  grievance,  and 
petitioned  earnestly  for  relief.  But  the  commercial  ideas  of  Charles  and 
his  ministers  coincided  so  perfectly  with  those  of  parliament,  that,  instead 
of  listening  with  a  favourable  ear  to  their  applications,  they  laboured 
assiduously  to  carry  the  act  into  strict  execution.  For  this  purpose,  in- 
structions were  issued  to  the  governor,  forts  were  built  on  the  banks  of  the 
principal  rivers,  and  small  vessels  appointed  to  cruise  on  the  coast.  The 
Virginians,  seeing  no  prospect  of  obtaining  exemption  from  the  act,  set 
themselves  to  evade  it ;  and  found  means,  notwithstanding  the  vigilance 
with  which  they  were  watched,  of  carrying  on  a  considerable  clandestine 
trade  with  foreigners,  particularly  with  the  Dutch  settled  on  Hudson's 
River.  Emboldened  by  observing  disaffection  spread  through  the  colony, 
some  veteran  soldiers  who  had  served  under  Cromwell,  and  had  been 
banished  to  Virginia,  formed  a  design  of  rendering  themselves  masters  of 
the  country,  and  of  asserting  its  independence  on  England.  This  rash 
project  was  discovered  by  one  of  their  associates,  and  disconcerted  by 
the  vigorous  exertions  of  Sir  William  Berkeley.  But  the  spirit  of  dis- 
content, though  repressed,  was  not  extinguished.  Every  day  something 
occurred  to  revive  and  to  nourish  it.  As  it  is  with  extreme  difficulty  that 
commerce  can  be  turned  into  a  new  channel,  tobacco,  the  staple  of  the 
colony,  sunk  prodigiously  in  value  when  they  were  compelled  to  send  it  all 
to  one  market.  It  was  some  time  before  England  could  furnish  them  re- 
gularly full  assortments  of  those  necessary  articles,  without  which  the 
industry  of  the  colony  could  not  be  carried  on,  or  its  prosperity  secured. 
Encouraged  by  the  symptoms  of  general  languor  and  despondency  which 
this  declining  state  of  the  colony  occasioned,  the  Indians  seated  towards 
the  heads  of  the  rivers  ventured  first  to  attack  the  remote  settlements,  and 
then  to  make  incursions  into  the  interior  parts  of  the  country.  ^  Unexpected 
as  these  hostilities  were,  from  a  people  who  during  a  long  period  had  lived 
in  friendship  with  the  English,  a  measure  taken  by  the  king  seems  to  have 
excited  still  greater  terror  among  the  most  opulent  people  of  the  colony. 
Charles  had  imprudently  imitated  the  example  of  his  father,  by  granting 
such  large  tracts  of  lands  in  Virginia  to  several  of  his  courtiers,  as  tended 
to  unsettle  the  distribution  of  property  in  the  country,  and  to  render  the 
title  of  the  most  ancient  planters  to  their  estates  precarious  and  questionable. 
From  those  various  causes,  which  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  affected 
every  individual  in  the  colony,  the  indignation  of  the  people  became 
general,  and  was  worked  up  to  such  a  pitch,  that  nothing  was  wanting  to 
precipitate  them  into  the  most  desperate  acts  but  some  leader  qualified  to 
unite  and  to  direct  their  operations.* 

*  Chalmers's  Annals,  ch.  10. 13,  14,  passim.    Bevcrley's  Hist,  of  Virg.  p.  58,  &c. 


424  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  I 

Such  a  leader  they  found  in  Nathaniel  Bacon,  a  colonel  of  militia, 
though  he  had  been  settled  in  Virginia  only  three  years,  had  acquired,  by 

Eopular  manners,  an  insinuating  address,  and  the  consideration  derived 
•om  having  been  regularly  trained  in  England  to  the  profession  of  law, 
such  general  esteem  that  he  had  been  admitted  into  the  council,  and  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  respectable  persons  in  the  colony.  Bacon 
was  ambitious,  eloquent,  daring,  and,  prompted  either  by  honest  zeal  to 
redress  the  public  wrongs,  or  allured  by  hopes  of  raising  himself  to  dis- 
tinction and  power,  he  mingled  with  the  malecontents ;  and  by  his  bold 
harangues  and  confident  promises  of  removing  all  their  grievances,  he 
inflamed  them  almost  to  madness.  As  the  devastations  committed  by  the 
Indians  was  the  calamity  most  sensibly  felt  by  the  people,  he  accused  the 
governor  of  having  neglected  the  proper  measures  for  repelling  the  inva- 
sions of  the  savages,  and  exhorted  them  to  take  arms  in  their  own  defence, 
and  to  exterminate  that  odious  race.  Great  numbers  assembled,  and  ehose 
Bacon  to  be  their  general.  He  applied  to  the  governor  for  a  commission? 
confirming  this  election  of  the  people,  and  offering  to  march  instantly  against 
the  common  enemy.  Berkeley,  accustomed  by  long  possession  of  supreme 
command  to  high  ideas  of  the  respect  due  to  his  station,  considered  this 
tumultuary  armament  as  an  open  insult  to  his  authority,  and  suspected  that, 
under  specious  appearances,  Bacon  concealed  most  dangerous  designs. 
Unwilling,  however,  to  give  farther  provocation  to  an  incensed  multitude 
by  a  direct  refusal  of  what  they  demanded,  he  thought  it  prudent  to  nego- 
tiate in  order  to  gain  time  ;  and  it  was  not  until  he  found  all  endeavours 
to  soothe  them  ineffectual,  that  he  issued  a  proclamation,  requiring  them  in 
the  king's  name,  under  the  pain  of  being  denounced  rebels,  to  disperse.  ^ 
But  Bacon,  sensible  that  he  had  now  advanced  so  far  as  rendered  it 
impossible  to  recede  with  honour  or  safety,  instantly  took  the  only  resolu- 
tion that  remained  in  his  situation.  At  the  head  of  a  chosen  body  of  his 
followers,  he  marched  rapidly  to  James  Town,  and  surrounding  the  house 
where  the  governor  and  council  were  assembled,  demanded  the  commission 
for  which  he  had  formerly  applied.  Berkeley,  with  the  proud  indignant 
spirit  of  a  cavalier,  disdaining  the  requisitions  of  a  rebel,  peremptorily 
refused  to  comply,  and  calmly  presented  his  naked  breast  to  the  weapons 
which  were  pointed  against  it.  The  council,  however,  foreseeing  the  fatal 
consequences  of  driving  an  enraged  multitude,  in  whose  power  they  were, 
to  the  last  extremities  of  violence,  prepared  a  commission  constituting 
Bacon  general  of  all  the  forces  in  Virginia,  and  by  their  entreaties  prevailed 
on  the  governor  to  sign  it.  Bacon  with  his  troops  retired  in  triumph. 
Hardly  was  the  council  delivered  by  his  departure  from  the  dread  of 
present  danger,  when,  by  a  transition  not  unusual  in  feeble  minds,  pre- 
sumptuous boldness  succeeded  to  excessive  fear.  The  commission  granted 
to  Bacon  was  declared  to  be  null,  having  been  extorted  by  force  ;  he  was 
proclaimed  a  rebel,  his  followers  were  required  to  abandon  his  standard, 
and  the  militia  ordered  to  arm,  and  to  join  the  governor. 

Enraged  at  conduct  which  he  branded  with  the  name  of  base  and  treache- 
rous, Bacon,  instead  of  continuing  his  march  towards  the  Indian  country, 
instantly  wheeled  about,  and  advanced  with  all  his  forces  to  James  Town. 
The  governor,  unable  to  resist  such  a  numerous  body,  made  his  escape, 
and  fled  across  the  bay  to  Acomack  on  the  eastern  shore.  Some  of  the 
counsellors  accompanied  him  thither,  others  retired  to  their  own  plantations. 
Upon  the  flight  01  Sir  William  Berkeley,  and  dispersion  of  the  council,  the 
frame  of  civil  government  in  the  colony  seemed  to  be  dissolved,  and  Bacon 
became  possessed  of  supreme  and  uncontrolled  power.  But  as  he  was 
sensible  that  his  countrymen  would  not  long  submit  with  patience  to 
authority  acquired  and  held  merely  by  force  of  arms,  he  endeavoured  to 
found  it  on  a  more  constitutional  basis,  by  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the 
people's  approbation.  With  this  view  he  called  together  the  most  con- 


AMERICA.  425 

siderable  gentlemen  in  the  colony,  and  havjng  prevailed  on  them  to  bind 
themselves  by  oath  to  maintain  his  authority,  and  to  resist  every  enemy 
that  should  oppose  it,  he  from  that  time  considered  his  jurisdiction  as  legally 
established. 

Berkeley,  meanwhile,  having  collected  some  forces,  made  inroads  into 
different  parts  of  the  colony  where  Bacon's  authority  was  recognised. 
Several  sharp  conflicts  happened  with  various  success.  James  Town  was 
reduced  to  ashes,  and  the  best  cultivated  districts  in  the  province  were  laid 
waste,  sometimes  by  one  party  and  sometimes  by  the  other.  But  it  was 
not  by  his  own  exertions  that  the  governor  hoped  to  terminate  the  contest. 
He  had  early  transmitted  an  account  of  the  transactions  in  Virginia  to  the 
king,  and  demanded  such  a  body  of  soldiers  as  would  enable  him  to  quell 
the  insurgents  whom  he  represented  as  so  exasperated  by  the  restraint 
imposed  on  their  trade,  that  they  were  impatient  to  shake  off  all  dependence 
on  the  parent  state.  Charles,  alarmed  at  a  commotion  no  less  dangerous 
than  unexpected,  and  solicitous  to  maintain  his  authority  over  a  colony  the 
value  of  which  was  daily  increasing  and  more  fully  understood,  speedily 
despatched  a  small  squadron  with  such  a  number  of  regular  troops  as 
Berkeley  had  required.  Bacon  and  his  followers  received  information  of 
this  armament,  but  were  not  intimidated  at  its  approach.  They  boldly 
determined  to  oppose  it  with  open  force,  and  declared  it  to  be  consistent 
with  their  duty  and  allegiance,  to  treat  all  who  should  aid  Sir  William 
Berkeley  as  enemies,  until  they  should  have  an  opportunity  of  laying  their 
grievances  before  their  sovereign.* 

But  while  both  parties  prepared,  with  equal  animosity,  to  involve  their 
country  in  the  horrors  of  civil  war  [1677J,  an  event  happened,  which  quieted 
the  commotion  almost  as  suddenly  as  it  had  been  excited.  Bacon,  when 
ready  to  take  the  field,  sickened  and  died.  None  of  his  followers  pos- 
sessed such  talents,  or  were  so  much  objects  of  the  people's  confidence,  as 
entitled  them  to  aspire  to  the  supreme  command.  Destitute  of  a  leader  to 
conduct  and  animate  them,  their  sanguine  hopes  of  success  subsided  ; 
mutual  distrust  accompanied  this  universal  despondency ;  all  began  to  wish 
for  an  accommodation  ;  and  after  a  short  negotiation  with  Sir  William 
Berkeley,  they  laid  down  their  arms,  and  submitted  to  his  government,  on 
obtaining  a  promise  of  general  pardon. 

Thus  terminated  an  insurrection,  which,  in  the  annals  of  Virginia,  is  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  Bacon's  rebellion.  During  seven  months  this 
daring  leader  was  master  of  the  colony,  while  the  royal  governor  was  shut 
up  in  a  remote  and  ill-peopled  corner  of  it.  Wrhat  were  the  real  motives 
that  prompted  him  to  take  arms,  and  to  what  length  he  intended  to  carry 
his  plans  of  reformation,  either  in  commerce  or  government,  it  is  not  easy 
to  discover,  in  the  scanty  materials  from  which  we  derive  our  information 
with  respect  to  this  transaction.  It  is  probable,  that  his  conduct,  like  that 
of  other  adventurers  in  faction,  would  have  been  regulated  chiefly  by 
events  ;  and  accordingly  as  these  proved  favourable  or  adverse,  his  views 
and  requisitions  would  have  been  extended  or  circumscribed. 

Sir  William  Berkeley,  as  soon  as  he  was  reinstated  in  his  office,  called 
together  the  representatives  of  the  people,  that  by  their  advice  and  autho- 
rity public  tranquillity  and  order  might  be  perfectly  established.  Though 
this  assembly  met  a  few  weeks  after  the  death  of  Bacon,  while  the  memory 
of  reciprocal  injuries  was  still  recent,  and  when  the  passions  excited  by 
such  a  fierce  contest  had  but  little  time  to  subside,  its  proceedings  were 
conducted  with  a  moderation  seldom  exercised  by  the  successful  party  in 
a  civil  war.  No  man  suffered  capitally  ;  a  small  number  were  subjected 
to  fines ;  others  were  declared  incapable  of  holding  any  office  of  trust ; 
and  with  those  exceptions  the  promise  of  general  idemnity  was  confirmed 

*  Bevcrley's  Hist.  p.  75,  76 
VOL.  I.— 54  20 


426  HISTORY  OF  [BooKX. 

by  law.    Soon  after  Berkeley  was  recalled,  and  Colonel  Jeffreys  was 
appointed  his  successor. 

From  that  period  to  the  Revolution  iri  1688,  there  is  scarcely  any  memo- 
rable occurrence  in  the  history  of  yirginia.  A  peace  was  concluded  with 
the  Indians.  Under  several  successive  governors,  administration  was  carried 
on  in  the  colony  with  the  same  arbitrary  spirit  that  distinguished  the  latter 
years  of  Charles  II.  and  the  precipitate  councils  of  James  II.  The  Virgin- 
ians, with  a  constitution  which  in  form  resembled  that  of  England,  enjoyed 
hardly  'any  portion  of  the  liberty  which  that  admirable  system  of  policy  is 
framed  to  secure.  They  were  deprived  even  of  the  last  consolation  of 
the  oppressed,  the  power  of  complaining,  by  a  law  which,  under  severe 
penalties,  prohibited  them  from  speaking  disrespectfully  of  the  governor, 
or  defaming,  either  by  words  or  writing,  the  administration  of  the  colony.* 
Still,  however,  the  laws  restraining  their  commerce  were  felt  as  an  intole- 
rable grievance,"  and  they  nourished  in  secret  a  spirit  of  discontent,  which, 
from  the  necessity  of  concealing  it,  acquired  a  greater  degree  of  acrimony. 
But  notwithstanding  those  unfavourable  circumstances,  the  colony  continued 
to  increase.  The  use  of  tobacco  was  now  become  general  in  Europe  ; 
and  though  it  had  fallen  considerably  in  price,  the  extent  of  demand  com- 
pensated that  diminution,  and  by  giving  constant  employment  to  the  industry 
of  the  planters  diffused  wealth  among  them.  At  the  Revolution  the  number 
of  inhabitants  in  the  colony  exceeded  sixty  thousand,!  and  in  the  course 
of  twenty-eight  years  its  population  had  been  more  than  doubled.J 


BOOK  X. 

WHEN  James  I.,  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  six,  made 
that  magnificent  partition,  which  has  been  mentioned,  of  a  vast  region  in 
North  America,  extending  from  the  thirty-fourth  to  the  forty-fifth  degree 
of  latitude,  between  two  trading  companies  of  his  subjects,  he  established 
the  residence  of  the  one  in  London,  and  of  the  other  in  Plymouth.  The 
former  was  authorized  to  settle  in  the  southern,  and  the  latter  in  the 
northern  part  of  this  territory,  then  distinguished  by  the  general  name  of 
Virginia.  This  arrangement  seems  to  have  been  formed  upon  the  idea  of 
some  speculative  refiner,  who  aimed  at  diffusing  the  spirit  of  industry,  by 
fixing  the  seat  of  one  branch  of  the  trade  that  was  now  to  be  opened,  on 
the  east  coast  of  the  island,  and  the  other  on  the  west.  But  London  pos- 
sesses such  advantages  of  situation,  that  the  commercial  wealth  and  activity 
of  England  have  always  centered  in  the  capital.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century,  the  superiority  of  the  metropolis  in  both  these  respects  was  so 
great,  that  though  the  powers  and  privileges  conferred  by  the  king  on  the 
two  trading  companies  were  precisely  the  same,  the  adventurers  settled  in 
Plymouth  fell  far  short  of  those  in  London  in  the  vigour  and  success  of  their 
efforts  towards  accomplishing  the  purpose  of  their  institution.  Though  the 
operations  of  the  Plymouth  company  were  animated  by  the  public-spirited 
zeal  of  Sir  John  Popham,  chief  justice  of  England,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
and  some  other  gentlemen  of  the  west,  all  its  exertions  were  feeble  and 
unfortunate. 

The  first  vessel  fitted  out  by  the  company  was  taken  by  the  Spaniards 
[1606].  In  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seven,  a  feeble  settle- 
ment was  made  at  Sagahadoc  ;  but,  on  account  of  the  rigour  of  the  climate, 

*  2everley,  p.  81.    Chalmers  p  341.  +  Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  35C.  J  Ibid.  p.  135. 


AMERICA.  427 

was  soon  relinquished,  and  for  some  time  nothing  further  was  attempted 
than  a  few  fishing  voyages  to  Cape  Cod,  or  a  pitiful  traffic  with  the  natives 
for  skins  and  oil.  One  of  the  vessels  equipped  for  this  purpose  [1614] 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Smith,  whose  name  has  been  so  often 
mentioned  with  distinction  in  the  History  of  Virginia.  The  adventure  was 
prosperous  and  lucrative.  But  his  ardent  enterprising  mind  could  not 
confine  its  attention  to  objects  so  unequal  to  it  as  the  petty  details  of  a 
trading  voyage.  He  employed  a  part  of  his  time  in  exploring  the  coast, 
and  in  delineating  its  bays  and  harbours.  On  his  return,  he  laid  a  map  of 
it  before  Prince  Charles,  and,  with  the  usual  exaggeration  of  discoverers, 
painted  the  beauty  and  excellence  of  the  country  in  such  glowing  colours, 
that  the  young  prince,  in  the  warmth  of  admiration,  declared,  that  it  should 
be  called  New  England  ;*  a  name  which  effaced  that  of  Virginia,  and  by 
which  it  is  still  distinguished. 

The  favourable  accounts  of  the  country  by  Smith,  as  well  as  the  success 
of  his  voyage,  seem  to  have  encouraged  private  adventurers  to  prosecute 
the  trade  on  the  coast  of  New  England  with  greater  briskness ;  but  did 
not  inspire  the  languishing  company  of  Plymouth  with  such  vigour  as  to 
make  any  new  attempt  towards  establishing  a  permanent  colony  there. 
Something  more  than  the  prospect  of  distant  gain  to  themselves,  or  ot 
future  advantages  to  their  country,  was  requisite  in  order  to  induce  men  to 
abandon  the  place  of  their  nativity,  to  migrate  to  another  quarter  of  the 
globe,  and  endure  innumerable  hardships  under  an  untried  climate,  and 
in  an  uncultivated  land,  covered  with  woods,  or  occupied  by  fierce  and 
hostile  tribes  of  savages.  But  what  mere  attention  to  private  emolu- 
ment or  to  national  utility  could  not  effect,  was  accomplished  by  the 
operation  of  a  higher  principle.  Religion  had  gradually  excited  among  a 
great  body  of  the  people  a  spirit  that  fitted  them  remarkably  for  encoun- 
tering the  dangers,  and  surmounting  the  obstacles,  which  had  hitherto 
rendered  abortive  the  schemes  of  colonization  in  that  part  of  America 
allotted  to  the  company  of  Plymouth.  As  the  various  settlements  in  New 
England  are  indebted  for  their  origin  to  this  spirit,  as  in  the  course  of  our 
narrative  we  shall  discern  its  influence  mingling  in  all  their  transactions, 
and  giving  a  peculiar  tincture  to  the  character  of  the  people,  as  well  as 
to  their  institutions  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  it  becomes  necessary  to 
trace  its  rise  and  progress  with  attention  and  accuracy. 

When  the  superstitions  and  corruptions  of  the  Romish  church  prompted 
different  nations  of  Europe  to  throw  off  its  joke,  and  to  withdraw  from 
its  communion,  the  mode  as  well  as  degree  of  their  separation  was  various. 
Wherever  reformation  was  sudden,  and  carried  on  by  the  people  without 
authority  from  their  rulers,  or  in  opposition  to  it,  the  rupture  was  violent 
and  total.  Every  part  of  the  ancient  fabric  was  overturned,  and  a  different 
system,  not  only  with  respect  to  doctrine,  but  to  church  government,  and 
me  external  rites  of  worship,  was  established.  Calvin,  who,  by  his  abili- 
ties, learning,  and  austerity  of  manners,  had  acquired  high  reputation  and 
authority  in  the  Protestant  churches,  was  a  zealous  advocate  for  this  plan  of 
thorough  reformation.  He  exhibited  a  model  of  that  pure  form  of  eccle- 
siastical policy  which  he  approved  in  the  constitution  of  the  church  of 
Geneva.  The  simplicity  of  its  institutions,  and  still  more  their  repugnancy 
to  those  of  the  Popish  church,  were  so  much  admired  by  all  the  stricter 
reformers,  that  it  was  copied,  with  some  small  variations,  in  Scotland,  in 
the  republic  of  the  United  Provinces,  in  the  dominions  of  the  House  of 
Brandenburgh,  in  those  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  in  the  churches  of  the 
Hugonots  in  France. 

Hut  in  those  countries  where  the  steps  of  departure  from  the  church  of 
Rome  were  taken  with  greater  deliberation,  and  regulated  by  the  wisdom 

*  Smith's  Trav.  book  vi.  p.  203,  &c.    Purchas,  iv.  p.  1837. 


428  HISTORY    OF  [BOOK  X. 

or  policy  of  the  supreme  magistrate,  the  separation  was  not  so  wide.  Of 
all  the  reformed  churches,  that  of  England  has  deviated  least  from  the 
ancient  institutions.  The  violent  but  capricious  spirit  of  Henry  VIII.,  who, 
though  he  disclaimed  the  supremacy,  revered  the  tenets  of  the  Papal  see, 
checked  innovations  in  doctrine  or  worship  during  his  reign.  When  his 
son  ascended  the  throne,  and  the  Protestant  religion  was  established  by 
law,  the  cautious  prudence  of  Archbishop  Cranmer  moderated  the  zeal  of 
.those  who  had  espoused  the  new  opinions.  Though  the  articles  to  be 
recognised  as  the  system  of  national  faith  were  framed  conformably  to  the 
doctrines  of  Calvin,  his  notions  with  respect  to  church  government  and  the 
mode  of  worship  were  not  adopted.  As  the  hierarchy  in  England  was 
incorporated  with  the  civil  policy  of  the  kingdom,  and  constituted  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  archbishops,  and  bishops,  with  all  the  subor- 
dinate ranks  of  ecclesiastics  subject  to  them,  were  continued  according  to 
ancient  form,  and  with  the  same  dignity  and  jurisdiction.  The  peculiar 
vestments  in  which  the  clergy  performed  their  sacred  functions,  bowing 
at  the  name  of  Jesus,  kneeling  at  receiving  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  the  sign  of  the  Cross  in  baptism,  the  use  of  the  Ring  in  marriage, 
with  several  other  rights  to  which  long  usage  had  accustomed  the  people, 
and  which  time  had  rendered  venerable,  were  still  retained.  But  though 
Parliament  enjoined  the  observance  of  these  ceremonies  under  very  severe 
penalties,*  several  of  the  more  zealous  clergy  entertained  scruples  with 
respect  to  the  lawfulness  of  complying  with  this  injunction :  and  the  vigi- 
lance and  authority  of  Cranmer  and  Ridley,  with  difficulty  saved  their 
infant  church  from  the  disgrace  of  a  schism  on  this  account. 

On  the  accession  of  Mary,  the  furious  zeal  with  which  she  persecuted 
all  who  had  adopted  the  tenets  of  the  reformers  forced  many  eminent 
protestants,  laymen  as  well  as  ecclesiastics,  to  seek  an  asylum  on  the 
continent.  Francfort^  Geneva,  Basil,  and  Strasburgh  received  them  with 
affectionate  hospitality  as  sufferers  in  the  cause  of  truth,  and  the  magistrates 
permitted  them  to  assemble  by  themselves  for  religious  worship.  The 
exiles  who  took  up  their  residence  in  the  two  former  cities,  modelled  their 
little  congregations  according  to  the  ideas  of  Calvin,  and  with  a  spirit 
natural  to  men  in  their  situation,  eagerly  adopted  institutions  which  appeared 
to  be  further  removed  from  the  superstitions  of  Popery  than  those  of  their 
own  church.  They  returned  to  England  as  soon  as  Elizabeth  re-established 
the  protestant  religion,  not  only  with  more  violent  antipathy  to  the  opinions 
and  practices  of  that  church  by  which  they  had  been  oppressed,  but  with 
a  strong  attachment  to  that  mode  of  worship  to  which  they  had  been  for 
some  years  accustomed.  As  they  were  received  by  their  countrymen  with 
the  veneration  due  to  confessors,  they  exerted  all  the  influence  derived  from 
that  opinion  in  order  to  obtain  such  a  reformation  in  the  English  ritual  as 
might  bring  it  nearer  to  the  standard  of  purity  in  foreign  churches.  Some 
of  the  Queen's  most  confidential  ministers  were  warmly  disposed  to 
co-operate  with  them  in  this  measure.  But  Elizabeth  paid  little  regard  to 
the  inclinations  of  the  one  or  the  sentiments  of  the  other.  Fond  of  pomp 
and  ceremony,  accustomed,  according  to  the  mode  of  that  age,  to  study 
religious  controversy,  and  possessing,  like  her  father,  such  confidence  in  her 
own  understanding,  that  she  never  doubted  her  capacity  to  judge  and 
decide  with  respect  to  every  point  in  dispute  between  contending  sects,t 

*2and3Edw.VI.c.l. 

t  Of  the  high  idea  which  Elizabeth  entertained  with  respect  to  her  own  superior  skill  in  theology, 
as  well  as  the  haughty  tone  in  which  she  dictated  to  her  subjects  what  they  ought  to  believe,  we 
have  a  striking  picture  in  her  speech  at  the  close  of  the  parliament,  A.  D.  1585. — "  One  thing  I  may 
not  overskip — Religion,  the  ground  on  which  all  other  matters  ought  to  take  root ;  and,  being  cor- 
rupted, may  mar  all  the  tree.  And  that  there  be  some  fault-finders  with  the  order  of  the  clergy, 
which  so  may  make  a  slander  to  myself,  and  to  the  church,  whose  overruler  God  hath  made  me, 
whose  negligence  cannot  be  excused,  if  any  schisms  or  errors  heretical  were  suffered.  Thus  much 
I  must  say,  that  some  faults  and  negligences  must  grow  and  be,  as  in  all  other  great  charges  it  hap- 
peneth  ;  and  what  vocation  without  ?  All  which,  if  you,  my  lords  of  the  clergy,  do  riot  amend, 


AMERICA.  42* 

she  chose  to  act  according  to  her  own  ideas,  which  led  her  rather  to  approach 
nearer  to  the  church  of  Home,  in  the  parade  of  external  worship,  than  to 
widen  the  breach  by  abolishing  any  rite  already  established.*  An  act  of 
parliament,  in  the  first  year  of  her  reign,  not  only  required  an  exact  con- 
ibrmity  to  the  mode  01  worship  prescribed  in  the  service  book,  under 
most  rigorous  penalties,  but  empowered  the  Queen  to  enjoin  the  observance 
of  such  additional  ceremonies  as  might  tend,  in  her  opinion,  to  render  the 
public  exercises  of  devotion  more  decent  and  edifying.! 

The  advocates  for  a  further  reformation,  notwithstanding  this  cruel 
disappointment  of  the  sanguine  hopes  with  which  they  returned  to  their 
native  country,  did  not  relinquish  their  design.  They  disseminated  their 
opinions  with  great  industry  among  the  people.  They  extolled  the  purity 
of  foreign  churches,  and  inveighed  against  the  superstitious  practices  with 
which  religion  was  defiled  in  their  own  church.  In  vain  did  the  defenders 
of  the  established  system  represent  that  these  forms  and  ceremonies  were 
in  themselves  things  perfectly  indifferent,  which,  from  long  usage,  were 
viewed  with  reverence  ;  and  by  their  impression  upon  the  senses  and 
imagination,  tended  not  only  to  fix  the  attention,  but  to  affect  the  heart, 
and  to  warm  it  with  devout  and  worthy  sentiments.  The  Puritans  (for 
by  that  name  such  as  scrupled  to  comply  with  what  was  enjoined  by  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  were  distinguished)  maintained  that  the  rites  in  question 
were  inventions  of  men,  superadded  to  the  simple  and  reasonable  services 
required  in  the  word  of  God ;  that  from  the  excessive  solicitude  with 
which  conformity  to  them  was  exacted,  the  multitude  must  conceive  such 
a  high  opinion  of  their  value  and  importance  as  might  induce  them  to  rest 
satisfied  with  the  mere  form  and  shadow  of  religion,  and  to  imagine  that 
external  observances  may  compensate  for  the  want  of  inward  sanctity  f 
that  ceremonies  which  had  been  long  employed  by  a  society  manifestly 
corrupt,  to  veil  its  own  defects,  and  to  seduce  and  fascinate  mankind,  ought 
now  to  be  rejected  as  relics  of  superstition  unworthy  of  a  place  in  a  church 
which  gloried  in  the  name  of  Reformed. 

The  people,  to  whom  in  every  religious  controversy  the  final  appeal  is 
made,  listened  to  the  arguments  of  the  contending  parties ;  and  it  is 
obvious  to  which  of  them,  men  who  had  lately  beheld  the  superstitious 
spirit  of  popery,  and  felt  its  persecuting  rage,  would  lend  the  most  favour- 
able ear.  The  desire  of  a  further  separation  from  the  church  of  Rome 
spread  wide  through  the  nation.  The  preachers  who  contended  for  this, 
and  who  refused  to  wear  the  surplice,  arid  other  vestments  peculiar  to  their 
order,  or  to  observe  the  ceremonies  enjoined  by  law,  were  followed  and 
admired,  while  the  ministry  of  the  zealous  advocates  for  conformity  was 
deserted,  and  their  persons  often  exposed  to  insult.  For  some  time  the 
nonconformists  were  connived  at ;  but  as  their  number  and  boldness 
increased,  the  interposition  both  of  spiritual  and  civil  authority  was  deemed 
necessary  in  order  to  check  their  progress.  To  the  disgrace  of  Christians, 
the  sacred  rights  of  conscience  and  private  judgment,  as  well  as  the  charity 
and  mutual  forbearance  suitable  to  the  mild  spirit  of  the  religion  which 
they  professed,  were  in  that  age  little  understood.  Not  only  the  idea  of 
toleration,  but  even  the  word  itself  in  the  sense  now  affixed  to  it,  was  then 
unknown.  Every  church  claimed  a  right  to  employ  the  hand  of  power 
for  the  protection  of  truth  and  the  extirpation  of  error.  The  laws  of  her 

I  mean  to  depose  you.  Look  ye,  therefore,  well  to  your  charges.  This  may  be  amended  without 
needless  or  open  exclamations.  I  am  supposed  to  have  many  studies,  but  most  philosophical. 
I  must  yield  this  to  be  true,  that  I  suppose  few  (that  be  not  professors)  have  read  more. 
And  I  need  not  tell  you,  that  I  am  not  so  simple  that  I  understand  not,  nor  so  forgetful  that 
I  remember  not ;  and  yet  amidst  my  many  volumes,  I  hope  God's  book  hath  not  been  my  seldomest 
lectures,  in  which  we  find  that  by  which  reason  all  ought  to  believe.  I  see  many  over-bold  with 
God  Almighty,  making  too  many  subtle  scannings  of  his  blessed  will.  The  presumption  is  so  great 
that  I  may  not  suffer  it,"  <fcc.  D'Ewos's  Journal,  p.  328. 
*  Neal's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans,  i.  138.  176.  1  1  Eliz.  c.2. 


430  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  X. 

kingdom  armed  Elizabeth  with  ample  authority  for  this  purpose,  and  she 
was  abundantly  disposed  to  exercise  it  with  full  vigour.  Many  of  the 
most  eminent  among  the  puritan  clergy  were  deprived  of  their  benefices, 
others  were  imprisoned,  several  were  fined,  and  some  put  to  death.  But 
persecution,  as  usually  happens,  instead  of  extinguishing,  inflamed  their 
zeal  to  such  a  height,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  courts  of  law 
was  deemed  insufficient  to  suppress  it,  and  a  new  tribunal  was  established 
under  the  title  of  the  High  Commission  for  Ecclesiastical  Affairs,  whose 
powers  and  mode  of  procedure  were  hardly  less  odious  or  less  hostile  to 
the  principles  of  justice  than  those  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition.  Several 
attempts  were  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  check  these  arbitrary 
proceedings,  and  to  moderate  the  rage  of  persecution ;  but  the  Queen 
always  imposed  silence  upon  those  who  presumed  to  deliver  any  opinion 
with  respect  to  a  matter  appertaining  solely  to  her  prerogative,  in  a  tone  as 
imperious  and  arrogant  as  was  ever  used  by  Henry  VIII.  in  addressing  his 
parliaments  ;  and  so  tamely  obsequious  were  the  guardians  of  the  people's 
rights  that  they  not  only  obeyed  those  unconstitutional  commands,  but  con- 
sented to  an  act,  by  which  every  person  who  should  absent  himself  from 
church  during  a  month  was  subjected  to  punishment  by  fine  and  imprison- 
ment ;  and  if  after  conviction  he  did  not  within  three  months  renounce  his 
erroneous  opinions  and  conform  to  the  laws,  he  was  then  obliged  to  abjure 
the  realm  ;  but  if  he  either  refused  to  comply  with  this  condition,  or  returned 
from  banishment,  he  should  be  put  to  death  as  a  felon  without  benefit  of 
clergy.* 

By  this  iniquitous  statute,  equally  repugnant  to  ideas  of  civil  and  of  reli- 
gious liberty,  the  puritans  were  cut  off  from  any  hope  of  obtaining  either 
reformation  in  the  church  or  indulgence  to  themselves.  Exasperated  by 
this  rigorous  treatment,  their  antipathy  to  the  established  religion  increased, 
and  with  the  progress  natural  to  violent  passions,  carried  them  far  beyond 
what  was  their  original  aim.  The  first  puritans  did  not  entertain  any  scru- 
ples with  respect  to  the  lawfulness  of  episcopal  government,  and  seem  to 
nave  been  very  unwilling  to  withdraw  from  communion  with  the  church 
of  which  they  were  members.  But  when  they  were  thrown  out  of  her 
bosom,  and  constrained  to  hold  separate  assemblies  for  the  worship  01 
God,  their  followers  no  longer  viewed  a  society  by  which  they  Were 
oppressed,  with  reverence  or  affection.  Her  government,  her  discipline, 
her  ritual,  were  examined  with  minute  attention.  Every  error  was  pointed 
out,  and  every  defect  magnified.  The  more  boldly  any  preacher  inveighed 
against  the  corruptions  of  the  church,  he  was  listened  to  with  greater  ap- 
probation ;  and  the  further  he  urged  his  disciples  to  depart  from  such  an 
impure  community,  the  more  eagerly  did  they  follow  him.  By  degrees, 
ideas  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  altogether  repugnant  to  those  of  the  estab- 
lished church,  gained  footing  in  the  nation.  The  more  sober  and  learned 
puritans  inclined  to  that  form  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  Presbyterian. 
Such  as  were  more  thoroughly  possessed  with  the  spirit  of  innovation: 
however  much  they  might  approve  the  equality  of  pastors  which  that  sys- 
tem establishes,  reprobated  the  authority  which  it  vests  in  various  judica- 
tories,  descending  from  one  to  another  in  regular  subordination,  as  incon- 
sistent with  Christian  liberty. 

These  wild  notions  floated  for  some  time  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
amused  them  with  many  ideal  schemes  of  ecclesiastial  policy.  At  length 
Robert  Brown  [1580],  a  popular  declaimer  in  high  estimation,  reduced 
them  to  a  system,  on  which  he  modelled  his  own  congregation.  He  taught 
that  the  church  of  England  was  corrupt  and  antichristian,  its  ministers  not 
lawfully  ordained,  its  ordinances  and  sacraments  invalid  ;  and  therefore 
he  prohibited  his  people  to  hold  communion  with  it  in  any  religious  func- 

*  35  EHz.  c.  1. 


AMERICA.  431 

tion.  He  maintained,  that  a  society  of  Christians,  uniting  together  to  wor- 
ship God,  constituted  a  church  possessed  of  complete  jurisdiction  in  the 
conduct  of  its  own  affairs,  independent  of  any  other  society,  and  unaccount- 
able to  any  superior ;  that  the  priesthood  was  neither  a  distinct  order  in 
the  church,  nor  conferred  an  indelible  character  ;  but  that  eyery  man  quali- 
fied to  teach  might  be  set  apart  for  that  office  by  the  election  of  the  breth- 
ren, and  by  imposition  of  their  hands  ;  in  like  manner,  by  their  authority, 
he  might  be  discharged  from  that  function,  and  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a 
private  Christian  ;  that  every  person  when  admitted  a  member  of  a  church, 
ought  to  make  a  public  confession  of  his  faith,  and  give  evidence  of  his 
being  in  a  state  of  favour  with  God ;  and  that  all  the  affairs  of  a  church 
were  to  be  regulated  by  the  decision  of  the  majority  of  its  mesnbers. 

This  democratical"  form  of  government,  which  abolished  all  distinction 
of  ranks  in  the  church,  and  conferred  an  equal  portion  of  power  on  every 
individual,  accorded  so  perfectly  with  the  levelling  genius  of  fanaticism, 
that  it  was  fondly  adopted  -by  many  as  a  complete  model  of  Christian 
policy.  From  their  founder  they  were  denominated  Brownists  ;  and  as 
their  tenets  were  more  hostile  to  the  established  religion  than  those  of  other 
separatists,  the  fiercest  storm  of  persecution  fell  upon  their  heads.  Many 
of  them  were  fined  or  imprisoned,  and  some  put  to  death ;  and  though 
Brown,  with  a  levity  of  which  there  are  few  examples  among  enthusiasts 
whose  vanity  has  been  soothed  by  being  recognised  as  heads  of  a  party, 
abandoned  his  disciples,  conformed  to  the  established  religion,  and  accepted 
of  a  benefice  in  the  church,  the  sect  not  only  subsisted,  but  continued  to 
spread,  especially  among  persons  in  the  middle  and  lower  ranks  of  life. 
But  as  all  their  motions  were  carefully  watched,  both  by  the  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  courts,  which,  as  often  as  they  were  detected,  punished  them 
with  the  utmost  rigour,  a  body  of  them,  weary  of  living  in  a  state  of  con- 
tinual danger  and  alarm,  fled  to  Holland,  and  settled  in  Leyden,  under  the 
care  of  Mr.  John  Robinson  their  pastor.  There  they  resided  for  several 
years  unmolested  and  obscure.  But  many  of  their  aged  members  dying, 
and  some  of  the  younger  marrying  into  Dutch  families,  while  their  church 
received  no  increase,  either  by  recruits  from  England  or  by  proselytes 
gained  in  the  country,  they  began  to  be  afraid  that  all  their  high  attain- 
ments in  spiritual  knowledge  would  be  lost,  and  that  perfect  fabric  of 
policy  which  they  had  erected  would  be  dissolved,  and  consigned  to  obli- 
vion, if  they  remained  longer  in  a  strange  land. 

Deeply  affected  with  the  prospect  of  an  event  which  to  them  appeared 
fatal  to  the  interests  of  truth,  they  thought  themselves  called,  in  order  to 
prevent  it,  to  remove  to  some  other  place,  where  they  might  profess  and 
propagate  their  opinions  with  greater  success.  America,  in  which  their 
countrymen  were  at  that  time  intent  on  planting  colonies,  presented  itself 
to  their  thoughts.  They  flattered  themselves  with  hopes  of  being  per- 
mitted, in  that  remote  region,  to  follow  their  own  ideas  in  religion  wHhout 
disturbance.  The  dangers  and  hardships  to  which  all  former  emigrants  to 
America  had  been  exposed  did  not  deter  them.  "  They  were  well  weaned 
(according  to  their  own  description,)  from  the  delicate  milk  of  their  mother 
country,  and  inured  to  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  land.  They  were  knit 
together  in  a  strict  and  sacred  band,  by  virtue  of  which  they  held  them- 
selves obliged  to  take  care  of  the  good  of  each  other,  and  of  the  whole. 
It  was  not  with  them,  as  with  other  men,  whom  small  things  eould  discou- 
rage, or  small  discontents  cause  to  wish  themselves  at  home  again."*  The 
first  object  of  their  solicitude  was  to  secure  the  free  exercise  of  their  reli- 
gion. For  this  purpose  they  applied  to  the  king ;  and,  though  James 
refused  to  give  them  any  explicit  assurance  of  toleration,  they  seem  to  have 
obtained  from  him  some  promise  of  his  connivance,  as  long  as  they  cou- 

*  Hutchinson's  Hist,  of  Massach.  p.  4, 


432  HISTORY  OF  BOOK  X. 

tinued  to  demean  themselves  quietly.  So  eager  were  they  to  accomplish 
their  favourite  scheme,  that,  relying  on  this  precarious  security,  they  began 
to  negotiate  with  the  Virginian  company  for  a  tract  of  land  within  the 
limits  of  their  patent.  This  they  easily  procured  from  a  society  desirous 
of  encouraging  migration  to  a  vast  country,  of  which  they  had  hitherto 
occupied  only  a  few  spots. 

After  the  utmost  efforts,  their  preparations  fell  far  short  of  what  was 
requisite  for  beginning  the  settlement  of  a  new  colony.  A  hundred  and 
twenty  persons  sailed  from  England  [Sept.  6,  1620],  in  a  single  ship  on 
this  arduous  undertaking.  The  place  of  their  destination  was  Hudson's 
River,  where  they  intended  to  settle  ;  but  their  captain  having  been 
bribed,  as  is  said,  by  the  Dutch,  who  had  then  formed  a  scheme  $  which 
they  afterwards  accomplished,  of  planting  a  colony  there,  carried  them 
so  far  towards  the  north,  that  the  first  land  in  America  which  they  made 
[Nov.  11],  was  Cape  Cod.  They  were  now  not  only  beyond  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  territory  which  had  been  granted  to  them,  but  beyond  those 
of  the  company  from  which  they  derived  their  right.  The  season,  how- 
ever, was  so  far  advanced,  and  sickness  raged  so  violently  among  men 
unaccustomed  to  the  hardships  of  a  long  voyage,  that  it  became  necessary 
to  take  up  their  abode  there.  After  exploring  the  coast,  they  chose  for 
their  situation  a  place  now  belonging  to  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  New  Plymouth,  probably  out  of  respect 
to  that  company  within  whose  jurisdiction  they  now  found  themselves 
situated.* 

No  season  could  be  more  unfavourable  to  settlement  than  that  in  which 
the  colony  landed.  The  winter,  which,  from  the  predominance  of  cold 
in  America,  is  rigorous  to  a  degree  unknown  in  parallel  latitudes  of  our 
hemisphere,  was  already  set  in :  and  they  were  slenderly  provided  with 
what  was  requisite  for  comfortable  subsistence,  under  a  climate  consider- 
ably more  severe  than  that  for  which  they  had  made  preparation.  Above 
one  half  of  them  was  cut  off  before  the  return  of  spring,  by  diseases,  or  by 
famine :  the  survivors,  instead  of  having  leisure  to  attend  to  the  supply  of 
their  own  wants,  were  compelled  to  take  arms  against  the  savages  in  their 
neighbourhood.  Happily  for  the  English,  a  pestilence  which  raged  in 
America  the  year  before  they  landed,  had  swept  off  so  great  a  number 
of  the  natives  that  they  were  quickly  repulsed  and  humbled.  The  privi- 
lege of  professing  their  own  opinions,  and  of  being  governed  by  laws  of 
their  own  framing,  afforded  consolation  to  the  colonists  amidst  all  their 
dangers  and  hardships.  The  constitution  of  their  church  was  the  same 
with  that  which  they  had  established  in  Holland.  Their  system  of  civil 
government  was  founded  on  those  ideas  of  the  natural  equality  among 
men,  to  which  their  ecclesiastical  policy  had  accustomed  them.  Every 
free  man,  who  was  a  member  of  the  church,  was  admitted  into  the  supreme 
legislative  body.  The  laws  of  England  were  adopted  as  the  basis  of  their 
jurisprudence,  though  with  some  diversity  in  the  punishments  inflicted 
upon  crimes,  borrowed  from  the  Mosaic  institutions.  The  executive  power 
was  vested  in  a  governor  and  some  assistants,  who  were  elected  annually 
by  the  members  of  the  legislative  assembly.f  So  far  their  institutions 
appear  to  be  founded  on  the  ordinary  maxims  of  human  prudence.  But 
it  was  a  favourite  opinion  with  all  the  enthusiasts  of  that  age,  that  the 
Scriptures  contained  a  complete  system  not  only  of  spiritual  instruction, 
but  of  civil  wisdom  and  polity ;  and  without  attending  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  or  situation  of  the  people  whose  history  is  there  recorded, 
they  often  deduced  general  rules  for  their  own  conduct  from  what  happened 
among  men  in  a  very  different  state.  Under  the  influence  of  this  wild 

*  Hubard's  Pres.  State,  p.  3.    Cotton's  Magnalia,  p.  7.    Hutcbinson's  Hist.  p.  3  &c, 
t  Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  87. 


AMERICA.  433 

notion,  the  colonists  of  New  Plymouth,  in  imitation  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, threw  all  their  property  into  a  common  stook,  and,  like  members  of 
one  family,  carried  on  every  work  of  industry  by  their  joint  labour  for 
public  behoof.*  But,  however  this  resolution  might  evidence  the  sincerity 
of  their  faith,  it  retarded  the  progress  of  their  colony.  The  same  fatal 
effects  flowed  fj-om  this  community  of  goods,  and  of  labour,  which  had 
formerly  been  experienced  in  Virginia  ;  and  it  soon  became  necessary  to 
relinquish  what  was  too  refined  to  be  capable  of  being  accommodated  to 
the  affairs  of  men.  But  though  thej  built  a  small  town,  and  surrounded 
it  with  such  a  fence  as  afforded  sufficient  security  against  the  assaults  of 
Indians,  the  soil  around  it  was  so  poor,  their  religious  principles  were  so 
unsocial,  and  the  supply  sent  them  by  their  friends  so  scanty,  that  at  the 
end  of  ten  years  the  number  of  people  belonging  to  the  settlement  did 
not  exceed  three  hundred.!  During  some  years  they  appear  not  to  have 
acquired  right  by  any  legal  conveyance  to  the  territory  which  they  had 
occupied.  At  length  [1630],  they  obtained  a  grant  of  property  from  the 
council  of  the  New  Plymouth  Company,  but  were  never  incorporated  as 
a  body  politic  by  royal  charter.  J  Unlike  all  the  other  settlements  in 
America,  this  colony  must  be  considered  merely  as  a  voluntary  association, 
held  together  by  the  tacit  consent  of  its  members  to  recognise  the  autho- 
rity of  laws,  and  submit  to  the  jurisdiction  of  magistrates,  framed  and 
chosen  by  themselves.  In  this  state  it  remained  an  independent  but  feeble 
community,  until  it  was  united  to  its  more  powerful  neighbour,  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  origin  and  progress  of  which  I  now  proceed  to 
relate. 

The  original  company  of  Plymouth  having  done  nothing  effectual  to- 
wards establishing  any  permanent  settlement  in  America,  James  I.,  in  the 
year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty,  issued  a  new  charter  to  the 
Duke  of  Lenox,  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham,  and  several  other  persons 
of  distinction  in  his  court,  by  which  he  conveyed  to  them  a  right  to  a  ter- 
ritory in  America,  still  more  extensive  than  what  had  been  granted  to  the 
former  patentees,  incorporating  them  as  a  body  politic,  in  order  to  plant 
colonies  there,  with  powers  and  jurisdictions  similar  to  those  contained  in 
his  charters  to  the  companies  of  South  and  North  Virginia.  This  society 
was  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Grand  Council  of  Plymouth  for 
planting  and  governing  New  England.  What  considerations  of  public 
utility  could  induce  the  king  to  commit  such  an  undertaking  to  persons 
apparently  so  ill  qualified  for  conducting  it,  or  what  prospect  of  private 
advantage  prompted  them  to  engage  in  it,  the  information  we  receive  from 
contemporary  writers  does  not  enable  us  to  determine.  Certain  it  is,  that 
the  expectations  of  both  were  disappointed  ;  and  after  many  schemes  and 
arrangements,  all  the  attempts  of  the  new  associates  towards  colonization 
proved  unsuccessful. 

New  England  must  have  remained  unoccupied,  if  the  same  causes 
which  occasioned  the  emigration  of  the  Brownists  had  not  continued  to 
operate.  Notwithstanding  the  violent  persecution  to  which  puritans  of 
every  denomination  were  still  exposed,  their  number  and  zeal  daily  in- 
creased. As  they  now  despaired  of  obtaining  in  their  own  country  any 
relaxation  of  the  penal  statutes  enacted  against  their  sect,  many  began  to 
turn  their  eyes  towards  some  other  place  of  retreat,  where  they  might  pro- 
fess their  own  opinions  with  impunity.  From  the  tranquillity  which  their 
brethren  had  hitherto  enjoyed  in  New  Plymouth,  they  hoped  to  find  this 
desired  asylum  in  New.  England ;  and  by  the  activity  of  Mr.  White,  a 
nonconformist  minister  at  Dorchester,  an  association  was  formed  by  several 
gentlemen  who  had  imbibed  puritanical  notions,  in  order  to  conduct  a 

*  Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  89.    Douglas's  Summary,  i.  p.  370.  t  Chalmers's  Annals,  p  97 

t  Ibid.  p.  97. 107. 
VOL.  L— 55 


434  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  £ 

cdony  thither.  They  purchased  from  the  council  of  Plymouth  [March 
19,  1627],  all  the  territory,  extending  in  length  from  three  miles  north  oi 
the  river  Merrimack,  to  three  miles  south  of  Charles  River,  and  in  breadth, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Southern  Orean.  Zealous  as  these  proprietors 
were  to  accomplish  their  favourite  purpose,  they  quickly  perceived  their 
own  inability  to  attempt  the  population  of  such  an  immense  region,  and 
deemed  it  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  more  opulent  copartners.* 

Of  these  4hey  found  without  difficulty,  a  sufficient  number,  chiefly  in  the 
capital,  and  among  persons  in  the  commercial  and  other  industrious  walks 
of  life,  who  had  openly  joined  the  sect  of  the  puritans,  or  secretly  favoured 
their  opinions.  These  new  adventurers,  with  the  caution  natural  to  men 
conversant  in  business,  entertained  doubts  concerning  the  propriety  oi 
founding  a  colony  on  the  basis  of  a  grant  from  a  private  company  of  pa- 
tentees, who  might  convey  a  right  of  property  in  the  soil,  but  could  not 
confer  jurisdiction,  or  the  privilege  of  governing  that  society  which  they 
had  in  contemplation  to  establish.  As  it  was  .only  from  royal  authority  that 
such  powers  could  be  derived,  they  applied  for  these ;  and  Charles  granted 
their  request,  with  a  facility  which  appears  astonishing,  when  we  consider 
theprinciples  and  views  of  the  men'  who  were  suitors  for  the  favour. 

Time  has  been  considered  as  the  parent  of  political  wisdom,  but  its 
instructions  are  communicated  slowly.  Although  the  experience  of  above 
twenty  years  might  have  taught  the  English  the  impropriety  of  committing 
the  government  of  settlements  in  America  to  exclusive  corporations  resident 
in  Europe,  neither  the  king  nor  his  subjects  had  profited  so  much  by  what 
passed  before  their  eyes  as  to  have  extended  their  ideas  beyond  those 
adopted  by  James  in  his  first  attempts  towards  colonization.  The  charter 
of  Charles  I.  to  the  adventurers  associated  for  planting  the  province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  was  perfectly  similar  to  those  granted  by  his  father  to 
the  two  Virginian  companies  and  -to  the  council  of  Plymouth.  The  new 
adventurers  were  incorporated  as  a  body  politic,  ana  their  right  to  the 
territory,  which  they  had  purchased  from  the  council  at  Plymouth,  being 
confirmed  by  the  king,  they  were  empowered  to  dispose  of  lands,  and  to 
govern  the  people  who  should  settle  upon  them.  The  first  governor  of 
the  company  and  his  assistants  were  named  by  the  crown ;  the  right  of 
electing  their  successors  was  vested  in  the  members  of  the  corporation. 
The  executive  power  was  committed  to  the  governor  and  assistants ;  that 
of  legislation  to  the  body  of  proprietors,  who  might  make  statutes  and 
orders  for  the  good  of  the  community,  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of 
England,  and  enforce  the  observance  of  them,  according  to  the  course  of 
other  corporations  within  the  realm.  Their  lands  were  to  be  held  by  the 
same  liberal  tenure  with  those  granted  to  the  Virginian  company.  They 
obtained  the  same  temporary  exemption  from  internal  taxes,  and  from 
duties  on  goods  exported  or  imported ;  and  notwithstanding  their  migra- 
tion to  America,  they  and  their  descendants  were  declared  to  be  entitled  to 
all  the  rights  of  natural  born  subjects. f 

The  manifest  object  of  this  charter  was  to  confer  on  the  adventurers  who 
undertook  to  people  the  territory  on  Massachusetts  Bay,  all  the  corporate 
rights  possessed  by  the  council  of  Plymouth,  from  which  they  had  pur- 
chased it,  and  to  form  them  into  a  public  body,  resembling  other  great 
trading  companies,  which  the  spirit  of  monarchy  had  at  that  time  multiplied 
in  the  kingdom.  The  king  seems  not  to  have  foreseen,  or  to  have  sus- 
pected the  secret  intentions  of  those  who  projected  the  measure  ;  for  so 
far  was  he  from  alluring  emigrants,  by  any  hopes  of  indulgence  with  re- 
spect to  their  religious  scruples,  or  from  promising  any  relaxation  from  the 
rigour  of  the  penal  statutes  against  nonconformists,  that  he  expressly  pro- 

*  Neal's  Hit*,  of  New  England,  i.  p.  12?.  f  Hutchinson'a  CoUect.  of  Original  Papers, 


AMERICA.  435 

vides  for  having  the  oath  of  supremacy  administered  to  every  person  who 
shall  pass  to  the  colony,  or  inhabit  there.* 

But  whatever  were  the  intentions  of  the  king,  the  adventurers  kept  their 
own  object  steadily  in  view.  Soon  after  their  powers  to  establish  a  colony 
were  rendered  complete  by  the  royal  charter  [1629],  they  fitted  out  five 
ships  for  New  England  ;  on  board  of  which  embarked  upwards  of  three 
hundred  passengers,  with  a  view  of  settling  there.  These  were  most 
zealous  puritans,  whose  chief  inducement  to  relinquish  their  native  land 
was  the  hope  of  enjoying  religious  liberty  in  a  country  far  removed  from 
the  seat  of  government  and  the  oppression  of  ecclesiastical  courts.  Some 
eminent  nonconformist  ministers  accompanied  them  as  their  spiritual  in- 
structers.  On  their  arrival  in  New  England,  they  found  the  wretched  re- 
mainder of  a  small  body  of  emigrants,  who  had  left  England  [June  29], 
tlie  preceding  year,  under  the  conduct  of  Eridicott,  a  deep  enthusiast, 
whom,  prior  to  their  incorporation  by  the  royal  charter,  the  associates  had 
appointed  deputy  governor.  They  were  settled  at  a  place  called  by  the 
Indians  Naunekeag,  and  to  which  Endicott,  with  the  fond  affectation  of 
fanatics  of  that  age  to  employ  the  language  and  appellations  of  Scripture 
in  the  affairs  of  common  life,  had  given  the  name  of  Salem. 

The  emigrants  under  Endicott.  and  such  as  now  joined  them,  coincided 
perfectly  in  religious  principles.  They  were  puritans  of  the  strictest 
form. ;  and  to  men  of  this  character  the  institution  of  a  church  was  naturally 
of  such  interesting  concern  as  to  take  place  of  every  other  object.  In  this 
first  transaction,  they  displayed  at  once  the  extent  of  the  reformation  at 
which  they  aimed.  Without  regard  to  the  sentiments  of  tnat  monarch 
under  the  sanction  of  whose  authority  they  settled  in  America,  and  from 
whom  they  derived  right  to  act  as  a  body  politic,  and  in  contempt  of  the 
laws  of  England,  with  which  the  charter  required  that  none  of  their  acts 
or  ordinances  should  be  inconsistent,  they  adopted  in  their  infant  church 
that  form  of  policy  which  has  since  been  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
Independent.  They  united  together  in  religious  society  [Aug.  6],  by  a 
solemn  covenant  with  God  and  with  one  another,  and  in  strict  conformity, 
as  they  imagined,  to  the  rules  of  Scripture.  They  elected  a  pastor,  a 
teacher,  and  an  elder,  whom  they  set  apart  for  their  respective  offices,  by 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  brethren.  All  who  were  that  day  admitted 
members  of  the  church  signified  their  assent  to  a  confession  of  faith  drawn 
up  by  their  teacher,  and  gave  an  account  of  the  foundation  of  their  own 
hopes  as  Christians  ;  and  it  was  declared  that  no  person  should  hereafter 
be  received  into  communion  until  he  gave  satisfaction  to  the  church  with 
respect  to  his  faith  and  sanctity.  The  form  of  public  worship  which  thejr 
instituted  was  without  a  liturgy,  disencumbered  of  every  superfluous  cere- 
mony, and  reduced  to  the  lowest  standard  of  Calvinistic  simplicity.! 

It  was  with  the  utmost  complacence  that  men  passionately  attached  to 
their  own  notions,  and  who  had  long  been  restrained  from  avowing  them, 
employed  themselves  in  framing  this  model  of  a  pure  church.  But  in  the 
first  moment  that  they  bepn  to  taste  of  Christian  liberty  themselves,  they 
forgot  that  other  men  had  an  equal  title  to  enjoy  it.  Some  of  their  num- 
ber, retaining  a  high  veneration  for  the  ritual  of  the  English  church,  were 
so  much  offended  at  the  total  abolition  of  it,  that  they  withdrew  from  com- 

*  Hutchinson's  Collect,  of  Orig.  Papers,  p.  18. — It  is  surprising  that  Mr.  Neal,  an  industrious  and 
generally  well  informed  writer,  should  affirm,  that  "  free  liberty  of  conscience  was  granted  by  this 
charter  to  all  who  should  settle  in  those  parts,  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way."  Hist,  of  Nev,- 
Engl.  i.  124.  This  he  repeats  in  his  History  of  the  Puritans,  ii.  210 ;  and  subsequent  historians  have 
copied  him  implicitly.  No  permission  of  this  kind,  however,  is  contained  in  the  charter ;  and  such 
an  indulgence  would  have  been  inconsistent  with  all  the  maxims  of  Charles  and  his  ministers  during 
the  course  of  his  reign.  At  the  time  when  Charles  issued  the  charter,  the  influence  of  Laud  over 
his  counsels  was  at  its  height,  the  puritans  were  prosecuted  with  the  greatest  severity,  and  the 
kingdom  was  ruled  entirely  by  prerogative.  This  is  not  an  era  in  which  one  can  expect  to  meet 
with  concessions  in  favour  of  nonconformists,  from  a  prince  of  Charles's  character  and  principles. 

|  Math.  Megoal,  p.  18.    Neal's  Hist,  of  N.  Engl.  i.  126.     Chalmers,  D.  143. 


436  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  X. 

munion  with  the  newly  instituted  church,  and  assembled  separately  for  the 
worship  of  God.  With  an  inconsistency  of  which  there  are  such  flagrant 
instances  among  Christians  of  every  denomination  that  it  cannot  be  im- 

Suted  as  a  reproach  peculiar  to  any  sect,  the  very  men  who  had  themselves 
ed  from  persecution  became  persecutors ;  and  had  recourse,  in  order  to 
enforce  their  own  opinions,  to  the  same  unhallowed  weapons,  against  the 
employment  of  which  they  had  lately  remonstrated  with  so  much  violence. 
Endicott  called  the  two  chief  malecontents  before  him  ;  and  though  they 
were  men  of  note,  and  among  the  number  of  original  patentees,  he  expelled 
them  from  the  society,  and  sent  them  home  in  the  ships  which  were  re- 
turning to  England.*  The  colonists  were  now  united  in  sentiments  ;  but, 
on  the  approach  of  winter,  they  suffered  so  much  from  diseases,  which 
carried  off  almost  one  half  of  their  number,  that  they  made  little  progress 
in  occupying  the  country. 

Meanwhile  the  directors  of  the  company  in  England  exerted  their 
utmost  endeavours  in  order  to  reinforce  the  colony  with  a  numerous  body 
of  new  settlers  ;  and  as  the  intolerant  spirit  of  Laud  exacted  conformity  to 
all  the  injunctions  of  the  church  with  greater  rigour  than  ever,  the  condition 
of  such  as  had  any  scruples  with  respect  to  this  became  so  intolerable  tnal 
many  accepted  of  their  invitation  to  a  secure  retreat  in  New  England. 
Several  of  these  were  persons  of  greater  opulence  and  of  better  condition 
than  any  who  had  hitherto  migrated  to  that  country.  But  as  they  intended 
to  employ  their  fortunes,  as  well  as  to  hazard  their  persons  in  establishing 
a  permanent  colony  there,  and  foresaw  many  inconveniences  from  their 
subjection  to  laws  made  without  their  own  consent,  and  framed  by  a 
society  which  must  always  be  imperfectly  acquainted  with  their  situation, 
they  insisted  that  the  corporate  powers  of  the  company  should  be  trans- 
ferred from  England  to  America,  and  the  government  of  the  colony  be 
vested  entirely  in  those  who,  by  settling  in  the  latter  country,  became 
members  of  it.|  The  company  had  already  expended  considerable  sums 
in  prosecuting  the  design  of  their  institution,  without  having  received 
almost  any  return,  and  had  no  prospect  of  gain,  or  even  of  reimbursement, 
but  what  was  too  remote  and  uncertain  to  be  suitable  to  the  ideas  of  mer- 
chants, the  most  numerous  class  of  its  members.  They  hesitated,  however, 
with  respect  to  the  legality  of  granting  the  demand  of  the  intended  emi- 
grants. But  such  was^  their  eagerness  to  be  disengaged  from  an  unpro- 
mising adventure,  that,  "  by  general  consent  it  was  determined,  that  the 
charter  should  be  transferred,  and  the  government  be  settled  in  New 
England."|  To  the  members  of  the  corporation  who  chose  to  remain  at 
home  was  reserved  a  share  in  the  trading  stock  and  profits  of  the  company 
during  seven  years. 

In  this  singular  transaction,  to  which  there  is  nothing  similar  in  the  history 
of  English  colonization,  two  circumstances  merit  particular  attention :  one 
is  the  power  of  the  company  to  make  this  transference  ;  the  other  is  the 
silent  acquiescence  with  which  the  king  permitted  it  to  take  place.  If  the 
validity  of  this  determination'  of  the  company  be  tried  by  the  charter 
which  constituted  it  a  body  politic,  and  conveyed  to  it  all  the  corporate 
powers  with  which  it  was  invested,  it  is  evident  that  it  could  neither  ex- 
ercise those  powers  in  any  mode  different  from  what  the  charter  prescribed, 
nor  alienate  them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  convert  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
trading  corporation  in  England  into  a  provincial  government  in  America. 
But  from  the  first  institution  of  the  company  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  its 
members  seem  to  have  been  animated  with  a  spirit  of  innovation  in  civil 
policy,  as  well  as  in  religion;  and  by  the  habit  of  rejecting  established 
usages  in  the  one,  they  were  prepared  for  deviating  from  them  in  the  other. 

*  Mather,  p.  19.    Neal,  p.  J29.  t  Hutchinson's  Coll.  of  Papers,  p.  25.  $  Mather, 

p.  20.    Hutchinson's  Hist,  p.  12.    Chalmers,  p.  150. 


AMERICA.  437 

They  had  applied  for  a  royal  charter,  in  order  to  give  legal  effect  to  their 
operations  in  England,  as  acts  of  a  body  politic ;  but  the  persons  whom 
they  sent  out  to  America,  as  soon  as  they  landed  there,  considered  them- 
selves as  individuals  united  together  by  voluntary  association,  possessing 
the  natural  right  of  men  who  form  a  society,  to  adopt  what  mode  of  govern- 
ment, and  to  enact  what  laws  they  deemed  most  conducive  to  general 
felicity.  Upon  this  principle  of  being  entitled. to  judge  and  to  decide  for 
themselves,  they  established  their  church  in  Salem,  without  regard  to  the 
institutions  of  the  church  of  England,  of  which  the  charter  supposed  them 
to  be  members,  and  bound  of  consequence  to  conformity  with  its  ritual. 
Suitable  to  the  same  ideas,  we  shall  observe  them  framing  all  their  future 
plans  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  policy.  The  king,  though  abundantly 
vigilant  in  observing  and  checking  slighter  encroachments  on  his  prerogative, 
was  either  so  much  occupied  at  that  time  with  other  cares,  occasioned  by 
his  fatal  breach  with  his  parliament,  that  he  could  not  attend  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  company ;  or  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  prospect 
of  removing  a  body  of  turbulent  subjects  to  a  distant  country,  where  they 
might  be  useful,  and  could  not  prove  dangerous,  that  he  was  disposed  to 
connive  at  the  irregularity  of  a  measure  which  facilitated  their  departure. 

Without  interruption  from  the  crown,  the  adventurers  proceeded  to  carry 
their  scheme  into  execution.  In  a  general  court,  John  Winthrop  was 
appointed  governor,  and  Thomas  Dudley  deputy  governor,  and  eighteen 
assistants  were  chosen  ;  in  whom,  together  with  the  body  of  freemen  who 
should  settle  in  New  England,  were  vested  all  the  corporate  rights  of  the 
company.  With  such  zeal  and  activity  did  they  prepare  for  emigration, 
that  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year  seventeen  ships  sailed  for  New 
England,  and  aboard  these  above  fifteen  hundred  persons,  among  whom 
were  several  of  respectable  families,  and  in  easy  circumstances.  On  their 
arrival  in  New  England,  many  were  so  ill  satisfied  with  the  situation  of 
Salem,  that  they  explored  the  country  in  quest  of  some  better  station  ;  and 
settling  in  different  places  around  the  Bay,  according  to  their  various 
fancies,  laid  the  foundations  of  Boston,  Charles  Town,  Dorchester,  Rox- 
borough,  and  other  towns,  which  have  since  become  considerable  in  the 
province.  In  each  of  these  a  church  was  established  on  the  same  model 
with  that  of  Salem.  This,  together  with  the  care  of  making  provision  for 
their  subsistence  during  winter,  occupied  them  entirely  during  some  months. 
But  in  the  first  general  court  [Oct.  19],  their  disposition  to  consider  them- 
selves as  members  of  an  independent  society,  unconfined  by  the  regulations 
of  their  charter,  began  to  appear.  The  election  of  the  governor  and 
deputy  governor,  the  appointment  of  all  other  officers,  and  even  the  power 
of  making  laws,  all  which  were  granted  by  the  charter^  to  the  freemen, 
were  taken  from  them,  and  vested  in  the  council  of  assistants.  But  the 
aristocratical  spirit  of  this  resolution  did  not  accord  with  the  ideas  of  equality 
prevalent  among  the  people,  who  had  been  surprised  into  an  approbation 
of  it.  Next  year  [1631]  the  freemen,  whose  numbers  had  been  greatly 
augmented  by  the  admission  of  new  members,  resumed  their  former  rights. 

But,  at  the  same  time,  they  ventured  to  deviate  from  the  charter  in  a 
matter  of  greater  moment,  which  deeply  affected  all  the  future  operations 
of  the  colony,  and  contributed  greatly  to  form  that  peculiar  character  by 
which  the  people  of  New  England  have  been  distinguished.  A  law  was 
passed,  declaring  that  none  shall  hereafter  be  admitted  freemen,  or  be 
entitled  to  any  share  in  the  government,  or  be  capable  of  being  chpfeen 
magistrates,  or  even  of  serving  as  jurymen,  but  such  as  have  been  received 
into  the  church  as  members.*  By  this  resolution,  every  person  who  did 
not  hold  the  favourite  opinions  concerning  the  doctrines  of  religion,  the 
discipline  of  the  church,  or  the  rites  of  worship,  was  at  once  cast  out  of  the 

*  Hutching  n,  p.  96.    Chalmers,  p.  153. 


438  HISTORY   OF  [BOOK*. 

society,  and  stripped  of  all  the  privileges  of  a  citizen.  An  uncontrolled 
power  of  approving  or  rejecting  the  claims  of  those  who  applied  for 
admission  into  communion  with  the  ehurch  being  vested  in  the  ministers 
and  leading  men  of  each  congregation,  the  most  valuable  of  all  civil  rights 
was  made  to  depend  on  their  decision  with  respect  to  qualifications  purely 
ecclesiastical.  As  in  examining  into  these  they  proceeded  not  by  any 
known  or  established  rules,  but  exercised  a  discretionary  judgment,  the 
clergy  rose  gradually  to  a  degree  of  influence  and  authority,  from  which 
the  levelling  spirit  of  the  independent  church  policy  was  calculated  to 
exclude  them.  As  by  their  determination  the  political  condition,  of  every 
citizen  was  fixed,  all  paid  court  to  men  possessed  of  such  an  important 
power,  by  assuming  those  austere  and  sanctimonious  manners  which  were 
known  to  be  the  most  certain  recommendations  to  their  favour.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  ascendant,  which  was  acquired  chiefly  by  the  wildest 
enthusiasts  among  the  clergy,  their  notions  became  a  standard  to  which  all 
studied  to  conform,  and  the  singularities  characteristic  of  the  puritans  in 
that  age  increased,  of  which  many  remakable  instances  will  occur  In  the 
course  of  our  narrative. 

Though  a  considerable  number  of  planters  was  cut  off  by  the  diseases 
prevalent  in  a  country  so  imperfectly  cultivated  by  its  original  inhabitants 
as  to  be  still  almost  one  continued  forest,  and  several,  discouraged  by  the 
hardships  to  which  they  were  exposed,  returned  to  England,  recruits  suffi- 
cient to  replace  them  arrived.  At  the  same  time  the  small-pox,  a  dis- 
temper fatal  to  the  people  of  the  New  World,  swept  away  such  multi- 
tudes of  the  natives,  that  some  whole  tribes  disappeared  ;  and  Heaven,  by 
thus  evacuating  a  country  in  which  the  English  might  settle  without 
molestation,  was  supposed  to  declare  its  intention  that  they  should 
occupy  it 

As  several  of  the  vacant  Indian  stations  were  well  chosen,  such  was  the 
eagerness  of  the  English  to  take  possession  of  them,  that  their  settlements 
became  more  numerous  and  more  widely  dispersed  than  suited  the  con- 
dition of  an  infant  colony.  This  led  to  an  innovation  which  totally  altered 
the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  government.  When  a  general  court  was 
to  he  held  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-four,  the  free- 
men instead  of  attending  it  in^  person,  as  the  charter  prescribed,  elected 
representatives  in  their  different  districts,  authorizing  them  to  appear  in 
their  name,  with  full  power  to  deliberate  and  decide  concerning  every 
point  that  fell  under  the  cognizance  of  the  general  court.  Whether  this 
measure  was  suggested  by  some  designing  leaders,  or  whether  they  found 
it  prudent  to  soothe  the  people  by  complying  with  their  inclination,  is 
uncertain.  The  representatives  were  admitted,  and  considered  themselves, 
in  conjunction  with  the  governor  and  assistants,  as  the  supreme  legislative 
assembly  of  the  colony.  In  assertion  of  their  own  rights,  they  enacted 
that  no  law  should  be  passed,  no  tax  should  be  imposed,  and  no  public 
officer  should  be  appointed,  but  in  the  general  assembly.  The  pretexts  for 
making  this  new  arrangement  were  plausible.  The  number  of  freemen  was 
greatly  increased ;  many  resided  at  a  distance  from  the  places  where  the 
supreme  courts  were  held  ;  personal  attendance  became  inconvenient ;  the 
form  of  government  in  their  own  country  had  rendered  familiar  the  idea  of 
delegating  their  rights,  and  committing  the  guardianship  of  their  liberties 
to  representatives  of  their  own  choice,  and  the  experience  of  ages  had 
taught  them  that  this  important  trust  might  with  safety  be  lodged  in  their 
hands.  Thus  did  the  company  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  less  than  six 
years  from  its  incorporation  by  the  king,  mature  ana  perfect  a  scheme 
which,  I  have  already  observed,  some  of  its  more  artful  and  aspiring 
leaders  seem  to  have  had  in  view,  when  the  association  for  peopling  New 
England  was  first  formed.  The  colony  must  henceforward  be  considered, 
not  as  a  corporation  whose  powers  were  defined,  and  its  mode  of 


AMERICA.  439 

procedure  regulated  by  its  charter,  but  as  a  society,  which,  having  acquired 
•or  assumed  political  liberty,  had,  by  its  own  voluntary  deed,  adopted  a 
constitution  or  government  framed  on  the  mode]  of  that  in  England, 

But  however  liberal  their  system  or  civil  policy  might  be,  as  their  leli- 
gious  opinions  were  no  longer  under  any  restraint  of  authority,  the  spirit  01 
fanaticism  continued  to  spread,  and  became  every  day  wilder  and  more 
extravagant.  Williams,  a  minister  of  Salem,  in  high  estimation,  having 
conceived  an  antipathy  to  the  cross  of  St.  George  in  the  standard  of  Eng- 
land, declaimed  against  it  with  so  much  vehemence,  as  a  relic  of  super- 
stition and  idolatry  which  ought  not  to  be  retained  among  a  people  so  pure 
and  sanctified,  that  Endicott,  one  of  the  members  of  the  court  of  assistants, 
in  a  transport  of  zeal,  publicly  cut  out  the  cross  from  the  ensign  displayed 
before  the  governor's  gate.  This  frivolous  matter  interested  and  divided 
the  colony.  Some  of  the  militia  scrupled  to  follow  colours  in  which  there 
was  a  cross,  lest  they  should  do  honour  to  an  idol  ;  others  refused  to  serve 
under  a  mutilated  banner,  lest  they  should  be  suspected  of  having 
renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  crown  of  England.  After  a  long  contro- 
versy, carried  on  by  both  parties  with  that  heat  and  zeal  which  in  trivial 
disputes  supply  the  want  of  argument,  the  contest  was  terminated  by  a 
compromise.  The  cross  was  retained  in  the  ensigns  of  forts  and  ships,  but 
erased  from  the  colours  of  the  militia.  Williams,  on  account  of  this,  as 
well  as  of  some  other  doctrines  deemed  unsound,  was  banished  out  of  the 
colony.* 

The  prosperous  state  of  New  England  was  now  so  highly  extolled,  and 
the  simple  frame  of  its  ecclesiastic  policy  so  much  admired  by  all  whose 
affections  were  estranged  from  the  church  of  England,  that  crowds  of  new 
settlers  flocked  thither  [1635].  Among  these  were  two  persons,  whose 
uames  have  been  rendered  memorable  by  the  appearance  which  they 
afterwards  made  on  a  more  conspicuous  theatre  ;  one  was  Hugh  Peters,  the 
enthusiastic  and  intriguing  chaplain  of  Oliver  Cromwell :  the  other  Mr. 
Henry  Vane,  son  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  a  privy  counsellor,  high  in  office,  and 
of  great  credit  with  the  king  ;  a  young  man  of  a  noble  family,  animated 
with  such  zeal  for  pure  religion  and  such  love  of  liberty  as  induced  him 
to  relinquish  all  his  hopes  in  England,  and  to  settle  in  a  colony  hitherto  no 
further  advanced  in  improvement  than  barely  to  afford  subsistence  to  its 
members,  was  received  with  the  fondest  admiration.  His  mortified 
appearance,  his  demure  look  and  rigid  manners,  carried  even  beyond  the 
standard  of  preciseness  in  that  society  which  he  joined,  seemed  to  indicate 
a  man  of  high  spiritual  attainments,  while  his  abilities  and  address  in  busi- 
ness pointed  him  out  as  worthy  of  the  highest  station  in  the  community. 
With  universal  consent,  and  high  expectations  of  advantage  from  his 
administration,  he  was  elected  governor  in  the  year  subsequent  to  his 
arrival  [1636].  But  as  the  affairs  of  an  infant  colony  afforded  not  objects 
adequate  to  the  talents  of  Vane,  his  busy  pragmatical  spirit  occupied  itself 
with  theological  subtilties  and  speculations  unworthy  of  his  attention. 
These  were  excited  by  a  woman,  whose  reveries  produced  such  effects 
both  within  the  colony  and  beyond  its  precincts,  that  frivolous  as  they  may 
now  appear,  they  must  be  mentioned  as  an  occurrence  of  importance  in  its 
history. 

It  was  the  custom  at  that  time  in  New  England,  among  the  chief  men 
in  every  congregation,  to  meet  once  a  week  in  order  to  repeat  the  sermons 
which  they  had  heard,  and  to  hold  religious  conference  with  respect  to  the 
doctrine  contained  in  them.  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  whose  husband  was  among 
the  most  respectable  members  of  the  colony,  regretting  that  persons  of  her 
sex  were  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  those  meetings,  assembled  statedly 
ui  her  house  a  number  of  women,  who  employed  themselves  in  pious  exercises 

*  Neal's  Hist,  of  N  Eng.  p.  140,  &c.    Hutchineon,  p.  37.    Chalmers,  p  15B. 


440  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  A. 

similar  to  those  of  the  men.  At  first  she  satisfied  herself  with  repeating  what 
she  could  recollect  of  the  discourses  delivered  by  their  teachers.  She  began 
afterwards  to  add  illustrations,  and  at  length  proceeded  to  censure  some  of 
the  clergy  as  unsound,  and  to  vent  opinions  and  fancies  of  her  own.  These 
were  all  founded  on  the  system  which  is  denominated  Antinpmian  by 
divines,  and  tinged  with  the  deepest  enthusiasm.  She  taught,  that  sanctity 
of  life  is  no  evidence  of  .justification,  or  of  a  state  of  favour  with  God ;  and 
that  such  as  inculcated  the  necessity  of  manifesting  the  reality  of  our  faith 
by  obedience  preached  only  a  covenant  of  works ;  she  contended  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  otwelt  personally  in  good  men,  and  by  inward  revelations  and 
impressions  they  received  the  fullest  discoveries  of  the  divine  will.  The 
fluency  and  confidence  with  which  she  delivered  these  notions  gained 
her  many  admirers  and  proselytes,  not  only  among  the  vulgar  but  among 
the  principal  inhabitants.  The  whole  colony  was  interested  and  agitated. 
Vane,  whose  sagacity  and  acuteness  seemed  to  forsake  him  whenever  they 
were  turned  towards  religion,  espoused  and  defended  her  wildest  tenets. 
Many  conferences  were  held,  days  of  fasting  and  humiliation  were 
appointed,  a  general  synod  was  called ;  and,  after  dissensions  so  violent  as 
threatened  the  dissolution  of  the  colony,  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  opinions  were 
condemned  as  erroneous,  and  she  herself  banished  [1637].  Several  ot  her 
disciples  withdrew  from  the  province  of  their  own  accord.  Vane  quitted 
America  in  disgust,  unlamented  even  by  those  who  had  lately  admired 
him ;  some  of  whom  now  regarded  him  as  a  mere  visionary,  and  others  as 
one  of  those  dark  turbulent  spirits  doomed  to  embroil  every  society  into 
which  they  enter.* 

However  much  these  theological  contests  might  disquiet  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  they  contributed  to  the  more  speedy  population  of 
America.  When  Williams  was  banished  from  Salem  in  the  year  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-four,  such  was  the  attachment  of  his  hear- 
ers to  a  pastor  whose  piety  they  revered,  that  a  good  number  of  them  volun^ 
tarily  accompanied  him  in  his  exile.  They  directed  their  march  towards 
the  south ;  and  having  purchased  from  the  natives  a  considerable  tract  of 
land,  to  which  Williams  gave  the  name  of  Providence,  they  settled  there. 
They  were  joined  soon  after  by  some  of  those  to  whom  the  proceedings 
against  Mrs.  Hutchinson  gave  disgust ;  and  by  a  transaction  with  the 
Indians  they  obtained  a  right  to  a  fertile  island  in  Narraganset  Bay,  which 
acquired  the  name  of  Rhode  Island.  Williams  remained  among  them 
upwards  of  forty  years,  respected  as  the  father  and  the  guide  of  the  colony 
which  he  had  planted.  His  spirit  differed  from  that  of  the  puritans  in 
Massachusetts  ;  it  was  mild  and  tolerating  ;  and  having  ventured  himself 
to  reject  established  opinions,  he  endeavoured  to  secure  the  same  liberty 
to  other  men,  by  maintaining  that  the  exercise  of  private  judgment  was  a 
natural  and  sacred  right ;  that  the  civil  magistrate  has  no  compulsive  juris- 
diction in  the  concerns  of  religion  ;  that  th'e  punishment  of  any  person  on 
account  of  his  opinions  was  an  encroachment  on  conscience,  and  an  act  of 
persecution.!  These  humane  principles  he  instilled  into  his  followers; 
and  all  who  felt  or  dreaded  oppression  in  other  settlements  resorted  to  a 
community  in  which  universal  toleration  was  known  to  be  a  fundamental 
maxim.  In  the  plantations  of  Providence  and  Rhode  Island,  political  union 
was  established  by  voluntary  association,  and  the  equality  of  ^condition 
among  the  members,  as  well  as  their  religious  opinions  ;  their  form  of 
government  was  purely  democratical,  the  supreme  power  being  lodged  in 
the  freemen  personally  assembled.  In  this  state  they  remained  untfl  they 
were  incorporated  by  charter.J 

*  Mather,  book  vii.  c.  3.  Hutchhison,  p.  53.  74.  Neal,  p.  1. 144. 165,  &c.  Chalmers,  p.  J63, 
t  Neal's  Hist,  of  N.  Eng.  p.  141.  J  Hutchinson,  p.  38.  Neal,  ii.  142.  Dougl.  Sum.  ii.  f  76, 
&c.  Chalmers,  cu.  ii. 


AMERICA.  441 

To  similar  causes  the  colony  of  Connecticut  is  indebted  for  its  origin. 
The  rivalship  between  Mr.  Cotton  and  Mr.  Hooker,  two  favourite  minis- 
ters in  the  settlement  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  disposed  the  latter,  who  was 
Jeast  successful  in  this  contest  for  fame  and  power,  to  wish  for  some  settle- 
ment at  a  distance  from  a  competitor  by  whom  his  reputation  was  eclipsed. 
A  good  number  of  those  who  had  imbibed  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  notions,  and 
were  offended  at  such  as  combated  them,  offered  to  accompany  him. 
Having  employed  proper  persons  to  explore  the  country,  they  pitched  upon 
the  west  side  of  the  great  river  Connecticut  as  the  most  inviting  station  ; 
.and  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-six,  about  a  hundred 
persons,  with  their  wives  and  families,  after  a  fatiguing  march  of  many 
days  through  woods  and  swamps,  arrived  there,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  towns  of  Hartford,  Springneld,  and  Weathersfield.  /This  settlement 
was  attended  with  peculiar  irregularities.  Part  of  the  district  now  occu- 
pied lay  beyond  the  limits  of  the  territory  granted  to  the  colony  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay,  and  yet  the  emigrants  took  a  commission  from  the  governor 
and  court  of  assistants,  empowering  them  to  exercise  jurisdiction  in  that 
country.  The  Dutch  from  Manhados  or  New  York,  having  discovered 
the  river  Connecticut,  and  established  some  trading  houses  upon  it,  had 
acquired  all  the  right  that  prior  possession  confers.  Lord  Say  and  Sele 
and  Lord  Brook,  the  heads  of  two  illustrious  families,  were  so  much 
alarmed  at  the  arbitrary  measures  of  Charles  I.,  both  in  his  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical administration,  that  they  took  a  resolution,  not  unbecoming  young 
men  of  noble  birth  and  liberal  sentiments,  of  .retiring  to  the  New  World, 
in  order  to  enjoy  such  a  form  of  religion  as  they  approved  of,  and  those 
liberties  which  they  deemed  essential  to  the  well  being  of  society.  They, 
too,  fixed  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  as  their  place  of  settlement,  and 
had  taken  possession,  by  building  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which 
from  their  united  names  was  called  Say  Brook.  The  emigrants  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, without  regarding  either  me  defects  in  their  own  right  or  the 
pretensions  of"  other  claimants,  kept  .possession,  and  proceeded  with  vigour 
to  clear  and  cultivate  the  countiy.  By  degrees  they  got  rid  of  every  com- 
petitor. The  Dutch,  recently  settled  in  America,  and  too  feeble  to  engage 
in  a  war,  peaceably  withdrew  from  Connecticut.  Lord  Say  and  Sele  and 
Lord  Brook  made  over  to  the  colony  whatever  title  they  might  have  to 
any  lands  in  that  region.  Society  was  established  by  a  voluntary  compact 
of  the  freemen  ;  and  though  they  soon  disclaimed  all  dependence  on_  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  they  retained  such  veneration  for  its  legisla- 
tive wisdom  as  to  adopt  a  form  ot  government  nearly  resembling  its  insti- 
tutions, with  respect  both  to  civil  and  ecclesiastical  policy.  At  a  subse- 
quent period,  the  colony  of  Connecticut  was  likewise  incorporated  by 
royal  charter.* 

The  history  of  the  first  attempts  to  people  the  provinces  of  New  Hamp 
shire  and  Maine,  which  form  the  fourth  and  most  extensive  division  in  New 
England,  is  obscured  and  perplexed,  by  the  interfering  claims  of  various 
proprietors.  The  company  of  Plymouth  had  inconsiderately  parcelled 
out  the  northern  part  of  the  territory  contained  in  its  grant  among  different 
persons  :  of  these  only  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Captain  Mason  seem  io 
have  had  any  serious  intention  to  occupy  the  lands  allotted  to  them.  Their 
efforts  to  accomplish  this  were  meritorious  and  persevering,  but  unsuccess- 
ful. The  expense  of  settling  colonies  in  an  uncultivated  country  must 
necessarily  be  great  and  immediate  ;  the  prospect  of  a  return  is  often  un- 
certain, and  always  remote.  The  funds  of  two  private  adventurers  were 
not  adequate  to  such  an  undertaking.  Nor  did  the  planters  whom  they 
sent  out  possess  that  principle  of  enthusiasm,  which  animated  their  neigh- 
bours of  Massachusetts  with  vigour  to  struggle  through  all  the  hardships  and 

*  Hutchinson,  p.  44,  &c.    N«al,  i.  147.    Douglas,  ii.  158,  &c.    Chalmers's  Annals,  ch.  xh. 
VOL.  I.— 56 


442  HISTORY  OF  [BooKX. 

dangers  to  which  society  in  its  infancy  is  exposed  in  a  savage  land. 
Gorges  and  Mason,  it  is  probable,  must  have  abandoned  their  design,  if, 
from  the  same  motives  that  settlements  had  been  made  in  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  colonists  had  not  unexpectedly  migrated  into  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maine.  Mr.  Wheelwright,  a  minister  of  some  note,  nearly  related 
to  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  and  one  of  her  most  fervent  admirers  and  partisans, 
had  on  this  account  been  banished  from  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay.* 
In  quest  of  a  new  station,  he  took  a  course  opposite  to  the  other  exiles, 
and  advancing  towards  the  north,  founded  the  town  of  Exeter  on  a  small 
river  flowing  into  Piscataqua  Bay.  His  followers,  few  in  number,  but 
firmly  united,  were  of  such  rigid  principles,  that  even  the  churches  of 
Massachusetts  did  not  appear  to  them  sufficiently  pure.  From  time  to  time 
they  received  some  recruits,  whom  love  of  novelty,  or  dissatisfaction  with 
the  ecclesiastical  institutions  of  the  other  colonies  prompted  to  join  them. 
Their  plantations  were  widely  dispersed,  but  the  country  was  thinly  peo- 
pled, and  its  political  state  extremely  unsettled.  The  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  claimed  jurisdiction  over  them,  as  occupying  lands  situated 
within  the  limits  of  their  grant.  Gorges  and  Mason  asserted  the  rights 
conveyed  to  them  as  proprietors  by  their  charter.  In  several  districts  the 
planters,  without  regarding  the  pretensions  of  either  party,  governed  them- 
selves by  maxims  and  laws  copied  from  those  of  their  brethren  in  the  adja- 
cent colonies.!  The  first  reduction  of  the  political  constitution  in  the  pro- 
vinces of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  into  a  regular  and  permanent  form, 
was  subsequent  to  the  Revolution. 

By  extending  their  settlements,  the  English  became  exposed  to  new 
danger.  The  tribes  of  Indians  around  Massachusetts  Bay  were  feeble  and 
unwarlike  ;  yet  from  regard  to  justice,  as  well  as  motives  of  prudence,  the 
first  colonists  were  studious  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  natives  before  they 
ventured  to  occupy  any  of  their  lands  ;  and  though  in  such  transactions  the 
consideration  given  was  often  very  inadequate  to  the  value  of  the  territory- 
acquired,  it  was  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  proprietors.  The 
English  took  quiet  possession  of  the  lands  thus  conveyed  to  them,  and  no 
open  hostility  broke  out  between  them  and  the  ancient  possessors.  But 
the  colonies  of  Providence  and  Connecticut  soon  found  that  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  more  powerful  and  martial  nations.  Among  these  the  most 
considerable  were  the  Narragansets  and  Pequods ;  the  former  seated  on  the 
bay  which  bears  their  name,  and  the  latter  occupying  the  territory  which 
stretches  from  the  river  Pequods  along  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut.  The 
Pequods  were  a  formidable  people,  who  could  bring  into  the  field  a  thou- 
sand warriors  not  inferior  in  courage  to  any  in  the  New  World.  They 
foresaw,  not  only  that  the  extermination  of  the  Indian  race  must  be  the 
consequence  of  permitting  the  English  to  spread  over  the  continent  of 
America,  but  that,  if  measures  were  not  speedily  concerted  to  prevent  it, 
the  calamity  would  be  unavoidable.  With  this  view  they  applied  to  the 
Narragansets,  requesting  them  to  forget  ancient  animosities  for  a  moment, 
and  to  co-operate  with  them  in  expelling  a  common  enemy  who  threatened 
both  with  destruction.  They  represented  that,  when  those  strangers  first 
landed,  the  object  of  their  visit  was  not  suspected,  and  no  proper  precau- 
tions were  taken  to  check  their  progress  ;  that  now,  by  sending  out  colo- 
nies in  one  year  towards  three  different  quarters,  their  intentions  were 
manifest,  ana  the  people  of  America  must  abandon  their  native  seats  to 
make  way  for  unjust  intruders. 

But  the  Narragansets  and  Pequods,  like  most  of  the  contiguous  tribes  in 
America,  were  rivals,  and  there  subsisted  between  them  an  hereditary  and 
implacable  enmity.  Revenge  is  the  darling  passion  of  savages  ;  in  order 

*  Hutchinson,  p.  70.        f  Ibid.  p.  103,  &c.  176.    Douglas's  Sum.  ii.  22,  &c.    Chalmers's  Annals, 


cli.  ivii. 


AMERICA.  443 

to  secure  tne  indulgence  of  which  there  is  no  present  advantage  that  they 
will  not  sacrifice,  and  no  future  consequence  which  they  do  not  totally 
disregard.  The  Narragansets,  instead  of  closing  with  the  prudent  proposal 
of  their  neighbours,  discovered  their  hostile  intentions  to  the  governor  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  :  and,  eager  to  lay  hold  on  such  a  favourable  opportu- 
nity of  wreaking  their  vengeance  on  their  ancient  foes,  entered  into  an 
alliance  with  the  English  against  them.  The  Pequods,  more  exasperated 
than  discouraged  by  the  imprudence  and  treachery  of  their  countrymen, 
look  the  field,  and  carried  on  the  war  in  the  usual  mode  of  Americans. 
They  surprised  stragglers,  and  scalped  them  ;  they  plundered  and  burnt 
remote  settlements  ;  they  attacked  Fort  Say  Brook  without  success,  though 
garrisoned  only  by  twenty  men ;  and  when  the  English  began  to  act 
offensively,  they  retired  to  fastnesses  which  they  deemed  inaccessible. 
The  different  colonies  had  agreed  to  unite  against  the  common  enemy, 
each  furnishing  a  quota  of  men  in  proportion  to  its  numbers.  The  troops 
of  Connecticut,  which  lay  most  exposed  to  danger,  were  soon  assembled. 
The  march  of  those  from  Mussachusetts,  which  formed  the  most  consider- 
able body,  was  retarded  by  the  most  singular  cause  that  ever  influenced 
the  operations  of  a  military  force.  When  they  were  mustered  previous  to 
their  departure,  it  was  found  that  some  of  the  officers,  as  well  as  of  the 
private  soldiers,  were  still  under  a  covenant  of  works  ;  and  that  the 
blessing  of  GOD  could  not  be  implored  or  expected  to  crown  the  arms  of 
such  unhallnwed  men  with  success.  The  alarm  was  general,  and  many 
arrangements  necessary  in  order  to  cast  out  the  unclean,  and  to  render  this 
little  band  sufficiently  pure  to  fight  the  battles  of  a  people  who  entertained 
high  ideas  of  their  own  sanctity.* 

Meanwhile  the  Connecticut  troops,  reinforced  by  a  small  detachment 
from  Say  Brook,  found  it  necessary  to  advance  towards  the  enemy.  They 
were  posted  on  a  rising  ground,  in  the  middle  of  a  swamp  towards  the 
head  of  the  river  Mistick,  which  they  had  surrounded  with  palisadoes, 
the  best  defence  that  their  slender  skill  in  the  art  of  fortification  had  dis- 
covered. Though  they  knew  that  the  English  were  in  motion,  yet,  with 
the  usual  improvidence  and  security  of  savages,  they  took  no  measures 
either  to  observe  their  progress,,  or  to  guard  against  being  surprised  them- 
selves. The  enemy,  unperceived,  reached  the  palisadoes  [May  20]  ;  and 
if  a  dog  had  not  given  the  alarm  by  barking,  the  Indians  must  have  been 
massacred  without  resistance.  In  a  moment,  however,  they  started  to 
arms,  and,  raising  the  war  cry,  prepared  to  repel  the  assailants.  But  at 
that  early  period,  of  their  intercourse  with  the  Europeans,  the  Americans 
were  little  acquainted  with  the  use  of  gunpowder,  and  dreaded  its  effects 
extremely.  While  some  of  the  English  galled  them  with  an  incessant  fire 
through  the  intervals  between  the  palisadoes,  others  forced  their  way  by 
the  entries  into  the  fort,  filled  only  with  branches  of  trees  ;  and  setting  fire 
to  the  huts  which  were  covered  with  reeds,  the  confusion  and  terror  quickly 
became  general.  Many  of  the  women  and  children  perished  in  the 
flames ;  and  the  warriors,  in  endeavouring  to  escape,  were  either  slain  by 
the  English,  or,  falling  into  the  hands  of  their  Indian  allies,  who  surrounded 
ihe  fort  at  a  distance,  were  reserved  for  a  more  cruel  fate.  After  the  junc- 
tion of  the  troops  from  Massachusetts,  the  English  resolved  to  pursue  their 
victory  ;  and  hunting  the  Indians  from  one  place  of  retreat  to  another, 
some  subsequent  encounters  were  hardly  less  fatal  to  them  than  the  action 
on  the  Mistick.  In  less  than  three  months  the  tribe  of  Pequods  were  ex- 
tirpated :  a  few  miserable  fugitives,  who  took  refuge  among  the  neigh- 
bouring Indians,  being  incorporated  by  them,  lost  their  name  as  a  distinct 
people.  In  this  first  essay  of  their  arms,  the  colonists  of  New  England 
seern  to  have  been  conducted  by  skilful  and  enterprising  officers,  and  dis- 

Neal,  i.  168. 


444  HISTORY  OF  [BOOK  X 

played  both  courage  and  perseverance  as  soldiers.  But  they  stained  their 
laurels  by  the  use  which  they  made  of  victory.  Instead  of  treating  the 
Pequods  as  an  independent  people,  who  made  a  gallant  effort  to  defend 
the  property,  the  rights,  and  the  freedom  of  their  nation,  they  retaliated 
upon  them  all  the  barbarities  of  American  war.  Some  they  massacred  in 
cold  blood,  others  they  gave  up  to  be  tortured  by  their  Indian  allies,  a  con- 
siderable number  they  sold  as  slaves  in  Bermudas,  the  rest  were  reduced 
to  servitude  among  themselves.* 

But  reprehensible  as  this  conduct  of  the  English  must  be  deemed,  their 
vigorous  efforts  in  this  decisive  campaign  filled  all  the  surrounding  tribes 
of  Indians  with  such  a  high  opinion  of  their  valour  as  secured  a  long  tran- 
quillity to  all  their  settlements.  At  the  same  time  the  violence  of  admin- 
istration in  England  continued  to  increase  their  population  and  strength,  by 
forcing  many  respectable  subjects  to  tear  themselves  from  all  the  tender 
connections  that  bind  men  to  their  native  country,  and  to  fly  for  refuge  to  a 
region  of  the  New  World,  which  hitherto  presented  to  them  nothing  that 
could  allure  them  thither  but  exemption  from  oppression.  The  number  of 
those  emigrants  drew  the  attention  of  government,  and  appeared  so  formi- 
dable that  a  proclamation  was  issued,  prohibiting  masters  of  ships  from 
carrying  passengers  to  New  England  without  special  permission.  On 
many  occasions  this  injunction  was  -eluded  or  disregarded.  Fatally  for  the 
king,  it  operated  with  full  effect  in  one  instance.  Sir  Arthur  Haslerig, 
John  Hampden,  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  some  other  persons  whose  principles 
and  views  coincided  with  theirs,  impatient  to  enjoy  those  civil  and  reli- 

fious  liberties  which  they  struggled  in  vain  to  obtain  in  Great  Britain, 
ired  some  ships  to  carry  them  and  their  attendants  to  New  England.  By 
order  of  council,  an  embargo  was  laid  on  these  when  on  the  point  of 
sailing;  and  Charles,  far  from  suspecting  that  the  future  revolutions  in  his 
kingdoms  were  to  be  excited  and  directed  by  persons  in  such  an  humble 
sphere  of  life,  forcibly  detained  the  men  destined  to  overturn  his  throne 
and  to  terminate  his  days  by  a  violent  death*! 

But,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  government  to  check  this  spirit  of 
migration,  the  measures  of  the  king  and  his  ministers  were  considered  by 
a  great  body  of  the  people  as  so  hostile  to  those  rights  which  they  deemed 
most  valuable,  that  in  the  course  of  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-eight,  about  three  thousand  persons  embarked  for  New  England; 
choosing  rather  to  expose  therr.selves  to  all  the  consequences  of  disre- 
garding the  royal  proclamation  than  to  remain  longer  under  oppression. 
Exasperated  at  this  contempt  of  his  authority,  Charles  had  recourse  to  a 
violent  but  effectual  mode  of  accomplishing  what  he  had  in  view.  A 
writ  of  quo  tvarranto  was  issued  against  the  corporation  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  The  colonists  had  conformed  so  little  to  the  terms  of  their  charter 
that  judgment  was  given  against  them  without  difficulty.  They  were 
found  to  have  forfeited  all  their  rights  as  a  corporation,  which  of  course 
returned  to  the  crown,  and  Charles  began  to  take  measures  for  new  model- 
ling the  political  frame  of  the  colony,  and  vesting  the  administration  of  its 
affairs  in  other  hands.  But  his  plans  were  never  carried  into  execution. 
In  every  corner  of  his  dominions  the  storm  now  began  to  gather,  which 
soon  burst  out  with  such  fatal  violence,  that  Charles,  during  the  remainder 
of  his  unfortunate  reign,  occupied  with  domestic  and  more  interesting  cares, 
had  not  leisure  to  bestow  any  attention  upon  a  remote  and  inconsiderable 
province.J 

On  the  meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament,  such  a  revolution  took  place 
in  England  that  all  the  motives  for  migrating  to  the  New  World  ceased. 

*  Hutchinson,  p.  58.  76,  &c.  Mather,  Magnalia,  b.  vii.  oh.  6.  Hubbard's  State  of  N-  Eng.  p.  5. 
116,  &c.  t  Mather,  Magnalia,  b.  i.  ch.  5.  p.  23.  Neal's  Hist,  of  N.  Eng.  i.  151.  Chalmers's 

Annals,  i.  155. 160,  &c.  f  Hutchmson,  p.  86. 502,  &c.    Chalmers's  Annals,  i.  161. 


AMERICA.  446 

The  maxims  of  the  puritans  with  respect  to  the  government  both  of  church 
and  state  became  predominant  in  the  nation,  and  were  enforced  by  the 
hand  of  power.  Their  oppressors  were  humbled ;  that  perfect  system 
of  reformed  polity,  which  had  long  been  the  object  of  their  admiration 
and  desire,  was  established  by  law  ;  and  amidst  the  intrigues  and  conflicts 
of  an  obstinate  civil  war,  turbulent  and  aspiring  spirits  found  such  full  oc- 
cupation that  they  had  no  inducement  to  quit  a  busy  theatre,  on  which  they 
had  risen  to  act  a  most  conspicuous  part.  From  the  year  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  twenty,  when  the  first  feeble  colony  was  conducted  to  New 
England  by  the  Brownists,  to  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty, 
it  has  been  computed  that  twenty-one  thousand  two  hundred  British 
subjects  had  settled  there.  The  money  expended  by  various  adventurers 
during  that  period,  in  fitting  out  ships,  in  purchasing  stock,  and  transporting 
settlers,  amounted  on  a  moderate  calculation,  nearly  to  two  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  :*  a  vast  sum  in  that  age,  and  which  no  principles,  inferior  in 
force  to  those  wherewith  the  puritans  were  animated,  could  have  persuaded 
men  to  lay  out  on  the  uncertain  prospect  of  obtaining  an  establishment  in 
a  remote  uncultivated  region,  which,  from  its  situation  and  climate,  could 
allure  them  with  no  hope  but  that  of  finding  subsistence  and  enjoying 
freedom.  For  some  years,  even  subsistence  was  procured  with  difficulty  ; 
and  it  was  towards  the  close  of  the  period  to  which  our  narrrative  is  arrived, 
before  the  product  of  the  settlement  yielded  the  planters  any  return  for 
their  stock.  About  that  time  they  began  to  export  corn  in  small  quantities 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  made  some  feeble  attempts  to  extend  the  fishery, 
and  to  open  the  trade  in  lumber,  which  have  since  proved  the  staple 
articles  of  commerce  in  the  colony.!  Since  the  year  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  forty,  the  number  of  people  with  which  New  England  has 
recruited  the  population  of  the  parent  state,  is  supposed  at  least  to  equal 
what  may  have  been  drained  from  it  by  occasional  migrations  thither. 

But  though  the  sudden  change  of  system  in  Great  Britain  stopped 
entirely  the  influx  of  settlers  into  New  England,  the  principles  of  tha 
colonists  coincided  so  perfectly  with  those  of  the  popular  leaders  in  par- 
liament that  they  were  soon  distinguished  by  peculiar  marks  of  their 
brotherly  affection.  By  a  vote  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  year  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-two,  the  people  in  all  the  different  planta- 
tions of  New  England  were  exempted  from  payment  of  any  duties,  either 
upon  goods  exported  thither,  or  upon  those  which  they  imported  into  the 
mother  country,  until  the  House  shall  take  further  order  to  the  contrary. 
This  was  afterwards  confirmed  [1646]  by  the  authority  of  both  Houses. 
Encouraged  by  such  an  extraordinary  privilege,  industry  made  rapid  pro- 
gress in  all  the  districts  of  New  England,  and  population  increased  along 
with  it.  In  return  for  those  favours,  the  colonists  applauded  the  measures 
of  parliament,  celebrated  its  generous  efforts  to  vindicate  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  nation,  prayed  for  the  success  of  its  arms,  and  framed  regu- 
lations in  order  to  prevent  any  exertion  in  favour  of  the  king  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  J 

Relying  on  the  indulgent  partiality  with  which  all  their  proceedings 
were  viewed  by  men  thus  closely  united  with  them  in  sentiment  and 
wishes,  the  people  of  New  England  ventured  on  a  measure  which  not 
only  increased  their  security  and  power,  but  may  be  regarded  as  a  con- 
siderable step  towards  independence.  Under  the  impression  or  pretext  of 
the  danger  to  which  they  were  exposed  from  the  surrounding  tribes  of 
Indians,  the  four  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and 
New  Haven,  entered  into  a  league  of  perpetual  confederacy,  offensive  and 
defensive  [May  19,  1643]  ;  an  idea  familiar  to  several  leading  men  in  the 

*  Mather,  b.  i  ch  4.  p.  17.  ch.  5.  p.  23.    Hutchinson,  p.  193.     Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  IG5. 
f  HutcliUHon,  p.  91,  92.  J  Ibid.  p.  114.    App.  517.     Chalmers's  Annals,  i.  174.  176. 


416  HISTORY  OF  [BooK  X 

colonies,  as  it  was  framed  in  imitation  of  the  famous  bond  of  union  among 
the  Dutch  provinces,  in  whose  dominions  the  Brownists  had  long  resided. 
It  was  stipulated  that  the  confederates  should  henceforth  be  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England  j^that  each  colony 
should  remain  separate  and  distinct,  and  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  within 
its  own  territory  ;  and  that  in  every  war,  offensive  or  defensive,  each  of 
the  confederates  shall  furnish  his  quota  of  men,  provisions,  and  money, 
at  a  rate  to  be  fixed  from  time  to  time,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
people  in  each  settlement ;  that  an  assembly  composed  of  two  commis- 
sioners from  each  colony  shall  be  held  annually,  with  power  to  deliberate 
and  decide  in  all  points  of  common  concern  to  the  confederacy  ;  and  every 
determination,  in  which  six  of  their  number  concur,  shall  be  binding  on 
the  whole.*  In  this  transaction  the  Colonies  of  New  England  seem  to 
have  considered  themselves  as  independent  societies,  possessing  all  the 
rights  of  sovereignty,  and  free  from  the  control  of  any  superior  power. 
1  he  governing  party  in  England,  occupied  with  affairs  of  more  urgent 
concern,  and  nowise  disposed  to  observe  the  conduct  of  their  brethren  in 
America  with  any  jealous  attention,  suffered  the  measure  to  pass  without 
animadversion. 

Emboldened  by  this  connivance,  the  spirit  of  independence  gathered 
strength,  and  soon  displayed  itself  more  openly  ;  some  persons  of  note  in 
the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  averse  to  the  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity 
established  there,  and  preferring  to  it  the  government  and  discipline  of  the 
churches  of  England  or  Scotland,  having  remonstrated  to  the  general  court 
against  the  injustice  of  depriving  them  of  their  rights  as  freemen,  and  of 
their  privileges  as  Christians  [1646],  because  they  could  not  join  as  mem- 
bers with  any  of  the  congregational  churches,  petitioned  that  they  might 
no  longer  be  bound  to  obey  laws  to  which  they  had  not  assented,  nor  be 
subjected  to  taxes  imposed  by  an  assembly  in  which  they  were  not  repre- 
sfented.  Their  demands  were  not  only  rejected,  but  they  were  imprisoned 
and  fined  as  disturbers  of  the  public  peace ;  and  when  they  appointed 
some  of  their  number  to  lay  their  grievances  before  parliament,  the' annual 
court,  in  order  to  prevent  this  appeal  to  the  supreme  power,  attempted 
first  to  seize  their  papers,  and  to  dbstruct  their  embarkation  for  England. 
But  though  neither  of  these  could  be  accomplished,  such  was  the  address 
and  influence  of  the  Colony's  agents  in  England,  that  no  inquiry  seems  ta 
have  been  made  into  this  transaction.!  This  was  followed  by  an  indica- 
tion, still  less  ambiguous,  of  the  aspiring  spirit  prevalent  among  the  people 
of  Massachusetts.  Under  every  form  of  government  the  right  of  coining 
money  has  been  considered  as  a  prerogative  peculiar  to  sovereignty,  and 
which  no  subordinate  member  in  any  state  is  entitled  to  claim.  Regardless 
of  this  established  maxim,  the  general  court  ordered  a  coinage  of  silver 
money  at  Boston  [1652],  stamped  with  the  name  of  the  colony,  and  a  tree 
as  an  apt  symbol  of  its  progressive  vigour.!  Even  this  usurpation  escaped 
without  notice.  The  Independents,  having  now  humbled  all  rival  sects, 
engrossed  the  whole  direction  of  affairs  in  Great  Britain,  and  long  accustomed 
to  admire  the  government  of  New  England,  framed  agreeably  to  those 
principles  which  they  had  adopted  as  the  most  perfect  model  of  eivil  and 
ecclesiastical  polity,  they  were  unwilling  to  stain  its  reputation  by  censuring 
any  part  of  its  conduct. 

When  Cromwell  usurped  the  supreme  power,  the  colonies  of  New 
England  continued  to  stand  as  high  in  his  estimation.  As  he  had  deeply 
imbibed  all  the  fanatical  notions  of  the  Independents,  and  was  perpetually 
surrounded  by  the  most  eminent  and  artful  teachers  of  that  sect,  he  kept 
a  constant  correspondence  with  the  leading  men  in  the  American  settle- 

*  Neal's  Hist,  of  N.  Eng.  i.  202,  &c.  Hutchinson  p.  124.  Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  177.  f  Neal's 
Hist,  of  N.  Eng.  i.  121.  Hutctrinson's  Hist.  145,  &c  Collect.  188,  &c.  Chalm.  Ann.  179.  Mather, 
Magnal.  b.  iii.  ch.  i.  p  30.  $  Hutchuison's  Hist.  177, 178.  Chalmers's  Annals,  p.  181 


AMERICA.  447 

mcnts,  who  seem  to  have  looked  up  to  him  as  a  zealous  patron.*  He  in 
return  considered  them  as  his  most  devoted  adherents,  attached  to  him  na 
less  by  affection  than  by  principle.  He  soon  gave  a  striking  proof  of  this. 
On  the  conquest  of  Jamaica,  he  formed  a  scheme  for  the  security  and 
improvement  of  the  acquisition  made  by  his  victorious  arms,  suited  to  the 
ardour  of  an  impetuous  spirit  that  delighted  in  accomplishing  its  ends  by 
extraordinary  means.  He  proposed  to  transport  the  people  of  New 
England  to  that  island,  and  employed  every  argument  calculated  to  make 
impression  upon  them,  in  order  to  obtain  their  consent.  He  endeavoured 
to  rouse  their  religious  zeal  by  representing  what  a  fatal  blow  it  would  be 
to  the  man  of  sin,  if  a  colony  of  the  faithful  were  settled  in  the  midst  of 
his  territories  in  the  New  World.  He  allured  them  with  prospects  of 
immense  wealth  in  a  fertile  region,  which  would  reward  the  industry  of 
those  who  cultivated  it  with  all  the  precious  productions  of  the  torrid  zone, 
and  expressed  his  fervent  wish  that  they  might  take  possession  of  it,  in 
order  to  fulfil  God's  promise  of  making  his  people  the  head  and  not  the 
tail,  He  assured  them  of  being  supported  by  the  whole  force  of  his 
authority,  and  of  vesting  all  the  powers  of  government  entirely  in  their 
hands.  But  by  this  time  the  colonists  were  attached  to  a  country  in  which 
they  had  resided  for  many  years,  and  where,  though  they  did  not  attain 
opulence,  they  enjoyed  the  comforts  of  life  in  great  abundance  ;  and  they 
dreaded  so  much  the  noxious  climate  of  the  West  Indies,  which  had  proved 
fatal  to  a  great  number  of  the  English  who  first  settled  in  Jamaica,  that 
they  declined,  though  in  the  most  respectful  terms,  closing  with  the  Pro- 
tctor's  proposition.! 

*  Hutchinson,  App.  520,  &c.   Collect,  p.  233  t  Hutchinson,  p.  190,  &c.    Chalmers,  p  188 


I  448 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NOTE  [1].  PAGE  1;). 

TYRE  was  situated  at  such  a  distance  from  the  Arabian  Gulf,  or  Red  Sea,  as 
made  it  impracticable  to  convey  commodities  from  thence  to  that  city  by  land 
carriage.  This  jnduced  the  Phoenicians  to  render  themselves  masters  of  Rhino- 
crura  or  Rhinocolura,  the  nearest  port  in  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Red  Sea. 
They  landed  the  cargoes  which  they  purchased  in  Arabia,  Ethiopia,  and  India, 
at  Elath,  the  safest  harbour  in  the  Red  Sea  towards  the  North.  Thence  they 
were  carried  by  land  to  Rhinocolura,  the  distance  not  being  very  considerable  ; 
and,  being  re-shipped  in  that  port  were  transported  to  Tyre,  and  distributed  over 
the  world.  Strabon.  'Geogr.  edit.  Casaub.  lib.  xvi.  p.  1128.  Diodor.  Sicul. 
Biblioth.  Histor.  edit.  Wesselingii,  lib.  i.  p.  70. 

NOTE  [2].  PAGE  21. 

THE  Periplus  Hannonis  is  the  only  authentic  monument  of  the  Carthaginian 
skill  in  naval  affairs,  and  one  of  the  most  curious  fragments  transmitted  to  us 
by  antiquity.  The  learned  and  industrious  Mr.  Dodwell,  in  a  dissertation 
prefixed  to  the  Periplus  of  Hanno,  in  the  edition  of  the  Minor  Geographers 
published  at  Oxford,  endeavours  to  prove  that  this  is  a  spurious  work,  the 
composition  of  some  Greek,  who  assumed  Hanno's  name.  But  M.  de  Montes- 
quieu, in  his  1 'Esprit  des  Loix,  lib.  xxi.  c.  8.  and  M.  de  Bougainville,  in  a  dis- 
sertation published  torn.  xxvi.  of  the  M6moires  de  1'Acade'mie  des  Inscriptions, 
&c.  have  established  its  authenticity  by  arguments  which  to  me  appear  un- 
answerable. Ramusio  has  accompanied  his  translation  of  this  curious  voyage 
with  a  dissertation  tending  to  illustrate  it.  Racolte  de  Viaggi,  vol.  i.  p.  112. 
M.  de  Bougainville  has,  with  great  learning  and  ability,  treated  the  same  subject. 
It  appears  that  Hanno,  according  to  the  mode  of  ancient  navigation,  undertook 
this  voyage  in  small  vessels  so  constructed  that  he  could  keep  close  in  with  the 
coast.  He  sailed  from  Gedes  to  the  island  of  Cerne  in  twelve  days.  This  is 
probably  what  is  known  to  the  moderns  by  the  name  of  the  Isle  of  Arguim. 
It  became  the  chief  station  of  the  Carthaginians  on  that  coast ;  and  M.  de 
Bougainville  contends,  that  the  cisterns  found  there  are  monuments  of  the  Car- 
thaginian power  and  ingenuity.  Proceeding  from  Cerne,  and  still  following 
the  winding  of  the  coast,  he  arrived  in  seventeen  days,  at  a  promontory  which 
he  called  The  West  Horn,  probably  Cape  Palmas.  From  this  he  advanced  to 
another  promontory,  which  he  named  The  South  Horn,  and  which  is  manifestly 
Cape  de  Tres  Puntas,  about  five  degrees  north  of  the  line.  All  the  circumstances 
contained  in  the  short  abstract  of  his  journal,  which  is  handed  down  to  us,  con- 
cerning the  appearance  and  state  of  the  countries  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  are 
confirmed  and  illustrated  by  a  comparison  with  the  accounts  of  modern  naviga- 
tors. Even  those  circumstances  which,  from  their  seeming  improbability,  have 
been  produced  to  invalidate  the  credibility  of  his  relation,  tend  to  confirm  it. 
He  observes,  that  in  the  country  to  the  south  of  Cerne,  a  profound  silence 
reigned  through  the  day ;  but  during  the  night  innumerable  fires  were  kindled 
along  the  banks  ;>f  the  rivers,  and  the  air  resounded  with  the  noise  of  pipefl 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  449 

and  drums  and  cries  of  joy.  The  same  thing,  as  Ramusio  observes,  still  takes 
place.  The  excessive  heat  obliges  the  Negroes  to  take  shelter  in  the  woods,  or 
in  their  houses,  during  the  day.  As  soon  as  the  sun  sets,  they  sally  out,  and  by 
torchlight  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  music  and  dancing,  in  which  they  spend  the 
night.  Ramus.  i.  113.  F.  In  another  place,  he  mentions  the  sea  as  burning 
with  torrents  of  fire.  What  occurred  to  M.  Adanson,  on  the  same  coast,  may 
explain  this  :  "  As  soon,"  says  he,  "  as  the  sun  dipped  beneath  the  horizon,  and 
night  overspread  the  earth  with  darkness,  the  sea  lent  us  its  friendly  light. 
While  the  prow  of  our  vessel  ploughed  the  foaming  surges,  it  seemed  to  set  them 
all  on  fire.  Thus  we  sailed  in  a  luminous  inclosure,  which  surrounded  us  like 
a  large  circle  of  rays,  from  whence  darted  in  the  wake  of  the  ship  a  long  stream 
of  a  light."  Voy.  to  Senegal,  p.  176.  This  appearance  of  the  sea,  observed  by 
Hunter,  has  been  mentioned  as  an  argument  against  the  authenticity  of  the 
Periplus.  It  is,  however,  a  phenomenon  very  common  in  warm  climates.  Cap- 
tain Cook's  second  voyage,  vol.  i.  p.  15.  The  Periplus  of  Hanno  has  been 
translated,  and  every  point  with  respect  to  it  has  been  illustrated  with  much 
learning  and  ingenuity,  in  a  work  published  by  Don  Pedr.  Rodrig.  Campomanes, 
entitled,  Antiguedad  maritima  de  Cartago,  con  el  Periplo  desu  General  Hannon 
traducido  e  illustrado.  Mad.  1756.  4to. 

NOTE  [3].  PAGE  21 

LONG  after  the  navigation  of  the  Phoenicians  and  of  Eudoxus  round  Africa, 
Polybius,  the  most  intelligent  and  best  informed  historian  of  antiquity,  and  par- 
ticularly distinguished  by  his  attention  to  geographical  researches,  affirms,  that 
it  was  not  known,  in  his  time,  whether  Africa  was  a  continued  continent  stretching 
to  the  south,  or  whether  it  was  encompassed  by  the  sea.  Polybii  Hist.  lib.  hi. 
Pliny  the  naturalist  asserts,  that  there  can  be  no  communication  between  the 
southern  and  northern  temperate  zones.  Plinii  Hist.  Natur.  edit,  in  usum. 
Delph.  4to.  lib.  ii.  c.  68.  If  they  had  given  full  credit  to  the  accounts  of  those 
voyages,  the  former  could  not  have  entertained  such  a  doubt,  the  latter  could 
not  have  delivered  such  an  opinion.  Strabo  mentions  the  voyage  of  Eudoxus, 
but  treats  it  as  a  fabulous  tale,  lib.  ii.  p.  155  ;  and,  according  to  his  account  of 
it,  no  other  judgment  can  be  formed  with  respect  to  it.  Strabo  seems  not  to 
have  known  any  thing  with  certainty  concerning  the  form  and  state  of  the 
southern  parts  of  Africa.  Geogr.  lib.  xvii.  p.  1180.  Ptolemy,  the  most  inquisi- 
tive and  learned  of  all  the  ancient  geographers,  was  equally  unacquainted  with 
any  parts  of  Africa  situated  a  few  degrees  beyond  the  equinoctial  line  ;  for  he 
supposes  that  this  great  continent  was  not  surrounded  by  the  sea,  but  that  it 
stretched,  without  interruption,  towards  the  south  pole  ;  and  he  so  far  mistakes 
its  true  figure  that  he  describes  the  continent  as  becoming  broader  and  broader 
as  it  advanced  towards  the  south.  Ptolemsei  Geogr.  lib.  iv.  c.  9.  Brietii  Parallela 
Geogr.  veteris  etnovee,  p.  86. 

NOTE  [4].  PAGE  24. 

A  FACT  recorded  by  Strabo  affords  a  very  strong  and  singular  proof  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  ancients  with  respect  to  the  situation  of  the  various  parts  of 
the  earth.  When  Alexander  marched  along  the  banks  of  the  Hydaspes  and 
Acesine,  two  of  the  rivers  which  fall  into  the  Indus,  he  observed  that  there  were 
many  crocodiles  in  those  rivers,  and  that  the  country  produced  beans  of  the 
same  species  with  those  which  were  common  in  Egypt.  From  these  circum- 
stances he  concluded  that  he  had  discovered  the  source  of  the  Nile,  and  prepared 
a  fleet  to  sail  down  the  Hydaspes  to  Egypt.  Strab.  Geogr.  lib.  xv.  p.  1020. 
This  amazing  error  did  not  arise  from  any  ignorance  of  geography  peculiar  to 
that  monarch ;  for  we  are  informed  by  Strabo,  that  Alexander  applied  with 
particular  attention  in  order  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of  this  science,  and  had 
accurate  maps  or  descriptions  of  the  countries  through  which  he  marched.  Lib. 
ii.  p.  120.  But  in  his  age  the  knowledge  of  the  Greeks  did  not  extend  beyond 
(he  limits  of  the  Mediterranean. 

VOL.  I.-67 


450  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

NOTE  [5].  PAGE  24. 

As  the  flux  and  reflux  of  the  sea  is  remarkably  great  at  the  mouth  of  tfle 
river  Indus,  this  would  render  the  phenomenon  more  formidable  to  the  Greeks. 
Varen  Geogr.  vol.  i.  p.  251. 

NOTE  [6].  PAGE  25. 

IT  is  probable  that  the  ancients  were  seldom  induced  to  advance  so  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  Ganges,  either  by  motives  of  curiosity  or  views  of  commercial 
advantage.  In  consequence  of  this,  their  idea  concerning  the  position  of  that 
great  river  was  very  erroneous.  Ptolemy  places  that  branch  of  the  Ganges, 
which  he  distinguishes  by  the  name  of  the  Great  Mouth,  in  the  hundred  and 
forty-sixth  degree  of  longitude  from  his  first  meridian  in  the  Fortunate  Islands. 
But  its  true  longitude,  computed  from  that  meridian,  is  now  determined,  by 
astronomical  observations,  to  be  only  a  hundred  and  five  degrees.  A  geographer 
so  eminent  must  have  been  betrayed  into  an  error  of  this  magnitude  by  the 
imperfection  of  the  information  which  he  had  received  concerning  thoe o  distant 
regions;  and  this  affords  a  striking  proof  of  the  intercourse  with  them  being 
extremely  rare.  With  respect  to  the  countries  of  India  beyond  the  Ganges, 
his  intelligence  was  still  more  defective,  and  his  errors  more  enormous.  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  observe,  in  another  pla'ce,  that  he  has  placed  the  country  of 
the  Seres,  or  China,  no  less  than  sixty  degrees  further  east  than  its  true  position. 
M.  d'Anville,  one  of  the  most  learned  and  intelligent  of  the  modern  geographers, 
has  set  this  matter  in  a  clear  light,  in  two  dissertations  published  in  Mem.  de 
1'Academ.  des  Inscript  &c.  torn,  xxxii.  p.  573.  604. 

NOTE  [7].  PAGE  25. 

IT  is  remarkable,  that  the  discoveries  of  the  ancients  were  made  chiefly  by 
land;  those  of  the  moderns  are  carried  on  chiefly  by  sea.  The  progress  of 
conquest  led  to  the  former,  that  of  commerce  to  the  latter.  It  is  a  judicious 
observation  of  Strabo,  that  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great  made  known 
the  East,  those  of  the  Romans  opened  the  West,  and  those  of  Mithridates  King 
of  Pontus  the  North.  Lib.  i.  p.  26.  When  discovery  is  carried  on  by  land 
alone,  its  progress  must  be  slow  and  its  operations  confined.  When  it  is  carried 
on  only  by  sea,  its  sphere  may  be  more  extensive,  and  its  advances  more  rapid ; 
but  it  labours  under  peculiar  defects.  Though  it  may  make  known  the  position 
of  different  countries,  and  ascertain  their  boundaries  as  far  as  these  are  deter- 
mined by  the  ocean,  it  leaves  us  in  ignorance  with  respect  to  their  interior  state. 
Above  two  centuries  and  a  half  have  elapsed  since  the  Europeans  sailed  round 
the  southern  promontory  of  Africa,  and  have  traded  in  most  of  its  ports ;  but, 
in  a  considerable  part  of  that  great  continent,  they  have  done  little  more  than 
survey  its  coasts,  and  mark  its  capes  and  harbours.  Its  interior  regions  are  in  a 
great  measure  unknown.  The  ancients,  w"ho  had  a  very  imperfect  knowledge 
of  its  coasts,  except  where  they  are  washed  by  the  Mediterranean  or  Red  Sea, 
were  accustomed  to  penetrate  into  its  inland  provinces,  and,  if  we  may  rely  on 
the  testimony  of  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  had  explored  many  parts  of 
it  now  altogether  unknown.  Unless  both  modes  of  discovery  be  united,  tho 
geographical  knowledge  of  the  earth  must  remain  incomplete  and  inaccurate. 

NOTE  [8].  PAGE  27. 

THE  notion  of  the  ancients  concerning  such  an  excessive  degree  of  heat  in 
tho  torrid  zone  as  rendered  it  uninhabitable,  and  their  persisting  in  this  error 
long  after  they  began  to  have  some  commercial  intercourse  with  several  parts 
of  India  lying  within  the  tropics,  must  appear  so  singular  and  absurd,  that  it 
may  not  be  unacceptable  to  some  of  my  readers  to  produce  evidence  of  their 
holding  this  opinion,  and  to  accountfor  the  apparent  inconsistence  of  their  theory 
with  their  experience.  Cicero,  who  had  bestowed  attention  upon  every  part 
of  philosophy  known  to  the  ancients,  seems  to  have  believed  that  the  torrid  zone 
was  uninhabitable,  and,  of  consequence,  that  there  could  be  no  intercourse 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  451 

betwtcm  the  northern  and  southern  temperate  zones.  He  introduces  Africanus 
thus  addressing  the  younger  Scipio:  "You  sec  this  earth  encompassed,  and  as 
it  were  bound  in  by  certain  zones,  of  which  two,  at  the  greatest  distance  from 
each  other,  and  sustaining  the  opposite  poles  of  heaven,  are  frozen  with  perpetual 
cold ;  the  middle  one,  and  the  largest  of  all,  is  burnt  with  the  heat  of  the  sun; 
two  are  habitable ;  the  people  in  the  southern  one  are  antipodes  to  us,  with 
whom,  we  have  no  connection."  Somnium  Scipionis,  c.  6.  Geminus,  a  Greek 
philosopher,  contemporary  with  Cicero,  delivers  the  same  doctrine,  not  in  a 
popular  work,  but  inhisEia-a.ya>yn  ti;  $a.ivofAtv&,  a  treatise  purely  scientific.  "When 
we  speak,"  says  he,  "  of  the  southern  temperate  zone  and  its  inhabitants,  and 
concerning  those  who  are  called  antipodes,  it  must  be  always  understood,  that 
we  have  no  certain  knowledge  or  information  concerning  the  southern  temperate 
zone,  whether  it  be  inhabited  or  not.  But  from  the  spherical  figure  of  the  earth, 
and  the  course  which  the  sun  holds  between  the  tropics,  we  conclude  that  there 
is  another  zone  situated  to  the  south,  which  enjoys  the  same  degree  of  tempera- 
ture with  the  northern  one  which  we  inhabit."  Cap.  xiii.  p.  31.  ap.  Petavii 
Opus  de  Doctr.  Tempor.  in  quo  Uranologium  siye  Systemata  var.  Auctorum. 
Amst.  1705.  vol.  3.  The  opinion  of  Pliny  the  naturalist,  with  respect  to  both 
.hese  points,  was  the  same :  "  There  are  five  divisions  of  the  earth,  which  are 
called  zones.  All  that  portion  which  lies  near  to  the  two  opposite  poles  is 
oppressed  with  vehement  cold  and  eternal  frost.  There,  unblessed  with 
the  aspect  of  milder  stars,  perpetual  darkness  reigns,  or  at  the  utmost,  a 
feeble  light  reflected  from  surrounding  snows.  The  middle  of  the  earth,  in 
which  is  the  orbit  of  the  sun,  is  scorched  and  burnt  up  with  flames  and  fiery 
vapour.  Between  these  torrid  and  frozen  districts  lie  two  other  portions  of 
the  earth,  which  are  temperate  ;  but,  on  account  of  the  burning  region  inter- 
posed, there  can  be  no  communication  between  them.  Thus  Heaven  has  de- 
prived us  of  three  parts  of  the  earth."  Lib.  ii.  c.  68.  Strabo  delivers  his  opinion 
to  the  same  effect,  in  terms  no  less  explicit:  "The  portion  of  the  earth  which 
lies  near  the  equator,  in  the  torrid  zone,  is  rendered  uninhabitable  by  heat." 
Lib.  ii.  p.  154.  To  these  I  might  add  the  authority  of  many  other  respectable 
philosophers  and  historians  of  antiquity. 

In  order  to  explain  the  sense  in  which  this  doctrine  was  generally  received,  we 
may  observe,  that  Parmenides,  as  we  are  informed  by  Strabo,  was  the  first  who 
divided  the  earth  into  five  zones,  and  extended  the  limits  of  the  zone  which  he 
supposed  to  be  uninhabitable  on  account  of  heat  beyond  the  tropics.  Aristotle, 
as  we  learn  likewise  from  Strabo,  fixed  the  boundaries  of  the  different  zones  in 
the  same  manner  as  they  are  defined  by  modern  geographers.  But  the  progress 
of  discovery  having  gradually  demonstrated  that  several  regions  of  the  earth 
which  lay  within  the  tropics  were  not  only  habitable,  but  populous  and  fertile, 
this  induced  later  geographers  to  circumscribe  the  limits  of  the  torrid  zone.  It 
is  not  easy  to  ascertain  with  precision  the  boundaries  which  they  allotted  it. 
From  a  passage  in  Strabo,  who,  as  far  as  I  know,  is  the  only  author  of  antiquity 
from  whom  we  receive  any  hint  concerning  this  subject,  I  should  conjecture, 
that  those  who  calculated  according  to  the  measurement  of  the  earth  by  Era- 
tosthenes, supposed  the  torrid  zone  to  comprehend  near  sixteen  degrees,  about 
eight  on  each  side  of  the  equator;  whereas  such  as  followed  the  computation 
of  Posidonius  allotted  about  twenty-four  degrees,  or  somewhat  more  than 
twelve  degrees  on  each  side  of  the  equator  to  the  torrid  zone.  Strabo,  lib.  ii.  p. 
151.  According  to  the  former  opinion,  about  two-thirds  of  that  portion  of  the 
earth  which  lies  between  the  tropics  was  considered  as  habitable  ;  according  to 
the  latter,  about  one-half  of  it.  With  this  restriction,  the  doctrine  of  the 
ancients  concerning  the  torrid  zone  appears  less  absurd  ;  and  we  can  conceive 
the  reason  of  their  asserting  this  zone  to  be  uninhabitable,  even  after  they  had 
opened  a  communication  with  several  places  within  the  tropics.  When  men 
of  science  spoke  of  the  torrid  ione,  they  considered  it  as  it  was  limited  by  the 
definition  of  geographers  to  sixteen,  or  at  the  utmost  to  twenty-four  degrees; 
and  as  they  knew  almost  nothing  of  the  countries  nearer  to  the  equator,  they 
might  still  suppose  them  to  be  uninhabitable.  In  loose  and  popular  discourse, 
the  name  of  the  torrid  zone  continued  to  be  given  to  all  that  portion  of  the 
earth  which  lies  within  the  tropics.  Cicero  seems  to  have  been  unacquainted 
with  those  ideas  of  the  later  geographers ;  and,  adhering  to  tho  division  of 


452  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Parmenides,  describes  the  torrid  zone  as  the  largest  of  the  five.  Some  of  the 
ancients  rejected  the  notion  concerning  the  intolerable  heat  of  the  torrid  zone 
as  a  popular  error.  This  we  are  told  by  Plutarch  was  the  sentiment  of  Pythago- 
ras; and  we  learn  from  Strabo,  that  Eratosthenes  and  Poly bius  had  adopted 
the  same  opinion,  lib.  ii.  p.  154.  Ptolemy  seems  to  have  paid  no  regard  to  tho 
ancient  doctrine  and  opinions  concerning  the  torrid  zone. 

NOTE  [9].  PAGE  35. 

THE  court  of  Inquisition,  which  effectually  checks  a  spirit  of  liberal  inquiry, 
and  of  literary  improvement,  wherever  it  is  established,  was  unknown  in  Por- 
tugal in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  people  of  that  kingdom  began  their 
voyages  of  discovery.  More  than  a  century  elapsed  before  it  was  introduced 
by  John  III.,  whose  reign  commenced  A.  D.  1521. 

NOTE  [10].  PAGE  38. 

AN  instance  of  this  is  related  by  Hakluyt,  upon  the  authority  of  the  Portu 
guese  historian  Garcia  de  Resende.  Some  English  merchants  having  resolved 
to  open  a  trade  with  the  coast  of  Guinea,  John  II.  of  Portugal  despatched 
ambassadors  to  Edward  IV.,  in  order  to  lay  before  him  the  right  which  he  had 
acquired  by  the  Pope's  bull  to  the  dominion  of  that  country,  and  to  request  of 
him  to  prohibit  his  subjects  to  prosecute  their  intended  voyage.  Edward  was 
so  much  satisfied  with  the  exclusive  title  of  tho  Portuguese,  that  he  issued  his 
orders  hi  the  terms  which  they  desired.  Hakluyt,  Navigations,  Voyages,  and 
Traffics  of  the  English,  vol.  ii.  part  ii.  p.  2. 

NOTE  [11].  PAGE  42. 

THE  time  of  Columbus's  death  may  be  nearly  ascertained  by  the  following 
circumstances.  It  appears  from  the  fragment  of  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  A.  D.  1501,  that  he  had  at  that  time  been  engaged  forty 
years  in  a  seafaring  life.  In  another  letter  he  informs  them  that  he  went  to 
sea  at  the  age  of  fourteen  :  from  those  facts  it  follows,  that  he  was  born  A.  D. 
1447.  Life  of  Christa.  Columbus,  by  his  son  Don  Ferdinand.  Churchill's 
Collection  of  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  484,  485. 

NOTE  [12].  PAGE  44. 

THE  spherical  figure  of  the  earth  was  known  to  the  ancient  geographers. 
They  invented  the  method,  still  in  use,  of  computing  the  longitude  and  latitude 
of  different  places.  According  to  their  doctrine,  the  equator,  or  imaginary  line 
which  encompasses  the  earth,  contained  three  hundred  and  sixty  degrees ;  these 
they  divided  into  twenty-four  parts,  or  hours,  each  equal  to  fifteen  degrees. 
The  country  of  the  Seres  or  Since,  being  the  furthest  part  of  India  known  to 
the  ancients,  was  supposed  by  Marinus  Tyrius,  the  most  eminent  of  the  ancient 
geographers  before  Ptolemy,  to  be  fifteen  hours,  or  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  degrees  to  the  east  of  the  first  meridian,  passing  through  the  Fortunate 
Islands.  Ptolemsei  Geogr.  lib.  i.  c.  11.  If  this  supposition  was  well  founded, 
the  country  of  the  Seres,  or  China,  was  only  nine  hours,  or  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  degrees  west  from  the  Fortunate  or  Canary  Islands ;  and  the  navi- 
gation in  that  direction  was  much  shorter  than  by  the  course  which  the  Portu- 
guese were  pursuing.  Marco  Polo,  in  his  travels,  had  described  countries, 
particularly  the  island  of  Cipango  or  Zipangri,  supposed  to  be  Japan,  con- 
siderably to  the  east  of  any  part  of  Asia  known  to  the  ancients.  Marcus  Paulus 
de  Region.  Oriental,  lib.  ii.  c.  70.  lib.  iii.  c.  2.  Of  course,  this  country,  as  it 
extended  further  to  the  east,  was  still  nearer  to  the  Canary  Islands.  The  con- 
clusions of  Columbus,  though  drawn  from  inaccurate  observations,  were  just. 
If  the  suppositions  of  Marinus  had  been  well  founded,  and  if  the  countries 
which  Marco  Polo  visited,  had  been  situated  to  the  east  of  those  whose  longitude 
Marinus  had  ascertained,  the  proper  and  nearest  course  to  the  East  Indies  must 
have  be«n  to  steer  directly  west.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  2.  A  more  extensive 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  453 

knowledge  of  the  globe  has  now  discovered  the  great  error  of  Marinas,  in 
supposing  China  to  be  fifteen  hours,  or  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  degrees 
east  from  the  Canary  Islands;  and  that  even  Ptolemy  was  mistaken,  when  he 

The  longitude  of  the  western  frontier  of  that  vast  empire  is  seven  hours,  or  one 
.hundred  and  fifteen  degrees  from  the  meridian  of  the  Canary  Islands.  But 
Columbus  followed  the  light  which  his  age  afforded,  and  relied  upon  the 
authority  of  writers,  who  were  at  that  time  regarded  as  the  instructors  and 
guides  of>- mankind  in  the  science  of  geography. 

NOTE  [13].  PAGE  53. 

As  the  P  ortuguese,  in  making  their  discoveries,  did  not  depart  far  from  the 
coast  of  Africa,  they  concluded  that  birds,  whose  flight  they  observed  with 
great  attention,  did  not  venture  to  any  considerable  distance  from  land.  In 
the  infancy  of  navigation  it  was  not  known  that  birds  often  stretched  their  flight 
to  an  immense  distance  from  any  shore.  In  sailing  towards  the  West  Indian 
Islands,  birds  are  often  seen  at  the  distance  of  two  hundred  leagues  from  the 
nearest  coast.  Sloane's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Jamaica,  vol.  i.  p.  30.  Catesby  saw  an 
owl  at  sea  when  the  ship  was  six  hundred  leagues  distant  from  land.  Nat. 
Hist,  of  Carolina,  pref.  p.  7.  Hist.  Naturelle  de  M.  Buffon,  torn.  xvi.  p.  32. 
From  which  it  appears,  that  this  indication  of  land,  on  which  Columbus  seems 
to  have  relied  with  some  confidence,  was  extremely  uncertain.  This  observa- 
tion is  confirmed  by  Capt.  Cook,  the  most  extensive  and  experienced  navigator 
of  any  age  or  nation.  "No  one  yet  knows  (says  he)  to  what  distance  any  of 
the  oceanic  birds  go  to  sea;  for  my  own  part,  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  one 
in  the  whole  tribe  that  can  be  relied  on  in  pointing  out  the  vicinity  of  land." 
Voyage  towards  the  South  Pole,  vol.  i.  p.  275. 

NOTE  [14].  PAGE  58. 

IN  a  letter  of  the  Admiral's  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  he  describes  one  of 
the  harbours  in  Cuba  with  all  the  enthusiastic  admiration  of  a  discoverer. — "I 
discovered  a  river  which  a  galley  might  easily  enter :  the  beauty  of  it  induced 
me  to  sound,  and  I  found  from  five  to  eight  fathoms  of  water.  Having  pro- 
ceeded a  considerable  way  up  the  river,  every  thing  invited  me  to  settle  there. 
The  beauty  of  the  river,  the  clearness  of  the  water  through  which  I  could  see 
the  sandy  bottom,  the  multitude  of  palm  trees  of  different  kinds,  the  tallest 
and  finest  I  had  seen,  and  an  infinite  number  of  other  .arge  and  flourishing  trees, 
the  birds,  and  the  verdure  of  the  plains  are  so  wonderfully  beautiful,  that  this 
country  excels  all  others  as  far  as  the  day  surpasses  the  night  in  brightness  and 
splendour,  so  that  I  often  said,  that  it  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to 
give  your  Highnesses  a  full  account  of  it,  for  neither  my  tongue  nor  my  pen 
could  come  up  to  the  truth ;  and  indeed  I  am  so  much  amazed  at  the  sight  of 
such  beauty,  that  I  know  not  how  to  describe  it."  Life  of  Columb.  c.  30 

NOTE  [15].  PAGE  59. 

THE  account  which  Columbus  gives  of  the  humanity  and  orderly  behaviour 
of  the  natives  on  this  occasion  is  very  striking.  "  The  king  (says  he  in  a  letter 
to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella)  having  been  informed  of  our  misfortune,  expressed 
great  grief  for  our  loss,  and  immediately  sent  aboard  all  the  people  in  the  place 
in  many  large  canoes  ;  we  soon  unloaded  the  ship  of  every  thing  that  was  upon 
deck,  as  the  king  gave  us  great  assistance  :  he  himself,  with  his  brothers  and 
relations,  took  all  possible  care  that  every  thing  should  be  properly  done,  both 
aboard  and  on  shore.  And,  from  time  to  time,  he  sent  some  of  his  relations 
weeping,  to  beg  of  me  not  to  be  dejected,  for  he  would  give  me  all  that  he  had. 
I  can  assure  your  Highnesses,  that  so  much  care  could  not  have  been  taken  hi 
securing  our  effects  in  any  part  of  Spain,  as  all  our  property  was  put  together 
in  one  place  near  his  palace,  until  the  houses  which  he  wanted  to  prepare  for 
the  custody  of  it  were  emptied.  He  immediately  placed  a  guard  of  armed  men, 
who  watched  during  the  whole  night,  and  those  on  shore  lamented  as  if  they 


454  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

had  been  much  interested  in  our  loss.  The  people  are  so  affectionate,  so  tractable, 
and  so  peaceable,  that  I  swear  to  your  Highnesses,  that  there  is  not  a  better  race 
of  men,  nor  a  better  country  in  the  world.  They  love  their  neighbour  as  them- 
selves ;  their  conversation  is  the  sweetest  and  mildest  in  the  world,  cheerful  and 
always  accompanied  with  a  smile.  And  although  it  is  true  that  they  go  naked, 
yet  your  Highnesses  may  be  assured  that  they  have  many  very  commendable 
customs ;  the  king  is  served  with  great  state,  and  his  behaviour  is  so  decent  that 
it  is  pleasant  to  see  him,  as  it  is  likewise  to  observe  the  wonderful  memory 
which  these  people  have,  and  their  desire  of  knowing  every  thing,  which  Icada 
them  to  inquire  into  its  causes  and  effects."  Life  of  Columbus,  c.  32.  It  is 
pjobable  that  the  Spaniards  were  indebted  for  this  officious  attention  to  the 
opinion  which  the  Indians  entertained  of  them  as  a  superior  order  of  beings. 

NOTE  [16].  PAGE  62. 

EVERY  monument  of  such  a  man  as  Columbus  is  valuable.  A  letter  which 
he  wrote  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  describing  what  passed  on  this  occasion, 
exhibits  a  most  striking  picture  of  his  intrepidity,  his  humanity,  his  prudence, 
his  public  spirit,  and  courtly  address.  "  I  would  have  been  less  concerned  for 
this  misfortune  had  I  alone  been  in  danger,  both  because  my  life  is  a  debt  that 
I  owe  to-the  Supreme  Creator,  and  because  I  have  at  other  times  been  exposed 
to  the  most  imminent  hazard.  But  what  gave  me  infinite  grief  and  vexation 
was,  that  after  it  had  pleased  our  Lord  to  give  me  faith  to  undertake  this  enter- 
prise, in  which  I  had  now  been  so  successful,  that  my  opponents  would  have 
been  convinced,  and  the  glory  of  your  Highnesses,  and  the  extent  of  your  ter- 
ritory, increased  by  me  ;  it  should  please  the  Divine  Majesty  to  stop  all  by  my 
death.  All  this  would  have  been  more  tolerable  had  it  not  been  attended  with 
the  loss  of  those  men  whom  I  ha  A  carried  with  me,  upon  promise  of  the  greatest 
prosperity,  who,  seeing  themselves  in  such  distress,  cursed  not  only  their 
coming  along  with  me,  but  that  fear  and  awe  of  me  which  prevented  them 
from  returning,  as  they  often  had  resolved  to  have  done.  But  besides  all  this, 
my  sorrow  was  greatly  increased  by  recollecting  that  I  had  left  my  two  sons  at 
school  at  Cordova,  destitute  of  friends,  in  a  foreign  country,  when  it  could  not 
in  all  probability  be  known  that  I  had  done  such  services  as  might  induce  Your 
Highnesses  to  remember  them.  And  though  I  comforted  myself  with  the  faith 
that  our  Lord  would  not  permit  that  which  tended  so  much  to  the  glory  of  his 
Church,  and  which  I  had  brought  about  with  so  much  trouble,  to  remain  im- 
perfect, yet  I  considered,  that,  on  account  of  my  sins,  it  was  his  will  to  deprive 
me  of  that  glory  which  I  might  have  attained  in  this  world.  While  in  this 
confused  state,  I  thought  on  the  good  fortune  which  accompanies  Your  High- 
nesses, and  imagined  that  although  I  should  perish,  and  the  vessel  be  lost,  it 
was  possible  that  you  might  somehow  come  to  the  knowledge  of  my  voyage, 
and  the  success  with  which  it  was  attended.  For  that  reason  I  wrote  upon 
parchment  with  the  brevity  which  the  situation  required,  that  I  had  discovered 
the  lands  which  I  promised,  in  how  many  days  I  had  done  it,  and  what  course 
I  had  followed.  I  mentioned  the  goodness  of  the  country,  the  character  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  that  Your  Highnesses'  subjects  were  left  in  possession  of  fill 
that  I  had  discovered:  Having  sealed  this  writing,  I  addressed  it  to  Your 
Highnesses,  and  promised  a  thousand  ducats  to  any  person  who  should  deliver 
it  sealed,  so  that  if  any  foreigner  found  it,  the  promised  reward  might  prevail 
on  them  not  to  give  the  information  to  another.  I  then  caused  a  great  cask  to 
be  brought  to  me,  and  wrapping  up  the  parchment  in  an  oiled  cloth,  and  after- 
wards in  a  cake  of  wax,  I  put  it  into  the  cask,  and  having  stopped  it  well,  I 
cast  it  into  the  sea.  All  the  men  believed  that  it  was  some  act  of  devotion. 
Imagining  that  this  might  never  chance  to  be  taken  up,  as  the  ships  approached 
nearer  to  Spain,  I  made  another  packet  like  the  first,  and  placed  it  at  the  top 
of  the  poop,  so  that,  if  the  ship  sunk,  the  cask  remaining  above  water  might 
be  committed  to  the  guidance  of  fortune." 

NOTE  [17].  PAGE  64. 

SOME  Spanish  authors,  with  the  meanness  of  national  jealousy,  have  endea- 
voured to  detract  from  the  glory  of  Columbus,  by  insinuating  that  he  was  led 


NOTES   AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  455 

to  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  not  by  his  own  inventive  or  enterprising 
genius,  but  by  information  which  he  had  received.  According  to  their  ac- 
count a  vessel  having  been  driven  from  its  course  by  easterly  winds,  was 
carried  before  them  far  to  the  west,  and  landed  OH  the  coast  of  an  unknown 
country,  from  which  it  returned  with  difficulty ;  the  pilot  and  three  sailors 
being  the  only  persons  who  survived  the  distresses  which  the  crew  suffered 
from  want  of  provisions  and  fatigue  in  this  long  voyage.  In  a  few  days  after 
their  arrival,  all  the  four  died  ;  but  the  pilot  having  been  received  into  the  house 
of  Columbus,  his  intimate  friend  disclosed  to  him  before  his  death,  the  secret 
of  the  discovery  which  he  had  accidentally  made,  and  left  him  his  papers  con- 
taining a  journal  of  the  voyage,  which  served  as  a  guide  to  Columbus  in  his 
undertaking.  Gomara,  as  far  as  I  know,  is  the  first  author  who  published  this 
story.  Hist.  c.  13.  Every  circumstance  is  destitute  of  evidence  to  support  it. 
Neither  the  name  of  the  vessel  nor  its  destination  is  known.  Some  pretend 
that  it  belonged  to  one  of  the  seaport  towns  in  Andalusia,  and  was  sailing 
either  to  the  Canaries  or  to  Madeira  ;  others,  that  it  was  a  Biscayner  in  its  way 
to  England  ;  others,  a  Portuguese  ship  trading  on  the  coast  of  Guinea.  The 
name  of  the  pilot  is  alike  unknown,  as  well  as  that  of  the  port  hi  which  he 
landed  on  his  return.  According  to  some,  it  was  in  Portugal;  according  to 
others,  in'  Madeira,  or  the  Azores.  The  year  in  which  this  voyage  was  made  is 
no  less  uncertain.  Monson's  Nav.  Tracts.  Churchill,  iii.  371.  No  mention  is 
made  of  this  pilot,  or  his  discoveries,  by  And.  Bernaldes,  or  Pet.  Marty*,  the 
contemporaries  of  Columbus.  Herrera,  with  his  usual  judgment,  passes  over 
it  in  silence.  Oviedo  takes  notice  of  this  report,  but  considers  it  as  a  tale  fit 
only  to  amuse  the  vulgar.  Hist.  lib.  ii.  c.  2.  As  Columbus  held  his  course 
directly  west  from  the  Canaries,  and  never  varied  it,  some  later  authors  have 
supposed  that  this  uniformity  is  a  proof  of  his  being  guided  by  some  previous 
information.  But  they  do  not  recollect  the  principles  on  which  he  founded  all 
his  hopes  of  success,  that  by  holding  a  westerly  course  he  must  certainly  arrive 
at  those  regions  of  the  east  described  by  the  ancients.  His  firm  belief  of  his 
own  system  led  him  to  take  that  course,  and  to  pursue  it  without  deviation. 

The  Spaniards  are  not  the  only  people  who  have  called  in  question  Columbus's 
claim  to  the  honour  of  having  discovered  America.  Some  German  authors 
ascribed  this  honour  to  Martin  Behaim  their  countryman.  He  was  of  the  noble 
family  of  the  Behaims  of  Schwartzbach,  citizens  of  the  first  rank  in  the  Imperial 
town  of  Nuremberg.  Having  studied  under  the  celebrated  John  Muller,  better 
known  by  the  name  of  Regiomontanus,  he  acquired  such  knowledge  of  cos- 
mography as  excited  a  desire  of  exploring  those  regions,  the  situation  and 
qualities  of  which  he  had  been  accustomed,  under  that  able  master,  to  investi- 
gate and  describe.  Under  the  patronage  of  the  Dutchess  of  Burgundy  he  re- 
paired to  Lisbon,  whither  the  fame  of  the  Portuguese  discoveries  invited  all 
the  adventurous  spirits  of  the  age.  There,  as  we  learn  from  Herman  Schedel, 
of  whose  Chrohicon  Mundi,  a  German  translation  was  printed  at  Nuremberg, 
A.  D.  1493,  his  merit  as  a  cosmographer  raised  him,  in  conjunction  with 
Diego  Cano,  to  the  command  of  a  squadron  fitted  out  for  discovery  in  the  year 
1483.  In  that  voyage  he  is  said  to  have  discovered  the  kingdom  of  Congo. 
He  settled  in  the  island  of  Fayal,  one  of  the  Azores,  and  was  a  particular  friend 
of  Columbus.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  i.  c.  2.  Magellan  had  a  terrestrial  globe 
made  by  Behaim,  on  which  he  demonstrated  the  course  that  he  proposed  to 
hold  in  search  of  the  communication  with  the  South  Sea,  which  he  afterwards 
discovered.  Gomara  Hist.  c.  19.  Herrera,  dec.  11.  lib.  ii.  c.  19.  In  the  year 
1492,  Behaim  visited  his  relations  in  Nuremberg,  and  left  with  them  a  map 
drawn  with  his  own  hand,  which  is  still  preserved  among  the  archives  of  the 
family.  Thus  far  the  story  of  Martin  Behaim  seems  to  be  well  authenticated ; 
but  the  account  of  his  having  discovered  any  part  of  the  New  World  appears 
to  be  merely  conjectural. 

In  the  first  edition,  as  I  had  at  that  time  hardly  any  knowledge  of  Behaim 
but  what  i  derived  from  a  frivolous  dissertation  '  De  vero  Novi  Orbis  Inven- 
tore,'  published  at  Frankfort,  A.  D.  1714,  by  Jo.  Frid.  Stuvenius,  I  was  induced, 
by  the  authority  of  Herrera,  to  suppose  that  Behaim  was  not  a  native  of  Ger- 
many ;  but  from  more  full  and  accurate  information,  communicated  to  me  by 
the  learned  Dr.  John  Reinhold  Forster,  I  am  now  satisfied  that  I  was  mistaken. 


456  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Dr.  Forster  has  been  likewise  so  good  as  to  favour  me  with  a  copy  of  Behaim's 
map,  as  published  by  Doppelmayer  in  his  account  of  the  Mathematicians  and 
Artists  of  Nuremberg.  From  this  map  the  imperfection  of  cosmographical 
knowledge  at  that  period  is  manifest.  Hardly  one  place  is  laid  down  in  ita 
true  situation.  Nor  can  I  discover  from  it  any  reason  to  suppose  that  Behaim 
had  the  least  knowledge  of  any  region  in  America.  He  delineates,  indeed,  an 
island  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  St.  Brandon.  This,  it  is  imagined,  may 
be  some  part  of  Guiana,  supposed  at  first  to  be  an  island.  He  places  it  in  the 
same  latitude  with  the  Cape  Verd  isles,  and  I  suspect  it  to  be  an  imaginary 
island  which  has  been  admitted  into  some  ancient  maps  on  no  better  authority 
than  the  legend  of  the  Irish  St.  Brandon  or  Brendan,  whose  story  is  so  childishly 
fabulous  as  to  be  unworthy  of  any  notice.  Girald.  Cainbrensis  ap.  Missingham 
Florijegium  Sanctorum,  p.  427. 

The  pretensions  of  the  Welsh  to  the  discovery  of  America  seem  not  to  rest 
on  a  foundation  much  more  solid.  In  the  twelfth  century,  according  to  Powell, 
a  dispute  having  arisen  among  the  sons  of  Owen  Guyneth,  King  of  North 
Wales,  concerning  the  succession  to  his  crown,  Madoc,  one  of  their  number, 
weary  of  this  contention,  betook  himself  to  sea  in  quest  of  a  more  quiet  settle- 
ment. He  steered  due  west,  leaving  Ireland  to  the  north,  and  arrived  in  an 
unknown  country,  which  appeared  to  him  so  desirable,  that  he  returned  to 
Wales  and  carried  thither  several  of  his  adherents  and  companions.  This  is 
said  to  have  happened  about  the  year  1170,  and  after  that,  he  and  his  colony 
were  heard  of  no  more.  But  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  Powell,  on  whose  tes- 
timony the  authenticity  of  this  story  rests,  published  his  history  above  four 
centuries  from  the  date  of  the  event  which  he  relates.  Among  a  people  as 
rude  and  as  illiterate  as  the  Welsh  at  that  period,  the  memory  of  a  transaction 
so  remote  must  have  been  very  imperfectly  preserved,  and  would  require  to  be 
confirmed  by  some  author  of  greater  credit,  and  nearer  to  the  era  of  Madoc's 
voyage  than  Powell.  Later  antiquaries  have  indeed  appealed  to  the  testimony 
of  Meredith  ap  Rees,  a  Welsh  hard,  who  died  A.  D.  1477.  But  he  too  lived  at 
such  a  distance  of  time  from  the  event,  that  he  cannot  be  considered  as  a  wit- 
ness of  much  more  credit  than  Powell.  Besides,  his  verses,  published  by  Hakluyt, 
vol.  iii.  p.  1.,  convey  no  information,  but  that  Madoc,  dissatisfied  with  his 
domestic  situation,  employed  himself  in  searching  the  ocean  for  new  possessions. 
But  even  if  we  admit  the  authenticity  of  Powell's  story,  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  unknown  country  which  Madoo  discovered  by  steering  west,  in  such  a 
course  as  to  leave  Ireland  to  the  north,  was  any  part  of  America.  Tho  naval 
skill  of  the  Welsh  in  the  twelfth  century  was  hardly  equal  to  such  a  voyage. 
If  he  made  any  discovery  at  all,  it  is  more  probable  that  it  was  Madeira,  or 
some  other  of  the  western  isles.  The  affinity  of  the  Welsh  language  with  some 
dialects  spoken  in  America,  has  been  mentioned  as  a  circumstance  which  confirms 
the  truth  of  Madoc's  voyage.  But  that  affinity  has  been  observed  in  so  few  in- 
stances, and  in  some  of  these  is  so  obscure,  or  so  fanciful,  that  no  conclusion 
can  be  drawn  from  the  casual  resemblance  of  a  small  number  of  words.  There 
is  a  bird,  which,  as  far  as  is  yet  known,  is  found  only  on  the  coasts  of  South 
America,  from  Port  Desire  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  It  is  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Penguin.  This  word  in  the  Welsh  language  signifies  White- 
head.  Almost  all  the  authors  who  favour  the  pretensions  of  the  Welsh  to  the 
discovery  of  America,  mention  this  as  an  irrefragable  proof  of  the  affinity  of 
the  Welsh  language  with  that  spoken  in  this  region  of  America.  But  Mr. 
Pennant,  who  has  given  a  scientific  description  of  the  Penguin,  observes  that 
all  the  birds  of  this  genus  have  black  heads,  "  so  that  we  must  resign  every 
hope  (adds  he)  founded  on  this  hypothesis  of  retrieving  the  Cambrian  race  in 
the  New  World."  Philos.  Transact,  vol.  Iviii.  p.  91,  &c.  Besides  this,  if  the 
Welsh,  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  had  settled  in  any  part  o*" 
America,  some  remains  of  the  Christian  doctrine  and  rites  must  have  been 
found  among  their  descendants,  when  they  were  discovered  about  three  hundred 
years  posterior  to  their  migration ;  a  period  so  short  that,  in  the  course  of  it, 
we  cannot  well  suppose  that  all  European  ideas  and  arts  would  be  totally  for- 
gotten. Lord  Lyttleton,  in  his  notes  to  the  fifth  book  of  his  History  of  Henry 
II.,  p.  371,  has  examined  what  Powell  relates  concerning  the  discoveries  made  by 
Madoc,  and  invalidates  the  truth  of  his  story  by  other  arguments  of  great  weight 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  457 

The  pretensions  of  the  Norwegians  to  the  discovery  of  America  seem  to  bo 
better  founded  than  those  of  the   Germans  or  Welsh.     The  inhabitants  of 
Scandinavia  were  remarkable  in  the  middle  ages  for  the  boldness  and  extent 
of  their  maritime  excursions.    In  874,  the  Norwegians  discovered  and  planted 
a  colony  in  Iceland.     In  982,  they  discovered  Greenland,  and  established  settle- 
ments there.     From  that,  some  of  their  navigators  proceeded  towards  the 
west,  and  discovered  a  country  more  inviting  than  those  horrid  regions  with 
which  they  were  acquainted.    According  to  their  representation,  this  country 
was  sandy  on  the  coasts,  but  in  the  interior  parts  level  and  covered  with  wood, 
on  which  account  they  gave  it  the  name  of  Helle-land,  and  Mark-land,  and 
having  afterwards  found  some  plants  of  the  vine  which  bore  grapes,  they  called 
it  Win-land.     The  credit  of  this  story  rests,  as  far  as  I  know,  on  the  authority 
of  the  saga,  or  chronicle  of  King  Olaus,  composed  by  Snorro  Sturlonides,  or 
Sturlusons,  published  by  Perinskiold,  at  Stockholm,  A.  D.  1697.     As  Snorro 
was  born  in  the  year  1179,  his  chronicle  might  be  compiled  about  two  centuries 
after  the  event  which  he  relates.    His  account  of  the  navigation  and  discoveries 
of  Biorn,  and  his  companion  Lief,  is  a  very  rude  confused  tale,  p.  104.  110. 
326.     It  is  impossible  to  discover  from  him  what  part  of  America  it  was  in 
which  the  Norwegians  landed.     According  to  his  account  of  the  length  of  the 
days  and  nights,  it  must  have  been  as  far  north  as  the  fifty-eighth  degree  of 
latitude,  on  some  part  of  the  coast  of  Labradore,  approaching  near  to  the  entry 
of  Hudson's  Straits.     Grapes  certainly  are  not  the  production  of  that  country. 
Torfeus  supposes  that  there  is  an  error  in  the  text,  by  rectifying  of  which  the 
place  where  the  Norwegians  landed  may  be  supposed  to  be  situated  in  latitude 
49°.     But  neither  is  that  the  region  of  the. vine  in  America.     From  perusing 
Snorro's  tale,  I  should  think  that  the  situation  of  Newfoundland  corresponds 
best  with  that  of  the  country  discovered  by  the  Norwegians.     Grapes,  however, 
are  not  the  production  of  that  barren  island.     Other  conjectures  are  mentioned 
by  M.  Mallet,  Introd.  a  PHist.  de  Dannem.  175,  &c.    I  am  not  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted with  the  literature  of  the  north  to  examine  them.     It  seems  manifest, 
that  if  the  Norwegians  did  discover  any  part  of  America  at  that  period,  their 
attempt  to  plant  colonies  proved  unsuccessful,  and  all  knowledge  of  it  was 
soon  lost. 

NOTE  [18].  PAGE  64. 

PETER  MARTYR,  ab  Angleria,  a  Milanese  gentleman,  residing  at  that  time  in 
the  court  of  Spain,  whose  letters  contain  an  account  of  the  transactions  of 
that  period,  in  the  order  wherein  they  occurred,  describes  the  sentiments  with 
which  he  himself  and  his  learned  correspondents  were  affected  in  very  striking 
terms.  "  Prae  Isetitia  prosiluisse  to,  vixque  a  lachrymis  prse  gaudio  temperasse, 
quando  literas  adspexisti  meas  quibus,  de  antipodum  orbe  latenti  hactenus,  te 
certiorem  feci,  mi  suavissime  Pomponi,  insinuasti.  Ex  tuis  ipse  Hteris  colligo, 
quid  senseris.  Sensisti  autem,  tantique  rem  fecisti,  quanti  virum  summa  doc- 
trina  insignitum  decuit.  Quis  namque  cibus  sublimibus  praestari  potest  ingeniis, 
isto  suavior  ?  quod  condimentum  gratius  ?  A  me  facio  conjecturarn.  Beati 
sentio  spiritus  meos,  quando  accitos  alloquor  prudentes  aliquos  ex  his  qui  ab  ea 
redeunt  provincia.  Implicent  animos  pecuniarum  cumulis  augendis  miseri 
avari,  libidinibus  obscoeni ;  nostras  nos  mentes,  postquam  Deo  pleni  aliquando 
fuerimus,  contemplando,  hujuscemodi  rerum  notitia  demulciamus."  Epist.  152, 
Pomponio  Lseto. 

NOTE  [19].  PAGE  69. 

So  firmly  were  men  of  science,  in  that  age,  persuaded  that  the  countries 
which  Columbus  had  discovered  were  connected  with  the  East  Indies,  that  Be- 
naldes,  the  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  who  seems  to  have  been  no  inconsiderable 
proficient  in  the  knowledge  of  cosmography,  contends  that  Cuba  was  not  an 
Island,  but  a  part  of  the  continent,  and  united  to  the  dominions  of  the  Great 
Khan.  This  he  delivered  as  his  opinion  to  Columbus  himself,  who  was  his 
guest  for  some  time  on  his  return  from  his  second  voyage  ;  and  he  supports  it 
by  several  arguments,  mostly  founded  on  the  authority  of  Sir  John  Mandevillc. 

VOL.  I.— 58 


458  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

MS.  penes  me.  Antonio  Gallo,  who  was  secretary  to  the  magistracy  of  Genoa 
towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  published  a  short  account  of  the 
navigations  and  discoveries  of  his  countryman  Columbus,  annexed  to  his 
Opuscuia  Historica  de  Rebus  Populi  Genuensis:  in  which  he  informs  us,  from 
letters  of  Columbus  which  he  himself  had  seen,  that  it  was  his  opinion,  founded 
upon  nautical  observations,  that  one  of  the  islands  he  had  discovered  was  dis- 
tant only  two  hours  or  thirty  degrees  from  Cattigara,  which,  in  the  charts  of  the 
geographers  of  that  age,  was  laid  down,  upon  the  authority  of  Ptolemy,  lib. 
vii.  c.  3,  as  the  most  easterly  place  in  Asia.  From  this  he  concluded,  that  if 
some  unknown  continent  did  not  obstruct  the  navigation,  there  must  be  a  short 
and  easy  access,  by  holding  a  westerly  course,  to  this  extreme  region  of  the 
East.  Muratori  Scriptores  Rer.  Italicarum,  vol.  xxiii.  p.  304. 

NOTE  [20].  PAGE  71. 

BERNALDES,  the  Cura  or  Rector  de  los  Palacios,  a  contemporary  writer,  says, 
that  five  hundred  of  these  captives  were  sent  to  Spain,  and  sold  publicly  in 
Seville  as  slaves ;  but  that,  by  the  change  of  climate  and  their  inability  to 
bear  the  fatigue  of  labour,  they  all  died  in  a  ghort  time.  MS.  penes  me. 

NOTE  [21].  PAGE  76. 

Columbus  seems  to  have  formed  some  very  singular  opinions  concerning  tne 
countries  which  he  had  now  discovered.  The  violent  swell  and  agitation  of 
the  waters  on  the  coast  of  Trinidad  led  him  to  conclude  this  to  be  the  highest 
part  of  the  terraqueous  globe,  and  he  imagined  that  various  circumstances 
concurred  in  proving  that  the  sea  was  here  visibly  elevated.  Having  adopted 
this  erroneous  principle,  the  apparent  beauty  of  the  country  induced  him  to 
fall  in  with  a  notion  of  Sir  John  Mandeville,  c.  102,  that  the  terrestrial  paradise 
was  the  highest  land  hi  the  earth  ;  and  he  believed  that  he  had  been  so  fortunate 
as  to  discover  this  happy  abode.  Nor  ought  we  to  think  it  strange  that  a  person 
of  so  much  sagacity  should  be  influenced  by  the  opinion  or  reports  of  such  a 
fabulous  author  as  Mandeville.  Columbus  and  the,  other  discoverers  were 
obliged  to  follow  such  guides  as  they  could  find  ;  and  it  appears  from  several 
passages  in  the  manuscript  of  Andr.  Bernaldes,  the  friend  of  Columbus,  that 
no  inconsiderable  degree  of  credit  was  given  to  the  testimony  of  Mandeville  in 
that  age.  Bernaldes  frequently  quotes  him,  and  always  with  respect. 

NOTE  [22].  PAGE  81. 

IT  is  remarkable  that  neither  Gomara  nor  Oviedo,  the  most  ancient  Spanish 
historians  of  America,  nor  Herrera,  consider  Ojeda,  or  his  companion  Vespucci, 
as  the  first  discoverers  of  the  continent  of  America.  They  uniformly  ascribe 
this  honour  to  Columbus.  Some  have  supposed  that  national  resentment 
against  Vespucci,  for  deserting  the  service  of  Spain,  and  entering  into  that  of 
Portugal,  may  have  prompted  these  writers  to  conceal  the  actions  which  he 
performed.  But  Martyr  and  Benzoni,  both  Italians,  could  not  be  warped  by 
the  same  prejudice.  Martyr  was  a  contemporary  author;  he  resided  in  the 
court  of  Spain,  and  had  the  best  opportunity  to  be  exactly  informed  with  respect 
to  all  public  transactions ;  and  yet  neither  in  his  Decads,  the  first  general  history 
published  of  the  New  World,  nor  m  his  Epistles,  which  contain  an  account  of 
all  the  remarkable  events  of  his  time,  does  he  ascribe  to  Vespucci  the  honour 
of  having  first  discovered  the  continent.  Benzoni  went  as  an  adventurer  to 
America  in  the  year  1541,  and  resided  there  a  considerable  time.  He  appears 
to  have  been  animated  with  a  warm  zeal  for  the  honour  of  Italy,  his  native 
country,  and  yet  does  not  mention  the  exploits  and  discoveries  of  Vespucci. 
Herrera,  who  compiled  his  general  history  of  America  from  the  most  authentic 
records,  not  only  follows  those  early  writers,  but  accuses  Vespucci  of  falsifying 
the  dates  of  both  the  voyages  which  he  made  to  the  New  World,  and  of  con- 
founding the  one  with  the  other,  in  order  that  he  might  arrogate  to  himself  the 
glory  of  having  discovered  the  continent.  Her.  dec.  1.  lib.  iv.  c.  2.  He  asserts, 
that  in  a  judicial  inquiry  into  this  matter  by  the  royal  fiscal,  it  was  proved  by 


NOTES    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  459 

the  testimony  of  Ojcda  himself,  that  he  touched  at  Hispaniola  when  returning1 
to  Spain  from  his  first  voyage;  whereas  Vespucci  gave  out  that  they  returned 
directly  to  Cadiz  from  the  coast  of  Paria,  and  touched  at  Hispaniola  only  in 
their  second  voyage  ;  and  that  he  had  finished  the  voyage  in  five  months  ; 
whereas,  according  to  Vespucci's  account,  he  had  employed  seventeen  months 
in  performing  it.     Viaggio  primo  de  Am.  Vespucci,  p.  36.  Viag.  secundo,  p.  45. 
Herrera  gives  a  more  full  account  of  this  inquest  in  another  part  of  his  Decads, 
and  to  the  same  effect.     Her.  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  5.     Columbus  was  in  Hispaniola 
when  Ojeda  arrived  there,  and  had  by  that  time  come  to  an  agreement  with 
Roldan,  who  opposed  Ojeda's  attempt  to  excite  a  new  insurrection,  and,  of 
consequence,  his  voyage  must  have  been  posterior  to  that  of  the   admiral. 
Life  of  Columbus,  c.  84.     According  to  Vespucci's  account,  he  set  out  on  his 
first  voyage  May  10th,  1497.     Viag.  primo,  p.  6.     At   that  time   Columbus 
was  in  the  court  of  Spain  preparing  for  his  voyage,  and  seems  to  have  en- 
joyed a  considerable  degree  of  favour.     The  affairs  of  the  New  World  were 
at  this  juncture  under  the  direction  of  Antonio  Torres,  a  friend  of  Columbus. 
It  is  not  probable  that,  at  that  period,  a  commission  would  be  granted  to  another 
person  to  anticipate   the  admiral  by  undertaking  a  voyage  which  he  himself 
intended  to  perform.     Fonseca,  who  patronized  Ojeda,  and  granted  the  license 
for  his  voyage,  was  not  recalled  to  court,  and  reinstated  in  the  direction  of 
Indian  affairs,  until  the  death  of  Prince  John,  which  happened  September,  1497, 
(P.  Martyr,  Ep.  182,)  several  months  posterior  to  the  time  at  which  Vespucci 
pretends  to  have  set  out  upon  his  voyage.     A  life  of  Vespucci  was  published 
at  Florence  by  the  Abate  Bandini,  A.  D.  1745,  4to.     It  is  a  work  of  no  merit, 
written  with  little  judgment,  and  less  candour.     He  contends  for  his  country- 
man's title  to  the  discovery  of  the  continent  with  all  the  blind  zeal  of  national 
partiality,  but  produces  no  new  evidence  to  support  it.     We  learn  from  hirp 
that  Vespucci's  account  of  his  voyage  was  published  as  early  as  the  year  1510, 
and  probably  sooner.     Vita  di  Am.  Vesp.  p.  52.     At  what  time  the  name  of 
AMERICA  came  to  be  first  given  to  the  New  World  is  not  certain. 

NOTE  [23].  PAGE  99. 

THE  form  employed  on  this  occasion  served  as  a  model  to  the  Spaniards  in 
all  their  subsequent  conquests  in  America.  It  is  so  extraordinary  in  its  nature,  and 
gives  us  such  an  idea  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  principles  upon 
which  they  founded  their  right  to  the  extensive  dominions  which  they  acquired 
in  the  Now  World,  that  it  well  merits  the  attention  of  the  reader.  "  I  Alonso  de 
Ojeda,  servant  of  the  most  high  and  powerful  kings  of  Castile  and  Leon,  the 
conquerors  of  barbarous  nations,  their  messenger  and  captain,  notify  to  you,  and 
declare  in  as  ample  form  as  I  am  capable,  that  God  our  Lord,  who  is  one  and 
eternal,  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  one  man  and  one  woman,  of 
whom  you  and  we,  and  all  the  men  who  have  been  or  shall  be  in  the  world, 
are  descended.  But  as  it  has  come  to  pass  through  the  number  of  generations 
during  more  than  five  thousand  years,  that  they  have  been  dispersed  into 
different  parts  of  the  world,  and  are  divided  into  various  kingdoms  and  pro- 
vinces, because  one  country  was  not  able  to  contain  them,  nor  could  they  have 
found  in  one  the  means  of  subsistence  and  preservation  :  therefore  God  our 
Lord  gave  the  charge  of  all  thoee  people  to  one  man  named  St.  Peter,  whom 
he  constituted  the  lord  and  head  of  all  the  human  race,  that  all  men,  in  what- 
ever place  they  are  born,  or  in  whatever  faith  or  place  they  are  educated,  might 
yield  obedience  unto  him.  He  hath  subjected  the  whole  world  to  his  jurisdic- 
tion, and  commanded  him  to  establish  his  residence  in  Rome,  as  the  most 
proper  place  for  the  government  of  the  world.  He  likewise  promised  and  gave 
him  power  to  establish  his  authority  in  every  other  part  of  the  world,  and  to 
judge  and  govern  all  Christians,  Moors,  Jews,  Gentiles,  and  all  other  people 
of  whatever  sect  or  faith  they  may  be.  To  him  is  given  the  name  of  Pope, 
which  signifies  admirable,  great  father  and  guardian,  because  he  is  the  father 
and  governor  of  all  men.  Those  who  lived  in  the  time  of  this  holy  father 
obeyed  and  acknowledged  him  as  their  Lord  and  King,  and  the  superior  of  the 
universe.  The  same  has  been  observed  with  respect  to  them  who,  since  his 


460  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

time,  have  been  chosen  to  the  pontificate.    Thus  it  now  continues,  and  will 
continue  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

"  One  of  these  Pontiffs,  as  lord  of  the  world,  hath  made  a  grant  of  these 
islands,  and  of  the  Tierra  Firme  of  the  ocean  sea,  to  the  Catholic  Kings  of 
Castile,  Don  Ferdinand  and  Donna  Isabella,  of  glorious  memory,  and  their 
successors,  our  sovereigns,  with  all  they  contain,  as  is  more  fully  expressed  in 
certain  deeds  passed  upon  that  occasion^  which  you  may  see  if  you  desire  it. 
Thus  His  Majesty  is  King  and  lord  of  these  islands,  and  of  the  continent,  in 
virtue  of  this  donation ;  and,  as  King  and  lord  aforesaid,  most  of  the  islands 
to  which  his  title  hath  been  notified,  have  recognised  His  Majesty,  and  now 
yield  obedience  and  subjection  to  him  as  their  lord,  voluntarily  and  without 
resistance ;  and  instantly,  as  soon  as  they  received  information,  they  obeyed 
the  religious  men  sent  by  the  King  to  preach  to  them,  and  to  instruct  them  in 
our  holy  faith ;  and  all  these,  of  then*  own  free  will,  without  any  recompense 
or  gratuity,  became  Christians,  and  continue  to  be  so  ;  and  His  Majesty  having 
received  them  graciously  under  his  protection,  has  commanded  that  they  should 
be  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  his  other  subjects  and  vassals.  You  are 
bound  and  obliged  to  act  in  the  same  manner.  Therefore  I  now  entreat  and 
require  you  to  consider  attentively  what  I  have  declared  to  you ;  and  that  you 
may  more  perfectly  comprehend  it,  that  you  take  such  time  as  is  reasonable  in 
order  that  you  may  acknowledge  the  Church  as  the  superior  and  guide  of  the 
universe,  and  likewise  the  holy  father  called  the  Pope,  in  his  own  right,  and 
his  Majesty,  by  his  appointment,  as  King  and  sovereign  lord  of  these  Islands, 
and  of  the  Tierra  Firm£  ;  and  that  you  consent  that  the  aforesaid  holy  fathers 
shall  declare  and  preach  to  you  the  doctrines  above  mentioned.  If  you  do  this, 
you  act  well,  and  perform  that  to  which  you  are  bound  and  obliged ;  and  His 
Majesty,  and  I  in  his  name,  will  receive  you  with  love  and  kindness,  and  will 
leave  you,  your  wives  and  children,  free  and  exempt  from  servitude,  and  in 
the  enjoyment  of  all  you  possess,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  inhabitants  of 
the  islands.  Besides  this,  His  Majesty  will  bestow  upon  you  many  privileges, 
exemptions,  and  rewards.  But  if  you  will  not  comply,  or  maliciously  delay  to 
obey  my  injunction,  then,  with  the  help  of  God,  I  will  enter  your  country  by 
force,  I  will  carry  on  war  against  you  with  the  utmost  violence,  I  will  subject 
you  to  the  yoke  of  obedience  to  the  Church  and  King,  I  will  take  your  wives 
and  children,  and  will  make  them  slaves,  and  sell  or  dispose  of  them  according 
to  His  Majesty's  pleasure;  I  will  seize  your  goods,  and  do  you  all  the  mischief 
in  my  power,  as  rebellious  subjects,  who  will  not  acknowledge  or  submit  to 
their  lawful  sovereign.  And  I  protest,  that  all  the  bloodshed  and  calamities 
which  shall  follow  are  to  be  imputed  to  you,  and  not  to  His  Majesty,  or  to  me, 
or  the  gentlemen  who  serve  under  me  ;  and  as  I  have  now  made  this  declara- 
tion and  requisition  unto  you,  I  require  the  notary  here  present  to  grant  me  a 
certificate  of  this,  subscribed  in  proper  form."  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  vii.  c.  14. 

NOTE  [24].  PAGE  105. 

BALBOA,  in  bis  letter  to  the  king,  observes  that  of  the  hundred  and  ninety 
men  whom  he  took  with  him,  there  were  never  above  eighty  fit  for  service  at 
one  time.  So  much  did  they  suffer  from  hunger,  fatigue,  and  sickness.  Her- 
rera, dec.  l..lib.  x.  c.  16.  P.  Mart,  decad.  226. 

NOTE  [25].  PAGE  110. 

FONSECA,  Bishop  of  Palencia,  the  principal  director  of  American  Affairs,  had 
eight  hundred  Indians  in  property ;  the  commendator  Lope  de  Conchillos,  his 
chief  associate  in  that  department,  eleven  hundred  ;  and  other  favourites  had 
considerable  numbers.  They  sent  overseers  to  the  islands,  and  hired  out  thoso 
slaves  to  the  planters.  Herrera,  dec.  1.  lib.  ix.  c.  14.  p.  325. 

NOTE  [26].  PAGE  119. 

THOUGH  America  is  more  plentifully  supplied  with  water  than  the  other 
regions  of  the  globe,  there  is  no  river  or  stream  of  water  in  Yucatan.  This 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  461 

peninsula  projects  from  the  continent  a  hundred  leagues,  but,  where  broadest, 
does  not  extend  above  twenty-five  leagues.  It  is  an  extensive  plain,  not  only 
without  mountains,  but  almost  without  any  inequality  of  ground.  The  in- 
habitants are  supplied  with  water  from  pits,  and,  wherever  they  dig  them,  find 
it  in  abundance.  It  is  probable,  from  all  those  circumstances,  that  this  country 
was  formerly  covered  by  the  sea.  Herrerae  Descriptio  Indies  Occidentalis,  p. 
14.  Histoire  Naturelle,  par  M.  de  Buffon,  torn.  i.  p.  593. 

NOTE  [27].  PAGE  120. 

M.  CLAVIGERO  censures  me  for  having  represented  the  Spaniards  who  sailed 
with  Cordova  and  Grijalva,  as  fancying  in  the  warmth  of  their  imagination, 
that  they  saw  cities  on  the  coast  of  Yucatan  adorned  with  towers  and  cupolas. 
I  know  not  what  translation  of  my  history  he  has  consulted  (for  his  quotation 
from  it  is  not  taken  from  the  original),  but  I  never  imagined  that  any  building 
erected  by  Americans  could  suggest  the  idea  of  a  cupola  or  dome,  a  structure 
which  their  utmost  skill  in  architecture  was  incapable  of  rearing.  My  words 
are,  that  they  fancied  the  villages  which  they  saw  from  their  ships  u  to  be 
cities  adorned  with  towers  and  pinnacles."  By  pinnacles  I  meant  some  eleva- 
tion above  the  rest  of  the  building ;  and  the  passage  is  translated  almost 
literally  from  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.  In  almost  all  the  accounts  of  new 
countries  given  by  the  Spanish  discoverers  in  that  age,  this  warmth  of  admira- 
tion is  conspicuous  ;  and  led  them  to  describe  these  new  objects  in  the  most 
splendid  terms.  When  Cordova  and  his  companions  first  beheld  an  Indian 
village  of  greater  magnitude  than  any  they  had  beheld  in  the  islands,  they  dig- 
nified it  by  the  name  of  Grand  Cairo.  B.  Diaz,  c.  2.  From  the  same  cause 
Grijalva  and  his  associates  thought  the  country,  along  the  coast  of  which  they 
held  their  course,  entitled  to  the  name  of  New  Spain. 

NOTE  [28].  PAGE  123. 

THE  height  of  the  most  elevated  point  in  the  Pyrenees  is,  according  to  M. 
Cassini,  six  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-six  feet.  The  height  of  the  moun- 
tain Gemmi,  in  the  canton  of  Berne,  is  ten  thousand  one  hundred  and  ten  feet. 
The  height  of  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe,  according  to  the  measurement  of  P, 
FeuiHe",  is  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet.  The  height 
of  Chimborazo,  the  most  elevated  point  of  the  Andes,  is  twenty  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eighty  feet ;  no  less  than  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and 
two  feet  above  the  highest  mountain  in  the  ancient  continent.  Voyage  de  D. 
Juan  Ulloa,  Observations  Astron.  et  Physiq.  torn.  ii.  p.  114.  The  line  of  con- 
gelation on  Chimborazo,  or  that  part  of  the  mountain  which  is  covered  per- 
petually with  snow,  is  no  less  than  two  thousand  four  hundred  feet  from  its 
summit.  Prevot  Hist.  Ge*ner.  des  Voyages,  vol.  xiii.  p.  636. 

NOTE  [29].  PAGE  123. 

As  a  particular  description  makes  a  stronger  impression  than  general  asser- 
tions, I  shall  give  one  of  Rio  de  la  Plata  by  an  eye-witness,  P.  Cattanco,  a 
Modenese  Jesuit,  who  landed  at  Buenos  Ayres  in  1749,  and  thus  represents 
what  he  felt  when  such  new  objects  were  first  presented  to  his  view.  "  While 
I  resided  in  Europe,  and  read  in  books  of  history  or  geography,  that  the  mouth 
of  the  river  de  la  Plata  was  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  breadth,  I  considered 
it  as  an  exaggeration,  because  in  this  hemisphere  we  have  no  example  of  such 
vast  rivers.  When  I  approached  its  mouth,  I  had  the  most  vehement  desire  to 
ascertain  the  truth  with  my  own  eyes  ;  and  I  found  the  matter  to  be  exactly  as 
it  was  represented.  This  I  deduce  particularly  from  one  circumstance  :  When 
we  took  our  departure  from  Monte  Video,  a  fort  situated  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  where  its  breadth  is  considerably  di- 
minished, we  sailed  a  complete  day  before  we  discovered  the  land  on  the  op 
posite  bank  of  the  river ;  and  when  we  were  in  the  middle  of  the  channel,  we 
could  not  discern  land  on  either  side,  and  saw  nothing  but  the  sky  and  water  as 
if  we  had  been  in  some  great  ocean.  Indeed  we  should  have  taken  it  to  be  sea, 


462  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

if  the  fresh  water  of  the  river,  which  was  turbid  like  the  Po,  had  not  satisfied 
us  that  it  was  a  river.  Moreover,  at  Buenos  Ayres,  another  hundred  miles 
up  the  river,  and  where  it  is  still  much  narrower,  it  is  not  only  impossible  to 
discern  the  opposite  coast,  which  is  indeed  very  low,  but  perceive  the  houses 
or  the  tops  of  the  steeples  in  the  Portuguese  settlement  at  Colonia  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river."  Lettera  prima,  published  by  Muratori,  II  Christianesimo 
Felice,  &c.  i.  p.  257. 

NOTE  [30].  PAGE  124. 

NEWFOUNDLAND,  part  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  Canada,  are  the  countries  which 
lie  in  the  same  parallel  of  latitude  with  the  Kingdom  of  France ;  and  in  every 
part  of  these  the  water  of  the  rivers  is  frozen  during  winter  to  the  thick- 
ness of  several  feet ;  the  earth  is  covered  with  snow  as  deep  ;  almost  all  the 
birds  fly  during  that  season  from  a  climate  where  they  could  not  live.  The 
country  of  the  Eskimaux,  -part  of  Labrador,  and  the  countries  on  the  south 
of  Hudson's  Bay,  are  in  the  same  parallel  with  Great  Britain ;  and  yet  in  all 
these  the  cold  is  so  intense  that  even  the  industry  of  Europeans  has  not  at- 
tempted cultivation. 

NOTE  [31].  PAGE  125. 

ACOSTA  is  the  first  philosopher,  as  far  as  I  know,  who  endeavoured  to  ac- 
count for  the  different  degrees  of  heat  in  the  old  and  new  continents,  by  the 
agency  of  the  winds  which  blow  in  each.  Histoire  Moral.  &c.  lib.  ii.  and  iii. 
M.  de  Buffon  adopts  this  theory,  and  has  not  only  improved  it  by  new  observa- 
tions, but  has  employed  his  amazing  powers  of  descriptive  eloquence  in  em- 
bellishing and  placing  it  in  the  most  striking  light.  Some  remarks  may  be 
added,  which  tend  to  illustrate  more  fully  a  doctrine  of  much  importance  in 
every  inquiry  concerning  the  temperature  of  various  climates. 

When  a  cold  wind  blows  over  land,  it  must  in  its  passage  rob  the  surface  of 
some  of  its  heat.  By  means  of  this  the  coldness  of  the  wind  is  abated.  But 
if  it  continue  to  blow  in  the  same  direction,  it  will  come,  by  degrees,  to  pass 
over  a  surface  already  cooled,  and  will  suffer  no  longer  any  abatement  of  its 
own  keenness.  Thus,  as  it  advances  over  a  large  tract  of  land,  it  brings  on  all 
the  severity  of  intense  frost. 

Let  the  same  wind  blow  over  an  extensive  and  deep  sea ;  the  superficial 
water  must  be  immediately  cooled  to  a  certain  degree,  and  the  wind  propor- 
tionally warmed.  But  the  superficial  and  colder  water,  becoming  specifically 
heavier  than  the  warmer  water  below  it,  descends ;  what  is  warmer  supplies 
its  place,  which,  as  it  comes  to  be  cooled  in  its  turn,  continues  to  warm  the  air 
which  passes  over  it,  or  to  diminish  its  cold.  This  change  of  the  superficial 
water  and  successive  ascent  of  that  which  is  warmer,  and  the  consequent  suc- 
cessive abatement  of  coldness  in  the  air,  is  aided  by  the  agitation  caused  in  the 
sea  by  the  mechanical  action  of  the  wind,  and  also  by  the  motion  of  the  tides. 
This  will  go  on,  and  the  rigour  of  the  wind  will  continue  to  diminish  until  the 
whole  water  is  so  far  cooled,  that  the  water  on  the  surface  is  no  longer  removed 
from  the  action  of  the  wind  fast  enough  to  hinder  it  from  being  arrested  by 
frost.  Whenever  the  surface  freezes,  the  wind  is  no  longer  warmed  by  the 
water  from  below,  and  it  goes  on  with  undiminished  cold. 

From  those  principles  may  be  explained  the  severity  of  winter  frosts  in  ex- 
tensive continents ;  their  mildness  in  small  islands:  and  the  superior  rigour  of 
winter  in  those  parts  of  North  America  with  which  we  are  best  acquainted. 
In  the  north-west  parts  of  Europe,  the  severity  of  winter  is  mitigated  by  the 
west  winds,  which  usually  blow  in  the  months  of  November,  December,  and 
part  of  January. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  a  Warm  wind  blows  over  land,  it  heats  the  surface, 
which  must  therefore  cease  to  abate  the  fervour  of  the  wind.  But  the  same 
wind  blowing  over  water,  agitates  it,  brings  up  the  colder  water  from  below, 
and  thus  is  continually  losing  somewhat  of  its  own  heat. 

But  the  great  power  of  the  sea  to  mitigate  the  heat  of  the  wind  or  air  passing 
over  it,  proceeds  from  the  following  circumstance : — that  on  account  of  the 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  463 

transparency  of  the  sea,  its  surface  cannot  be  heated  to  a  great  degree  by  the 
sun's  rays;  whereas  the  ground,  subjected  to  their  influence,  very  soon  acquires 
great  heat.  When,  therefore,  the  wind  blows  over  a  torrid  continent,  it  is 
soon  raised  to  a  heat  almost  intolerable ;  but  during  its  passage  over  an  exten- 
sive ocean,  it  is  gradually  cooled ;  so  that  on  its  arrival  at  the  furthest  shore 
it  is  again  fit  for  respiration. 

Those  principles  will  account  for  the  sultry  heats  of  large  continents  in  the 
torrid  zone  :  for  the  mild  climate  of  islands  in  the  same  latitude  ;  and  for  the 
superior  warmth  in  summer  which  large  continents,  situated  in  the  temperate 
or  colder  zones  of  the  earth,  enjoy  when  compared  with  that  of  islands.  The 
heat  of  a  climate  depends  not  only  upon  the  immediate  effect  of  the  sun's 
rays,  but  on  their  continued  operation,  on  the  eflect  which  they  have  formerly 
produced,  and  which  remains  for  some  tune  in  the  ground.  This  is  the  reason 
why  the  day  is  warmest  about  two  in  the  afternoon,  the  summer  warmest  about 
the  middle  of  July,  and  the  winter  coldest  about  the  middle  of  January. 

The  forests  which  cover  America,  and  hinder  the  sunbaems  from  heating  the 
ground,  are  a  great  cause  of  the  temperate  climate  in  the  equatorial  parts.  The 
ground,  not  being  heated,  cannot  heat  the  air ;  and  the  leaves,  which  receive 
the  rays  intercepted  from  the  ground,  have  not  a  mass  of  matter  sufficient  to 
absorb  heat  enough  for  this  purpose.  Besides,  it  is  a  known  fact,  that  the  vege- 
tative power  of  a  plant  occasions  a  perspiration  from  the  leaves  in  proportion 
to  the  heat  to  which  they  are  exposed  :  and,  from  the  nature  of  evaporation, 
this  perspiration  produces  a  cold  in  the  leaf  proportional  to  the  perspiration. 
Thus  the  effect  of  the  leaf  in  heating  the  air  in  contact  with  it  is  prodigiously 
diminished.  For  those  observations,  which  throw  much  additional  light  on 
this  curious  subject,  I  am  indebted  to  my  ingenious  friend,  Mr.  Robison,  pro- 
fessor of  natural  philosophy  in  the  university  of  Edinburgh. 

NOTE  [32].  PAGE  125. 

THE  climate  of  Brazil  has  been  described  by  two  eminent  naturalists,  Piso 
and  Margrave,  who  observed  it  with  a  philosophical  accuracy  for  which  we 
search  in  vain  m  the  accounts  of  many  other  provinces  in  America.  Both 
represent  it  as  temperate  and  mild  when  compared  with  the  climate  of  Africa. 
They  ascribe  this  chiefly  to  the  refreshing  wind  which  blows  continually  from 
the  sea.  The  air  is  not  only  cool,  but  chilly  through  the  night,  insomuch  that 
the  natives  kindle  fires  every  evening  in  their  huts.  Piso  deMedicina  Brasiliensi, 
lib.  i.  p.  1,  &c.  Margravius  Histor.  Rorum  Natural.  Brasilise,  lib.  viii.  c.  3.  p. 
264.  Nieuhoff.  who  resided  long  in  Brazil,  confirms  their  description.  Churchill's 
Collection,  vol.  ii.  p.  25.  Gumilla,  who  was  a  missionary  many  years  among 
the  Indians  upon  the  river  Oronoco,  gives  a  similar  description  of  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  climate  there.  Hist,  de  1'Oronoque,  torn.  i.  p.  26.  P.  Acugna  felt 
a  very  considerable  degree  of  cold  in  the  countries  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Amazons.  Relat.  vol.  ii.  p.  56.  M.  Biet,  who  lived  a  considerable  time  in 
Cayenne,  gives  a  similar  account  of  the  temperature  of  that  climate,  and 
ascribes  it  to  the  same  cause.  Voyage  de  la  France,  Equinox,  p.  330.  Nothing 
can  be  more  different  from  these  descriptions  than  that  of  the  burning  heat  of 
the  African  coast  given  by  M.  Adanson.  Voyage  to  Senegal,  passim 

NOTE  [33].  PAGE  126. 

Two  French  frigates  were  sent  upon  a  voyage  of  discovery  in  the  year  1739. 
In  latitude  44°  south,  they  began  to  feel  a  considerable  degree  of  cold.  In 
latitude  48°,  they  met  with  Islands  of  floating  ice.  Histoire  des  Navigations 
aux  Terres  Australes,  torn.  ii.  p.  256,  &c.  Dr.  Halley  fell  in  with  ice  in  latitude 
59°.  Id.  torn.  i.  p.  47.  Commodore  Byron,  when  on  the  coast  of  Patagonia, 
latitude  50°  33'  south,  on  the  fifteenth  of  December,  which  is  midsummer  in 
that  part  of  the  globe,  the  twenty-first  of  December  being  the  longest  day 
there,  compares  the  climate  to  that  of  England  in  the  middle  of  whiter. 
Voyages  by  Hawkesworth,  i.  25.  Mr.  Banks  having  landed  on  Terra  del 
Fuego,  in  the  Bay  of  Good  Success,  latitude  55°,  on  the  sixteenth  of  January, 
which  corresponds  to  the  month  of  July  in  our  hemisphere,  two  of  his  attend- 


464  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ants  died  in  one  night  of  extreme  cold,  and  all  the  party  were  in  the  most 
imminent  danger  of  perishing.  Id.  ii.  51,  52.  By  the  fourteenth  of  March, 
corresponding  to  September  in  our  hemisphere,  winter  was  set  in  with  rigour, 
and  the  mountains  were  covered  with  snow.  Ibid.  72.  Captain  Cook,  in  his 
voyage  towards  the  South  Pole,  furnishes  new  and  striking  instances  of  the 
extraordinary  predominance  of  cold  in  this  region  of  the  globe.  "  Who  would 
have  thought  (says  he)  that  an  island  of  no  greater  extent  than  seventy  leagues 
in  circuit,  situated  between  the  latitude  of  54°  and  55°,  should  in  the  very 
height  of  summer  be,  hi  a  manner,  wholly  covered,  many  fathoms  deep,  with 
frozen  snow  ;  but  more  especially  the  S.  W.  coast?  The  very  summits  of  the 
lofty  mountains  were  cased  with  snow  and  ice  ;  but  the  quantity  that  lay  in 
the  valleys  is  incredible  ;  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  bays,  the  coast  was  ter- 
minated by  a  wall  of  ice  of  considerable  height."  Vol.  ii.  p.  217. 

In  some  places  of  the  ancient  continent,  an  extraordinary  degree  of  cold 
prevails  hi  very  low  latitudes.  Mr.  Bogle,  in  his  embassy  to  the  court  of  the 
Delai  Lama,  passed  the  winter  of  the  year  1774,  at  Chamnanning,  in  latitude 
31°  39'  N.  He  often  found  the  thermometer  in  his  room  twenty-nine  degrees 
under  the  freezing  point  by  Fahrenheit's  scale :  and  in  the  middle  of  AprS  the 
standing  waters  were  all  frozen,  and  heavy  showers  of  snow  frequently  fell. 
The  extraordinary  elevation  of  the  country  seems  to  be  the  cause  of  this  ex- 
cessive cold.  In  travelling  from  Indostan  to  Thibet,  the  ascent  to  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Boutan  Mountains  is  very  great,  but  the  descent  on  the  other  side 
is  not  in  equal  proportion.  The  kingdom  of  Thibet  is  an  elevated  region,  ex- 
tremely bare  and  desolate.  Account  of  Thibet,  by  Mr.  Stewart,  read  in  the 
Royal  Society,  p.  7.  The  extraordinary  cold  in  low  latitudes  in  America  cannot 
be  accounted  for  by  the  same  cause.  Those  regions  are  not  remarkable  for 
elevation.  Some  of  them  are  countries  depressed  and  level. 

The  most  obvious  and  probable  cause  of  the  superior  degree  of  cold  towards 
the  southern  extremity  of  America,  seems  to  be  the  form  of  the  continent  there. 
Its  breadth  gradually  decreases  as  it  stretches  from  St.  Antonio  southwards, 
and  from  the  bay  of  St.  Julian  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan  its  dimensions  are 
much  contracted.  On  the  east  and  west  sides  it  is  washed  by  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Oceans.  From  its  southern  point  it  is  probable  that  a  great  extent  of 
sea,  without  any  considerable  tract  of  land,  reaches  to  the  Antarctic  pole. 
In  whichever  of  these  directions  the  wind  blows,  it  is  cooled  before  it  approaches 
the  Magellanic  regions,  by  passing  over  a  vast  body  of  water  ;  nor  is  the  land 
there  of  such  extent,  that  it  can  recover  any  considerable  degree  of  heat  in  its 
progress  over  it.  These  circumstances  concur  in  rendering  the  temperature  of 
the  air  in  this  district  of  America  more  similar  to  that  of  an  insular,  than  to 
that  of  a  continental  climate,  and  hinder  it  from  acquiring  the  same  degree  of 
summer  heat  with  places  in  Europe  and  Asia  in  a  correspondent  northern  lati- 
tude. The  north  wind  is  the  only  one  that  reaches  this  part  of  America,  after 
blowing  over  a  great  continent.  But  from  an  attentive  survey  of  its  position, 
this  will  be  found  to  have  a  tendency  rather  to  diminish  than  augment  the 
degree  of  heat.  The  southern  extremity  of  America  is  properly  the  termina- 
tion of  the  immense  ridge  of  the  Andes,  which  stretches  nearly  in  a  direct  line 
from  north  to  south,  through  the  whole  extent  of  the  continent.  The  most 
eultry  regions  in  South  America,  Guiana,  Brazil,  Paraguay,  and  Tucuman,  lie 
many  degrees  to  the  east  of  the  Magellanic  regions.  The  level  country  of 
Peru,  which  enjoys  the  tropical  heats,  is  situated  considerably  to  the  west  of 
them.  The  north  wind  then,  though  it  blows  over  land,  does  not  bring  to  the 
southern  extremity  of  America  an  increase  of  heat  collected  in  its  passage 
over  torrid  regions  ;  but  before  it  arrives  there,  it  must  have  swept  along  the 
summits  of  the  Andes,  and  becomes  impregnated  with  the  cold  of  that  frozen 
region. 

Though  it  be  now  demonstrated  that  there  is  no  southern  continent  in  that 
region  of  the  globe  which  it  was  supposed  to  occupy,  it  appears  to  be  certain 
from  Captain  Cook's  discoveries,  that  there  is  a  large  tract  of  land  near  the 
south  pole,  which  is  the  source  of  most  of  the  ice  spread  over  the  vast  southern 
ocean.  Vol.  ii.  p.  230.  239,  &c.  Whether  the  influence  of  this  remote  frozen 
continent  may  reach  the  southern  extremity  of  America,  and  affect  its  climate, 
rs  an  inquiry  not  unworthy  of  attention. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  465 


NOTE  [34].  PAGE  127. 

M.  CONDAMINE  is  one  of  the  latest  and  most  accurate  observers  of  the  in- 
terior state  of  South  America.  "  After  descending  from  the  Andes  (says  he,) 
one  beholds  a  vast  and  uniform  prospect  of  water  and  verdure,  and  nothing 
more.  One  treads  upon  the  earth,  but  does*not  see  it ;  as  it  is  so  entirely 
covered  with  luxuriant  plants,  weeds,  and  shrubs,  that  it  would  require  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  labour  to  clear  it  for  the  space  of  a  foot."  Relation  abrg- 
gee  d'un  Voyage,  &c.  p.  48.  One  of  the  singularities  in  the  forests  is  a  sort  of 
osiers,  or  withes,  called  bejucos  by  the  Spaniards,  lianes  by  the  French,  and  nibbes 
by  the  Indians,  which  are  usually  employed  as  ropes  in  America.  This  is  one 
of  the  parasitical  plants,  which  twists  about  the  trees  it  meets  with,  and  rising 
above  their  highest  branches,  its  tendrils  descend  perpendicularly,  strike  into 
the  ground,  take  root,  rise  up  around  another  tree,  and  thus  mount  and  descend 
alternately.  Other  tendrils  are  carried  obliquely  by  the  wind,  or  some  accident^ 
and  form  a  confusion  of  interwoven  cordage,  which  resembles  the  rigging  of  a 
ship.  Bancroft,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  99.  These  withes  are  often  as  thick  as 
the  arm  of  a  man.  Id.  p.  75.  M.  Boguer's  account  of  the  forests  in  Peru 
perfectly  resembles  this  description.  Voyages  au  Peru,  p.  16.  Oviedo  gives  a 
similar  description  of  the  forests  in  other  parts  of  Americ'a.  Hist.  lib.  ix.  p. 
144.  D.  The  country  of  the  Moxos  is  so  much  overflowed,  that  they  are 
obliged  to  reside  on  the  summit  of  some  rising  ground  during  some  part  of  the 
year,  and  have  no  communication  with  their  countrymen  at  any  distance. 
Lettres  Edifiantes,  torn.  x.  p.  187.  Garcia  gives  a  full  and  just  description  of 
the  rivers,  lakes,  woods,  and  marshes  in  those  countries  of  America  which  lie 
between  the  tropics.  Origen  de  los  Indies,  lib.  ii.  c.  5.  $  4,  5.  The  incredible 
hardships  to  which  Gonzalez  Pizarro  was  exposed  in  attempting  to  march  into 
the  country  to  the  east  of  the  Andes,  convey  a  very  striking  idea  of  that  part 
of  America  in  its  original  uncultivated  state.  Garcil.  de  la  Vega,  Roval  Com- 
ment, of  Peru,  part  ii.  book  iii.  c.  2 — 5. 

NOTE  [35].  PAGE  128. 

THE  animals  of  America  seem  not  to  have  been  always  of  a  size  inferior  to 
those  in  other  quarters  of  the  globe.  From  antlers  of  the  moose-deer  which 
have  been  found  in  America,  it  appears  to  have  been  an  animal  of  great  size. 
Near  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  a  considerable  number  of  bones  of  an  immense 
magnitude  have  been  found.  The  place  where  this  discovery  has  been  made 
lies  about  one  hundred  and  ninety  miles  below  the  junction  of  the  river  Scioto 
with  the  Ohio.  It  is  about  four  miles  distant  from  the  banks  of  the  latter,  on 
the  side  of  the  marsh  called  the  Salt  lick.  The  bones  lie  in  vast  quantities 
about  five  or  six  feet  under  ground,  and  the  stratum  is  visible  in  the  bank  on 
the  edge  of  the  Lick.  Journal  of  Colonel  George  Croglan,  MS.  penes  me. 
This  spot  seems  to  be  accurately  laid  down  by  Evans  in  his  map.  These  bones 
must  have  belonged  to  animals  of  enormous  bulk  ;  but  naturalists  being  ac- 
quainted with  no  living  creature  of  such  size,  were  at  first  inclined  to  think 
that  they  were  mineral  substances.  Upon  receiving  a  greater  number  of  speci- 
mens, and  after  inspecting  them  more  narrowly,  they  are  now  allowed  to  be 
the  bones  of  an  animal.  As  the  elephant  is  the  largest  known  quadruped,  and 
the  tusks  wnich  were  found,  nearly  resembled,  both  in  form  and  quality,  the 
tusks  of  an  elephant,  it  was  concluded  that  the  carcasses  deposited  on  the 
Ohio  were  of  that  species.  But  Dr.  Hunter,  one  of  the  persons  of  our  age 
best  qualified  to  decide  with  respect  to  this  point,  having  accurately  examined 
several  parcels  of  tusks,  and  grinders,  and  jaw-bones,  sent  from  the  Ohio  to 
London,  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  they  did  not  belong  to  an  elephant,  but  to 
some  huge  carnivorous  animal  of  an  unknown  species.  Phil.  Transact,  vol. 
Iviii.  p.  34.  Bones  of  the  same  kind,  and  as  remarkable  for  their  size,  havo 
been  found  near  the  mouths  of  the  great  rivers  Oby,  Jeniseia,  and  Lena  in 
Siberia.  Strahknberg,  Descript.  of  North  and  East  Parts  of  Europe  and  Asia* 
p.  402,  &c.  The  elephant  seems  to  be  confined  in  his  range  to  the  torrid  zone, 

VOL.  L— 59 


466  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

and  never  multiplies  beyond  it.  In  such  cold  regions  as  those  bordering  on  the 
frozen  sea,  he  could  not  live.  The  existence  of  such  large  animals  in  America 
might  open  a  wide  field  for  conjecture.  The  more  we  contemplate  the  face  of 
nature,  and  consider  the  variety  of  her  productions,  the  more  we  must  be  satisfied 
that  astonishing  changes  have  been  made  in  the  terraqueous  globe  by  convul- 
sions and  revolutions,  of  which  no  account  is  preserved  in  history. 

NOTE  [36].  PAGE  128. 

THIS  degeneracy  of  the  domestic  European  animals  in  America  may  be  im- 
puted to  some  of  these  causes.  In  the  Spanish  settlements,  which  are  situated 
either  within  the  torrid  zone,  or  in  countries  bordering  upon  it,  the  increase  of 
heat  and  diversity  of  food  prevent  sheep  and  horned  cattle  from  attaining  the 
same  size  as  in  Europe.  They  seldom  become  so  fat,  and  their  flesh  is  not  so 
juicy,  or  of  such  delicate  flavour.  In  North  America,  where  the  climate  is 
more  favourable,  and  similar  to  that  of  Europe,  the  quality  of  the  grasses 
which  spring  up  naturally  in  their  pasture  grounds  is  not  good.  Mitchell,  p. 
151.  Agriculture  is  still  so  much  in  its  infancy,  that  artificial  food  for  cattle  is 
not  raised  in  any  quantity.  During  a  winter,  long  in  many  provinces,  and  rigo- 
rous in  all,  no  proper  care  is  taken  of  their  cattle.  The  general  treatment  of 
their  horses  and  horned  cattle  is  injudicious  and  harsh  in  all  the  English  colonies. 
These  circumstances  contribute  more,  perhaps,  than  any  thing  peculiar  in  the 
quality  of  the  climate,  to  the  degeneracy  of  breed  in*  the  horses,  cows,  and 
sheep  of  many  of  the  North  American  provinces. 

TE  [37].  PAGE  128. 

IN  the  year  1518,  the  island  of  Hispaniola  was  afflicted  with  a  dreadful  visita- 
tion of  those  destructive  insects,  the  particulars  of  which  Herrera  describes, 
and  mentions  a  singular  instance  of  the  superstition  of  the  Spanish  planters. 
After  trying  various  methods  of  exterminating  the  ants,  they  resolved  to  im- 
plore protection  of  the  saints  ;  but  as  the  calamity  was  new,  they  were  at  a  loss 
to  find  out  the  saint  who  could  give  them  the  most  effectual  aid.  They  cast 
lots  in  order  to  discover  the  patron  whom  they  should  invoke.  The  lots  de- 
cided in  favour  of  St.  Saturninus.  They  celebrated  his  festival  with  great 
solemnity,  and  immediately,  adds  the  historian,  the  calamity  began  to  abate. 
Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  iii.  c.  15.  p.  107. 

NOTE  [38].  PAGE  129. 

THE  author  of  Recherches  Philosophiques  sur  les  Americains  supposes  this 
difference  in  heat  to  be  equal  to  twelve  degrees,  and  that  a  place  thirty  degrees 
from  the  equator  in  the  old  continent  is  as  warm  as  one  situated  eighteen  degrees 
from  it  in  America,  torn.  i.  p.  11.  Dr.  Mitchell,  after  observations  carried  on 
during  thirty  years,  contends  that  the  difference  is  equal  to  fourteen  or  fifteen 
degrees  of  latitude.  Present.  State,  &c.  p.  257. 

NOTE  [39].  PAGE  129. 

JANUARY  3d,  1765,  Mr.  Bertram,  near  the  head  of  St.  John's  river,  in  East 
Florida,  observed  a  frost  so  intense  that  in  one  night  the  ground  was  frozen  an 
inch  thick  upon  the  banks  of  the  river.  The  limes,  citrons,  and  banana  trees, 
at  St.  Augustin,  were  destroyed.  Bertram's  Journal,  p.  20.  Other  instances 
of  the  extraordinary  operations  of  cold  in  the  southern  provinces  of  North 
America  are  collected  by  Dr.  Mitchell.  Present  State,  p.  206,  &c.  February 
7th,  1747,  the  frost  at  Charleston  was  so  intense,  that  a  person  having  carried 
two  quart  bottles  of  hot  water  to  bed,  in  the  morning  they  were  split  to  pieces, 
Mid  the  water  converted  into  solid  lumps  of  ice.  In  a  kitchen  where  there  was 
a  fire,  the  water  in  a  jar  in  which  there  was  a  live  large  eel,  was  frozen  to  the 
bottom.  Almost  all  the  orange  and  olive  trees  were  destroyed.  Description  of 
South  Carolina,  8vo.  Lond.  1761. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  467 


NOTE  [40].  PAGE  129. 

A  REMARKABLE  instance  of  this  occurs  in  Dutch  Gui,ana,  a  country  every 
where  level,  and  so  low,  that  during  the  rainy  seasons  it  is  usually  covered  with 
water  near  two  feet  in  height.  This  renders  the  soil  so  rich,  that  on  the  surface, 
for  twelve  inches  in  depth,  it  is  a  stratum  of  perfect  manure,  and  as  such  has 
been  transported  to  Barbadoes.  On  the  banks  of  the  Essequibo,  thirty  crops  of 
ratan  canes  have  been  raised  successively ;  whereas  in  the  West  Indian  islands 
not  more  than  two  is  ever  expected  from  the  richest  land.  The  expedients  by 
which  the  planters  endeavour  to  diminish  this  excessive  fertility  of  soil  are  va- 
rious. Bancroft,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  p.  10,  &c. 

NOTE  [41].  PAGE  134. 

MULLER  seems  to  have  believed,  without  sufficient  evidence,  that  the  Cape 
had  been  doubled,  torn.  i.  p.  11,  &c.;  and  the  imperial  academy  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh  give  some  countenance  to  it  by  the  manner  in  which  Tschukotskoi-noss 
is  laid  down  in  their  charts.  But  I  am  assured,  from  undoubted  authority,  that 
no  Russian  vessel  has  ever  sailed  round  that  cape  ;  and  as  the  country  of  Tshutki 
is  not  subject  to  the  Russian  empire,  it  is  very  imperfectly  known. 

NOTE  [42].  PAGE  135. 

WERE  this  the  place  for  entering  into  a  long  and  intricate  geographical  dis 
quisition,  many  curious  observations  might  arise  from  comparing  the  accounts  of 
the  two  Russian  voyages  and  the  charts  of  their  respective  navigations.  One 
remark  is  applicable  to  both.  We  cannot  rely  with  absolute  certainty  on  the 
position  which  they  assign  to  several  of  the  places  which  they  visited.  The 
weather  was  so  extremely  foggy,  that  they  seldom  saw  the  sun  or  stars ;  and 
the  position  of  the  islands  and  supposed  continents  was  commonly  determined 
by  reckoning,  not  by  observation.  Behring  and  Tschirikow  proceeded  much 
further  towards  the  east  than  Krenitzin.  The  land  discovered  by  Behring,  which 
he  imagined  to  be  part  of  the  American  continent,  is  in  the  236th  degree  of 
longitude  from  the  first  meridian  in  the  isle  of  Ferro,  and  in  58°  28'  of  latitude. 
Tschirikow  came  upon  the  same  coast  in  longitude  241°,  latitude  56°.  Muller, 
i.  248,  249.  The  former  must  have  advanced  60  degrees  from  the  port  of 
Petropawlowski,  from  which  he  took  his  departure,  and  the  latter  65  degrees. 
But  from  the  chart  of  Krenitzen's  voyage,  it  appears  that  he  did  not  sail  further 
towards  the  east  than  to  the  208th  degree,  and  only  32  degrees  from  Petropaw- 
lowski. In  1741,  Behring  and  Tschirikow,  both  in  going  and  returning,  held  a 
course  which  was  mostly  to  the  south  of  that  chain  of  islands,  which  they  dis- 
covered; and  observing  the  mountainous  and  rugged  aspect  of  the  headlands 
which  they  descried  towards  the  north,  they  supposed  them  to  be  promontories 
belonging  to  some  part  of  the  American  continent,  which,  as  they  fancied, 
stretched  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  56.  In  this  manner  they  are  laid  down 
in  the  chart  published  by  Muller,  and  likewise  in  a  manuscript  chart  drawn  by 
a  mate  of  Behring's  ship,  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Professor  Robison. 
But  in  1769,  Krenitzin,  after  wintering  in  the  island  Alaxa,  stood  so  far  towards 
the  north  in  his  return,  that  his  course  lay  through  the  middle  of  what  Behring 
and  Tschirikow  had  supposed  to  be  a  continent,  which  he  found  to  be  an  open  sea, 
and  that  they  had  mistaken  rocky  isles  for  the  headlands  of  a  continent.  It  is 
probable,  that  the  countries  discovered  in  1741,  towards  the  east,  do  not  belong 
to  the  American  continent,  but  are  only  a  continuation  of  the  chain  of  islands. 
The  number  of  volcanos  in  this  region  of  the  globe  is  remarkable.  There  are 
several  in  Kamtchatka,  and  not  one  of  the  islands,  great  or  small,  as  far  as  the 
R  ussian  navigation  extends,  is  without  them.  Many  are  actually  purning,  and 
the  mountains  in  all  bear  marks  of  having  been  once  in  a  state  of  eruption. 
Were  I  disposed  to  admit  such  conjectures  as  have  found  place  in  other  inquiries 
concerning  the  peopling  of  America,  I  might  suppose  that  this  part  of  the 
earth,  having  manifestly  suffered  violent  convulsions  from  earthquakes  and 


468  NOTES   AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

volcanog,  an  isthmus,  which  may  have  formerly  united  Asia  to  America,  has 
been  broken,  and  formed  into  a  cluster  of  islands  by  the  shock. 

It  is  singular,  that  at  the  very  time  the  Russian  navigators  were  attempting 
to  make  discoveries  in  the  north-west  of  America,  the  Spaniards  were  prose- 
cuting the  same  design  from  another  quarter.  In  1769,  two  small  vessels 
sailed  from  Loretto  in  California  to  explore  the  coasts  of  the  country  to  the 
north  of  that  peninsula.  They  advanced  no  further  than  the  port  of  Monte- 
Rey,  in  latitude  36.  But,  in  several  successive  expeditions  fitted  out  from  the 
port  of  St.  Bias  in  New  Galicia,  the  Spaniards  have  advanced  as  far  as  the 
latitude  58.  Gaseta  de  Madrid,  March  19,  and  May  14,  1776.  But  as  the 
journals  of  those  voyages  have  not  yet  been  published,  I  cannot  compare  their 
progress  with  that  of  the  Russians,  or  show  how  near  the  navigators  of  the 
two  nations  have  approached  to  each  other.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  enlight- 
ened minister  who  has  now  the  direction  of  American  affairs  in  Spain,  will  not 
withhold  this  information  from  the  public. 

NOTE  [43].  PAGE  136. 

OUR  knowledge  of  the  vicinity  of  the  two  continents  of  Asia  and  America, 
which  was  very  imperfect  when  I  published  the  History  of  America  in  the  year 
1777,  is  now  complete.  Mr.  Coxe's  account  of  the  Russian  Discoveries  between 
Asia  and  America,  printed  in  the  year  1780,  contains  many  curious  and  im- 
portant facts  with  respect  to  the  various  attempts  of  the  Russians  to  open  a  com- 
munication with  the  New  World.  The  history  of  the  great  voyage  of  Discovery, 
begun  by  Captain  Cook  in  1776,  and  completed  by  Captains  Clerk  and  Gore, 
published  in  the  year  1780,  communicates  all  the  information  that  the  curiosity 
of  mankind  could  desire  with  regard  to  this  subject. 

At  my  request,  my  friend,  Mr.  Playfair,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  has  compared  the  narrative  and  charts  of  those  illus- 
trious navigators  with  the  more  imperfect  relations  and  maps  of  the  Russians. 
The  result  of  this  comparison  I  communicate  in  his  own  words,  with  much 
greater  confidence  in  his  scientific  accuracy,  than  I  could  have  ventured  to 
place  in  any  observations  which  I  myself  might  have  made  upon  the  subject. 

"  The  discoveries  of  Captain  Cook  in  his  last  voyage  have  confirmed  the 
conclusions  which  Dr.  Robertson  had  drawn,  and  have  connected  together  the 
facts  from  which  they  were  deduced.  They  have  now  rendered  it  certain  that 
Behring  and  Tschirikow  touched  on  the  coast  of  America  in  1741.  The  former 
discovered  land  in  latitude  58°,  28',  and  about  236°  east  from  Ferro.  He  has 
given  such  a  description  of  the  Bay  in  which  he  anchored,  and  the  high  moun- 
tain to  the  westward  of  it  which  he  calls  St.  Elias,  that  though  the  account  of 
his  voyage  is  much  abridged  in  the  English  translation,  Captain  Cook  recognised 
the  place  as  he  sailed  along  the  western  coast  of  America  in  the  year  1778. 
The  isle  of  St.  Hermogenes,  near  the  mouth  of  Cook's  river,  Schumagins  isles 
on  the  coast  of  Alashka,  and  Foggy  Isle,  retain  in  Captain  Cook's  chart  the 
names  which  they  had  received  from  the  Russian  navigator.  Cook's  Voy.  vol. 
ii.  p.  347. 

"  Tschirikow  came  upon  the  same  coast  about  2°  30'  farther  south  than  Beh- 
ring, near  the  Mount  Edgecumbe  of  Captain  Cook. 

"  With  regard  to  Krenitzin,  we  learn  from  Coxe's  Account  of  the  Russian 
Discoveries,  that  he  sailed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kamtchatka  river  with  twe 
ships  in  the  year  1768.  With  his  own  ship  he  reached  the  island  of  Oonolashka, 
in  which  there  had  been  a  Russian  settlement  since  the  year  1762,  where  he 
wintered  probably  in  the  same  harbour  or  bay  where  Captain  Cook  afterwards 
anchored.  The  other  ship  wintered  at  Alashka,  which  was  supposed  to  be  an 
island,  though  it  be  in  fact  a  part  of  the  American  continent.  Krenitzin 
accordingly  returned  without  knowing  that  either  of  his  ships  had  been  on  the 
coast  of  America  ;  and  this  is  the  more  surprising,  because  Captain  Cook  has 
informed  us  that  Alashka  is  understood  to  be  a  great  continent,  both  by  the 
Russians  and  the  natives  at  Oonolashka. 

"  According  to  Krenitzin,  the  ship  which  had  wintered  at  Alashka  had  hardly 
sailed  30°  to  the  eastward  of  the  harbour  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  Kamt- 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  469 

chatka ;  out,  according  to  the  more  accurate  charts  of  Captain  Cook,  it  had 
sailed  no  less  than  37°  17'  to  the  eastward  of  that  harbour.  There  is  nearly 
the  same  mistake  of  5°  in  the  longitude  which  Krenitzin  assigns  to  Oonolashka. 
It  is  remarkable  enough,  that  in  the  chart  of  those  seas,  put  into  the  hand  of 
Captain  Cook  by  the  Russians  on  that  island,  there  was  an  error  of  the  same 
kind,  and  very  nearly  of  the  same  extent. 

"  But  what  is  of  most  consequence  to  be  remarked  on  the  subject  is,  that 
the  discoveries  of  Captain  Cook  have  fully  verified  Dr.  Robertson's  conjecture 
•  that  it  is  probable  that  future  navigators  in  those  seas,  by  steering  farther 
to  the  north  than  Behring  and  Tschirikow  or  Krenitzin  had  done,  may  find 
that  the  continent  of  America  approaches  still  nearer  to  that  of  Asia.'  See  p. 
134.  It  has  accordingly  been  found  that  these  two  continents,  which,  in  the 
parallel  of  55°,  or  that  of  the  southern  extremity  of  Alashka,  are  about  four 
hundred  leagues  asunder,  approach  continually  to  one  another  as  they  stretch 
together  toward  the  north,  until,  within  less  than  a  degree  from  the  polar  circle, 
they  are  terminated  by  two  capes  only  thirteen  leagues  distant.  The  east  cape 
of  Asia  is  in  latitude  66°  6'  and  in  longitude  190°  S2f  east  from  Greenwich ;  the 
western  extremity  of  America,  or  Prince  of  Wales'  Cape,  is  in  latitude  65°  46', 
and  in  longitude  191°  45'.  Nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  narrow  strait  (Behring's 
Strait)  which  separates  these  capes,  are  the  two  islands  of  St.  Diomede,  from 
which  both  continents  may  be  seen.  Captain  King  informs  us,  that  as  he 
was  sailing  through  this  strait,  July  5,  1779,  the  fog  having  cleared  away,  he 
enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  from  the  ship  the  continents  of  Asia  and 
America  at  the  same  moment,  together  with  the  islands  of  St.  Diomede  lying 
between  them.  Cook's  Voy.  vol.  iii.  p.  244. 

"  Beyond  this  point  the  strait  opens  towards  the  Arctic  Sea,  and  the  coasts 
of  Asia  and  America  diverge  so  fast  from  one  another,  that  in  the  parallel  of 
69°  they  are  more  than-  one  hundred  leagues  asunder.  Ib.  p.  277.  To  the 
couth  of  the  strait  there  are  a  number  of  islands,  Clerk's,  King's,  Anderson's, 
&c.,  which,  as  well  as  those  of  St.  Diomede,  may  have  facilitated  the  migra- 
tions of  the  natives  from  the  one  continent  to  the  other.  Captain  Cook, 
however,  on  the  authority  of  the  Russians  at  Oonolashka,  and  for  other  good 
reasons,  has  diminished  the  number  of  islands  which  had  been  inserted  in 
former  charts  of  the  northern  Archipelago.  He  has  also  placed  Alashka,  or 
the  promontory  which  stretches  from  the  continent  of  America  S.  W.  towards 
Kamtchatka,  at  the  distance  of  five  degrees  of  longitude  farther  from  the  coast 
of  Asia  than  it  was  reckoned  by  the  Russian  navigators. 

"  The  geography  of  the  Old  and  New  World  is  therefore  equally  indebted  to 
the  discoveries  made  in  this  memorable  voyage  ;  and  as  many  errors  have  been 
corrected,  and  many  deficiencies  supplied,  by  means  of  these  discoveries,  so  the 
accuracy  of  some  former  observations  has  been  established.  The  basis  of  the 
map  of  the  Russian  empire,  as  far  as  regarded  Kamtchatka,  and  the  country  of 
the  Tschutzki,  was  the  position  of  four  places,  Yakutsh,  Ochotz,  Bolcheresk,  and 
Petropawlowski,  which  had  been  determined  by  the  astronomer  Krassilnicow  in 
the  year  1744.  Nov.  Comment.  Petrop.  vol.  iii.  p.  465,  &c.  But  the  accuracy  of 
his  observations  was  contested  byM.Engel,  and  M.  Robert  de  Vaugondy;  Coxe, 
Append,  i.  No.  2.  p.  267. 272.  and  the  former  of  these  geographers  ventured  to  take 
away  no  less  than  28  degrees  from  the  longitude,  which,  on  the  faith  of  Kras- 
silnicow's  observations,  was  assigned  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Russian 
empire.  With  how  little  reason  this  was  done,  will  appear  from  considering 
that  our  British  navigators,  having  determined  the  position  of  Petropawlowski 
by  a  great  number  of  very  accurate  observations,  found  the  longitude  of  that 
port  158°  43'  E.  from  Greenwich,  and  its  latitude  53°  I1 ;  agreeing,  the  first  to 
less  than  seven  minutes,  and  the  second  to  less  than  half  a  minute,  with  the 
calculations  of  the  Russian  astronomer :  a  coincidence  which,  in  the  situation 
of  so  remote  a  place,  does  not  leave  an  uncertainty  of  more  than  four  English 
miles,  and  which,  for  the  credit  of  science,  deserves  to  be  particularly  remarked. 
The  chief  error  in  the  Russian  maps  has  been  in  not  extending  the  boundaries 
of  that  empire  sufficiently  towards  the  east.  For  as  there  was  nothing  to  con- 
nect the  land  of  the  Tschulzki  and  the  north-east  point  of  Asia  with  those 
places  whereof  the  position  had  been  carefully  ascertained,  except  the  imperfect 
accounts  of  Behring's  and  Synd's  voyages,  considerable  errors  could  not  fail  to 


470  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

be  introduced,  and  that  point  was  laid  down  as  not  more  than  23°  2'  east  of 
the  meridian  of  Petropawlowski.  Coxe,  App.  i.  No.  2.  By  the  observationa 
of  Captain  King,  the  difference  of  longitude  between  Petropawlowski  and  the 
East  Cape  is  31°  9' ;  that  is  8°  1'  greater  than  it  was  supposed  to  be  by  the 
Russian  geographers." — It  appears  from  Cook's  and  King's  Voy.  iii.  p.  272, 
that  the  continents  of  Asia  and  America  are  usually  joined  together  by  ice 
during  winter.  Mr.  Sam  well  confirms  this  account  of  his  superior  officer. 
«  At  this  place,  viz.  near  the  latitude  of  66°  N.  the  two  coasts  are  only  thirteen 
leagues  asunder,  and  about  midway  between  them  lie  two  islands,  the  distance 
from  each  to  either  shore  is  short  of  twenty  miles.  At  this  place  the  natives 
of  Asia  could  find  no  difficulty  in  passing  over  to  the  opposite  coast,  which 
is  in  sight  of  their  own.  That  in  a  course  of  years  such  an  event  would  happen, 
either  through  design  or  accident,  cannot  admit  of  a  doubt.  The  canoes  which 
we  saw  among  the  Tschutzki  were  capable  of  performing  a  much  longer  voyage ; 
and,  however  rude  they  may  have  been  at  some  distant  period,  we  can  scarcely 
suppose  them  unequal  to  a  passage  of  six  or  seven  leagues.  People  might 
have  been  carried  over  by  accident  on  floating  pieces  of  ice.  They  might 
also  have  travelled  across  on  sledges  or  on  foot ;  for  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  strait  is  entirely  frozen  over  in  the  winter  ;  so  that,  during  that  season, 
the  continents,  with  respect  to  the  communication  between  them,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  one  land."  Letter  from  Mr.  Samwell,  Scot's  Magazine  for  1788,  p. 
604.  It  is  probable  that  this  interesting  portion  of  geographical  knowledge 
will,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  receive  farther  improvement.  Soon  after 
the  publication  of  Captain  Cook's  last  voyage,  the  great  and  enlightened 
Sovereign  of  Russia,  attentive  to  every  thing  that  may  contribute  to  extend 
the  bounds  of  science,  or  to  render  it  more  accurate,  formed  the  plan  of  a  new 
voyage  of  discovery,  in  order  to  explore  those  parts  of  the  ocean  lying  between 
Asia  and  America,  which  Captain  Cook  did  not  visit,  to  examine  more  accu- 
rately the  islands  which  stretch  from  one  continent  almost  to  the  other,  to  sur- 
vey the  north-east  coast  of  the  Russian  empire,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kovyma, 
or  Kolyma,  to  the  North  Cape,  and  to  settle,  by  astronomical  observations,  the 
position  of  each  place  worth  notice.  The  conduct  of  this  important  enterprise 
is  committed  to  Captain  Billings,  an  English  officer  in  the  Russian  service,  of 
whose  abilities  for  that  station  it  will  be  deemed  the  best  evidence,  that  he 
accompanied  Captain  Cook  in  his  last  voyage.  To  render  the  expedition  more 
extensively  useful,  an  eminent  naturalist  is  appointed  to  attend  Captain  Billings. 
Six  years  will  be  requisite  for  accomplishing  the  purposes  of  the  voyage. 
Coxe's  Supplement  to  Russian  Discoveries,  p.  27,  &c. 

NOTE  [44].  PAGE  141. 

FEW  travellers  have  had  such  opportunity  of  observing  the  natives  of  Am& 
rica,  in  its  various  districts,  as  Don  Antonio  Ulloa.  In  a  work  lately  published 
by  him,  he  thus  describes  the  characteristical  features  of  the  race:  "A  very 
small  forehead,  covered  with  hair  towards  its  extremities,  as  far  as  the  middle 
of  the  eye-brows  4  little  eyes ;  a  thin  nose,  small  and  bending  towards  the 
upper  lip  ;  the  countenance  broad  ;  the  ears  large ;  the  hair  very  black,  lank, 
and  coarse  ;  the  limbs  well  turned,  the  feet  small,  the  body  of  just  proportion  ; 
and  altogether  smooth  and  free  from  hair,  until  old  age,  when  they  acquire 
some  beard,  but  never  on  the  cheeks."  Noticias  Americanas,  &c.  p.  307.  M. 
le  Chevalier  de  Pinto,  who  resided  several  years  in  a  part  of  America  which 
Ulloa  never  visited,  gives  a  sketch  of  the  general  aspect  of  the  Indians  there. 
"  They  are  all  of  copper  colour  with  some  diversity  of  shade,  not  in  proportion 
to  their  distance  from  the  equator,  but  according  to  the  degree  of  elevation  of 
the  territory  which  they  inhabit.  Those  who  live  in  a  high  country  are  fairer 
than  those  in  the  marshy  low  lands,  on  the  coast.  Their  face  is  round,  further 
removed,  perhaps,  than  that  of  any  people  from  an  oval  shape.  Their  forehead 
is  small,  the  extremity  of  their  ears  far  from  the  face,  their  lips  thick,  their  nose 
flat,  their  eyes  black,  or  of  a  chesnut  colour,  small,  but  capable  of  discerning 
objects  at  a  great  distance.  Their  hair  is  always  thick  and  sleek,  and  without 
any  tendency  to  curl.  They  have  no  hair  on  any  part  of  their  body  but  the 
head.  At  the  first  aspect  a  southern  American  appears  to  be  mild  and  innocent. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  471 

but  on  a  more  attentive  view,  one  discovers  in  his  countenance  something  wild, 
distrustful,  and  sullen."  MS.  penes  me.  The  two  portraits  drawn  by  hands 
very  different  from  those  of  common  travellers,  have  a  near  resemblance. 

NOTE  [45].  PAGE  141. 

AMAZING  accounts  are  given  of  the  persevering  speed  of  the  Americans. 
Adair  relates  the  adventures  of  a  Chikkasah  warrior,  who  ran  through  woods 
and  over  mountains,  three  hundred  computed  miles,  in  a  day  and  a  half  and 
two  nights.  Hist,  of  Amer.  Ind.  396. 

NOTE  [46].  PAGE  143 

M.  Groom  LE  JEUNE,  who  resided  fifteen  years  among  the  Indians  of  Peru 
and  Quito,  and  twenty  years  in  the  French  colony  of  Cayenne,  in  which  there 
is  a  constant  intercourse  with  the  Galibis  and  other  tribes  on  the  Oronoco,  ob- 
serves, that  the  vigour  of  constitution  among  the  Americans  is  exactly  in  pro- 
portion to  their  habits  of  labour.  The  Indians  in  warm  climates,  such  as  those 
on  the  coasts  of  the  South  Sea,  on  the  river  of  Amazons,  and  the  river  Orinoco, 
are  not  to  be  compared  for  strength  with  those  in  cold  countries ;  and  yet,  says 
he,  boats  daily  set  out  from  Para,  a  Portuguese  settlement  on  the  river  of  Ama- 
zons, to  ascend  that  river  against  the  rapidity  of  the  stream,  and  with  the  same 
crew  they  proceed  to  San  Pablo,  which  is  eight  hundred  leagues  distant.  No 
crew  of  white  people,  or  even  of  Negroes,  would  be  found  equal  to  a  task  of 
such  persevering  fatigue,  as  the  Portuguese  have  experienced ;  and  yet  the 
Indians  being  accustomed  to  this  labour  from  their  infancy,  perform  it.  MS. 
penes  me. 

NOTE  [47].  PAGE  145. 

DON  ANTONIA  ULLOA,  who  visited  a  great  part  of  Peru  and  Chili,  the  king- 
dom of  New  Granada,  and  several  of  the  provinces  bordering  on  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  while  employed  in  the  same  service  with  the  French  Mathematicians 
during  the  space  of  ten  years,  and  who  afterwards  had  an  opportunity  of 
viewing  the  North  Americans,  asserts  "  that  if  we  have  seen  one  American, 
we  may  be  said  to  have  seen  them  all,  their  colour  and  make  are  so  nearly  the 
same."  Notic.  Americanas,  p.  328.  A  more  early  observer,  Pedro  de  Cieca 
de  Leon,  one  of  the  conquerors  of  Peru,  who  had  likewise  traversed  many 
provinces  of  America,  affirms  that  the  people,  men  and  women,  although  there 
is  such  a  multitude  of  tribes  or  nations  as  to  be  almost  innumerable,  and  such 
diversity  of  climates,  appear  nevertheless  like  the  children  of  one  father  and 
mother.  Chronica  del'  Peru,  parte  i.  c.  19.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a  certain  com- 
bination of  features,  and  peculiarity  of  aspect,  Which  forms  what  may  be  called 
a  European  or  Asiatic  countenance.  There  must  likewise  be  one  that  may  be 
denominated  American,  common  to  the  whole  race.  This  may  be  supposed  to 
strike  the  traveller  at  first  sight,  while  not  only  the  various  shades,  which  dis- 
tinguish people  of  different  regions,  but  the  peculiar  features  which  discriminate 
individuals,  escape  the  notice  of  a  transient  observer.  But  when  persons  who 
had  resided  so  long  among  the  Americans  concur  in  bearing  testimony  to  the 
similarity  of  their  appearance  in  every  climate,  we  may  conclude  that  it  is 
more  remarkable  than  that  of  any  other  race.  See  likewise  Garcia  Origen  de 
los  Indies,  p.  54.  242.  Torquemada  Monarch.  Indiana,  ii.  571. 

NOTE  [48].  PAGE  146. 

M.  LE  CHEVALIER  DE  PINTO  observes,  that  in  the  interior  parts  of  Brazil,  he 
had  been  informed  that  some  persons  resembling  the  white  people  of  Darien 
had  been  found  ;  but  that  the  breed  did  not  continue,  and  their  children  became 
like  other  Americans.  This  race,  however,  is  very  imperfectly  known.  MS. 
penes  me. 


472  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NOTE  [49].  PAGE  147. 

THE  testimonies  of  different  travellers,  concerning  the  Patagonians,  have 
been  collected  and  stated  with  a  considerable  degree  of  accuracy  by  the  author 
of  Recherches  Philosophiques,  &c.  torn.  i.  281,  &c.  iii.  181,  &c.  Since  the 
publication  of  his  work,  several  navigators  have  visited  the  Magellanic  regions, 
and  like  their  predecessors,  differ  very  widely  in  their  accounts  of  its  inhabitants. 
By  Commodore  Byron  and  his  crew,  who  sailed  through  the  Straits  in  1764, 
the  common  size  of  the  Patagonians  was  estimated  to  be  eight  feet,  and  many 
of  them  much  taller.  Phil.  Transact,  vol.  Ivii.  p.  78.  By  Captains  Wallis  and 
Carteret,  who  actually  measured  them  in  1766,  they  were  found  to  be  from  six 
feet  to  six  feet  five  and  seven  inches  in  height.  Phil.  Trans,  vol.  he.  p.  22. 
These,  however,  seem  to  have  been  the  very  people  whose  size  had  been  rated 
so  high  in  the  year  1764 ;  for  several  of  them  had  beads  and  red  baize  of  the 
same  kind  with  what  had  been  put  on  board  Captain  Wallis's  ship,  and  he 
naturally  concluded  that  they  had  got  these  from  Mr.  Byron.  Hawkesw.  i. 
In  1767  they  were  again  measured  by  M.  Bougainville,  whose  account  differs 
little  from  that  of  Captain  Wallis.  Voy.  129.  To  these  I  shall  add  a  testi- 
mony of  great  weight.  In  the  year  1762,  Don  Bernardo  Ibegnez  de  Echavarri 
accompanied  the  Marquis  de  Valdelirios  to  Buenos  Ayres,  and  resided  there 
several  years.  He  is  a  very  intelligent  author,  and  his  reputation  for  veracity 
unimpeached  among  his  countrymen.  In  speaking  of  the  country  towards  the 
southern  extremity  of  America,  "  By  what  Indians,"  says  he,  "  is  it  possessed  ? 
Not  certainly  by  the  fabulous  Patagonians  who  are  supposed  to  occupy  this 
district.  I  have  from  many  eye-witnesses,  who  have  lived  among  those  Indians, 
and  traded  much  with  them,  a  true  and  accurate  description  of  their  persons. 
They  are  of  the  same  stature  with  the  Spaniards.  I  never  saw  one  who  rose 
in  height  two  varas  and  two  or  three  inches,"  i.  e.  about  80  or  81-332  inches 
English,  if  Echavarri  makes  his  computation  according  to  the  vara  of  Madrid. 
This  agrees  nearly  with  the  measurement  of  Captain  Wallis.  Reyno  Jesuitico, 
238.  Mr.  Falkner,  who  resided  as  a  missionary  forty  years  in  the  southern 
parts  of  America,  says  that  "  the  Patagonians,  or  Puelches,  are  a  large  bodied 
people  ;  but  I  never  heard  of  that  gigantic  race  which  others  have  mentioned, 
though  I  have  seen  persons  of  all  the  different  tribes  of  southern  Indians." 
Introd.  p.  26.  M.  Dobrizhoffer,  a  Jesuit,  who  resided  eighteen  years  in  Para- 
guay, and  who  had  seen  great  numbers  of  the  various  tribes  which  inhabit  the 
countries  situated  upon  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  confirms,  in  every  point,  the 
testimony  of  his  brother  missionary  Falkner.  Dobrizhoffer  enters  into  some 
detail  with  respect  to  the  opinions  of  several  authors  concerning  the  stature  of 
the  Patagonians.  Having  mentioned  the  reports  of  some  early  travellers  with 
regard  to  the  extraordinary  size  of  some  bones  found  on  that  coast  which  were 
supposed  to  be  human ;  and  having  endeavoured  to  show  that  these  bones 
belonged  to  some  large  marine  or  land  animal,  he  concludes,  "  de  hisce  ossibus 
crede  quicquid  libuerit,  dummodo,  me  suasore,  Patagones  pro  gigantibus  desinas 
habere."  Hist,  de  Abissonibus,  vol.  ii.  p.  19,  &c. 

NOTE  [50].  PAGE  149 

ANTONIO  SANCHES  RIBEIRO,  a  learned  and  ingenious  physician,  published  a 
dissertation  in  the  year  1765,  in  which  he  endeavours  to  prove  that  this  disease 
•was  not  introduced  from  America,  but  took  its  rise  in  Europe,  and  was  brought 
on  by  an  epidemical  and  malignant  disorder.  Did  I  choose  to  enter  into  a  dis- 
quisition on  this  subject,  which  I  should  not  have  mentioned  if  it  had  not  been 
intimately  connected  with  this  part  of  my  inquiries,  it  would  not  bo  difficult  to 
point  out  some  mistakes  with  respect  to  the  facts  upon  which  he  founds,  as 
well  as  some  errors  in  the  consequences  which  he  draws  from  them.  The  rapid 
communication  of  this  disease  from  Spain  over  Europe,  seems  however  to 
resemble  the  progress  of  an  epidemic,  rather  than  that  of  a  disease  transmitted 
by  infection.  The  first  mention  of  it  is  in  the  year  1493,  and  before  the  year 
1497,  it  had  made  its  appearance  in  most  countries  of  Europe, with  such  alarming 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  473 

symptoms  as  rendered  it  necessary  for  the  civil  magistrate  to  interpose,  in  order 
to  check  its  career. — Since  the  publication  of  this  work,  a  second  edition  of 
Dr.  Sanchez's  Dissertation  has  been  communicated  to  me.  It  contains  several 
additional  facts  in  confirmation  of  his  opinion,  which  is  supported  with  such 
plausible  arguments,  as  render  it  a  subject  of  inquiry  well  deserving  the  atten- 
tion of  learned  physicians. 

NOTE  [51].  PAGE  150. 

THE  people  of  Otaheite  have  no  denomination  for  any  number  above  two 
hundred,  which  is  sufficient  for  their  transactions.    Voyages  by  Hawkesworth, 


NOTE  [52].  PAGE  152. 

As  the  view  which  I  have  given  of  rude  nations  is  extremely  different  from 
that  exhibited  by  very  respectable  authors,  it  may  be  proper  to  produce  some  of 
the  many  authorities  on  which  I  found  my  description.  The  manners  of  the 
savage  tribes  in  America  have  never  been  viewed  by  persons  more  capable  of 
observing  them  with  discernment,  than  the  philosophers  employed  by  France 
and  Spain,  in  the  year  1735,  to  determine  the  figure  of  the  earth.  M.  Bouguer, 
D.  Antonio  d''Ulloa,  and  D.  Jorge  Juan,  resided  long  among  the  natives  of  the 
least  civilized  provinces  in  Peru.  M.  de  la  Condamine  had  not  only  the  same 
advantages  with  them  for  observation,  but,  in  his  voyage  down  the  Maragnon, 
he  had  an  opportunity  of  inspecting  the  state  of  the  various  nations  seated  on 
its  banks,  in  its  vast  course  across  the  continent  of  South  America.  There  is  a 
wonderful  resemblance  in  their  representation  of  the  character  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. "  They  are  all  extremely  indolent,"  says  M  Bouguer,  u  they  are  stupid ; 
they  pass  whole  days  sitting  in  the  same  place,  without  moving,  or  speaking  a 
single  word.  It  is  not  easy  to  describe  the  degree  of  their  indifference  for 
wealth,  and  all  its  advantages.  One  does  not  well  know  what  motive  to  pro- 
pose to  them,  when  one  would  persuade  them  to  perform  any  service.  It  is 
vain  to  offer  them  money;  they  answer,  that  they  are  not  hungry."  Voyage 
au  Perou,  p.  102.  "  If  one  considers  them  as  men,  the  narrowness  of  their 
understanding  seems  to  be  incompatible  with  the  excellence  of  the  soul.  Their 
imbecility  is  so  visible  that  one  can  hardly  form  an  idea  of  them  different  from 
what  one  has  of  the  brutes.  Nothing  disturbs  the  tranquillity  of  their  souls, 
equally  insensible  to  disasters  and  to  prosperity.  Though  half  naked,  they 
are  as  contented  as  a  monarch  in  his  most  splendid  array.  Riches  do  not 
attract  them  in  the  smallest  degree,  and  the  authority  of  dignities  to  which 
they  may  aspire  are  so  little  the  objects  of  their  ambition,  that  an  Indian  will 
receive  with  the  same  indifference  the  office  of  a  judge  (Alcade)  or  that  of  a 
hangman,  if  deprived  of  the  former  and  appointed  to  the  latter.  Nothing  can 
move  or  change  them.  Interest  has  no  power  over  them,  and  they  often  refuse 
to  perform  a  small  service,  though  certain  of  a  great  recompense.  Fear  makes 
no  impression  upon  them,  and  respect  as  little.  Their  disposition  is  so  singular 
that  there  is  no  method  of  influencing  them,  no  means  of  rousing  them  from 
that  indifference  which  is  proof  against  all  the  endeavours  of  the  wisest  persons ; 
no  expedient  which  can  induce  them  to  abandon  that  gross  ignorance,  or  lay 
aside  that  careless  negligence  which  disconcert  the  prudence  and  disappoint 
the  care  of  such  as  are  attentive  to  their  welfare."  Voyage  d'Ulloa,  torn.  i. 
335.  356.  Of  those  singular  qualities  he  produces  many  extraordinary  instances, 
p.  336—347.  "Insensibility,"  says  M.  de  la  Condamine,  "is  the  basis  of  the 
American  character.  I  leave  others  to  determine,  whether  this  should  be  dig- 
nified with  the  name  of  apathy,  or  disgraced  with  that  of  stupidity.  It  arises, 
without  doubt,  from  the  small  number  of  their  ideas,  which  do  not  extend 
beyond  their  wants.  Gluttons  even  to  voracity,  when  they  have  wherewithal 
to  satisfy  their  appetite.  Temperate,  when  necessity  obliges  them,  to  such  a 
degree,  that  they  can  endure  want  without  seeming  to  desire  any  thing.  Pusil- 
lanimous and  cowardly  to  excess,  unless  when  they  are  rendered  desperate  by 
drunkenness.  Averse  to  labour,  indifferent  to  every  motive  of  glory,  honour, 
or  gratitude ;  occupied  entirely  by  the  object  that  is  presnut.  and  always  de- 
VOL.  I.-60  22 


474  NOTES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ternlined  by  it  alone,  without  any  solicitude  about  futurity;  incapable  of  for<*« 
sight  or  ot  reflection;  abandoning  themselves  when  under  no  restraint,  to  a 
puerile  joy,  which  they  express  by  frisking  about  and  immoderate  fits  of  laugh- 
ter ;  without  object  or  design,  they  pass  their  life  without  thinking,  and  grow 
old  without  advancing  beyond  childhood,  of  which  they  retain  all  the  defects. 
If  this  description  were  applicable  only  to  the  Indians  in  some  provinces  of 
Peru,  who  are  slaves  in  every  respect  but  the  name,  one  might  believe,  that  this 
degree  of  degeneracy  was  occasioned  by  the  servile  dependence  to  which  they 
are  reduced  ;  the  example  of  the  modern  Greeks  being  proof  how  far  servitude 
may  degrade  the  human  species.    But  the  Indians  in  the  missions  of  the  Jesuits, 
and  the  savages  who  still  enjoy  unimpaired  liberty,  being  as  limited  in  their 
faculties,  not  to  say  as  stupid,  as  the  other,  one  cannot  observe  without  humilia- 
tion, that  man,  when  abandoned  to  simple  nature,  and  deprived  of  the  ad- 
vantages resulting  from  education  and  society,  differs  but  little  from  the  brute 
creation."     Voyage  de  la  Riv.  de  Amaz.  52,  53.     M.  de  Chanvalon,  an  intelli- 
gent and  philosophical  observer,  who  visited  Martinico  in  1751,  and  resided 
there  six  years,  gives  the  following  description  of  the  Caraibs :  "  It  is  not  the 
red  colour  of  their  complexion,  it  is  not  the  singularity  of  their  features,  which 
constitutes  the  chief  difference  between  them  and  us.     It  is  their  excessive  sim- 
plicity :  it  is  the  limited  degree  of  their  faculties.     Their  reason  is  not  more 
enlightened  or  more  provident  than  the  instinct  of  brutes.     The  reason  of  the 
most  gross  peasants,  that  of  the  negroes  brought  up  in  the  parts  of  Africa 
most  remote  from  intercourse  with  Europeans,  is  such,  that  we  discover  ap- 
pearances of  intelligence,  which,  though  imperfect,  is  capable  of  increase.     But 
of  this  the  understanding  of  the  Caraibs  seems  to  be  hardly  susceptible.    If 
sound  philosophy  and  religion  did  not  afford  us  their  light,  if  we  were  to  decide 
according  to  the  first  impression  which  the  view  of  that  people  makes  upon 
the  mind,  we  should  be  disposed  to  believe  that  they  do  not  belong  to  the  sam* 
species  with  us.     Their  stupid  eyes  are  the  true  mirror  of  their  souls ;  it  appears 
to  be  without  functions.     Their  indolence  is  extreme ;  they  have  never  the 
least  solicitude  about  the  moment  which  is  to  succeed  that  which  is  present." 
Voyage  a  la  Martinique,  p.  44,  45.  51.    M.  de  la  Borde,  Tertre,  and  Rochefort, 
confirm  this  description.    "  The  characteristics  of  the  Californians,"  says  P. 
Venegas,  "  as  well  as  of  all  other  Indians,  are  stupidity  and  insensibility ;  want 
of  knowledge  and  reflection  ;  inconstancy,  impetuosity,  and  blindness  of  appe- 
tite ;  an  excessive  sloth,  and  abhorrence  of  all  labour  and  fatigue  ;  an  excessive 
love  of  pleasure  and  amusement  of  every  kind,  however  trifling  or  brutal ; 
pusillanimity ;  and,  in  fine,  a  most  wretched  want  of  every  thing  which  con- 
stitutes the  real  man,  and  renders  him  rational,  inventive,  tractable,  and  useful 
to  himself  and  society.     It  is  not  easy  for  Europeans,  who  never  were  out  of 
their  own  country,  to  conceive  an  adequate  idea  of  those  people  ;  for,  even  in 
the  least  frequented  corners  of  the  globe,  there  is  not  a  nation  so  stupid,  of 
such  contracted  ideas,  and  so  weak  both  in  body  and  mind,  as  the  unhappy 
Californians.     Their  understanding  comprehends  little  more  than  what  they 
see ;  abstract  ideas,  and  much  less  a  chain  of  reasoning,  being  far  beyond  their 
power ;  so  that  they  scarce  ever  improve  their  first  ideas,  and  these  are  in 
general  false,  or  at  least  inadequate.     It  is  in  vain  to  represent  to  them  any 
future  advantages  which  will  result  to  them  from  doing  or  abstaining  from 
this  or  that  particular  immediately  present ;  the  relation  of  means  and  ends 
being  beyond  the  stretch  of  their  faculties.     Nor  have  they  the  least  notion  of 
pursuing  such  intentions  as  will  procure  themselves  some  future  good,  or  guard 
them  against  future  evils.     Their  will  is  proportional  to  their  faculties,  and  all 
their  passions  move  in  a  very  narrow  sphere.     Ambition  they  have  none,  and 
are  more  desirous  of  being  accounted  strong  than  valiant.     The  objects  of 
ambition  with  us,  honour,  fame,  reputation,  titles,  posts,  and  distinctions  of 
superiority,  are  unknown  among  them ;  so  that  this  powerful  spring  of  action, 
the  cause  of  so  much  seeming  good  and  real  evil  in  the  world,  has  na  power 
here.    This  disposition  of  mind,  as  it  gives  them  up  to  an  amazing  languor  and 
lassitude,  their  lives  fleeting  away  in  a  perpetual  inactivity  and  detestation  of 
labour,  so  it  likewise  induces  them  to  be  attracted  by  the  first  object  which  their 
own  fancy,  or  the  persuasion  of  another,  places  before  them ;  and  at  the  same 
time  renders  them  as  prone  to  alter  their  resolutions  with  the  same  facility. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  475 

They  look  with  indifference  upon  any  kindness  done  them;  nor  is  even  the 
bare"  remembrance  of  it  to  bo  expected  from  them.  In  a  word,  the  unhappy 
mortals  may  be  compared  to  children,  in  whom  the  developement  of  reason  is 
not  completed.  They  may  indeed  be  called  a  nation  who  never  arrive  at  man- 
hood." Hist,  of  California,  English  Transl.  i.  64.  67.  Mr.  Ellis  gives  a  similar 
account  of  the  want  of  foresight  and  inconsiderate  disposition  of  the  people 
adjacent  to  Hudson's  Bay.  Voyage,  p.  194, 195. 

The  incapacity  of  the  Americans  is  so  remarkable,  that  negroes  from  all  the 
different  provinces  of  Africa  are  observed  to  be  more  capable  of  improving  by 
instruction.  They  acquire  the  knowledge  of  several  particulars  which  the 
Americans  cannot  comprehend.  Hence  the  negroes,  though  slaves,  value  them- 
selves as  a  superior  order  of  beings,  and  look  down  upon  the  Americans  with 
contempt,  as  void  of  capacity  and  of  rational  discernment.  Ulloa  Notic. 
Americ.  322,  323. 

NOTE  [53].  PAGE  155. 

DOBRIZHOFFER,  the  last  traveller  I  know  who  has  resided  among  any  tribe  of 
the  ruder  Americans,  has  explained  so  fully  the  various  reasons  which  have 
induced  their  women  to  suckle  their  children  long,  and  never  to  undertake 
rearing  such  as  were  feeble  or  distorted,  and  even  to  destroy  a  considerable 
number  of  their  offspring,  as  to  throw  great  light  on  the  observations  I  have 
made,  p.  144.  154.  Hist,  de  Abissonibus,  vol.  ii.  p.  107.  221.  So  deeply  were 
these  ideas  imprinted  in  the  minds  of  the  Americans,  that  the  Peruvians,  a 
civilized  people  when  compared  with  the  barbarous  tribes  whose  manners  I  am 
describing,  retained  them  ;  and  even  their  intercourse  with  the  Spaniards  has 
not  been  able  to  root  them  out.  When  twins  are  born  in  any  family,  it  is  still 
considered  as  an  ominous  event,  and  the  parents  have  recourse  to  rigorous  acts 
of  mortification,  in  order  to  avert  the  calamities  with  which  they  are  threatened. 
When  a  child  is  born  with  any  deformity,  they  will  not,  if  they  can  possibly 
avoid  it,  bring  it  to  be  baptised,  and  it  is  with  difficulty  they  can  be  brought  to 
rear  it.  Arriaga  Extirpac.  de  la  Idolat.  del  Peru,  p.  32,  33. 

NOTE  [54].  PAGE  156. 

THE  number  of  the  fish  in  the  rivers  of  South  America  is  so  extraordinary 
as  to  merit  particular  notice.  "  In  the  Maragnon  (says  P.  Acugna,)  fish  are 
so  plentiful,  that,  without  any  art,  they  may  take  them  with  the  hands."  p.  138. 
"  In  the  Orinoco  (says  P.  Gumilla,)  besides  an  infinite  variety  of  other  fish, 
tortoise  or  turtle  abound  in  such  numbers,  that  I  cannot  find  words  to  express 
it.  I  doubt  not  but  that  such  as  read  my  account  will  accuse  me  of  exaggera- 
tion :  but  I  can  affirm  that  it  is  as  difficult  to  count  them  as  to  count  the  sands 
on  the  banks  of  that  river.  One  may  judge  of  their  number  by  the  amazing 
consumption  of  them ;  for  all  the  nations  contiguous  to  the  river,  and  even 
many  who  are  at  a  distance,  flock  thither  at  the  season  of  breeding,  and  not 
only  find  sustenance  during  that  time,  but  carry  off  great  numbers  both  of  the 
turtles  and  of  their  eggs,"  &c.  Hist,  de  1'Orenoque,  ii.  c.  22.  p.  59.  M.  de  la 
Condamine  confirms  their  accounts,  p.  159. 

NOTE  [55].  PAGE  156. 

Piso  describes  two  of  these  plants,  the  Cururuape  and  the  Guajana-Timbo. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  though  they  have  this  fatal  effect  upon  fishes,  they  are 
so  far  from  being  noxious  to  the  human  species,  that  they  are  used  in  medicine 
with  success.  Piso,  lib.  iv.  c.  88.  Bancroft  mentions  another,  the  Hiarree,  a 
small  quantity  of  which  is  sufficient  to  inebriate  all  the  fish  to  a  considerable 
distance,  so  that  in  a  few  minutes  they  float  motionless  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  and  are  taken  with  ease.  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  p.  106. 

NOTE  [56].  PAGE  157. 

REMARKABLE  instances  occur  of  the  calamities  which  rude  nations  suffer  by 
famine.  Alvar  Nugnez  Cabeca  de  Vaca,  one  of  the  most  gallant  and  virtuous 


476  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

of  the  Spanish  adventurers,  resided  almost  nine  years  among  the  savages  of 
Florida.  They  were  unacquainted  with  every  species  of  agriculture.  Their 
subsistence  was  poor  and  precarious.  "They  live  chiefly  (says  he)  upon  roots 
of  different  plants,  which  they  procure  with  great  difficulty,  wandering  from 
place  to  place  in  search  of  them.  Sometimes  they  kill  game,  sometimes  they 
catch  fish,  but  in  such  small  quantities,  that  their  hunger  is  so  extreme  as  com- 
pels them  to  eat  spiders,  the  eggs  of  ants,  worms,  lizards,  serpents,  a  kind  of 
unctuous  earth,  and,  I  am  persuaded,  that  if  in  this  country  there  were  stones, 
they  would  swallow  these.  They  preserve  the  bones  of  fishes  and  serpents, 
which  they  grind  into  powder  and  eat.  The  only  season  when  they  do  not 
suffer  much  from  famine,  is  when  a  certain  fruit,  which  he  calls  Tunas,  is  ripe. 
This  is  the  same  with  the  Opuntia,  or  prickly  pear,  of  a  reddish  and  yellow 
colour,  with  a  sweet  insipid  taste.  They  are  sometimes  obliged  to  travel  far 
from  their  usual  place  of  residence  in  order  to  find  them.  Naufragios,  c.  xviii. 
p.  20,  21,  22.  In  another  place  he  observes,  that  they  are  frequently  reduced 
to  pass  two  or  three  days  without  food,  c.  xxiv.  p.  27. 

NOTE  [57].  PAGE  158. 

M.  FERMIN  has  given  an  accurate  description  of  the  two  species  of'  manioc, 
with  an  account  of  its  culture,  to  which  he  has  added  some  experiments,  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  poisonous  qualities  of  the  juice  extracted  from  that 
species  which  he  calls  the  bitter  cassava.  Among  the  Spaniards  it  is  known 
by  the  name  of  Yuca  brava.  Descr.  de  Surin.  torn.  i.  p.  66. 

NOTE  [68].  PAGE  158. 

THE  plantain  is  found  m  Asia  and  Africa,  as  well  as  in  America.  Oviedo 
contends,  that  it  is  not  an  indigenous  plant  of  the  New  World,  but  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Island  of  Hispaniola,  in  the  year  1516,  by  Father  Thomas  de 
Berlanga,  and  that  he  transplanted  it  from  the  Canary  Islands,  whither  the 
original  slips  had  been  brought  from  the  East  Indies.  Oviedo,  lib.  viii.  c.  1. 
But  the  opinion  of  Acosta  and  other  naturalists,  who  reckon  it  an  American 
plant,  seems  to  be  better  founded.  Acosta  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  iv.  21.  It  was  culti- 
vated by  rude  tribes  in  America,  who  had  little  intercourse  with  the  Spaniards, 
and  who  were  destitute  of  that  ingenuity  which  disposes  men  to  borrow  what 
is  useful  from  foreign  nations.  Gumil.  iii.  186.  Wafer's  Voyage,  p.  87. 

NOTE  [59].  PAGE  159. 

IT  is  remarkable  that  Acosta,  one  of  the  most  accurate  and  best  informed 
writers  concerning  the  West  Indies,  affirms  that  maize,  though  cultivated  in  the 
continent,  was  not  known  in  the  islands,  the  inhabitants  of  which  had  none 
but  cassada  bread.  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  iv.  c.  16.  But  P.  Martyr,  in  the  first  book  of 
his  first  Decad,  which  was  written  in  the  year  1493,  upon  the  return  of  Columbus 
from  his  first  voyage,  expressly  mentions  maize  as  a  plant  which  the  islanders 
cultivated,  and  of  which  they  made  bread,  p.  7.  Gomara  likewise  asserts  that 
they  were  acquainted  with  the  culture  of  maize.  Histor.  Gener.  cap.  28. 
Oviedo  describes  maize  without  any  intimation  of  its  being  a  plant  that  was 
not  natural  to  Hispaniola.  Lib.  vii.  c.  1. 

NOTE  [60].  PAGE  161. 

NEW  Holland,  a  country  which  formerly  was  only  known,  has  lately  been 
visited  by  intelligent  observers.  It  lies  in  a  region  of  the  globe  where  it  must 
enjoy  a  very  favourable  climate,  as  it  stretches  from  the  10th  to  the  38th  degree 
of  southern  latitude.  It  is  of  great  extent,  and  from  its  square  form  must  be 
much  more  than  equal  to  all  Europe.  The  people  who  inhabit  the  various 
parts  of  it  appear  to  be  of  one  race.  They  are  evidently  ruder  than  most  of 
the  Americans,  and  have  made  still  less  progress  in  improvement  and  the  arta 
of  life.  There  is  not  the  least  appearance  of  cultivation  in  any  part  of  this 
vast  region.  The  inhabitants  are  extremely  few,  so  that  the  country  appears 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  477 

almost  desolate.  Their  tribes  are  still  more  inconsiderable  than  those  of 
America.  They  depend  for  subsistence  almost  entirely  on  fishing.  They  do 
not  settle  in  one  place,  but  roam  about  in  quest  of  food.  Both  sexes  go  stark 
naked.  Their  habitations,  utensils,  &c.  are  more  simple  and  rude  than  those 
of  the  Americans.  Voyages,  by  Hawkesworth,  iii.  622,  &c.  This,  perhaps, 
is  the  country  where  man  has  been  discovered  in  the  earliest  stage  of  his  pro- 
gress, and  exhibits  a  miserable  specimen  of  his  condition  and  powers  in  that 
uncultivated  state.  If  this  country  shall  be  more  fully  explored  by  future 
navigators,  the  comparison  of  the  manners  of  its  inhabitants  with  those  of  the 
Americans  will  prove  an  instructive  article  in  the  history  of  the  human  species. 

NOTE  [61].  PAGE  161. 

P.  GABRIEL  MAREST,  who  travelled  from  his  station  among  the  Illinois  to 
Michilimackinac,  thus  describes  the  face  of  the  country: — "We  have  marched 
twelve  days  without  meeting  a  single  human  creature.  Sometimes  we  found 
ourselves  in  vast  meadows,  of  which  we  could  not  see  the  boundaries,  through 
which  there  flowed  many  brooks  and  rivers,  but  without  any  path  to  conduct 
us.  Sometimes  we  were  obliged  to  open  a  passage  across  thick  forests,  through 
bushes,  and  underwood  filled  with  briars  and  thorns.  Sometimes  we  had  to 
pass  through  deep  marshes,  in  which  we  sunk  up  to  the  middle.  After  being 
fatigued  through  the  day,  we  had  the  earth  for  our  bed,  or  a  few  leaves,  ex- 
posed to  the  wind,  the  rain,  and  all  the  injuries  of  the  air."  Lettr.  Edifiantes, 
ii.  360.  Dr.  Bicknell,  in  an  excursion  from  North  Carolina  towards  the  moun- 
tains, A.  D.  1730,  travelled  fifteen  days  without  meeting  with  a  human  creature. 
Nat.  Hist,  of  North  Carolina,  389.  Diego  de  Ordas,  in  attempting  to  make  a 
settlement  in  South  America,  A.  D.  1532,  marched  fifty  days  through  a  country 
without  one  inhabitant.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  i.  c.  11. 

NOTE  [62].  PAGE  162. 

I  STRONGLY  suspect  that  a  community  of  goods,  and  an  undivided  store,  are 
known  only  among  the  rudest  tribes  of  hunters ;  and  that  as  soon  as  any  spe- 
cies of  agriculture  or  regular  industry  is  known,  the  idea  of  an  exclusive  right 
of  property  to  the  fruits  of  them  is  introduced.  I  am  confirmed  in  this  opi- 
nion by  accounts  which  I  have  received  concerning  the  state  of  property  among 
the  Indians  in  very  different  regions  of  America.  "  The  idea  of  the  natives  of 
Brazil  concerning  property  is,  that  if  any  person  cultivate  a  field,  he  alone 
ought  to  enjoy  the  produce  of  it,  and  no  other  has  a  title  to  pretend  to  it.  If 
an  individual  or  family  go  a  hunting  or  fishing,  what  is  caught  belongs  to  the 
individual  or  to  the  family,  and  they  communicate  no  part  of  it  to  any  but  to 
their  cazique,  or  to  such  of  their  kindred  as  happen  to  be  indisposed.  If  any 
person  in  the  village  come  to  their  hut,  he  may  sit  down  freely,  and  eat  without 
asking  liberty.  But  this  is  the  consequence  of  their  general  principle  of  hos- 
pitality ;  for  I  never  observed  any  partition  of  the  increase  of  their  fields,  or 
the  produce  of  the  chase,  which  I  could  consider  as  the  result  of  any  idea  con- 
cerning a  community  of  goods.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  so  much  attached 
to  what  they  deem  to  be  their  property,  that  it  would  be  extremely  dangerous 
to  encroach  upon  it.  As  far  as  I  can  see  or  can  learn,  there  is  not  one  tribe  of 
Indians  in  South  America  among  whom  the  community  of  goods  which  has 
been  so  highly  extolled  is  known.  The  circumstance  in  the  government  of  the 
Jesuits,  most  irksome  to  the  Indians  of  Paraguay,  was  the  community  of  goods 
which  those  fathers  introduced.  This  was  repugnant  to  the  original  ideas  of 
the  Indians.  They  were  acquainted  with  the  rights  of  private  exclusive  pro- 
perty, and  they  submitted  with  impatience  to  regulations  which  destroyed 
them."  M.  le  Cheval,  de  Pinto,  MS.  penes  me.  "  Actual  possession  (says  a 
missionary  who  resided  several  years  among  the  Indians  of  the  five  nations) 
gives  a  right  to  the  soil ;  but,  whenever  a  possessor  sees  fit  to  quit  it,  another 
has  as  good  right  to  take  it  as  he  who  left  it.  This  law,  or  custom,  respects 
not  only  the  particular  spot  on  which  he  erects  his  house,  but  also  his  planting- 
ground.  If  a  man  has  prepared  a  particular  spot  of  ground  on  which  he 
designs  in  future  to  build  or  plant,  no  man  has  a  right  to  incommode  him, 


478  NOTES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

much  less  to  the  fruit  of  his  labours,  until  it  appears  that  he  voluntarily  gives 
up  his  views.  But  I  never  heard  of  any  formal  conveyance  from  one  Indian 
to  another  in  their  natural  state.  The  limit  of  every  canton  is  circumscribed ; 
that  is,  they  are  allowed  to  hunt  as  far  as  such  a  river  on  this  hand,  and  such  a 
mountain  on  the  other.  This  area  is  occupied  and  improved  by  individuals  and 
their  families :  individuals,  not  the  community,  have  the  use  and  profit  of  their 
own  labours,  or  success  in  hunting."  MS.  of  Mr.  Gideon  Hawley,  penes  me. 

NOTE  [63].  PAGE  162. 

THIS  difference  of  temper  between  the  Americans  and  Negroes  is  so  remark- 
able, that  it  is  a  proverbial  saying  in  the  French  islands,  "  Regarder  un  sauvage 
de  travers,  c'est  le  battre ;  le  battre,  c'est  le  tuer;  battre  un  Negre,  c'est  le 
nourrir."  Tertre,  ii.  490. 

NOTE  [64].  PAGE  163. 

THE  description  of  the  political  state  of  the  people  of  Cinaloa  perfectly 
resembles  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  North  America.  "  They  have  neither 
laws  nor  kings  (says  a  missionary  who  resided  long  among  them)  to  punish  any 
crime.  Nor  is  there  among  them  any  species  of  authority,  or  political  govern- 
ment, to  restrain  them  in  any  part  of  their  conduct.  It  is  true  that  they  ac- 
knowledge certain  caziques,  who  are  heads  of  their  families  or  villages  ;  but 
their  authority  appears  chiefly  in  war,  and  the  expeditions  against  their  enemies. 
This  authority  the  caziques  obtain  not  by  hereditary  right,  but  by  their  valour 
in  war,  or  by  the  power  and  number  of  their  families  and  relations.  Sometimes 
they  owe  their  pre-eminence  to  their  eloquence  in  displaying  their  own  ex- 
ploits." Ribas  Histor.  de  las  Triumph,  &c.  p.  11.  .  The  state  of  the  Chiquitos 
in  South  America  is  nearly  the  same.  "  They  have  no  regular  form  of  govern- 
ment or  civil  life,  but  in  matters  of  public  concern  they  listen  to  the  advice  of 
their  old  men,  and  usually  follow  it.  The  dignity  of  Cazique  is  not  hereditary, 
but  conferred  according  to  merit,  as  the  reward  of  valour  hi  war.  The  union 
among  them  is  impe/fect.  Their  society  resembles  a  republic  without  any 
head,  in  which  every  man  is  master  of  himself,  and,  upon  the  least  disgust, 
separates  from  those  with  whom  he  seemed  to  be  connected."  Relacion  His- 
torical de  las  Missiones  de  los  Chiquitos,  por  P.  Juan,  Patr.  Fernandez,  p.  32, 33. 
Thus,  under  very  different  climates,  when  nations  are  in  a  similar  state  of 
society,  their  institutions  and  civil  government  assume  the  same  form. 

NOTE  [65].  PAGE  168. 

u  I  HAVE  known  the  Indians  (says  a  person  well  acquainted  with  their  mode 
of  life)  to  go  a  thousand  miles  for  the  purpose  of  revenge,  in  pathless  woods, 
over  hills  and  mountains,  through  huge  cane  swamps,  exposed  to  the  extremi- 
ties of  heat  and  cold,  the  vicissitude  of  seasons,  to  hunger  and  thirst.  Such  is 
their  overboiling  revengeful  temper,  that  they  utterly  contemn  all  those  things 
as  imaginary  trifles,  if  they  are  so  happy  as  to  get  the  scalp  of  the  murderer, 
or  enemy,  to  satisfy  the  craving  ghosts  of  their  deceased  relations."  Adair's 
Hist,  of  Araer.  Indians,  p.  150. 

NOTE  [66].  PAGE  168. 

IN  the  account  of  the  great  war  between  the  Algonquins  and  Iroquois,  the 
achievements  of  Piskaret,  a  famous  chief  of  the  Algonquins,  performed  mostly 
by  himself  alone,  or  with  one  or  two  companions,  make  a  capital  figure.  De 
la  Potherie,  i.  297,  &c.  Colden's  Hist,  of  Five  Nations,  125,  &c. 

NOTE  [67].  PAGE  169. 

THE  life  of  an  unfortunate  leader  is  often  in  danger,  and  he  is  always  de- 
graded from  the  rank  which  he  had  acquired  by  his  former  exploits.  Adair, 
p.  388. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  479 


NOTE  [68].  PAGE  169. 

As  the  ideas  of  the  North  Americans,  with  respect  to  the  mode  of  carrying 
on  war,  are  generally  known,  I  have  founded  my  observations  chiefly  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  authors  who  describe  them.  But  the  same  maxims  took 
place  among  other  nations  in  the  New  World.  A  judicious  missionary  has 
given  a  view  of  the  military  operations  of  the  people  in  Gran  Chaco,  in  South 
America,  perfectly  similar  to  those  of  the  Iroquois.  "  They  are  much  addicted 
to  war  (says  he),  which  they  carry  on  frequently  among  themselves,  but  per- 
petually against  the  Spaniards.  But  they  may  rather  be  called  thieves  than 
soldiers,  for  they  never  make  head  against  the  Spaniards,  unless  when  they  can 
assault  them  by  stealth,  or  have  guarded  against  any  mischance  by  spies,  who 
may  be  called  indefatigable ;  they  will  watch  the  settlements  of  the  Spaniards 
for  one,  two,  or  three  years,  observing  by  night  every  thing  that  passes  with  the 
utmost  solicitude,  whether  they  may  expect  resistance  or  not,  and  until  they 
are  perfectly  secure  of  the  event,  they  will  not  venture  upon  an  attack ;  so 
that,  when  they  do  give  the  assault,  they  are  certain  of  success,  and  free  from 
all  danger.  These  spies,  in  order  that  they  may  not  be  observed,  will  creep  on 
all  four  like  cats  in  the  night ;  but  if  they  are  discovered,  make  their  escape 
with  much  dexterity.  But,  although  they  never  choose  to  face  the  Spaniards, 
if  they  be  surrounded  in  any  place  whence  they  cannot  escape,  they  will  fight 
with  desperate  valour,  and  sell  their  lives  very  dear."  Lozano  Descript.  del 
Gran  Chaco,  p.  78. 

NOTE  [69].  PAGE  170. 

LERY,  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Toupinambos,  a 
Bjrasilian  tribe,  in  a  war  against  a  powerful  nation  of  their  enemies,  describes 
their  courage  and  ferocity  in  very  striking  terms.  Ego  cum  Gallo  altero.  paulo 
curiosius,  magno  nostro  periculo  (si  enim  ab  hostibus  capti  aut  lesi  fuissemuB, 
devorationi  fuissemus  devoti),  barbaros  nostros  in  militiam  ountes  comitari 
volui.  Hi,  numero  4000  capita,  cum  hostibus  ad  littus  deccrtarunt,  tanta  feroci- 
tate,  ut  vel  rabidos  et  furiosos  quosque  superarent.  Cum  primum  hostes 
conspexere,  in  magnos  atque  editos  ululatus  perruperunt.  Hsec  gens  adeo  fera 
est  et  truculenta,  ut  tantisper  dum  virium  vel  tantillum  restat,  continuo  dimi- 
cenl,  fugamque  nunquam  capessant.  Quod  a  natura  illis  inditum  esse  reor. 
Tester  interea  me,  qui  non  semel,  turn  peditum  turn  equitum  copias  ingentes, 
in  aciem  instructas  hie  conspexi,  tanta  nunquam  voluptate  videndis  peditum 
legionibus  armis  fulgentibus,  quanta  turn  pugnantibus  istis  percussum  fuisse. 
Lery  Hist.  Navigat.  in  Brasil.  ap.  de  Bry,  iii.  207, 208, 209. 

NOTE  [70].  PAGE  170. 

IT  was  originally  the  practice  of  the  Americans,  as  well  as  of  other  savage 
nations,  to  cut  off  the  heads  of  the  enemies  whom  they  slew,  and  to  carry  them 
away  as  trophies.  But,  as  they  found  these  cumbersome  in  their  retreat,  which 
they  always  make  very  rapidly,  and  often  through  a  vast  extent  of  country, 
they  became  satisfied  with  tearing  off  their  scalps.  This  custom,  though  most 
prevalent  in  North  America,  was  not  unknown  among  the  Southern  tribes. 
Lozano,  p.  79. 


NOTE  [71].  PAGE  172. 

THE  terms  of  the  war  song  seem  to  be  dictated  by  the  same  fierce  spirit  of 
revenge.  "  I  go  to  war  to  revenge  the  death  of  my  brothers ;  I  shall  kill ;  I 
shall  exterminate  ;  I  shall  burn  my  enemies ;  I  shall  bring  away  slaves ;  I  shall 
devour  their  heart,  dry  their  flesh,  drink  their  blood  ;  I  shall  tear  off  their 
scalps,  and  make  cups  of  their  skulls."  Bossu's  Travels  through  Louisiana, 
vol.  i.  p.  102.  I  am  informed,  by  persons  on  whose  testimony  I  can  rely,  that 
as  the  number  of  people  in  the  Indian  tribes  has  decreased  so  much,  almost 
none  of  their  prisoners  are  now  put  to  death.  It  is  considered  as  better  policy 


480  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

to  spare  and  to  adopt  them.  Those  dreadful  scenes  which  I  have  described 
occur  now  so  rarely,  that  missionaries  and  traders  who  have  resided  long 
among  the  Indians,  never  were  witnesses  to  them. 

NOTE  [72].  PAGE  172. 

ALL  the  travellers  who  have  visited  the  most  uncivilized  of  the  American 
tribes,  agree  in  this.  It  is  confirmed  by  two  remarkable  circumstances,  which 
occurred  in  the  conquest  of  different  provinces.  In  the  expedition  of  Narvaez 
into  Florida  in  the  year  1528,  the  Spaniards  were  reduced  to  such  extreme  dis- 
tress by  famine,  that,  in  order  to  preserve  their  own  lives,  they  ate  such  of  their 
companions  as  happened  to  die.  This  appeared  so  shocking  to  the  natives,  who 
were  accustomed  to  devour  none  but  prisoners,  that  it  filled  them  with  horror 
and  indignation  against  the  Spaniards.  Torqueinada  Monarch.  Ind.  ii.  p.  584. 
Naufragios  de  Alv.  Nugnes  Cabeca  de  Vaca,  c.  xiv.  p.  15.  During  the  siege 
of  Mexico,  though  the  Mexicans  devoured  with  greediness  the  Spaniards  and 
Tlascalans  whom  they  took  prisoners,  the  utmost  rigour  of  the  famine  which 
they  suffered  could  not  induce  them  to  touch  the  dead  bodies  of  their  own 
countrymen.  Bern.  Diaz  del  Castillo  Conquist.  de  laN.  Espagna,  p.  156. 

NOTE  [73].  PAGE  172. 

MANY  singular  circumstances  concerning  the  treatment  of  prisoners  among 
the  people  of  Brasil,  are  contained  in  the  narrative  of  Stadius,  a  German  officer 
in  the  service  of  the  Portuguese,  published  in  the  year  1556.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  by  the  Toupinambos,  and  remained  in  captivity  nine  years.  He  was 
often  present  at  those  horrid  festivals  which  he  describes,  and  was  destined  him- 
self to  the  same  cruel  fate  with  other  prisoners.  But  he  saved  his  life  by  his 
extraordinary  efforts  of  courage  and  address.  De  Bry,  iii.  p.  34,  &c.  M.  de 
Lery,  who  accompanied  M.  de  Villagagnon  in  his  expedition  to  Brasil  in  the 
year  1556,  and  who  resided  some  time  in  that  country,  agrees  with  Stadius  in 
every  circumstance  of  importance.  He  was  frequently  an  eye-witness  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  Brasilians  treated  their  prisoners.  De  Bry,  iii.  210. 
Several  striking  particulars  omitted  by  them,  are  mentioned  by  a  Portuguese 
author.  Purch.  Pilgr.  iv.  1294,  &c. 

NOTE  [74].  PAGE  174. 

THOUGH  I  have  followed  that  opinion  concerning  the  apathy  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, which  appeared  to  me  most  rational,  and  supported  by  the  authority  of 
the  most  respectable  authors,  other  theories  have  been  formed  with  regard  to 
it,  by  writers  of  great  eminence.  D.  Ant.  Ulloa,  in  a  late  work,  contends  that 
the  texture  of  the  skin  and  bodily  habit  of  the  Americans  is  such,  that  they 
are  less  sensible  of  pain  than  the  rest  of  mankind.  He  produces  several  proofs 
of  this,  from  the  manner  in  which  they  endure  the  most  cruel  chirurgical  opera- 
tions, &c.  Noticias  Americanas,  p.  313,  314.  The  same  observation  has  been 
made  by  surgeons  in  Brasil.  An  Indian,  they  say,  never  complains  under  pain, 
and  will  bear  the  amputation  of  a  leg  or  an  arm  without  uttering  a  single 
groan.  MS.  penes  me. 

NOTE  [75].  PAGE  174. 

THIS  is  an  idea  natural  to  all  rude  nations.  Among  the  Romans,  in  the 
early  periods  of  their  commonwealth,  it  was  a  maxim  that  a  prisoner  "  turn 
decessisse  videtur  cum  captus  est."  Digest,  lib.  xlix.  tit.  15.  c.  18.  And  after- 
wards, when  the  progress  of  refinement  rendered  them  more  indulgent  with 
respect  to  this  article,  they  were  obliged  to  employ  two  fictions  of  law  to  secure 
the  property,  and  permit  the  return  of  a  captive ;  the  one  by  the  Lex  Cornelia, 
and  the  other  by  the  Jus  Postliminii.  Heinec.  Elem.  Jur.  Civ.  sec.  ord.  Pand. 
ii.  p.  294.  Among  the  Negroes  the  same  ideas  prevail.  No  ransom  was  ever 
accepted  for  a  prisoner  As  soon  as  one  is  taken  in  war,  he  is  reputed  to  be 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  481 

dead ;  and  he  is  so  in  effect  to  his  country  and  his  family.  Voy.  du  Cheval.  des 
Marchais,  i.  p.  369. 

NOTE  [76].  PAGE  175. 

THE  people  of  Chili,  the  most  gallant  and  high-spirited  of  all  the  Americans, 
are  the  only  exception  to  this  observation.  They  attack  their  enemies  in  the 
open  field ;  their  troops  are  ranged  in  regular  order ;  their  battalions  advance 
to  the  charge  not  only  with  courage,  but  with  discipline.  The  North  Ameri- 
cans, though  many  of  them  have  substituted  the  European  fire-arms  in  place  of 
their  own  bows  and  arrows,  still  adhere  to  their  ancient  maxims  of  war,  and 
carry  it  on  according  to  their  own  peculiar  system.  But  the  Chilese  nearly 
resemble  the  warlike  nations  of  Europe  and  Asia  in  their  military  operations. 
Ovalle's  Relation  of  Chili.  Church.  Coll.  iii.  p.  71.  Lozano's  Hist.  Parag.  i. 
144, 145. 

NOTE  [77].  PAGE  176. 

HERRERA  gives  a  remarkable  proof  of  this.  In  Yucatan,  the  men  are  so  so- 
licitous about  their  dress,  that  they  carry  about  with  them  mirrors,  probably 
made  of  stone,  like  those  of  the  Mexicans,  Dec.  iv.  lib.  iii.  c.  8,  in  which  they 
delight  to  view  themselves  ;  but  the  women  never  use  them.  Dec.  iv.  lib.  x.  c. 
3.  He  takes  notice  that  among  the  fierce  tribe  of  the  Punches,  in  the  new- 
kingdom  of  Granada,  none  but  distinguished  warriors  were  permitted  either  to 
pierce  their  lips  and  to  wear  green  stones  in  them,  or  to  adorn  their  heads  with 
plumes  of  feathers.  Dec.  vii.  lib.  ix.  c.  4.  In  some  provinces  of  Peru,  though 
that  empire  had  made  considerable  progress  in  civilization,  the  state  of  women 
was  little  improved.  All  the  toil  of  cultivation  and  domestic  work  was  devolved 
upon  them,  and  they  were  not  permitted  to  wear  bracelets,  or  other  ornaments, 
with  which  the  men  were  fond  of  decking  themselves.  Zarate  Hist,  de  Peru, 
i.  p.  15,  16. 

NOTE  [78].  PAGE  176. 

I  HAVE  ventured  to  call  this  mode  of  anointing  and  painting  their  bodies,  the 
dress  of  the  Americans.  This  is  agreeable  to  their  own  idiom.  As  they  never 
stir  abroad  if  they  are  not  completely  anointed  ;  they  excuse  themselves  when 
in  this  situation,  by  saying  that  they  cannot  appear  because  they  are  naked 
Gumilla,  Hist,  de  POrenoque,  i.  191. 

NOTE  [79].  PAGE  177. 

SOME  tribes  in  the  province  of  Cinaloa,  on  the  gulf  of  California,  seem  to  be 
among  the  rudest  people  of  America  united  in  the  social  state.  They  neither 
cultivate  nor  sow  ;  they  have  no  houses  in  which  they  reside.  Those  in  the 
inland  country  subsist  by  hunting;  those  on  the  seacoast  chiefly  by  fishing. 
Both  depend  upon  the  spontaneous  productions  of  the  earth,  fruits,  plants,  and 
roots  of  various  kinds.  In  the  rainy  season,  as  they  have  no  habitations  to 
afford  them  shelter,  they  gather  bundles  of  reeds,  or  strong  grass  ;  and  binding 
them  together  at  one  end,  they  open  them  at  the  other,  and  fitting  them  to 
*heir  heads,  they  are  covered  as  with  a  large  cap,  which,  like  a  penthouse, 
throws  off  the  rain,  and  will  keep  them  dry  for  several  hours.  During  the 
warm  season,  they  form  a  shed  with  the  branches  of  trees,  which  protects  them 
from  the  sultry  rays  of  the  sun.  When  exposed  to  cold  they  make  large  fires, 
round  which  they  sleep  in  the  open  air.  Historia  de  los  Triomphos  de  Nueetra 
Santa  Fe  entre  Centres  las  mas  Barbaras,  &c.  por  P.  And.  Perez  de  Ribas, 
p.  7,  &c. 

NOTE  [80].  PAGE  177. 

THESE  houses  resemble  barns.     "  We  have  measured  same  which  were  a 
hundred  and  fifty  paces  long,  and  twenty  paces  broad.     Above  a  hundred  per- 
VOL.  I— 61 


482  NOTES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

sons  resided  in  some  of  them."  Wilson's  Account  of  Guiana.  Purch,  Pilgr, 
vol.  iv.  p.  1263.  Ibid.  1291.  "  The  Indian  houses,"  says  Mr.  Barrere,  u  have 
a  most  wretched  appearance,  and  are  a  striking  image  of  the  rudeness  of  early 
times.  Their  huts  are  commonly  built  on  some  rising  ground,  or  on  the  banks 
of  a  river,  huddled  sometimes  together,  sometimes  straggling,  and  always  with- 
out any  order.  Their  aspect  is  melancholy  and  disagreeable.  One  sees  nothing 
but  what  is  hideous  and  savage.  The  uncultivated  fields  have  no  gayety. 
The  silence  which  reigns  there,  unless  when  interrupted  by  the  disagreeable 
notes  of  birds,  or  cries  of  wild  beasts,  is  extremely  dismal."  Relat.  de  la 
France  Equin.  p.  146. 

. .-,"'.,  •  NOTJS  [81].  PAOE  178. 

SOME  tribes  in  South  America  can  send  their  arrows  to  a  great  distance,  and 
with  considerable  force,  without  the  aid  of  the  bow.  They  make  use  of  a 
hollow  reed,  about  nine  feet  long  and  an  inch  thick,  which  is  called  a  Sarbacane. 
In  it  they  lodge  a  small  arrow,  with  some  unspun  cotton  wound  about  its  great 
end  ;  this  confines  the  air,  so  that  they  can  blow  it  with  astonishing  rapidity, 
and  a  sure  aim,  to  the  distance  of  above  a  hundred  paces.  These  small  arrows 
are  always  poisoned.  Fermin.  Descr.  de  Surin.  i.  55.  Bancroft's  Hist,  of 
Guiana,  p.  281,  &c.  The  Sarbacane  is  much  used  in  some  parts  of  the  East 
Indies. 

NOTE  [82].  PAGE  178. 

I  MIGHT  produce  many  instances  of  this,  but  shall  satisfy  myself  with  one 
taken  from  the.  Eskimaux.  "  Their  greatest  ingenuity  (says  Mr.  Ellis)  is 
shown  in  the  structure  of  their  bows,  made  commonly  of  three  pieces  of  wood, 
each  making  part  of  the  same  arch,  very  nicely  and  exactly  joined  together. 
They  are  commonly  of  fir  or  larch ;  and  as  this  wants  strength  and  elasticity, 
they  supply  both  by  bracing  the  back  of  the  bow  with  a  kind  of  thread,  or  line, 
made  of  the  sinews  of  their  deer,  and  the  bowstring  of  the  same  materials. 
To  make  them  draw  more  stiffly,  they  dip  them  into  water,  which  causes  both 
the  back  of  the  bow  and  the  string  to  contract,  and  consequently  gives  it  the 
greater  force ;  and  as  they  practise  from  their  youth,  they  shoot  with  very 
great  dexterity."  Voyage  to  Hudson's  Bay,  p.  138. 

NOTE  [83].  PAGE  178. 

NECESSITY  is  the  great  prompter  and  guide  of  mankind  in  their  inventions. 
There  is,  however,  such  inequality  in  some  parts  of  their  progress,  and  some 
nations  get  so  far  the  start  of  others  in  circumstances  nearly  similar,  that  we 
must  ascribe  this  to  some  events  in  their  story,  or  to  some  peculiarity  in  their 
situation,  with  which  we  are  unacquainted.  The  people  in  the  island  of  Ota- 
heite,  lately  discovered  in  the  South  Sea,  far  excel  most  of  the  Americans  in 
the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  arts  of  ingenuity,  and  yet  they  had  not  in- 
vented any  method  of  boiling  water;  and  having  no  vessel  that  could  bear  the 
fire,  they  had  no  more  idea  that  water  could  be  made  hot,  than  that  it  could  be 
made  solid.  Voyages  by  Hawkesworth,  i.  466.  484. 

NOTE  [84].  PAGE  178. 

ONE  of  these  boats,  which  could  carry  nine  men,  weighed  only  sixty  pounds. 
Gosnol.  Relat.  des  Voy.  a  la  Virgin.  Rec.  de  Voy.  au  Nord,  torn.  v.  p.  403. 

NOTE  [85],  PAGE  179. 

A  REMARKABLE  proof  of  this  is  produced  by  Ulloa.  In  weaving  hammocks, 
coverlets,  and  other  coarse  cloths  which  they  are  accustomed  to  manufacture, 
their  industry  has  discovered  no  more  expeditious  method  than  to  take  up 
thread  after  thread,  and,  after  counting  and  sorting  them  each  time,  to  pass 
the  woof  between  them,  so  that  in  finishing  a  small  piece  of  those  stuffs  they 


t 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  483 

frequently  spend  more  than  two  years.  Voyage,  i.  336.  Bancroft  gives  the 
same  description  of  the  Indians  of  Guiana,  p.  255.  According  to  Adair,  tho 
ingenuity  and  despatch  of  the  North  American  Indians  are  not  greater,  p.  422. 
From  one  of  the  engravings  of  the  Mexican  paintings  in  Purchas,  vol.  iii.  p. 
1106,  I  think  it  probable  that  the  people  of  Mexico  were  unacquainted  with 
any  better  or  more  expeditious  mode  of  weaving.  A  loom  was  an  invention 
beyond  the  ingenuity  of  the  most  improved  Americans.  In  all  their  works  they 
advance  so  slowly,  that  one  of  their  artists  is  two  months  at  a  tobacco-pipe 
with  his  knife  before  he  finishes  it.  Adair,  p.  423. 

NOTE  [86].  PAGE  180. 

THE  article  of  religion  in  P.  Lafitau's  Mceurs  des  Sauvages  extends  to  347 
tedious  pages  in  quarto.  , 

NOTE  [87].  PAGE  181. 

I  HAVE  referred  the  reader  to  several  of  the  authors  who  describe  the  most 
uncivilized  nations  in  America.  Their  testimony  is  uniform.  That  of  P. 
Ribas  concerning  the  people  of  Cinaloa  coincides  with  the  rest.  "I  was  ex- 
tremely attentive  (saj-s  he),  during  the  years  I  resided  among  them,  to  ascertain 
whether  they  were  to  be  considered  as  idolaters  ;  and  it  may  be  affirmed  with 
the  most  perfect  exactness,  that  though  among  some  of  them  there  may  be 
traces  of  idolatry,  yet  others  have  not  the  least  knowledge  of  God,  or  even  of 
any  false  deity,  nor  pay  any  formal  adoration  to  the  Supreme  Being  who  exer- 
cises dominion  over  the  world  ;  nor  have  they  any  conception  of  the  providence 
of  a  Creator,  or  Governor,  from  whom  they  expect  in  the  next  life  the  reward 
of  their  good  or  the  punishment  of  their  evil  deeds.  Neither  do  they  publicly 
join  in  any  act  of  divine  worship."  Ribas  Triumphos,  &c.  p.  16. 

NOTE  [88].  PAGE  181. 

THE  people  of  Brasil  were  so  much  affrighted  by  thunder,  which  is  frequent 
and  awful  in  their  country,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  the  torrid  zone,  that  it 
was  not  only  the  object  of  religious  reverence,  but  the  most  expressive  name 
in  their  language  for  the  Deity  was  Toupan,  the  same  by  which  they  distin- 
guished thunder.  Piso  de  Medec.  Brasil,  p.  8.  Nieuhoff.  Church.  Coll.  ii.  p.  132. 

NOTE  [89].  PAGE  184. 

BY  the  account  which  M.  Dumont,  an  eye-witness,  gives  of  the  funeral  of 
the  great  chief  of  the  Natchez,  it  appears  that  the  feelings  of  the  persons  who 
suffered  on  that  occasion  were  very  different.  Some  solicited  the  honour  with 
eagerness ;  others  laboured  to  avoi-d  their  doom,  and  several  saved  their  lives 
by  flying  to  the  woods.  As  the  Indian  Brahmins  give  an  intoxicating  draught 
to  the  women  who  are  to  be  burned  together  with  the  bodies  of  their  husbands, 
which  renders  them  insensible  of  their  approaching  fate,  the  Natchez  obliged 
their  victims  to  swallow  several  large  pills  of  tobacco,  which  produces  a  similar 
effect.  Mem  de  Louis,  i.  227. 

NOTE  [90].  PAGE  187. 

ON  some  occasions,  particularly  in.  dances  instituted  for  the  recovery  of 
persons  who  are  indisposed,  they  are  extremely  licentious  and  indecent.  De 
la  Potherie  Hist.  &c.  ii.  p.  42.  Charlev.  N.  Fr.  iii.  p.  319.  But  the  nature  of 
their  dances  is  commonly  such  as  I  have  described. 

NOTE  [91].  PAGE  187. 

THE  Othomacoas,  a  tribe  seated  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco,  employ  for  the 
same  purpose  a  composition  Avhich  they  call  Yupa.  It  is  formed  of  the  seeds 
of  an  unknown  plant  reduced  to  powder,  and  certain  shells  burnod  and  pul- 


484  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

verized.     The  effects  of  this  when  drawn  up  into  the  nostrils  are  so  violent 
that  they  resemble  madness  rather  than  intoxication.     Gumilla,  i.  286. 

NOTE  [92].  PAGE  188. 

THOUGH  this  observation  holds  true  among  the  greater  part  of  the  southern 
tribes,  there  are  some  in  which  the  intemperance  of  the  women  is  as  excessive 
as  that  of  the  men.  Bancroft's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Guiana,  p.  275. 

NOTE  [93].  PAGE  190. 

EVEN  in  the  most  intelligent  writers  concerning  the  manners  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, one  meets  with  inconsistent  and  inexplicable  circumstances.  The  Jesuit 
Charlevoix,  who,  in  consequence  of  the  controversy  between  his  order  and  that 
of  the  Franciscans,  with  respect  to  the  talents  and  abilities  of  the  North  Ameri- 
cans, is  disposed  to  represent  their  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  qualities  in  the 
most  favourable  light,  asserts,  that  they  are  engaged  in  continual  negotiations 
with  their  neighbours,  and  conduct  these  with  the  most  refined  address.  At  the 
same  time  he  adds,  "  that  it  behooves  their  envoys  or  plenipotentiaries  to  exert 
their  abilities  and  eloquence,  for,  if  the  terms  which  they  offer  are  not  accepted, 
they  had  need  to  stand  on  their  guard.  It  frequently  happens,  that  a  blow 
with  the  hatchet  is  the  only  return  given  to  their  propositions.  The  envoy  is 
not  out  of  danger,  even  if  he  is  so  fortunate  as  to  avoid  the  stroke  ;  he  may 
expect  to  be  pursued,  and,  if  taken,  to  be  burnt."  Hist.  N.  Fr.  iii.  251.  What 
occurs,  p.  147,  concerning  the  manner  in  which  the  Tlascalans  treated  the  am- 
bassadors from  Zempoalla,  corresponds  with  the  fact  related  by  Charlevoix. 
Men  capable  of  such  acts  of  violence  seem  to  be  unacquainted  with  the  first 
principles  upon  which  the  intercourse  between  nations  is  founded ;  and  instead 
of  the  perpetual  negotiations  which  Charlevoix  mentions,  it  seems  almost  im- 
possible that  there  should  be  any  correspondence  whatever  among  them. 

NOTE  [94].  PAGE  191. 

IT  is  a  remark  of  Tacitus  concerning  the  Germans,  "  Gaudent  muneribus, 
»ed  nee  data  imputant,  nee  acceptis  obligantur."  C.  21.  An  author  who  had 
a  good  opportunity  of  observing  the  principle  which  leads  savages  neither  to 
express  gratitude  for  favours  which  they  had  received,  nor  to  expect  any  return 
for  such  as  they  bestowed,  thus  explains  their  ideas  :  "  If  (say  they)  you  give 
me  this,  it  is  because  you  have  no  need  of  it  yourself;  and  as  for  me,  I  never 
part  with  that  which  I  think  necessary  to  me."  Me"moire  sur  le  Galibis ;  Hist. 
des  Plantes  de  la  Guiane  Fran«joise  par  M.  Aublet,  torn  ii.  p.  110. 

NOTE  [95].  PAGE  196. 

AND  Bernaldes,  the  contemporary  and  friend  of  Columbus,  has  preserved 
some  circumstances  concerning  the  bravery  of  the  Caribbees,  which  are  not 
mentioned  by  Don  Ferdinand  Columbus,  or  the  other  historians  of  that  period 
whose  works  have  been  published.  A  Caribbean  canoe,  with  four  men,  two 
women,  and  a  boy,  fell  in  unexpectedly  with  the  fleet  of  Columbus  in  his  second 
voyage,  as  it  was  steering  through  their  islands.  At  first  they  were  struck 
almost  stupid  with  astonishment  at  such  a  strange  spectacle,  and  hardly  moved 
from  the  spot  for  above  an  hour.  A  Spanish  bark,  with  twenty-five  men,  ad- 
vanced towards  them,  and  the  fleet  gradually  surrounded  them,  so  as  to  cut 
off  their  communication  with  the  shore.  "  When  they  saw  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  escape  (says  the  historian),  they  seized  their  arms  with  undaunted 
resolution,  and  began  the  attack.  I  use  the  expression  with  undaunted  resolution, 
for  they  were  few,  and  beheld  a  vast  number  rea.dy  to  assault  them.  They 
wounded  several  of  the  Spaniards,  although  they  had  targets,  as  well  as  other 
defensive  armour  ;  and  even  after  their  canoe  was  overset,  it  was  with  no  little 
difficulty  and  danger  that  part  of  them  were  taken,  as  they  continued  to  defend 
themselves,  and  to  use  their  bows  with  great  dexterity  while  swimming  in  the 
sea."  Hist,  do  D.  Fern,  y  Ysab.  MS.  c.  119. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  485 


NOTE  [96].  PAGE  196. 

A  PROBABLE  conjecture  may  be  formed  with  respect  to  the  cause  of  the  dis- 
tinction in  character  between  the  Caribbees  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  larger 
islands.  The  former  appear  manifestly  to  be  a  separate  race.  Their  language 
is  totally  different  from  that  of  their  neighbours  in  the  large  islands.  They 
themselves  have  a  tradition,  that  their  ancestors  came  originally  from  some 
part  of  the  continent,  and,  having  conquered  and  exterminated  the  ancient 
inhabitants,  took  possession  of  their  lands,  and  of  their  women.  Rochefort, 
384.  Tertre,  360.  Hence  they  call  themselves  Banaree,  which  signifies  a  man 
come  from  beyond  sea.  Labat,  vi.  131.  Accordingly,  the  Caribbees  still  use 
two  distinct  languages,  one  peculiar  to  the  men,  and  the  other  to  the  women. 
Tertre,  361.  The  language  of  the  men  has  nothing  common  with  that  spoken 
in  the  large  islands.  The  dialect  of  the  women  considerably  resembles  it. 
Labat,  129.  This  strongly  confirms  the  tradition  which  I  have  mentioned. 
The  Caribbees  themselves  imagine  that  they  were  a  colony  from  the  Galabis, 
a  powerful  nation  of  Guiana  in  South  America.  Tertre,  361.  Rochefort,  348. 
But  as  their  fierce  manners  approach  nearer  to  those  of  the  people  in  the 
northern  continent,  than  to  those  of  the  natives  of  South  America ;  and  as 
their  language  has  likewise  some  affinity  to  that  spoken  in  Florida,  their  origin 
should  be  deduced  rather  from  the  former  than  from  the  latter.  Labat,  128, 
&c.  Herrera,  dec.  i.  lib.  ix.  c.  4.  In  their  wars,  they  still  observe  their  ancient 
practice  of  destroying  all  the  males,  and  preserving  the  women  either  for  ser- 
vitude or  for  breeding. 

NOTE  [97].  PAGE  197. 

OUR,  knowledge  of  the  events  which  happened  in  the  conquest  of  New  Spain, 
is  derived  from  sources  of  information  more  original  and  authentic  than  that 
of  any  transaction  in  the  history  of  America.  The  letters  of  Cortes  to  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.  are  an  historical  monument,  not  only  first  in  order  of 
time,  but  of  the  greatest  authenticity  and  value.  As  Cortes  early  assumed  a 
command  independent  of  Velasquez,  it  became  necessary  to  convey  such  an 
account  of  his  operations  to  Madrid,  as  might  procure  him  the  approbation  of 
his  sovereign. 

The  first  of  his  despatches  has  never  been  made  public.  It  was  sent  from 
Vcra  Cruz,  July  16th,  1519.  As  I  imagined  that  it  might  not  reach  the  Emperor 
until  he  arrived  in  Germany,  for  which  he  set  out  early  in  the  year  1520,  in 
order  to  receive  the  Imperial  crown ;  I  made  diligent  search  for  a  copy  of  this 
despatch,  both  in  Spain  and  in  Germany,  but  without  success.  This,  however, 
is  of  less  consequence,  as  it  could  not  contain  any  thing  very  material,  being 
written  so  soon  after  Cortes  arrived  in  New  Spain.  But,  in  searching  for  the 
letter  from  Cortes,  a  copy  of  one  from  the  colony  of  Vera  Cruz  to  the  Emperor 
has  been  discovered  in  the  Imperial  library  at  Vienna.  Of  this  I  have  given 
some  account  in  its  proper  place,  see  p.  210.  The  second  despatch,  dated  Oc- 
tober 30th,  1520,  was  published  at  Seville  A.  D.  1522,  and  the  third  and  fourth 
soon  after  they  were  received.  A  Latin  translation  of  them  appeared  in  Ger- 
many A.  D.  1532.  Ramusio  soon  after  made  them  more  generally  known,  by 
inserting  them  in  his  valuable  collection.  They  contain  a  regular  and  minute 
history  of  the  expedition,  with  many  curious  particulars  concerning  the  policy 
and  manners  of  the  Mexicans.  The  work  does  honour  to  Cortes  ;  the  style  is 
simple  and  perspicuous ;  but  as  it  was  manifestly  his  interest  to  represent  his 
own  actions  in  the  fairest  light,  his  victories  are  probably  exaggerated,  his 
losses  diminished,  and  his  acts  of  rigour  and  violence  softened. 

The  next  in  order  is  the  Chronica  de  la  Nueva  Espagna,  by  Francisco  Lopez 
de  Gomara,  published  A.  D.  1554.  Gomara's  historical  merit  is  considerable. 
His  mode  of  narration  is  clear,  flowing,  always  agreeable,  and  sometimes 
elegant.  But  he  is  frequently  inaccurate  and  credulous  ;  and  as  he  was  the  do- 
mestic chaplain  of  Cortes  after  his  return  from  New  Spain,  and  probably  com- 
posed his  work  at  his  desire,  it  is  manifest  that  he  labours  to  magnify  the  merit 
of  his  hero,  d  to  conceal  or  extenuate  such  transactions  as  were  unfavourable 


486  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

to  his  character.  Of  this,  Herrera  accuses  him  in  one  instance,  Dec.  ii.  lib.  iii, 
c.  2,  and  it  is  not  once  only  that  this  is  conspicuous.  Ho  writes,  however,  with 
BO  much  freedom  concerning  several  measures  of  the  Spanish  Court,  that  the 
copies  both  of  his  Historia  de  las  Indias,  and  of  his  Chronica,  were  called  in 
by  a  decree  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  and  they  were  long  considered  as  pro- 
hibited books  in  Spain;  it  is  only  of  late  that  license  to  print  them  has  been 
granted.  Pinelo  Biblioth.  589. 

The  Chronicle  of  Gomara  induced  Bernal  Diaz  del  Castillo  to  compose  his 
Historia  Verdadera  de  la  Conquista  de  la  Nueva  Espagna.  He  had  been  an 
adventurer  in  each  of  the  expeditions  to  New  Spain,  and  was  the  companion 
of  Cortes  in  all  his  battles  and  perils.  When  he  found  that  neither  he  himself, 
nor  many  of  his  fellow-soldiers,  were  once  mentioned  by  Gomara,  but  that  the 
fame  of  ,all  their  exploits  was  ascribed  to  Cortes,  the  gallant  veteran  laid  hold 
of  his  pen  with  indignation,  and  composed  his  true  history.  It  contains  a  prolix, 
minute,  confused  narrative  of  all  Cortes's  operations,  in  such  a  rude  vulgar 
style  as  might  be  expected  from  an  illiterate  soldier.  But  as  he  relates  trans- 
actions of  which  he  was  witness,  and  in  which  he  performed  a  considerable 
part,  his  account  bears  all  the  marks  of  authenticity,  and  is  accompanied  with 
such  a  pleasant  navi'ete,  with  such  interesting  details,  with  such  amusing  vanity, 
and  yet  so  pardonable  in  an  old  soldier  who  had  been  (as  he  boasts)  in  a  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  battles,  as  renders  his  book  one  of  the  most  singular  that 
is  to  be  found  in  any  language. 

Pet.  Martyr  ab  Angleria,  in  a  treatise  De  Insulis  nuper  inventis,  added  to 
his  Decades  de  Rebus  Oceanicis  et  Novo  -Orbe,  gives  some  account  of  Cortes'a 
expedition.  But  he  proceeds  no  further  than  to  relate  what  happened  after 
his  first  landing.  This  work,  which  is  brief  and  slight,  seems  to  contain  the 
information  transmitted  by  Cortes  in  his  first  despatches,  embellished  with 
several  particulars  communicated  to  the  author  by  the  officers  who  brought  the 
letters  from  Cortes. 

But  the  book  to  which  the  greater  part  of  modern  historians  have  had  re- 
course for  information  concerning  the  conquest  of  New  Spain,  is  Historia  do 
la  Conquista  de  Mexico,  por  D.  Antonio  de  Solis,  first  published  A  D.  1684. 
I  know  no  author  in  any  language  whose  literary  fame  has  risen  so  far  beyond 
his  real  merit.  De  Solis  is  reckoned  by  his  countrymen  one  of  the  purest 
writers  in  the  Castilian  tongue  ;  and  if  a  foreigner  may  venture  to  give  his 
opinion  concerning  a  matter  of  which  Spaniards  alone  are  qualified  to  judge, 
he  is  entitled  to  that  praise.  But  though  his  language  be  correct,  his  taste  in 
composition  is  far  from  being  just.  His  periods  are  so  much  laboured  as  to  be 
often  stiff,  and  sometimes  tumid  ;  the  figures  which  he  employs  by  way  of 
ornament  are  frequently  trite  or  improper,  and  his  observations  superficial. 
These  blemishes,  however,  might  easily  be  overlooked,  if  he  were  not  defective 
with  respect  to  all  the  great  qualities  of  an  historian.  Destitute  of  that 
patient  industry  in  research  which  conducts  to  the  knowledge  of  truth ;  a 
stranger  to  that  impartiality  which  weighs  evidence  with  cool  attention  ;  and 
ever  eager  to  establish  his  favourite  system  of  exalting  the  character  of  Cortes 
into  that  of  a  perfect  hero,  exempt  from  error,  and  adorned  with  every  virtue  ; 
he  is  less  solicitous  to  discover  what  was  true  than  to  relate  what  might  appear 
splendid.  When  he  attempts  any  critical  discussion,  his  reaspnings  are  fa! 
lacious,  and  founded  upon  an  imperfect  view  of  facts.  Though  he  sometimes 
quotes  the  despatches  of  Cortes,  he  seems  not  to  have  consulted  them  ;  and 
though  he  sets  out  with  some  censure  on  Gomara,  he  frequently  prefers  his 
authority,  the  most  doubtful  of  any,  to  that  of  the  other  contemporary  his- 
torians. 

But  of  all  the  Spanish  writers,  Herrera  furnishes  the  fullest  and  most  accu- 
rate information  concerning  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  as  well  as  every  other 
transaction  of  America.  The  industry  and  attention  with  which  he  consulted 
not  only  the  books,  but  the  original  papers  and  public  records,  which  tended  to 
throw  any  light  upon  the  subject  of  his  inquiries,  were  so  great,  and  he  usually 
judges  of  the  evidence  before  him  with  so  much  impartiality  and  candour,  that 
his  Decads  may  be  ranked  among  the  most  judicious  and  usefiil  historical  col- 
lections. If,  by  attempting  to  relate  the  various  occurrences  in  the  New  World 
in  a  strict  chronological  order,  the  arrangement  of  events  in  his  work  had  not 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  487 

been  rendered  so  perplexed,  disconnected,  and  obscure,  that  it  is  an  unpleasant 
task  to  collect  from  different  parts  of  his  book,  and  piece  together  the  detached 
shreds  of  a  story,  he  might  justly  have  been  ranked  among  the  most  eminent 
historians  of  his  country.  He  gives  an  account  of  the  materials  from  which 
he  composed  his  work,  Dec.  vi.  lib.  iii.  c.  19. 

NOTE  [98].  PAGE  198. 

CORTES  purposed  to  have  gone  in  the  train  of  Ovando  when  he  set  out  for 
his  government  in  the  year  1502,  but  was  detained  by  an  accident.  As  he  was 
attempting  in  a  dark  night  to  scramble  up  to  the  window  of  a  lady's  bed- 
chamber, with  whom  he  carried  on  an  intrigue,  an  old  wall,  on  the  top  of 
which  he  had  mounted,  gave  way,  and  he  was  so  much  bruised  by  the  fall  as 
to  be  unfit  for  the  voyage.  Gomara,  Cronica  de  la  Nueva  Espagna,  cap.  1 

NOTE  [99].  PAGE  198. 

CORTES  had  two  thousand  pesos  in  the  hands  of  Andrew  Duero,  and  he  bor- 
rowed four  thousand.  Those  sums  are  about  equal  in  value  to  fifteen  hundred 
pounds  sterling  ;  but  as  the  price  of  every  thing  was  extremely  high  in  America, 
they  made  but  a  scanty  stock  when  applied  towards  the  equipment  of  a  military 
expedition.  Herrera,  dec.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  2.  B.  Diaz,  c.  20. 

NOTE  [100].  PAGE  200. 

THE  names  of  those  gallant  officers,  which  will  often  occur  in  the  subsequent 
story,  were  Juan  Velasquez  de  Leon,  Alonso  Hernandez  Portocarrero,  Francisco 
de  Montejo,  Christoval  de  Olid,  Juan  de  Escalante,  Francisco  de  Morla,  Pedro 
de  Alvarado,  Francisco  de  Salceda,  Juan  de  Escobar,  Gines  de  Nortes.  Cortes 
himself  commanded  the  Capitana,  or  Admiral.  Francisco  de  Orozco,  an  officer 
formed  in  the  wars  of  Italy,  had  the  command  of  the  artillery.  The  experi- 
enced Alaminos  acted  as  chief  pilot. 

NOTE  [101].  PAGE  201. 

IN  those  different  conflicts,  the  Spaniards  lost  only  two  men,  but  had  a  con- 
siderable number  wounded.  Though  there  be  no  occasion  for  recourse  to  any 
supernatural  cause  to  account  either  for  the  greatness  of  their  victories,  or  the 
srnallness  of  their  loss,  the  Spanish  historians  fail  not  to  ascribe  both  to  the 
patronage  of  St.  Jago,  the  tutelar  saint  of  their  country,  who,  as  they  relate, 
fought  at  the  head  of  their  countrymen,  and  by  his  prowess  gave  a  turn  to  the 
fate  of  the  battle.  Gomara  is  the  first  who  mentions  this  apparition  of  St. 
James.  It  is  amusing  to  observe  the  embarrassment  of  B.  Diaz  del  Castillo, 
occasioned  by  the  struggle  between  his  superstition  and  his  veracity.  The 
former  disposed  him  to  believe  this  miracle,  the  latter  restrained  him  from 
attesting  it.  "  I  acknowledge,"  says  he,  "  that  all  our  exploits  and  victories 
are  owing  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  in  this  battle  there  was  such  a 
number  of  Indians  to  every  one  of  us,  that  if  each  had  thrown  a  handful  of 
earth  they  might  have  buried  us,  if  by  the  great  mercy  of  God  we  had  not 
been  protected.  It  may  be  that  the  person  whom  Gomara  mentions  as  having 
appeared  on  a  mottled  gray  horse,  was  the  glorious  apostle  Signor  San  Jago 
or  Signor  San  Pedro,  and  that  I,  as  being  a  sinner,  was  not  worthy  to  see  him. 
This  I  know,  that  I  saw  Francisco  de  Morla,  on  such  a  horse,  but  as  an  un- 
worthy transgressor,  did  not  deserve  to  see  any  of  the  holy  apostles.  It  may 
have  been  the  will  of  God,  that  it  was  so  as  Gomara  relates,  but  until  I  read 
his  Chronicle  I  never  heard  among  any  of  the  conquerors  that  such  a  ihinjf 
had  happened."  Cap.  34. 

NOTE  [102].  PAGE  203. 

SEVERAL  Spanish  historians  relate  this  occurrence  in  such  terms  as  if  they 
wished  it  should  be  believed,  that  the  Indians,  loaded  with  the  presents,  had 


438  NOTES    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

carried  them  from  the  capital,  in  the  same  short  space  of  time  that  the  couners 
performed  that  journey.  This  is  incredible,  and  Gomara  mentions  a  circum- 
stance which  shows  that  nothing  extraordinary  happened  on  this  occasion. 
This  rich  present  had  been  prepared  for  Grijalva,  when  he  touched  at  the  same 
place  some  months  before,  and  was  now  ready  to  be  delivered,  as  soon  as 
Montezuma  sent  orders  for  that  purpose.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  xxvii.  p.  28. 

According  to  B.  Diaz  del  Castillo,  the  value  of  the  silver  plate  representing 
the  moon  was  alone  above  twenty  thousand  pesos,  above  five  thousand  pounds 
sterling. 

NOTE  [103].  PAGE  206. 

THIS  private  traffic  was  directly  contrary  to  the  instructions  of  Velasquez, 
who  enjoined,  that  whatever  was  acquired  by  trade  should  be  thrown  into  the 
common  stock.  But  it  appears  that  the  soldiers  had  each  a  private  assortment 
of  toys  and  other  goods  proper  for  the  Indian  trade,  and  Cortes  gained  their 
favour  by  encouraging  this  underhand  barter.  B.  Diaz,  c.  41. 

NOTE  [104].  PAGE  211. 

GOMARA  has  published  a  catalogue  of  the  various  articles  of  which  this  pre- 
sent consisted.  Cron.  c.  49.  P.  Martyr  ab  Angleria,  who  saw  them  after  they 
were  brought  to  Spain,  and  who  seems  to  have  examined  them  with  great  at- 
tention, gives  a  description  of  each,  which  is  curious,  as  it  conveys  some  idea 
of  the  progress  which  the  Mexicans  had  made  in  several  arts  of  elegance.  De 
Insulis  nuper  inventis  Liber,  p.  354,  &c. 

NOTE  [105].  PAGE  213. 

THERE  is  no  circumstance  hi  the  history  of  the  conquest  of  America  which 
is  more  questionable  than  the  account  of  the  numerous  armies  brought  into 
the  field  against  the  Spaniards.  As  the  war  with  the  republic  of  Tlascala, 
though  of  short  duration,  was  one  of  the  most  considerable  which  the  Spaniards 
waged  in  America,  the  account  given  of  the  Tlascalan  armies  merits  some  at- 
tention. The  only  authentic  information  concerning  this  is  derived  from  threo 
authors.  Cortes  in  his  second  despatch  to  the  Emperor,  dated  at  Segura  de  la 
Frontera,  Oct.  30,  1520,  thus  estimates  the  number  of  their  troops  ;  in  the  first 
battle  6000;  in  the  second  battle  100,000;  in  the  third  battle  150,000.  Relat. 
ap.  Ramus.  iii.  228.  Bernal  Diaz  del  Castillo,  who  was  an  eye  witness,  and 
engaged  in  all  the  actions  of  this  war,  thus  reckons  their  numbers  :  in  the  first 
battle,  3000,  p.  43 ;  in  the  second  battle  6000,  ibid. ;  in  the  third  battle  50,000, 
p.  45.  Gomara,  who  was  Cortes's  chaplain  after  his  return  to  Spain,  and 
published  his  Cronica  in  1552,  follows  the  computation  of  Cortes,  except  in  the 
second  battle,  where  he  reckons  the  Tlascalans,  at  80,000,  p.  49.  It  was  mani- 
festly the  interest  of  Cortes  to  magnify  his  own  dangers  and  exploits.  For  it 
was  only  by  the  merit  of  extraordinary  services  that  he  could  hope  to  atone  for 
his  irregular  conduct  in  assuming  an  independent  command.  Bern.  Diaz, 
though  abundantly  disposed  to  place  his  own  prowess,  and  that  of  his  fellow- 
conquerors,  in  the  most  advantageous  point  of  light,  had  not  the  same  tempta- 
tion to  exaggerate ;  and  it  is  probable  that  his  account  of  the  numbers  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  the  truth.  The  assembling  of  an  army  of  150,000  men 
requires  many  previous  arrangements,  and  such  provisions  for  their  subsistence 
as  seems  to  be  beyond  the  foresight  of  Americans.  The  degree  of  cultivation 
in  Tlascala  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  great  as  to  have  furnished  such 
a  vast  army  with  provisions.  Though  this  province  was  so  much  better 
cultivated  than  other  regions  of  New  Spain  that  it  was  called  the  country  of 
bread ;  yet  the  Spaniards  hi  their  march  suffered  such  want,  that  they  were 
obliged  to  subsist  upon  Tunas,  a  species  of  fruit  which  grows  wild  in  the  fields. 
Herrera,  dec.  ii.  lib.  vi.  c.  5.  p.  182. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  489 


NOTE  [106].  PAGE  2k> 

THESE  unhappy  victims  are  said  to  be  persons  of  distinction.  It  seems  im- 
probable that  so  great  a  number  as  fifty  should  be  employed  as  spies.  So  many 
prisoners  had  been  taken  and  dismissed,  and  the  Tlascalans  had  sent  so  many 
messages  to  the  Spanish  quarters,  that  there  appears  to  be  no  reason  for 
hazarding  the  lives  of  so  many  considerable  people  in  order  to  procure  infor- 
mation about  the  position  and  state  of  their  camp.  The  barbarous  manner  in 
which  Cortes  treated  a  people  unacquainted  with  the  laws  of  war  established 
among  polished  nations,  appears  so  shocking  to  the  later  Spanish  writers,  that 
they  diminish  the  number  of  those  whom  he  punished  so  cruelly.  Herrera 
says,  that  he  cut  off  the  hands  of  seven,  and  the  thumbs  of  some  more.  Dec. 
ii.  lib.  ii.  c.  8.  De  Solis  relates,  that  the  hands  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  were  cut 
off,  and  the  thumbs  of  all  the  rest.  Lib.  ii.  c.  20.  But  Cortes  himself,  Relat. 
p.  228.  b.  and  after  him  Gomara,  c.  48,  affirm,  that  the  hands  of  all  the  fifty 
were  cut  off. 

NOTE  [107].  PAGE  216. 

THE  horses  were  objects  of  the  greatest  astonishment  to  all  the  people  of 
New  Spain.  At  first  they  imagined  the  horse  and  his  rider,  like  the  Centaurs 
of  the  ancients,  to  be  some  monstrous  animal  of  a  terrible  form  ;  and  supposing 
that  their  food  was  the  same  as  that  of  men,  brought  flesh  and  bread  to  nourish 
them.  Even  after  they  discovered  their  mistake,  they  believed  the  horses  de- 
voured men  hi  battle,  and  when  they  neighed,  thought  that  they  were  demanding 
their  prey.  It  was  not  the  interest  of  the  Spaniards  to  undeceive  them. 
Herrera,  dec.  ii.  lib.  vi.  c.  11. 

NOTE  [108].  PAGE  218. 

ACCORDING  to  Bart,  de  las  Casas,  there  was  no  reason  for  this  massacre,  and 
it  was  an  act  of  wanton  cruelty,  perpetrated  merely  to  strike  terror  into  the 
people  of  New  Spain.  Relac.  de  la  Destruyc.  p.  17,  &c.  But  the  zeal  of  Las 
Casas  often  leads  him  to  exaggerate.  In  opposition  to  him,  Bern.  Diaz,  c.  83, 
asserts,  that  the  first  missionaries  sent  into  New  Spain  by  the  Emperor  made  a 
judicial  inquiry  into  this  transaction;  and  having  examined  the  priests  and  elders 
of  Cholula,  found  that  there  was  a  real  conspiracy  to  cut  off  the  Spaniards, 
and  that  the  account  given  by  Cortes  was  exactly  true.  As  it  was  the  object 
of  Cortes  at  that  time,  and  manifestly  his  interest,  to  gain  the  good  will  of 
Montezuma,  it  is  improbable  that  he  should  have  taken  a  step  which  tended 
so  visibly  to  alienate  him  from  the  Spaniards,  if  he  had  not  believed  it  to  be 
necessary  for  his  own  preservation.  At  the  same  time  the  Spaniards  who 
served  in  America  had  such  contempt  for  the  natives,  and  thought  them  so 
little  entitled  to  the  common  rights  of  men,  that  Cortes  might  hold  the  Cholu- 
lans  to  be  guilty  upon  slight  and  imperfect  evidence.  The  severity  of  the 
punishment  was  certainly  excessive  and  atrocious. 

NOTE  [109].  PAGE  218. 

THIS  description  is  taken  almost  literally  from  Bernal  Diaz  del  Castillo,  who 
was  so  unacquainted  with  the  art  of  composition  as  to  be  incapable  of  em- 
bellishing his  narrative.  He  relates  in  a  simple  and  rude  style  what  passed  in 
his  own  mind  and  that  of  his  fellow-soldiers  on  that  occasion  :  "  and  let  it  not 
be  thought  strange,"  says  he,  "  that  I  should  write  in  this  manner  of  what  then 
happened,  for  it  ought  to  be  considered,  that  it  is  one  thing  to  relate,  another 
to  have  beheld  things  that  were  never  before  seen,  or  heard,  or  spoken  of 
among  men."  Cap.  86.  p.  64.  b. 

NOTE  [110].  PAGE  223. 

B.  DIAZ  DEL  CASTILLO  gives  us  some  idea  of  the  fatigue  and  hardships  they 
underwent  in  performing  this  and  other  parts  of  duty.     During  the  nine  months 
VOL.  I.— 62 


489  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Uiat  they  remained  in  Mexico,  every  man,  without  any  distinction  between 
officers  and  soldiers,  slept  on  his  arms  in  his  quilted  jacket  and  gorget.  They 
lay  on  mats,  or  straw  spread  on  the  floor,  and  each  was  obliged  to  hold  himself 
as  alert  as  if  he  had  been  on  guard.  «  This,"  adds  he,  "became  so  habitual  to 
me,  that  even  now,  in  my  advanced  age,  I  always  sleep  in  my  clothes,  and  never 
in  any  bed.  When  I  visit  my  Encomienda,  I  reckon  it  suitable  to  my  rank  to 
have  a  bed  carried  along  with  my  other  baggage,  but  I  never  go  into  it ;  but 
according  to  custom,  I  lie  in  my  clothes,  and  walk  frequently  during  the 
night  into  the  open  air  to  view  the  stars,  as  1  was  wont  when  in  service." 


night  into  the  open 
Cap.  108. 


NOTE  [111].  PAGE  224. 


CORTES  himself,  in  his  second  despatch  to  the  Emperor,  does  not  explain  the 
motives  which  induced  him  either  to  condemn  Qualpopoca  to  the  flames,  or 
to  put  Montezuma  in  irons.  Ramus.  iii.  236.  B.  Diaz  is  silent  with  respect  to 
his  reasons  for  the  former ;  and  the  only  cause  he  assigns  for  the  latter  was, 
that  he  might  meet  with  no  interruption  in  executing  the  sentence  pronounced 
against  Qualpopoca,  c.  xcv.  p.  75.  But  as  Montezuma  was  his  prisoner,  and 
absolutely  in  his  power,  he  had  no  reason  to  dread  him,  and  the  insult  offered 
to  that  monarch  could  have  no  effect  but  to  irritate  him  unnecessarily.  Gomara 
supposes  that  Cortes  had  no  other  object  than  to  occupy  Montezuma  with  his 
own  distress  and  sufferings,  that  he  might  give  less  attention  to  what  befell 
Qualpopoca.  Cron.  c.  89.  Herrera  adopts  the  same  opinion.  Dec.  ii.  lib. 
viii.  c.  9.  But  it  seems  an  odd  expedient,  in  order  to  make  a  person  bear  one 
injury,  to  load  him  with  another  that  is  greater.  De  Solis  imagines,  that  Cortes 
had  nothing  else  in  view  than  to  intimidate  Montezuma,  so  that  he  might  make 
no  attempt  to  rescue  the  victims  from  their  fate  ;  but  the  spirit  of  that  monarch 
was  so  submissive,  and  he  had  so  tamely  given  up  the  prisoners  to  the  disposal 
of  Cortes,  that  he  had  no  cause  to  apprehend  any  opposition  from  him.  If  the 
explanation  which  I  have  attempted  to  give  of  Cortes's  proceedings  on  this  oc- 
casion be  not  admitted,  it  appears  to  me,  that  they  must  be  reckoned  among 
the  wanton  and  barbarous  acts  of  oppression  which  occur  too  often  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  conquest  of  America. 

NOTE  [112].  PAGE  226. 

DE  SOLIS  asserts,  lib.  iv.  c.  3,  that  the  proposition  of  doing  homage  to  the  King 
of  Spain  came  from  Montezuma  himself,  and  was  made  in  order  to  induce  the 
Spaniards  to  depart  out  of  his  dominions.  He  describes  his  conduct  on  this 
occasion  as  if  it  had  been  founded  upon  a  scheme  of  profound  policy,  and 
executed  with  such  a  refined  address  as  to  deceive  Cortes  himself.  But  there 
is  no  hint  or  circumstance  in  the  contemporary  historians,  Cortes,  Diaz,  or 
Gomara,  to  justify  this  theory.  Montezuma,  on  other  occasions,  discovered 
no  such  extent  of  art  and  abilities.  The  anguish  which  he  felt  in  performing 
this  humbling  ceremony  is  natural,  if  we  suppose  it  to  have  been  involuntary. 
But,  according  to  the  theory  of  De  Solis,  which  supposes  that  Montezuma  was 
executing  what  he  himself  had  proposed,  to  have  assumed  an  appearance  of 
sorrow  would  have  been  preposterous,  and  inconsistent  with  his  own  design  of 
deceiving  the  Spaniards. 

NOTE  [113].  PAGE  227. 

,  IN  several  of  the  provinces,  the  Spaniards,  with  all  their  industry  and  influ- 
ence, could  collect  no  gold.  In  others,  they  procured  only  a  few  trinkets  of 
small  value.  .  Montezuma  assured  Cortes,  that  the  present  which  he  offered  to 
the  king  of  Castile,  after  doing  homage,  consisted  of  all  the  treasure  amassed 
by  his  father :  and  told  him,  that  he  had  already  distributed  the  rest  of  his 
gold  and  jewels  among  the  Spaniards.  B.  Diaz.  c.  104.  Gomara  relates,  that 
all  the  silver  collected  amounted  to  500  marks.  Cron.  c.  93.  This  agrees  with 
the  account  given  by  Cortes,  that  the  royal  fifth  of  silver  was  100  marks. 
Relat.  239,  B,  So  that  the  sum  total  of  silver  was  only  4000  ounces,  at  the 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  491 

rate  of  eight  ounces  a  mark,  which  demonstrates  the  proportion  of  silver  to 
gold  to  have  been  exceedingly  small. 

NOTE  [114].  PAGE  227 

DE  SOLIS,  lib.  iv.  c.  1.  calls  in  question  the  truth  of  this  transaction,  from  no 
better  reason  than  that  it  was  inconsistent  with  that  prudence  which  distin- 
guishes the  character  of  Cortes.  But  he  ought  to  have  recollected  the  impetu- 
osity of  his  zeal  at  Tlascala,  which  was  no  less  imprudent.  He  asserts,  that 
the  evidence  for  it  rests  upon  the  testimony  of  B.  Diaz  del  Castillo,  of  Gomara, 
and  of  Herrera.  They  all  concur,  indeed,  in  mentioning  this  inconsiderate 
step  which  Cortes  took;  and  they  had  good  reason  to  do  so,  for  Cortes  him- 
self relates  this  exploit  in  his  second  despatch  to  the  Emperor,  and  seems  to 
glory  in  it.  Cort.  Relat.  Ramus.  iii.  140.  D.  This  is  one  instance,  among 
many,  of  De  Solis's  having  consulted  with  little  attention  the  letters  of  Cortes 
to  Charles  V.  from  which  the  most  authentic  information  with  respect  to  his 
operations  must  be  derived. 

NOTE  [115].  PAGE  229. 

HERRERA  and  De  Solis  suppose  that  Velasques  was  encouraged  to  equip  this 
armament  against  Cortes  by  the  account  which  he  received  from  Spain  con- 
cerning the  reception  of  the  agents  sent  by  the  colony  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  the 
warmth  with  which  Fonseca  Bishop  of  Burgos  had  espoused  his  interest,  and 
condemned  the  proceedings  of  Cortes.  Herrera,  dec.  ii.  lib.  ix.  c.  18.  De 
Solis,  lib.  iv.  c.  5.  But  the  chronological  order  of  events  refutes  this  supposi- 
tion. Portocarrero  and  Montejo  sailed  from  Vera  Cruz,  July  26,  1519.  ,  Her- 
rera, dec.  ii.  lib.  v.  c.  4.  They  landed  at  St.  Lucar  in  October,  according  to 
Horrera,  ibid.  But  P.  Martyr,  who  attended  the  court  at  that  time,  and  com- 
municated every  occurrence  of  moment  to  his  correspondents  day  by  day, 
mentions  the  arrival  of  these  agents  for  the  first  time  in  December,  and  speaks 
of  it  as  a  recent  event.  Epist.  650.  All  the  historians  agree  that  the  agents 
of  Cortes  had  their  first  audience  of  the  Emperor  at  Tordesillas,  when  he  went 
to  that  town  to  visit  his  mother  in  his  way  to  St.  Jago  de  Compostella.  Her- 
rera, dec.  ii.  lib.  v.  c.  4.  De  Solis,  lib.  iv.  c.  5.  But  the  Emperor  set  out  from 
Valladolid  for  Tordesillas  on  the  llth  of  March,  1520  ;  and  P.  Martyr  mentions 
his  having  seen  at  that  time  the  presents  made  to  Charles.  Epist.  1665.  The 
armament  under  Narvaez  sailed  from  Cuba  in  April  1520.  It  is  manifest  then 
that  Velasquez  could  not  receive  any  account  of  what  passed  in  this  interview 
at  Tordesillas  previous  to  his  hostile  preparations  against  Cortes.  His  real 
motives  seem  to  be  those  which  I  have  mentioned.  The  patent  appointing  him 
Addantado  of  New  Spain,  with  such  extensive  powers,  bears  date  November 
13,  1519.  Herrera,  dec.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  11.  He  might  receive  it  about  tho 
beginning  of  January.  Gomara  takes  notice,  that  as  soon  as  this  patent  was 
delivered  to  him,  he  began  to  equip  a  fleet  and  levy  forces.  Cron.  c.  96. 

NOTE  [116].  PAGE  230. 

DE  SOLIS  contends,  that  as  Narvaez  had  no  interpreters,  he  could  hold  no 
intercourse  with  the  people  of  the  provinces,  nor  converse  with  them  in  any 
way  but  by  signs,  that  it  was  equally  impossible  for  him  to  carry  on  any  com- 
munication with  Montezuma.  Liv.  iv.  c.  7.  But  it  is  upon  the  authority  of 
Cortes  himself  that  I  relate  all  the  particulars  of  Narvaez's  correspondence  both 
with  Montezuma  and  with  his  subjects  in  the  maritime  provinces.  Relat. 
Ramus.  iii.  244.  A.  C.  Cortes  affirms  that  there  was  a  mode  of  intercourse 
between  Narvaez  and  the  Mexicans,  but  does  not  explain  how  it  was  carried  on. 
Bernal  Diaz  supplies  this  defect,  and  informs  us  that  the  three  deserters  who 
joined  Narvaez  acted  as  interpreters,  having  acquired  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  language,  c.  110.  With  his  usual  minuteness,  he  mentions  their  names 
and  characters,  and  relates,  in  chapter  122,  how  they  were  punished  for  their 
perfidy.  The  Spaniards  had  now  resided  above  a  year  among  the  Mexicans ; 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  several  among  them  should  have  made  some  pro- 


492  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ficiency  m  speaking  their  language.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  case.  Her- 
rera,  dec.  2.  lib.  x.  c.  1.  Both  B.  Diaz,  who  was  present,  and  Herrera,  the  most 
accurate  and  best  informed  of  all  the  Spanish  writers,  agree  with  Cortes  in  his 
account  of  the  secret  correspondence  carried  on  with  Montezuma.  Dec.  2.  lib. 
x.  c.  18,  19.  De  Solis  seems  to  consider  it  as  a  discredit  to  Cortes,  his  hero, 
that  Montezuma  should  have  been  ready  to  engage  in  a  correspondence  with 
Narvaez.  He  supposes  that  monarch  to  have  contracted  such  a  wonderful 
affection  for  the  Spaniards,  that  he  was  not  solicitous  to  be  delivered  from 
them.  After  the  indignity  with  which  he  had  been  treated,  such  an  affection 
is  incredible ;  and  even  De  Solis  is  obliged  to  acknowledge,  that  it  must  be 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  miracles  which  God  had  wrought  to  facilitate  the 
conquest,  lib.  iv.  c.  7.  The  truth  is,  Montezuma,  however  much  overawed  by 
his  dread  of  the  Spaniards,  was  extremely  impatient  to  recover  his  liberty. 

NOTE  [117],  PAGE  236. 

These  words  I  have  borrowed  from  the  anonymous  Account  of  the  European 
Settlements  hi  America,  published  by  Dodsley,  in  two  volumes  8vo. ;  a  work 
of  so  much  merit,  that  I  should  think  there  is  hardly  any  writer  hi  the  age  who 
ought  to  be  ashamed  of  acknowledging  himself  to  be  the  author  of  it. 

NOTE  [118].  PAGE  238. 

The  contemporary  historians  differ  considerably  with  respect  to  the  loss  of 
the  Spaniards  on  this  occasion.  Cortes  in  his  second  despatch  to  the  Emperor, 
makes  the  number  only  150.  Relat.  ap.  Ramus.  iii.  p.  249.  A.  But  it  was 
manifestly  his  interest,  at  that  juncture,  to  conceal  from  the  court  of  Spain  the 
full  extent  of  the  loss  which  he  had  sustained.  De  Solis,  always  studious  to 
diminish  every  misfortune  that  befell  his  countrymen,  rates  their  loss  at  about 
two  hundred  men.  Lib.  iv.  c.  19.  B.  Diaz  affirms  that  they  lost  870  men, 
and  that  only  440  escaped  from  Mexico,  c.  128.  p.  108.  B.  Palafox,  Bishop  of 
Los  Angeles,  who  seems  to  have  inquired  into  the  early  transactions  of  his 
countrymen  in  New  Spain  with  great  attention,  confirms  the  account  of  B. 
Diaz  with  respect  to  the  extent  of  their  loss.  Virtudes  del  Indio,  p.  22.  Gomara 
states  their  loss  at  450  men.  Cron.  c.  109.  Some  months  afterwards,  when 
Cortes  had  received  several  reinforcements,  he  mustered  his  troops,  and  found 
them  to  be  only  590.  Relat.  ap.  Ramus.  iii.  p.  255.  E.  Now,  as  Narvaez 
brought  880  men  into  New  Spain,  and  about  400  of  Cortes's  soldiers  were  then 
alive,  it  is  evident  that  his  loss,  in  the  retreat  from  Mexico,  must  have  been 
much  more  considerable  than  what  he  mentions.  B.  Diaz,  solicitous  to  magnify 
the  dangers  and  sufferings  to  which  he  and  his  fellow-conquerors  were  exposed, 
may  have  exaggerated  their  loss;  but, hi  my  opinion, it  cannot  well  be  estimated 
at  less  than  600  men. 

NOTE  [119].  PAGE  246.. 

SOME  remains  of  this  great  work  are  still  visible,  and  the  spot  where  the 
brigantines.were  built  and  launched  is  still  pointed  out  to  strangers.  Torque- 
mada  viewed  them.  Monarq.  Indiana,  vol.  i.  p.  531. 

NOTE  [120].  PAGE  249. 

THE  station  of  Alvarado  on  the  causeway  of  Tacuba  was  the  nearest  to  the 
city.  Cortes  observes,  that  there  they  could  distinctly  observe  what  passed 
when  their  countrymen  were  sacrificed.  Relat.  ap.  Ramus.  iii.  p.  273.  E.  B. 
Diaz,  who  belonged  to  Alvarado's  division,  relates  what  he  beheld  with  his 
own  eyes.  C.  151.  p.  148.  b.  149.  a.  Like  a  man  whose  courage  was  so  clear 
as  to  be  above  suspicion,  he  describes  with  his  usual  simplicity  the  impression 
which  this  spectacle  made  upon  him.  "  Before  (says  he)  I  saw  the  breasts  of 
my  companions  opened,  their  hearts  yet  fluttering,  offered  to  an  accursed  idol, 
and  their  flesh  devoured  by  their  exulting  enemies  ;  I  was  accustomed  to  ' 
a  battle  not  only  without  fear,  but  with  high  spirit.  But  from  that  time  I 


to  enter 
nevei 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS,  493 

advanced  to  fight  with  the  Mexicans  without  a  secret  horror  and  anxiety  ;  my 
heart  trembled  at  the  thoughts  of  the  death  which  I  had  seen  them  suffer." 
He  takes  care  to  add,  that  as  soon  as  the  combat  began,  his  terror  went  off ; 
and  indeed,  his  adventurous  bravery  on  every  occasion  is  full  evidence  of  this. 
B.  Diaz,  c.  156.  p.  157.  a. 

NOTE  [121].  PAGE  252. 

ONE  circumstance  in  this  siege  merits  particular  notice.  The  account  which 
the  Spanish  writers  give  of  the  numerous  armies  employed  in  the  attack  or 
defence  of  Mexico  seems  to  be  incredible.  According  to  Cortes  himself,  he 
had  at  one  time  150,000  auxiliary  Indians  in  his  service.  Relat.  Ramus.  iii. 
275.  E.  Gomara  asserts  that  they  were  above  200,000.  Cron.  c,  136.  Her, 
rera,  an  author  of  higher  authority,  says  they  were  about  200,000.  Dec.  iii. 
lib.  i.  c.  19.  None  of  the  contemporary  writers  ascertain  explicitly  the  number 
of  persons  in  Mexico  during  the  siege.  But  Cortes  on  several  occasions  men- 
tions the  number  of  Mexicans  who  were  slain,  or  who  perished  for  want  of 
food ;  and,  if  we  may  rely  on  those  circumstances,  it  is  probable  that  above 
two  hundred  thousand  must  have  been  shut  up  in  the  town.  But  the  quantity 
of  provisions  necessary  for  the  subsistence  of  such  vast  multitudes  assembled 
in  one  place,  during  three  months,  is  so  great,  that  it  requires  so  much  foresight 
and  arrangement  to  collect  these,  and  lay  them  up  in  magazines,  so  as  to  be 
certain  of  a  regular  supply,  that  one  can  hardly  believe  that  this  could  be  ac- 
complished in  a  country  where  agriculture  was  so  imperfect  as  in  the  Mexican 
empire,  where  there  were  no  tame  animals,  and  by  a  people  naturally  so  im- 
provident, and  so  incapable  of  executing  a  complicated  plan,  as  the  most 
improved  Americans.  The  Spaniards,  with  all  their  care  and  attention,  fared 
very  poorly,  and  were  often  reduced  to  extreme  distress  for  want  of  provisions. 
B.  Diaz,  p.  142.  Cortes  Relat.  271.  D.  Cortes  on  one  occasion  mentions 
slightly  the  subsistence  of  his  army ;  and,  after  acknowledging  that  they  were 
often  in  great  want,  adds,  that  they  received  supplies  from  the  people  of  the 
country,  of  fish,  and  of  some  fruit,  which  he  calls  the  cherries  of  the  country. 
Ibid.  B.  Diaz  says  that  they  had  cakes  of  maize,  and  serasas  de  la  tierra ;  and 
when  the  season  of  these  was  over,  another  fruit,  which  he  calls  Tunas ;  but 
their  most  comfortable  subsistence  was  a  root  which  the  Indians  use  as  food,  to 
which  he  gives  the  name  of  Quilites,  p.  142.  The  Indian  auxiliaries  had  one 
means  of  subsistence  more  than  the  Spaniards.  They  fed  upon  the  bodies  of 
the  Mexicans  whom  they  killed  in  battle.  Cortes  Relat.  176.  C.  B.  Diaz  con- 
firms his  relation,  and  adds,  that  when  the  Indians  returned  from  Mexico  to 
their  own  country,  they  carried  with  them  large  quantities  of  flesh  of  the 
Mexicans  salted  or  dried,  as  a  most  acceptable  present  to  their  friends,  that  they 
might  have  the  pleasure  of  feeding  upon  the  bodies  of  their  enemies  in  their 
festivals,  p.  157.  De  Solis,  who  seems  to  consider  it  as  an  imputation  of  dis- 
credit to  his  countrymen,  that  they  should  act  in  concert  with  auxiliaries  who 
fed  upon  human  flesh,  is  solicitous  to  prove  that  the  Spaniards  endeavoured  to 
prevent  their  associates  from  eating  the  bodies  of  the  Mexicans,  lib.  v.  c.  24. 
But  he  has  no  authority  for  this  from  the  original  historians.  Neither  Cortes 
himself  nor  B.  Diaz  seems  to  have  had  any  such  scruple ;  and  on  many  occa- 
sions they  mention  the  Indian  repasts,  which  were  become  familiar  to  them, 
without  any  mark  of  abhorrence.  Even  with  this  additional  stock  of  food  for 
the  Indians,  it  was  hardly  possible  to  procure  subsistence  for  armies  amounting 
to  such  numbers  as  we  find  in  the  Spanish  writers.  Perhaps  the  best  solution 
of  the  difficulty  is,  to  adopt  the  opinion  of  B.  Diaz  del  Castillo,  the  most  artless 
of  all  the  Historiadores  primitives.  "  When  Gomara  (says  he)  on  some  occa- 
sions relates,  that  there  were  so  many  thousand  Indians  our  auxiliaries,  and  on 
others,  that  there  were  so  many  thousand  houses  in  this  or  that  town,  no  regard 
is  to  be  paid  to  his  enumeration,  as  he  has  no  authority  for  it,  the  numbers  not 
being  in  reality  the  fifth  of  what  he  relates.  If  we  add  together  the  different 
numbers  which  he  mentions,  that  country  would  contain  more  millions  than 
there  are  in  Castile."  C.  129.  But  though  some  considerable  deduction  should 
certainly  be  made  from  the  Spanish  accounts  of  the  Mexican  forces,  they  must 
have  been  very  numerous  ;  for  nothing  but  an  immense  superiority  in  number 


494  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

could  have  enabled  them  to  withstand  a  body  of  nine  hundred  Spaniards,  con- 
ducted by  a  leader  of  such  abilities  as  Cortes. 

NOTE  [122].  PAGE  257. 

IN  relating  the  oppressive  and  cruel  proceedings  of  the  conquerors  of  New 
Spain,  I  have  not  followed  B.  de  las  Casas  as  my  guide.  His  account  of  them, 
Relat.  de  la  Destruyc.  p.  18,  &c.  is  manifestly  exaggerated.  It  is  from  the 
testimony  of  Cortes  himself,  and  of  Gomara  who  wrote  under  his  eye,  that  I 
have  taken  my  account  of  the  punishment  of  the  Panucans,  and  they  relate  it 
without  any  disapprobation.  B.  Diaz,  contrary  to  his  usual  custom,  mentions 
it  only  in  general  terms,  c.  162.  Herrera,  solicitous  to  extenuate  this  barbarous 
action  of  his  countrymen,  though  he  mentions  63  caziques,  and  400  men  of 
note,  as  being  condemned  to  the  flames,  asserts  that  30  only  were  burnt,  and 
the  rest  pardoned.  Dec.  3.  lib.  v.  c.  7.  But  this  is  contrary  to  the  testimony 
of  the  original  historians,  particularly  of  Gomara,  whom  it  appears  he  had 
consulted,  as  he  adopts  several  of  his  expressions  in  this  passage.  The  punish- 
ment of  Guatimozin  is  related  by  the  most  authentic  of  the  Spanish  writers. 
Torquemada  has  extracted  from  a  history  of  Tezeuco,  composed  in  the  Mexi- 
can tongue,  an  account  of , this  transaction,  more  favourable  to  Guatimozin 
than  that  of  the  Spanish  authors.  Mon.  Indiana,  i.  575.  According  to  the 
Mexican  account,  Cortes  had  scarcely  a  shadow  of  evidence  to  justify  such  a 
wanton  act  of  cruelty.  B.  Diaz  affirms,  that  Guatimozin  and  his  fellow- 
sufferers  asserted  their  innocence  with  their  last  breath,  and  that  many  of  the 
Spanish  soldiers  condemned  this  action  of  Cortes  as  equally  unnecessary  and 
unjust,  p.  200.  b.  201.  a. 

NOTE  [123].  PA.GE  259. 

THE  motive  for  undertaking  this  expedition  was,  to  punish  Christoval  de 
Olid,  one  of  his  officers  who  had  revolted  against  him,  and  aimed  at  establishing 
an  independent  jurisdiction.  Cortes  regarded  this  insurrection  as  of  such 
dangerous  example,  and  dreaded  so  much  the  abilities  and  popularity  of  its 
author,  that  hi  person  he  led  the  body  of  troops  destined  to  suppress  it.  He 
marched,  according  to  Gomara,  three  thousand  miles,  through  a  country 
abounding  with  thick  forests,  rugged  mountains,  deep  rivers,  thinly  inhabited, 
and  cultivated  only  in  a  few  places.  What  he  suffered  from  famine,  from  the 
hostility  of  the  natives,  from  the  climate,  and  from  hardships  of  every  species, 
has  nothing  in  history  parallel  to  it^  but  what  occurs  in  the  adventures  of  the 
other  discoverers  and  conquerors  of  the  New  World.  Cortes  was  employed 
in  this  dreadful  service  above  two  years  ;  and  though  it  was  not  distinguished 
by  any  splendid  event,  he  exhibited,  during  the  course  of  it,  greater  personal 
courage,  more  fortitude  of  mind,  more  perseverance  and  patience  than  in  any 
other  period  or  scene  in  his  life.  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib.  vi.  vii.  viii.  ix.  Gomara, 
Cron.  c.  163^-177.  B.  Diaz,  174 — 190.  Cortes,  MS.  penes  me.  Were  one  to 
write  a  life  of  Cortes,  the  account  of  this  expedition  should  occupy  a  splendid 
place  in  it.  In  a  general  history  of  America,  as  the  expedition  was  productive 
of  no  great  event,  the  mention  of  it  is  sufficient. 

NOTE  [124].  PAGE  259. 

ACCORDING  to  Herrera,  the  treasure  which  Cortes  brought  with  him,  Consisted 
of  fifteen  hundred  marks  of  wrought  plate,  two  hundred  thousand  pesos  of 
fine  gold,  and  ten  thousand  of  inferior  standard,  many  rich  jewels,  one  in  par- 
ticular worth  forty  thousand  pesos,  and  several  trinkets  and  ornaments  of 
value.  Dec.  4.  lib.  iii.  c.  8.  lib.  iv.  c.  1.  He  afterwards  engaged  to  give  a  por- 
tion with  his  daughter  of  a  hundred  thousand  pesos.  Gomara  Cron.  c.  237. 
The  fortune  which  he  left  his  sons  was  very  considerable.  But,  as  we  have 
before  related,  the  sum  divided  among  the  conquerors,  <)n  the  first  reduction 
of  Mexico,  was  very  small.  There  appears,  then,  to  be  some  reason  for  sus- 
pecting that  the  accusations  of  Cortes's  enemies  were  not  altogether  destitute 
of  foundation.  They  charged  him  with  having  applied  to  his  own  use  a  dis- 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS,  496 

proportionate  share  of  the  Mexican  spoils ;  with  having  concealed  the  royal 
treasures  of  Montezuma  and  Guatimozin ;  with  defrauding  the  king  of  his 
fifth;  and  robbing  his  followers  of  what  was  due  to  them.  Herrera,  dec.  3.  lib. 
Viii.  c.  15.  dec.  4.  lib.  iii.  c.  8.  Some  of  the  conquerors  themselves  entertained 
suspicions  of  the  same  kind  with  respect  to  this  part  of  his  conduct.  B. 
Diaz,  c.  157. 

NOTE  [125].  PAGE  261. 

IN  tracing  the  progress  of  the  Spanish  arms  in  New  Spain,  we  have  followed 
Cortes  himself  as  our  most  certain  guide.  His  despatches  to  the  Emperor  con- 
tain a  minute  account  of  his  operations.  But  the  unlettered  conqueror  of 
Peru  was  incapable  of  relating  his  own  exploits.  Our  information  with  respect 
to  them,  and  other  transactions  in  Peru,  is  derived,  however,  from  contemporary 
and  respectable  authors. 

The  most  early  account  of  Pizarro's  transactions  in  Peru  was  published  by 
Francisco  de  Xerez,  his  secretary.  It  is  a  simple,  unadorned  narrative,  carried 
down  no  further  than  the  death  of  Atahualpa,  in  1533  ;  for  the  author  returned 
to  Spain  in  1534,  and,  soon  after  he  landed,  printed  at  Seville  his  short  History 
of  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  addressed  to  the  Emperor. 

Don  Pedro  Sancho,  an  officer  who  served  under  Pizarro,  drew  up  an  account 
of  his  expedition,  which  was  translated  into  Italian  by  Ramusio,  and  inserted 
in  his  valuable  collection,  but  has  never  been  published  in  its  original  language. 
Sancho  returned  to  Spain  at  the  same  time  with  Xerez.  Great  credit  is  due 
to  what  both  these  authors  relate  concerning  the  progress  and  operations  of 
Pizarro ;  but  the  residence  of  the  Spaniards  in  Peru  had  been  so  short,  at  the 
time  when  they  left  it,  and  their  intercourse  with  the  natives  are  so  slender, 
that  their  knowledge  of  the  Peruvian  manners  and  customs  is  very  imperfect. 

The  next  contemporary  historian  is  Pedro  Cieza  de  Leon,  who  published  his 
Cronica  del  Peru  at  Seville  in  1553.  If  he  had  finished  all  that  he  purposes  in 
the  general  division  of  his  work,  it  would  have  been  the  most  complete  history 
which  had  been  published  of  any  region  in  the  New  World,  He  was  well 
qualified  to  execute  it,  having  served  during  seventeen  years  in  America,  and 
having  visited  in  person  most  of  the  provinces  concerning  which  he  had  occa- 
sion to  write.  But  only  the  first  part  of  his  chronicle  has  been  printed.  It 
contains  a  description  of  Peru,  and  several  of  the  adjacent  provinces,  with  an 
account  of  the  institutions  and  customs  of  the  natives,  and  is  written  with  so 
little  art,  and  such  an  apparent  regard  for  truth,  that  one  must  regret  the  loss 
of  the  other  parts  of  his  work. 

This  loss  is  amply  supplied  by  Don  Augustine  Zarate,  who  published,  in 
1555,  his  Historia  del  Descubrimiento  y  Conquesta  de  la  Provincia  del  Peru. 
Zarate  was  a  man  of  rank  and  education,  and  employed  in  Peru  as  comptroller- 
general  of  the  public  revenue.  His  history,  whether  we  attend  to  its  matter 
or  composition,  is  a  book  of  considerable  merit:  as  he  had  an  opportunity  to 
be  well  informed,  and  seems  to  have  been  inquisitive  with  respect  to  the  man- 
ners and  transactions  of  the  Peruvians,  great  credit  is  due  to  his  testimony. 

Don  Diego  Fernandez  published  his  Historia  del  Peru  in  1571.  His  sole 
object  is  to  relate  the  dissensions  and  civil  wars  of  the  Spaniards  in  that  em- 
pire. As  he  served  in  a  public  station  in  Peru,  and  was  well  acquainted  both 
with  the  country  and  with  the  principal  actors  in  those  singular  scenes  which 
he  describes,  as  he  possessed  sound  understanding  and  great  impartiality,  his 
work  may  be  ranked  among  those  of  the  historians  most  distinguished  for  their 
industry  in  research,  or  their  capacity  in  judging  with  respect  to  the  events 
which  they  relate. 

The  last  author  who  can  be  reckoned  among  the  contemporary  historians  of 
the  conquest  of  Peru  is  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Inca.  For  though  the  first  part 
of  his  work,  entitled  Commentaries  Reales  del  Origin  de  los  Incas  Reies  del  Peru, 
was  not  published  sooner  than  the  year  1609,  seventy-six  years  after  the  death 
of  Atahualpa  the  last  Emperor,  yet  as  he  was  born  in  Peru,  and  was  the  son  of 
an  officer  of  distinction  among  the  Spanish  conquerors,  by  a  Coya,  or  lady  of 
the  royal  race,  on  account  of  which  he  always  took  the  name  of  Inca ;  as  he 
was  master  of  the  language  spoken  by  the  Incas,  and  acquainted  with  the  tta- 


496  NOTES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ditions  of  his  countrymen,  his  authority  is  rated  very  high,  and  often  placed 
above  that  of  all  the  other  historians.  His  work,  however,  is  little  more  than 
a  commentary  upon  the  Spanish  writers  of  the  Peruvian  story,  and  composed 
of  quotations  taken  from  the  authors  whom  I  have  mentioned.  This  is  the 
idea  which  he  himself  gives  of  it,  lib.  i.  c.  10.  Nor  is  it  in  the  account  of 
facts  only  that  he  follows  them  servilely.  Even  in  explaining  the  institutions 
and  rites  of  his  ancestors,  his  information  seems  not  to  be  more  perfect  than 
theirs.  His  explanation  of  the  Quipos  is  almost  tho  same  with  that  of  Acosta. 
He  produces  no  specimen  of  Peruvian  poetry,  but  that  wretched  one  which  he 
borrows  from  Bias  Valera,  an  early  missionary,  whose  memoirs  have  never  been 
published.  Lib.  ii.  c.  15.  As  for  composition,  arrangement,  or  a  capacity  of 
distinguishing  between  what  is  fabulous,  what  is  probable,  and  what  is  true, 
one  searches  for  them  in  vain  in  the  commentaries  of  the  Inca.  His  work, 
however,  notwithstanding  its  great  defects,  is  .  not  altogether  destitute  of  use. 
Some  traditions  which  he  received  fr,om  his  countrymen  are  preserved  In  it. 
His  knowledge  of  the  Peruvian  language  has  enabled  him  to  correct  some  errors 
of  the  Spanish  writers,  and  he  has  inserted  in  it  some  curious  facts  taken  from 
authors  whose  works  were  never  published,  and  .are  now  lost. 

NOTE  [126].  PAGE  263. 

ONE  may  form  an  idea  both  of  the  hardships  which  they  endured,  and  of 
the  unhealthy  climate  in  the  regions  which  they  visited,  from  the  extraordinary 
mortality  that  prevailed  among  them.  Pizarro  carried  out  112  men,  Almagro 
70.  In  less  than  nine  months  130  6f  these  died.  Few  fell  by  the  sword ;  most 
of  them  were  cut  off  by  diseases.  Xeres,  p.  180. 

NOTE  [127],  PAGE  264. 

THIS  island,  says  Herrera,  is  rendered  so  uncomfortable  by  the  unwholesome- 
ness  of  its  climate,  its  impenetrable  woods,  its  rugged  mountains,  and  the  mul- 
titude of  insects  and  reptiles,  that  it  is  seldom  any  softer  epithet  than  that  of 
infernal  is  employed  in  describing  it.  The  sun  is  almost  never  seen  there,  and 
throughout  the  year  it  hardly  ever  ceases  to  rain.  Dec.  iii.  lib.  x.  c.  3.  Dam- 
pier  touched  at  this  island  in  the  year  1685  ;  and  his  account  of  the  climate  is 
not  more  favourable.  Vol.  i.  p.  172.  He,  during  his  cruise  on  the  coast,  visited 
most  of  the  places  where  Pizarro  landed,  and  his  description  of  them  throws 
light  on  the  narrations  of  the  early  Spanish  historians. 

NOTE  [128].  PAGE  270. 

BY  this  time  horses  had  multiplied  greatly  in  the  Spanish  settlements  on  tho 
continent.  When  Cortes  began  his  expedition  in  the  year  1518,  though  his 
armament  was  more  considerable  than  that  of  Pizarro,  and  composed  of  persons 
superior  in  rank  to  those  who  invaded  Peru,  he  could  procure  no  more  than 
sixteen  horses. 

NOTE  [129].  PAGE  271. 

IN  the  year  1740,  D.  Ant.  Ulloa  and  D.  George  Juan  travelled  from  Guay- 
aquil to  Motupe  by  the  same  route  which  Pizarro  took.  From  the  description 
of  their  journey,  one  may  form  an  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  his  march.  The 
sandy  plains  between  St.  Michael  de  Pieura  and  Motupe  extend  90  miles,  with- 
out water,  without  a  tree,  a  plant,  or  any  green  thing,  on  a  dreary  stretch  of 
burning  sand.  Voyage,  torn.  i.  p.  399,  &c. 

NOTE  [130].  PAGE  273. 

THIS  extravagant  and  unseasonable  discourse  of  Valverde  has  been  censured 
by  all  historians,  and  with  justice.  But  though  he  seems  to  have  been  an 
illiterate  and  bigotted  monk,  nowise  resembling  the  good  Olmedo,  who  accom- 
panied Cortes;  the  absurdity  of  his  address  to  Atahualpa  must  not  be  charged 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  497 

wholly  upon  him.  His  harangue  is  evidently  a  translation  or  paraphrase  of 
that  form,  concerted  by  a  junto  of  Spanish  divines  and  lawyers  in  the  year 
1509,  for  explaining  the  right  of  their  king  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  New  World, 
and  for  directing  the  officers  employed  in  America  how  they  should  take  pos- 
session of  any  new  country.  See  Note  23.  The  sentiments  contained  in  Val- 
verde's  harangue  must  not  then  be  imputed  to  the  bigotted  imbecility  of  a 
particular  man,  but  to  that  of  the  age.  But  Gomara  and  Benzoni  relate  one 
circumstance  concerning  Valverde,  which,  if  authentic,  renders  him  an  object 
not  of  contempt  only  but  of  horror.  They  assert,  that  during  the  whole  action 
Valverde  continued  to  excite  the  soldiers  to  slaughter,  calling  to  them  to  strike 
the  enemy  not  with  the  edge  but  with  the  points  of  their  swords.  Gom.  Cron. 
c.  113.  Benz.  Histor.  Nov.  Orbis,  lib.  iii.  c.  3.  Such  behaviour  was  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  in  other  -parts  of  America, 
where  they  uniformly  exerted  their  influence  to  protect  the  Indians,  and  to 
moderate  the  ferocity  of  their  countrymen. 

NOTE  [131].  PAGE  273. 

Two  different  systems  have  been  formed  concerning  the  conduct  of  Atahu- 
alpa.  The  Spanish  writers,  in  order  to  justify  the  violence  of  their  countrymen, 
contend  that  all  the  Inca's  professions  of  friendship  were  feigned  ;  and  that  his 
intention  in  agreeing  to  an  interview  with  Pizarro  at  Caxamalca,  was  to  cut 
off  him  and  his  followers  at  one  blow  ;  that  for  this  purpose  he  advanced  with 
such  a  numerous  body  of  attendants,  who  had  arms  concealed  under  their  gar- 
ments to  execute  this  scheme.  This  is  the  account  given  by  Xeres  and  Zarate, 
and  adopted  by  Herrera.  But  if  it  had  been  the  plan  of  the  Inca  to  destroy 
the  Spaniards,  one  can  hardly  imagine  that  he  would  have  permitted  them  to 
march  through  the  desert  of  Motupe,  or  have  neglected  to  defend  the  passes 
in  the  mountains,  where  they  might  have  been  attacked  with  so  much  advan- 
tage. If  the  Peruvians  marched  to  Caxamalca  with  an  intention  to  fall  upon 
the  Spaniards,  it  is  inconceivable  that  of  so  great  a  body  of  men,  prepared  for 
action,  not  one  should  attempt  to  make  resistance,  but  all  tamely  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  butchered  by  an  enemy  whom  they  were  armed  to  attack.  Ata- 
hualpa's  mode  of  advancing  to  the  interview  has  the  aspect  of  a  peaceable 
procession,  not  of  a  military  enterprise.  He  himself  and  his  followers  were  in 
their  habits  of  ceremony,  preceded,  as  on  days  of  solemnity,  by  unarmed  har- 
bingers. Though  rude  nations  are  frequently  cunning  and  false  ;  yet  if  a 
scheme  of  deception  and  treachery  must  be  imputed  either  to  a  monarch  that 
had  no  great  reason  to  be  alarmed  at  a  visit  from  strangers  who  solicited  ad- 
mission into  his  presence  as  friends,  or  to  an  adventurer  so  daring  and  so  little 
scrupulous  as  Pizarro,  one  cannot  hesitate  in  determining  where  to  fix  the  pre- 
sumption of  guilt.  Even  amidst  the  endeavours  of  the  Spanish  writers  to 
palliate  the  proceedings  of  Pizarro,  one  plainly  perceives  that  it  was  his  inten- 
tion, as  well  as  his  interest,  to  seize  the  Inca,  and  that  he  had  taken  measures 
for  that  purpose  previous  to  any  suspicion  of  that  monarch's  designs. 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  extremely  solicitous  to  vindicate  his  countrymen,  the 
Peruvians,  from  the  crime  of  having  concerted  the  destruction  of  Pizarro  and 
his  followers,  and  no  less  afraid  to  charge  the  Spaniards  with  improper  conduct 
towards  the  Inca,  has  framed  another  system.  He  relates,  that  a  man  of  ma- 
jestic form,  with  a  long  beard,  and  garments  reaching  to  the  ground,  having  ap- 
peared in  a  vision  to  Viracocha,  tho  eighth  Inca<  and  declared  that  he  was  a 
child  of  the  Sun,  that  monarch  built  a  temple  in  honour  of  this  person,  and 
erected  an  image  of  him,  resembling  as  nearly  as  possible  the  singular  form  in 
which  he  had  exhibited  himself  to  his  view.  In  this  temple  divine  honours 
were  paid  to  him,  by  the  name  of  Viracocha.  P.  i.  lib.  iv.  c.  21.  lib.  v.  c.  22. 
When  the  Spaniards  first  appeared  in  Peru,  the  length  of  their  beards,  and  the 
dress  they  wore,  struck  every  person  so  much  with  their  likeness  to  the  image 
of  Viracocha,  that  they  supposed  them  to  be  children  of  the  Sun,  who  had 
descended  from  heaven  to  earth.  All  concluded  that  the  fatal  period  of  the 
Peruvian  empire  was  now  approaching,  and  that  the  throne  would  be  .occupied 
by  new  possessors.  Atahualpa  himself,  considering  the  Spaniards  as  messen- 
gers from  heaven,  was  so  far  from  entertaining  aory  thoughts  of  resisting  them, 

VOL.  I.— 63  23 


496  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

that  he  determined  to  yield  implicit  obedience  to  their  commands.  From  these 
sentiments  flowed  his  professions  of  love  and  respect.  To  those  were  owing 
the  cordial  reception  of  Soto  and  Ferdinand  Pizarro  in  his  camp,  and  the  sub- 
missive reverence  with  which  he  himself  advanced  to  visit  the  Spanish  general 
in  his  quarters ;  but  from  the  gross  ignorance  of  Philipillo,  the  interpreter,  the 
declaration  of  the  Spaniards,  and  his  answer  to  it,  were  so  ill  explained,  that, 
by  their  mutual  inability  to  comprehend  each  other's  intentions,  the  fatal  ren- 
contre at  Caxamalca,  with  all  its  dreadful  consequences,  was  occasioned. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  no  traces  of  this  superstitious  veneratir  n  of  the  Peru- 
vians for  the  Spaniards  are  to  be  found  either  in  Xeres,  or  Sancho,  or  Zarate, 
previous  to  the  interview  at  Caxamalca  ;  and  yet  the  two  former  served  under 
Pizarro  at  that  time,  and  the  latter  visited  Peru  soon  after  the  conquest.  If 
either  the  Inca  himself,  or  his  messengers,  had  addressed  the  Spaniards  in  the 
words  which  Garcilasso  puts  in  their  mouths,  they  must  have  been  struck  with 
such  submissive  declarations;  and  they  would  certainly  have  availed  themselves 
of  them  to  accomplish  their  own  designs  with  greater  facility.  Garcilasso 
himself,  though  his  narrative  of  the  intercourse  between  the  Inca  and  Spaniards, 
preceding  the  rencontre  at  Caxamalca,  is  founded  on  the  supposition  of  his 
believing  them  to  be  Viracochas,  or  divine  beings,  P.  ii.  lib.  i.  c.  17,  &c.,  yet, 
with  his  ieual  inattention  and  inaccuracy,  he  admits  in  another  place  that  the 
Peruvians  did  not  recollect  the  resemblance  between  them  and  the  god  Viraco- 
cha,  until  the  fatal  disasters  subsequent  tp  the  defeat  at  Caxamalca,  and  then 
only  began  to  call  them  Viracochas.  P.  i.  lib.  v.  c.  21.  This  is  confirmed  by 
Herrera,  dec.  v.  lib.  ii.  c.  12.  In  many  different  parts  of  America,  if  we  may 
believe  the  Spanish  writers,  their  countrymen  were  considered  as  divine  beings 
who  had  descended  from  heaven.  But  in  this  instance,  as  in  many  which  occur 
in  the  intercourse  between  nations  whose  progress  in  refinement  is  very  unequal, 
the  ideas  of  those  who  used  the  expression  were  different  from  the  ideas  of 
those  who  heard  it.  For  such  is  the  idiom  of  the  Indian  languages,  or  such  is 
the  simplicity  of  those  who  speak  them,  that  when  they  see  any  thing  with 
which  they  were  formerly  unacquainted,  and  of  which  they  do  not  know  tho 
origin,  they  say  that  it  came  down  from  heaven.  Nugnez.  Ram.  iii.  327.  C. 

The  account  which  I  have  given  of  the  sentiments  and  proceedings  of  the 
Peruvians,  appears  to  be  more  natural  and  consistent  than  either  of  the  two 
preceding,  and  is  better  supported  by  the  facts  related  by  the  contemporary 
historians. 

According  to  Xeres,  p.  200,  two  thousand  Peruvians  were  killed.  Sancho 
makes  the  number  of  the  slain  six  or  seven  thousand.  Ram.  iii.  274.  D.  By 
Garcilasso's  account,  five  thousand  were  massacred.  P.  ii.  lib.  i.  c.  25.  The 
number  which  I  have  mentioned,  being  the  medium  between  the  extremes,  may 
probably  be  nearest  the  truth. 

NOTE  [132].  PAGE  274. 

NOTHING  can  be  a  more  striking  proof  of  this,  than  that  three  Spaniards 
travelled  from  Caxamalca  to  Cuzco.  The  distance  between  them  is  six  hundred 
miles.  In  every  place  throughout  this  great  extent  of  county,  they  were 
treated  with  all  the  honours  which  the  Peruvians  paid  to  their  sovereigns,  and 
even  to  their  divinities.  Under  pretext  of  amassing  what  was  wanting  for  the 
ransom  of  the  Inca,  they  demanded  the  plates  of  gold  with  which  the  walls  of 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun  in  Cuzco  were  adorned  ;  and  though  the  priests  were 
unwilling  to  alienate  those  sacred  ornaments,  and  the  people  refused  to  violate 
the  shrine  of  their  God,  the  three  Spaniards,  with  their  own  hands,  robbed  the 
Temple  of  part  of  this  valuable  treasure  ;  and  such  was  the  .reverence  of  the 
natives  for  their  persons,  that  though  they  beheld  this  act  of  sacrilege  with 
astonishment,  they  did  not  attempt  to  prevent  or  disturb  the  commission  of  it. 
Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  6.  Sancho  ap.  Ramus.  iii.  375.  D. 

NOTE  [133].  PAGE  278. 

ACCORDING  to  Herrera,  the  spoil  of  Cuzco,  after  setting  apart  the  King's 
fifth,  was  divided  among  480  persons.  Each  received  4000  pesos.  This 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  499 

amounts  to  1,920,000  pesos.  Dec*  v.  lib.  vi.  c.  3.  But  as  the  general  and  other 
officers  were  entitled  to  a  share  far  greater  than  that  of  the  private  men,  tho 
sum  total  must  have  risen  much  beyond  what  I  have  mentioned.  Gomara,  c. 
123,  and  Zarate,  lib.  ii.  c.  8,  satisfy  themselves  with  asserting  in  general,  that 
the  plunder  of  Cuzco  was  of  greater  value  than  the  ransom  of  Atahualpa. 

NOTE  [134],  PAGE  279. 

No  expedition  in  the  New  World  was  conducted  with  more  persevering 
courage  than  that  of  Alvarado,  and  in  none  were  greater  hardships  endured. 
Many  of  the  persons  engaged  in  it  were,  like  their  leader,  veterans  who  had 
served  under  Cortes,  inured  to  all  the  rigour  of  American  war.  Such  of  my 
readers  as  have  not  an  opportunity  of,  perusing  the  striking  description  of  their 
sufferings  by  Zarate,  or  Herrera,  may  form  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  their 
march  from  the  sea-coast  to  Quito,  by  consulting .  the  account  which'  D.  Ant. 
Ulloa  gives  of  his  own  journey  in  1736,  nearly  in  the  same  route.  Voy.  torn, 
i.  p.  178,  &c.,  or  that  of  M.  Bouguer,  who  proceeded  from  Puerto  Viejo  to  Quito 
by  the  same  road  which  Alvarado  took.  He  compares-  his  own  journey  with 
that  of  the  Spanish  leader,  and  by  the  comparison  gives  a  most  striking  idea  of 
the  boldness  and  patience  of  Alvarado  in  forcing  his  way  through  so  many 
obstacles.  Voyage  de  Perou,  p.  28,  £c. 

NOTE  [135].  PAGE  279: 

ACCORDING  to  Herrera,  there  was  entered  on  account  of  the  king  in-  gold 
155,300  pesos,  and  5,400  marks  (each  8  ounces)  of  silver,  besides  several  vessels 
and  ornaments,  some  of  gold,  and  others  of  silver  ;  on  account  of  private  per- 
sons, in  gold  499,000  pesos,  and  54,000  marks  of  silver.  Dec.  5.  lib.  vi.  c.  13'. 

NOTE  [136].  PAGE  283. 

THE  Peruvians  not  only  imitated  the  military  arts  of  the  Spaniards,  but  had 
recourse  to  devices  of  their  own.  As  the  cavalry  were  the  chief  objects  of 
their  terror,  they  endeavoured  to  render  them  incapable  of  acting  by  means  of 
a  long  thong  with  a  stone  fastened  to  each  end.  This,  when  thrown  by  a 
skilful  hand,  twisted  about  the  horse  and  its  rider,  and  entangled  them  so  as  to 
obstruct  their  motions.  Herrera  mentions  this  as  an  invention  of  their  own. 
Dec.  5.  lib.  viii.  c.  4.  But  as  I  have  observed,  p.  178,  this  weapon  is  common 
among  several  barbarous  tribes  towards  the  extremity  of  South  America  ;  and 
it  is  more  probable  that  the  Peruvians  had  observed  the  dexterity  with  which 
they  used  it  in  hunting,  and  on  this  occasion  adopted  it  themselves.  The  Spa- 
niards were  considerably  annoyed  by  it.  Herrera,  ibid.  Another  instance  of 
the  ingenuity  of  the  Peruvians  deserves  mention.  By  turning  a  river  out  of 
its  channel,  they  overflowed  a  valley,  in  which  a  body  of  the  enemy  was 
posted,  so  suddenly,  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  the  Spaniards  made 
their  escape.  Herrera,  dec.  5.  lib.  viii.  c.  5. 

NOTE  [137].  PAGE  290. 

HERRERA'S  account  of  Orellana's  voyage  is  the  most  minute  and  apparently 
the  most  accurate.  It  was  probably  taken  from  the  journal  of  Orellana  him- 
self. But  the  dates  are  not  distinctly  marked.  His  navigation  down  the  Coca, 
Or  Napo,  began  early  in  February,  1541  ;  and  he  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
fiver  on  the  26th  of  August,  having  spent  near  seven  months  in  the  voyage^ 
M.  de  la  Condamine,  in  the  year  1743,  sailed  from  Cuenca  to  Para,  a  settlement 
of  the  Portuguese  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a  navigation  much  longer  than 
that  of  Orellana,  in  less  than  four  months.  Voyage,  p.  179.  But  the  two 
adventurers  were  very  differently  provided  for  the  voyage.  This  hazardous 
undertaking  to  which  ambition  prompted  Orellana,  and  to  which  the  love  of  sci- 
ence led  M.  de  la  Condamine,  was  undertaken  in  the  year  1769,  by  Madame 
Godin  des  Odonais  from  conjugal  affection.  The  narrative  of  the  hardships 
which  she  suffered,  of  the  dangers  to  which  she  was  exposed,  and  of  the  dis- 


500  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 

asters  which  befell  her,  is  one  of  the  most  singular  and  affecting  stories  in  any 
language,  exhibiting  in  her  conduct  a  striking  picture  of  the  fortitude  which 
distinguishes  the  one  sex,  mingled  with  the  sensibility  and  tenderness  peculiar 
to  the  other.  Lettre  de  M.  Godin  a  M.  de  la  Condamine.  • 

NOTE  [138].  PAGE  291. 

HERRERA  gives  a  striking  picture  of  their  indigence.  Twelve  gentlemen, 
who  had  been  officers  of  distinction  under  Almagro,  lodged  in  the  same  house, 
and  having  but  one  cloak  among  them,'  it  was  worn  alternately  by  him  who 
had  occasion  to  appear  in  public,  while  the  rest,  from  the  want  of  a  decent 
dress,  were  obliged  to  keep  within  doors.  Their  former  friends  and  com- 
panions were  so  much  afraid  of  giving  offence  to  Pizarro,  that  they  durst  not 
entertain  or  even  converse  with  them.  One  may  conceive  what  was  the  con- 
dition, and  what  the  indignation  of  men  once  accustomed  to  power  and  opu- 
lence, when  they  felt  themselves  poor  and  despised,  without  a  roof  under 
which  to  shelter  their  heads,  while  they  beheld  others,  whose  merits  and  services 
were  not  equal  to  theirs,  living  in  splendour  in  sumptuous  edifices.  Dec.  6 
7ih  viii.  c.  6. 

NOTE  [139].  PAGE  296. 

HERRERA,  whose  accuracy  entitles  him  to  great  credit,  asserts,  that  Gonzalo 
Pizarro  possessed  domains  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chuquesaca  de  la  Plata, 
which  yielded  him  an  annual  revenue  greater  than  that  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  the  best  endowed  see  in  Europe.  Dec.  7.  lib.  vi.  c.  3. 

NOTE  [140].  PAGE  301. 

ALL  the  Spanish  writers  describe  his  march,  and  the  distresses  of  both  par- 
ties, very  minutely.  Zarate  observes,  that  hardly  any  parallel  to  it  occurs  in 
history,  either  with  respect  to  the  length  of  the  retreat,  or  the  ardour  of  the 
pursuit.  Pizarro,  according  to  his  computation,  followed  the  viceroy  upwards 
of  three  thousand  miles.  Lib.  v.  c.  16.  26. 

NOTE  [141].  PAGE  307. 

IT  amounted,  according  to  Fernandez,  the  best  informed  historian  of  that 
period,  to  one  million  four'hundred  thousand  pesos.  Lib.  ii.  c.  79. 

NOTE  [142].  PAGE  308. 

CARVAJAL,  from  the  beginning,  had  been  an  advocate  for  an  accommodation 
with  Gasca.  Finding  Pizarro  incapable  of  holding  that  bold  course  which  he 
originally  suggested,  he  recommended  to  him  a  timely  submission  to  his  sove- 
reign as  the  safest  measure.  When  the  president's  offers  were  first  communi- 
cated to  Carvajal,  "  By  our  Lady  (says  he  in  that  strain  of  buffoonery  which 
was  familiar  to  him),  the  priest  issues  gracious  bulls.  He  gives  them  both 
good  and  cheap ;  let  us  not  only  accept  them,  but  wear  them  as  reliqucs  about 
our  necks."  Fernandez,  lib.  ii.  c.  63. 

NOTE  [143].  PAGE  310. 

DURING  the  reoellion  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  seven  hundred  men  were  killed  in 
battle,  and  three  hundred  and  eighty  were  hanged  or  beheaded.  Herrera,  dec. 
8.  lib.  iv.  c.  4.  Above  three  hundred  of  these  were  cut  off  by  Carvajal.  Fer- 
nandez, lib.  ii.  c.  91.  Zarate  makes  the  number  of  those  put  to  a  violent  death 
five  hundred.  Lib.  vii.  c.  1. 

NOTE  [144].  PAGE  313 

IN  my  inquiries  concerning  the  manners  and  policy  of  the  Mexicans,  1  have 
received  much  information  from  a  large  manuscript  of  Don  Alonso  de  Corita, 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  501 

one  of  the  judges  in  the  Court  of  Audience  at  Mexico.  In  the  year  1553, 
Philip  II.,  in  order  to  discover  the  ,inode  of  levying  tribute  from  his  Indian  sub- 
jects, that  would  bo  most  beneficial  to  the  crown,  and  least  oppressive  to  them, 
addressed  a  mandate  to  all  the  Courts  of  Audience  in  America,  enjoining  them 
to  answer  certain  queries  which  he  proposed  to  them  concerning  the  ancient 
form  of  government  established  among  the  various  nations  of  Indians,  and  the 
mode  in  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  pay  taxes  to  their  kings  or  chiefs. 
In  obedience  to  this  mandate,  Corita,  who  had  resided  nineteen  years  in  America, 
fourteen  of  which  he  passed  in  New  Spain,  composed  the  work  of  which  I  have 
a  copy.  He  acquaints  his  sovereign,  that  he  had  made  it  an  object,  during  his 
residence  in  America,  and  in  all  its  provinces  which  he  had  visited,  to  inquire 
diligently  into  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  natives  ;  that  he  had  conversed 
for  this  purpose  with  many  aged  and  intelligent  Indians,  and  consulted  several 
of  the  Spanish  Ecclesiastics,  who  understood  the  Indian  language  most  per- 
fectly, particularly  some  of  those  who  landed  in  New'Spain  soon  after  the  con- 
quest. Corita  appears  to  be  a  man  of  some  learning,  and  to  have  carried  on 
his  inquiries  with  the  diligence  and  accuracy  to  which  he  pretends.  Greater 
credit  is  due  to  his  testimony  from  one  circumstance.  His  work  was  not  com- 
posed with  a  view  to  publication,  or  in  support  of  any  particular  theory,  but 
contains  simple  though  full  answers  to  queries  proposed  to  him  officially. 
Though  Herrera  does  not  mention  him  among  the  authors  whom  he  had 
followed  as  guides  in  his  history,  I  should  suppose,  from  several  facts  of  which 
he  takes  notice,  as  well  as  from  several  expressions  which  he  use$,  that  this 
memorial  of  Corita  was  not  unknown  to  him. 

NOTE  [145].  PAGE  317. 

THE  early  Spanish  writers  were  so  hasty  and  inaccurate  in  estimating  the 
numbers  of  people  in  the  provinces  and  towns  in  America,  that  it  is  impossiblu 
to  ascertain  that  of  Mexico  itself  with  any  degree  of  precision.  Cortus 
describes  the  extent  and  populousness  of  Mexico  in  general  terms,  which  imply 
that  it  was  not  inferior  to  the  greatest  cities  in  Europe.  Gomara  is  more 
explicit,  and  affirms,  that  there  were  60,000  houses  or  families  in  Mexico.  Cron. 
c.  78.  Herrera  adopts  his  opinion,  Dec.  2.  lib.  vii.  c.  13 ;  and  the  generality  of 
writers  follow  them  implicitly  without  inquiry  or  scruple.  According  to  this 
account,  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  must  have  been  about  300,000.  Torque- 
mada,  with  his  usual  propensity  to  the  marvellous,  asserts,  that  there,  were 
120,000  houses  or  families  in  Mexico,  and  consequently  about  600,000  inhabit- 
ants. Lib.  iii.  c.  23.  But  in  a  very  judicious  account  of  the  Mexican  empire, 
by  one  of  Cortes's  officers,  the  population  is  fixed  at  60,000  people.  Ramusio, 
iii.  309.  A.  Even  by  this  account,  which  probably  is  much  nearer  the  truth 
than  any  of  the  foregoing,  Mexico  was  a  great  city. 

NOTE  [146].  PAGE  318. 

IT  is  to  P.  Torribio  de  Benavente  that  I  am  indebted  for  this  curious  observa- 
tion. Palafox,  Bishop  of  Ciudad  de  la  Puebla  Los  Angeles,  confirms  and  illus- 
trates it  more  fully.  The  Mexican  (says  he)  is  the  only  language  in  which  a 
termination  indicating  respect,  silavas  reverentiales  y  de  cortesia,  may  be  affixed 
to  every  word.  By  adding  the  final  syllable  zin  or  azin  to  any  word,  it  be- 
comes a  proper  expression  of  veneration  in  the  mouth  of  an  inferior.  If,  in 
speaking  to  an  equal,  the  word  Father  is  to  he  used,  it  is  Tatl^bul  an  inferior 
says  Tatsin.  One  priest  speaking  to  another,  calls  him  Teopixque ;  a  person 
of  inferior  rank  calls  him  Teopixcatzin.  The  name  of  the  emperor  who  reigned 
when  Cortes  invaded  Mexico,  was  Montezuma ;  but  his  vassals,  from  reverence, 
pronounced  it  Montesumasin.  Torribio,  MS.  Palaf.  Virtudes  del  Indio,  p.  65. 
The  Mexicans  had  not  only  reverential  nouns,  but  reverential  verbs.  The 
manner  in  which  these  are  formed  from  the  verbs  in  common  use  is  explained 
fay  D.  Jos.  Aug.  Aldama  y  Guevara  in  his  Mexican  Grammar,  No.  188. 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NOTE  [147].  PAGE  32Q. 

FROM  comparing  several  passages  in  Corita  and  Herrera,  we  may  collect, 
with  some  degree  of  accuracy,  the  various  modes  in  which  the  Mexicans  con- 
tributed towards  the  support  of  government.  Some  persons  of  the  first  order 
seem  to  have  been  exempted  from  the  payment  of  any  tribute,  and  as  their 
onlj  duty  to  the  public,  were  bound  to  personal  service  in  war,  and  to  follow 
the  banner  of  their  sovereign  with  their  vassals.  2.  The  immediate  vassals  of 
the  crown  were  bound  not  only  to  personal  military  service,  but  .paid  a  certain 
proportion  pf  the  produce  of  their  lands  in  kind.  3.  Those  who  held  offices 
of  honour  or  trust  paid  a  certain  share  of  what  they  received  in  consequence 
of  holding  these.  4.  Each  Capullce,  or  association,  cultivated  some  part  of  the 
common  field  allotted  to  it,  for  the  behoof  of  the  crown,  and  deposited  the 
produce  in  the  royal  granaries.  5.  Some  part  of  whatever  was  brought  to  the 
public  markets,  whether  fruits  of  the  earth,  or  the  various  productions  of  their 
artists  and  manufacturers,  was  .demanded  for  the  public  use,  and  the  merchants 
who  paid  this  were  exempted  from  every  other  tax.  6.  The  Mayeques,  or  adscripti 
gleba,  were  bound  to  cultivate  certain  districts  in  every  province,  which  may 
be  considered  as  crown  lands,  and  brought  the  increase  into  public  storehouses. 
Thus  the  sovereign  received  some  part  of  whatever  was  useful  or  valuable  in 
the  country,  whether  it  was  the  natural  production  of  the  soil,  or  acquired  by 
the  industry  pf  the  people.  What  each  contributed  towards  the  support  of 
government  seems  to  have  been  inconsiderable.  Corita,  in  answer  to  one  of 
the  queries  put  to  the  Audience  of  Mexico  by  Philip  II.,  endeavours  to  estimate 
in  money  the  value  of  what  each  citizen  might  be  supposed  to  pay,  and  does 
not  reckon  it  at  more  than  three  or  four  reals,  about  eighteen  pence  or  two 
shillings  a  head. 

'NOTE  [148].  PAGE  321. 

CORTES,  who  seems  to  have  been  as  much  astonished  with  this,  as  with  any 
instance  of  Mexican  ingenuity,  gives  a  particular  description  of  it.  Along 
one  of  the  causeways,  says  he,  by  which  they  enter  the  city,  are  conducted  two 
conduits,  composed  of  clay  tempered  with  mortar,  about  two  paces  in  breadth, 
and  rrased  about  six  feet.  In  one  .of  them  is  conveyed  a  stream  of  excellent 
water,  as  large,  as  the  body  pf 'a  man,  intp  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  supplies 
all  the,  inhabitants  plentifully.  The  other  is  empty,  that  when  it  is  necessary 
to  clean  or  repair  the  former,  the  stream  of  water  may  be  turned  into  it.  As 
this  conduit  passes  along  twp  of  the  bridges,  where  there  are  breaches  in  the 
causeway,  through  which  the  salt  water  of  the  lake  flow^,  it  is  conveyed  over 
them  in  pipes  as  large  as  the  body  of  an  ox,  then  carried  from  the  conduit  to 
the  remote  quarters  of  the  city  in  canoes,  and  sold  to  the  inhabitants.  Relat 
ap.  Ramus.  241.  A. 

NOTE  [149].  PAGE  32 

IN  the  armoury  pf  the  royal  palace. of  Madrid  are  shown  suits  of  armour, 
.which  are  called  Montezuma's.  They  are  composed  of  thin  lacquered  copper- 
plates. In  the  opinion  of  very  intelligent  judges,  they  are  evidently  eastern. 
The  forms  of  the  silver  ornaments  upon  them,  representing  dragons,  &c.  may 
be  considered  a  confirmation  of  this.  They  are  infinitely  superior,  in  point  of 
workmanship,  to  any  effort  of  American  art.  The  Spaniards  probably  received 
them  from  the  Philippine  islands*  The  only  unquestionable  specimen  of 
Mexican  art,  that  I  know  of  in  Great  Britain,  is  a  cup  of  very  fine  gold,  which 
is  said  to  have  belonged  to  Montezuma.  It  weighs  5oz.  12dwt.  Three  draw- 
ings of  it  were  exhibited  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  June  10,  1765.  A 
man's  head  is  represented  on  this  cup.  On  one  side  the  full  face,  on  the  other 
the  profile,  on  the  third  the  back  parts  of  the  head.  The  relievo  is  said  to  have 
been  produced  by  punching  the  inside  of  the  cup,  so  as  to  make  the  representa- 
tion of  a  face  on  the  outside.  The  features  are  gross,  but  represented  with 
some  degree  of  art,  and  certainly  too  rude  for  Spanish  workmanship.  This 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  503 

crap  was  purchased  by  Edward  Earl  of  Orford,  while  he  lay  in  the  harbour  of 
Cadiz  with  the  fleet  under  his  command,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his 
grandson,  Lord  Archer.  I  am  indebted  for  this  information  to  my  respectable 
and  ingenious  friend  Mr.  Barrington.  In  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Archeeologia, 
j>.  107,  is  published  an  account  of  some  masks  of  Terra  Cotta,  brought  from  a 
burying-ground  on  the  American  continent,  about  seventy  miles  from  the 
British  settlement  on  the  Mosquito  shore.  They  are  said  to  be  likenesses  of 
chiefs,  or  other  eminent  persons.  From  the  descriptions  and  engravings  of 
them,  we  have  an  additional  proof  of  the  imperfect  state  of  arts  among  the 
Americans. 

NOTE '[150].  PAGE  323 

THE  learned  reader  will  perceive  how  much  I  have  been  indebted,  in  this 
part  of  my  work,  to  the  guidance  of  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  who  has  traced 
the  successive  steps  by  which  the  human  mind  advanced  in  this  line  of  its  pro- 
gress, with  much  erudition,  and  greater  ingenuity.  He  is  the  first,  as  far  as  I 
know,  who  formed  a  rational  and  consistent  theory  concerning  the  various 
modes  of  writing  practised  by  nations,  according  to  the  various  degrees  of 
their  improvement.  Div.  Legation  of  Moses,  iii.  69,  &c.  Some  important 
observations  have  been  added  by  M.  le  President  de  Brosses,  the  learned  and 
intelligent  author  of  the  Traite  de  la  Formation  Mecanique  des  Langues,  torn, 
i.  295,  &c. 

As  the  Mexican  paintings  are  the  most  curious  monuments  extant  of  the 
earliest  mode  of  writing,  it  will  not  be  improper  to  give  some  account  of  the 
means  by  which  they  were  preserved  from  the  general,  wreck  of  every  work  of 
art  in  America,  and  communicated  to  the  public.  For  the  most  early  and  com- 
plete collection  of  these  published  by  Purchas,  we  are  indebted  to  the  attention 
of  that  curious  inquirer,  Hakluyt.  Don  Antonio  Mendoza,  viceroy  of  New 
Spain,  having  deemed  those  paintings  a  proper  present  for  Charles  V.,  the  ship 
in  which  they  were  sent  to  Spain  was  taken  by  a  French  cruiser,  and  they  came 
into  the  possession  of  Thevet,  the  King's  geographer,  who,  having  travelled 
himself  into  the  New  World,  and  described  one  of  its  provinces,  was  a  curious 
observer  of  whatever  tended  to  illustrate  the  manners  of  the  Americans.  On 
his  death,  they  were  purchased  by  Hakluyt,  at  that  time  chaplain  of  the 
English  ambassador  to  the  French  court ;  and,  being  left  by  him  to  Purchas, 
were  published  at  the  desire  of  the  learned  antiquary,  Sir  Henry  Spelman. 
Purchas,  iii.  1065.  They  were  translated  from  English  into  French  by  Mel- 
chizedeck  Thevenot,  and  published  in  his  collection  of  voyages,  A.  D.  1683. 

The  second  specimen  of  Mexican  picture-writing  was  published  by  Dr.  Fran- 
cis Gemelli  Carreri,  in  two  copper-plates.  The  first  is  a  map,  or  representation 
of  the  progress  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  on  their  first  arrival  in  the  country, 
and  of  the  various  stations  in  which  they  settled,  before  they  founded  the 
capital  of  their  empire  in  the  lake  of  Mexico.  The  second  is  a  Chronological 
Wheel,  or  Circle,  representing  the  manner  in  which  they  computed  and  marked 
their  cycle  of  fifty-two  years.  He  received  both  from  Don  Carlos  de  Siguenza 
y  Congorra,  a  diligent  collector  of  ancient  Mexican  Documents.  But  as  it 
seems  now  to  be  a  received  opinion  (founded,  as  far  as  I  know,  on  no  good 
evidence),  that  Carreri  was  never  out  of  Italy,  and  that  his  famous  Giro  del 
J\fundo  is  an  account  of  a  fictitious  voyage,  I  have  not  mentioned  these  paintings 
in  the  text.  They  have,  however,  manifestly  the  appearance  of  being  Mexican 
productions,  and  are  allowed  to  be  so  by  Boturini,  who  was  well  qualified  to  de- 
termine whether  they  were  genuine  or  supposititious.  M.  Clavigero  likewise 
admits  them  to  be  genuine  paintings  of  the  ancient  Mexicans.  To  me  they 
always  appeared  to  be  so,  though  from  my  desire  to  rest  no  part  of  my  narra- 
tive upon  questionable  authority,  I  did  not  refer  to  them.  The  style  of  painting 
in  the  former  is  considerably  more  perfect  than  any  other  specimen  of  Mexican 
design  ;  but  as  the  original  is  said  to  have  been  much  defaced  by  time,  I  suspect 
that  it  has  been  improved  by  some  touches  from  the  hand  of  a  European  artist. 
Carreri,  Churchill,  iv.  p.  487.  The  Chronological  Wheel  is  a  just  delineation 
of  the  Mexican  mode  of  computing  time,  as  described  by  Acosta,  lib.  vi.  c.  2. 
It  seems  to  resemble  one  which  that  learned  Jesuit  had  seen  ;  and  if  it  be  ad- 


504  NOTES    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

mitted  as  a  genuine  monument,  it  proves  that  the  Mexicans  had  artificial  or 
arbitrary  characters,  which  represented  several  things  besides  numbers.  Each 
month  is  there  fepresented  by  a  symbol  expressive  of  some  work  or  rite  pe- 
culiar to  it. 

The  third  specimen  of  Mexican  painting  was  discovered  by  another  Italian. 
In  1736,  Lorenzo  Boturini  Benaduci  set  out  for  New  Spain,  and  was  led  by 
several  incidents  to  study  the  language  of  the  Mexicans,  and  to  collect  the  re- 
mains of  their  historical  monuments.  He  persisted  nine  years  in  his  researches, 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  projector,  and  the  patience  of  an  antiquary.  In 
1746,  he  published  at  Madrid,  Idea  de  una  Nueva  Hi,storia  General  de  la  America 
Septentrional,  containing  an  account  of  the  result  of  his  inquiries ;  and  he  added 
.to  it  a  catalogue  of  his  American  Historical  Museum,  arranged  under  thirty-six 
different  heads,  His  idea  of  a  New  History  appears  to  me  the  work  of  a  whim- 
sical credulous  man.  But  his  catalogue  of  Mexican  maps,  paintings,  tribute- 
rolls,  calendars,  &.c.  is  much  larger  than  one  could  have  expected.  Unfortu- 
nately a  ship,  in  which  he  had  sent  a  considerable  part  of  them  to  Europe,  was 
taken  by  an  English  privateer  during  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain, 
which  commenced  in  the  year  1739  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  they  perished  by 
falling  into  the  hands  of  ignorant  captors.  Boturini  himself  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  Spanish  court,  and  died  in  an  hospital  at  Madrid.  The  history, 
of  which  the  Idea,  &c.  was  only  a  prospectus,  was  never  published.  The  re- 
mainder of  his  Museum  seems  to  have  been  dispersed.  Some  part  of  it  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  present  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  when  he  was  primate 
of  New  Spain  :  and  he  published  from  it  that  curious  tribute-roll  which  I  have 
mentioned. 

The  only  other  collection  of  Mexican  paintings,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  is  in 
the  Imperial  Library  at  Vienna.  By  order  of  their  Imperial  Majesties  I  have 
obtained  such  a  specimen  of  these  as  I  desired,  in  eight  paintings  made  with 
so  much  fidelity,  that  I  am  informed  the  copies  could  hardly  be  distinguished 
from  the  originals.  According  to  a  note  in  this  Codex  Mexicans,  it  appears 
to  have  been  a  present  from  Emmanuel,  King  of  Portugal,  to  Pope  Clement 
VII.  who  died  A.  D.  1533.'  After  passing  through  the  hands  of  several  illus- 
trious proprietors,  it  fell  into  those  of  the  Cardinal  of  Saxe-Eisenach,  who 
presented  it  to  the  Emperor  Leopold.  These  paintings  are  manifestly  Mexican, 
but  they  are  in  a  style  very  different  from  any  of  the  former.  An  engraving 
has  been  made  of  one  of  them,  in  order  to  gratify  such  of  my  readers  as  may 
deem  this  an  object  worthy  of  their  attention.  Were  it  an  object  of  sufficient 
importance,  it  might  perhaps  be  possible,  by  recourse  to  the  pktes  of  Purchas, 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Toledq,  as  a  key,  to  form  plausible  conjectures  concerning 
the  meaning  of  this  picture.  Many  of  the  figures  are  evidently  similar.  A.  A. 
are- targets  and  darts,  almost  in  the  same  form  with  those  published  by  Purchas, 
p.  1070,  1071,  &c.  B.  B.  are  figures  of  temples,  nearly  resembling  those  in 
Purchas,  p.  1109  and  1113,  and  in  Lorenzana.  Plate  II.  C.  is  a  bale  of  mantles, 
or  cotton  cloths,  the  figure  of  which  occurs  in  almost  every  plate  of  Purchas 
and  Lorenzana.'  E.  E.  E.  seem  to  be  Mexican  captains  in  their  war  dress, 
the  fantastic  ornaments  of  which  resemble  the  figures  in  Purchas,  p.  1110, 
1111.  2113.  I  should  suppose  this  picture  to  be  a  tribute-roll,  as  their  mode  of 
noting  numbers  occurs  frequently.  D.  D.  D.,  &c.  According  to  Boturini,  the 
mode  of  Computation  by  the  number  of  knots  was  known  to  the  Mexicans  as 
well  as  to  the  Peruvians,  p.  85,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  number  of  units 
is  represented  in  the  Mexican  paintings  in  my  possession  seems  to  confirm  this 
opinion:  They  plainly  resemble  a  string  of  knots  on  a  cord  or  slender  rope. 

Since  I  published  the  former  edition,  Mr.  Waddilove,  who  is  still  pleased  to 
continue  his  friendly  attention  to  procure  me  information,  has  discovered,  in 
the  Library  of  the  Escuri,al,  a  volume  in  folio,  consisting  of  forty  sheets  of  a 
.kind  of  pasteboard,  each  the  size  of  a  common  sheet  of  writing  paper,  with 
great  variety  of  uncouth  and  whimsical  figures  of  Mexican  painting,  in  very 
fresh  colours,  and  with  an  explanation  in  Spanish  to  most  of  them.  The  first 
twenty-two  sheets  are  the  signs  of  the  months,  days,  &c.  About  the  middle 
of  each  sheet  are  two  or  more  large  figures  for  the  month,  surrounded  by  the 
pigns  of  the  days.  The  last  eighteen  sheets  are  not  so  filled  with  figures. 
They  seem  to  be  signs  of  Deities,  and  images  of  various  objects.  According 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  505 

to  this  Calendar  in  the  Escurial,  the  Mexican  year  contained  286  days,  divided 
into  22  months  of  13  days.  Each  day  is  represented  by  a  different  sign,  taken 
from  some  natural  object,  a  serpent,  a  dog,  a  lizard,  a  reed,  a  house,  &c.  The 
signs  of  days  in  the  Calendar  of  the  Escurial  are  precisely  the  same  with  those 
mentioned  by  Boturini,  Idea,  &c.  p.  45.  But,  if  we  may  give  credit  to  that 
author,  the  Mexican  year  contained  360  days,  divided  into  18  months  of  20 
days.  The  order  of  days  in  every  month  was  computed,  according  to  him, 
first  by  what  he  calls  a  tridecennary  progression  of  days  from  one  to  thirteen, 
in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  Calendar  of  the  Escurial,  and  then  by  a  septenary 
progression  of  days  from  one  to  seven,  making  in  all  twenty.  In  this  Calendar, 
not  only  the  signs  which  distinguish  each  day,  but  the  qualities  supposed  to 
be  peculiar  to  each  month  are  marked.  There  are  certain  weaknesses  which 
seem  to  accompany  the  human  mind  through  every  stage  of  its  progress  in 
observation  and  science.  Slender  as  was  the  knowledge  of  the  ]Vfexicans  in 
astronomy,  it  appears  to  have  been  already  connected  with  judicial  astrology. 
The  fortune  and  character  of  persons  born  hi  each  month  are  supposed  to  be 
decided  by  some  superior  influence  predominant  at  the  time  of  nativity. 
Hence  it  is  foretold  in  the  Calendar,  that  all  who  are  born  in  one  month  will 
be  rich,  in  another  warlike,  in  a  third  luxurious,  &e.  The  pasteboard,  or  what- 
ever substance  it  may  be  on  which  the  Calendar  in  the  Escurial  is  painted, 
seems,  by  Mr.  Waddilove's  description  of  it,  to  resemble  nearly  that  in  the 
Imperial  Library  at  Vienna.  In  several  particulars  the  figures  bear  some  like- 
ness to  those  in  the  plate  which  I  have  published.  The  figures  marked  D, 
which  induced  me  to  conjecture  that  this  painting  might  be  a  tribute-roll  simi- 
lar to  those  published  by  Purchas  and  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  Mr.  Waddi- 
love  supposes  to  be  signs  of  days  :  and  I  have  such  confidence  in  the  accuracy 
of  his  observations,  as  to  conclude  his  opinion  to  be  well  founded.  It  appears, 
from  the  characters  in  which  the  explanations  of  the  figures  are  written,  that 
this  curious  monument  of  Mexican  art  has  been  obtained  soon  after  the  conquest 
of  the  Empire.  It  is  singular  that  it  should  never  have  been  mentioned  by  any 
Spanish  author. 

NOTE  [151].  PAGE  324. 

THE  first  was  called  the  Prince  of  the  Deathful  Lance ;  the  second  the  Di- 
vider of  Men  ;  the  third  the  Shedder  of  Blood ;  the  fourth  the  Lord  of  the 
Dark-house.  Acosta,  lib.  vi.  c.  25. 

NOTE  [152].  PAGE  327. 

THE  temple  of  Cholula,  which  was  deemed  more  holy  than  any  in  New 
Spain,  was  likewise  the  most  considerable.  But  it  was  nothing  more  than  a 
mount  of  solid  earth.  According  to  Tt»rquemada,  it  was  above  a  quarter  of  a 
league  in  circuit  at  the  base,  and  rose  to  the  height  of  forty  fathoms.  Mon. 
Ind.  lib.  iii.  c.  19.  Even  M.  Clavigero  acknowledges  that  all  the  Mexican 
temples  were  solid  structures,  or  earthen  mounts,  and  of  consequence  cannot 
be  considered  as  any  evidence  of  their  having  made  any  considerable  progress 
in  the  art  of  building.  Clavig.  ii.  207. 

From  inspecting  various  figures  of  temples  in  the  paintings  engraved  by 
Purchas,  there  seems  to  be  some  reason  for  suspecting  that  all  their  temples 
were  constructed  in  the  same  manner.  See  vol.  iii.  p.  1109,  1110,  1113. 

NofE  [153].  PAGE  327. 

NOT  only  in  Tlascala  and  Tepeaca,  but  even  in  Mexico  itself,  the  houses  of 
the  people  were  mere  huts  built  with  turf  or  mud,  or  the  branches  of  trees. 
They  were  extremely  low  and  slight,  and  without  any  furniture  but  a  few 
earthen  vessels.  Like  the  rudest  Indians,  several  families  resided  under  the 
same  roof,  without  having  any  separate  apartments.  Herrera,  dec.  2.  lib.  viu 
c.  13.  lib.  x.  c.  22.  dec.  3.  lib.  iv.  c.  17.  Torquem.  lib.  iii.  c.  23. 

VOL.  I.— 64 


506  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NOTE  [154]:  PAGE  327. 

I  AM  informed  by  a  person  who  resided  long  in  New  Spain,  and  visited  almost 
every  province  of  it,  that  there  is  not,  in  all  the  extent  of  that  vast  empire,  any 
monument  or  vestige  of  any  building  more  ancient  than  the  conquest,  nor  of 
any  bridge  or  highway,  except  some  remains  of  the  causeway  from  Guadeloupe 
to  that  gate  of  Mexico  by  which  Cortes  entered  the  city.  MS.  penes  me.  The 
author  of  another  account  in  manuscript  observes,  "  That  at  this  day  there 
does  not  remain  even  the  smallest  vestige  of  the  existence  of  any  ancient 
Indian  building,  public  or  private,  either  in  Mexico  or  in  any  province  of  New 
Spain.  I  have  travelled,  says  he,  through  all  the  countries  adjacent  to  them, 
viz.  New  Galicia,  New  Biscay,  New  Mexico,  Sonora,  Cinaloa,  the  New  King 
dom  of  Leon,  and  New  Santandero,  without  having  observed  any  monument 
worth  notice,  except  some  ruins  near  an  ancient  village  in  the  valley  de  Casas 
Grandes,  in  lat.  N.  3°.  46'.  long.  258°.  24'.  from  the  island  of  Teneriffe,  or  460 
leagues  N.  N.  W.  from  Mexico."  He  describes  these  ruins  minutely,  and  they 
appear  to  be  the  remains  of  a  paltry  building  of  turf  and  stone,  plastered  over 
with  white  earth  or  lime.  A  missionary  informed  that  gentleman,  that  he  had 
discovered  the  ruins  of  another  edifice  similar  to  the  former,  about  a  hundred 
leagues  towards  N.  W.  on  the  banks  of  the  river  St.  Pedro.  MS.  penes  me. 

These  testimonies  derive  great  credit  from  one  circumstance,  that  they  were 
not  given  in  support  of  any  particular  system  or  theory,  but  as  simple  answers 
to  queries  which  I  had  proposed.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  when  these 
gentlemen  assert  that  no  ruins  or  monuments  of  any  ancient  work  whatever 
are  now  to  be  discovered  in  the  Mexican  empire,  they  meant  that  there  were 
no  such  ruins  or  monuments  as  conveyed  any  idea  of  grandeur  or  magnificence 
in  the  works  of  its  ancient  inhabitants.  For  it  appears  from  the  testimony  of 
several  Spanish  authors,  that  in  Otumba,  Tlascala,  Cholula,  &c.  some  vestiges 
of  ancient  buildings  are  still  visible.  Villa  Segnor  Theatro  Amer.  p.  143.  308. 
353.  D.  Fran.  Ant.  Lorenzana,  formerly  Archbishop  of  Mexico,  and  now  of 
Toledo,  in  his  introduction  to  that  edition  of  the  Cartas  de  Relacion  of  Cortes, 
which  he  published  at  Mexico,  mentions  some  ruins  which  are  still  visible  in 
several  of  the  towns  through  which  Cortes  passed  in  his  way  to  the  capital,  p. 
4,  &c.  But  neither  of  these  authors  gives  any  description  of  them,  and  they 
seem  to  be  so  very  inconsiderable,  as  to  show  only  that  some  buildings  had  once 
been  there.  The  large  mount  of  earth  at  Cholula,  which  the  Spaniards  dig- 
nified with  the  name  of  temple,  still  remains,  but  without  any  steps  by  which 
to  ascend,  or  any  facing  of  stone.  It  appears  now  like  a  natural  mount,  covered 
with  grass  and  shrubs,  and  possibly  it  was  never  any  thing  more.  Torquem. 
lib.  iii.  c.  19.  I  have  received  a  minute  description  of  the  remains  of  a  temple 
near  Cuernavaca,  on  the  road  from  Mexico  to  Acapulco.  It  is  composed  of 
large  stones,  fitted  to  each  other  as  nicely  as  those  in  the  buildings  of  the  Pe- 
ruvians, which  are  hereafter  mentioned.  At  the  foundation  it  forms  a  square 
of  twenty-five  yards  ;  but  as  it  rises  in  height  it  diminishes  in  extent,  not 
gradually,  but  by  being  contracted  suddenly  at  regular  distances,  so  that  it 
must  have  resembled  the  figure  B.  in  the  plate.  It  terminated,  it  is  said,  in 
a  spire. 

NOTE  [155].  PAGE  329. 

THE  exaggeration  of  the  Spanish  historians,  with  respect  to  the  number  of 
human  victims  sacrificed  in  Mexico,  appears  to  be  very  great.  According  to 
Gomara,  there  was  no  year  in  which  twenty  thousand  human  victims  were  not 
offered  to  the  Mexican  Divinities,  and  in  some  years  they  amounted  to  fifty 
thousand.  Cron.  c.  229.  The  •  skulls  of  those  unhappy  persons  were  ranged 
in  order  in  a  building  erected  for  that  purpose,  and  two  of  Cortes's  officers, 
who  had  counted  them,  informed  Gomara  that  their  number  was  a  hundred 
and  thirty-six  thousand.  Ibid.  c.  82.  Herrera's  account  is  still  more  incredible, 
that  the  number  of  victims  was  so  great,  that  five  thousand  have  been  sacrificed 
in  one  day,  nay,  on  some  occasions,  no  less  than  twenty  thousand.  Dec.  iii.  lib. 
ii.  c.  16.  Torquemada  goes  beyond  both  in  extravagance  ;  for  he  asserts  that 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS,  507 

twenty  thousand  children,  exclusive  of  other  victims,  were  siaughleitd  annu- 
ally. Mon.  Ind.  lib.  vii.  c.  21.  The  most  respectable  authority  in  favour  of 
such  high  numbers  is  that  of  Zumurraga,  the  first  Bishop  of  Mexico,  who,  in 
a  letter  to  the  chapter-general  of  his  order,  A.  D.  1631,  asserts,  that  the  Mexi- 
cans sacrificed  annually  twenty  thousand  victims.  Davila.  Teatro  Eccles.  126. 
In  opposition  to  all  these  accounts,  B.  de  las  Casas  observes,  that  if  there  had 
been  such  an  annual  waste  of  the  human  species,  the  country  could  never  have 
arrived  at  that  degree  of  populousness  for  which  it  was  remarkable  when  the 
Spaniards  first  landed  there.  This  reasoning  is  just.  If  the  number  of  victims 
in  all  the  provinces  of  New  Spain  had  been  so  great,  not  only  must  population 
have  been  prevented  from  increasing,  but  the  human  race  must  have  been  ex- 
terminated in  a  short  time.  For  besides  the  waste  of  the  species  by  such 
numerous  sacrifices,  it  is  observable  that  wherever  the  fate  of  captives  taken 
in  war  is  either  certain  death  or  perpetual  slavery,  as  men  can  gain  nothing  by 
submitting  speedily  to  an  enemy,  they  always  resist  to  the  uttermost,  and  war 
becomes  bloody  and  destructive  to  the  last  degree.  Las  Casas  positively,  as- 
serts, that  the  Mexicans  never  sacrificed  more  than  fifty  or  a  hundred  persons 
in  a  year.  See  his  dispute  with  Sepulveda,  subjoined  to  his  Brevissima  Rela- 
cion,  p.  105.  Cortes  does  not  specify  what  number  of  victims  was  sacrificed 
annually  ;  but  B.  Diaz  del  Castillo  relates  that,  an  inquiry  having  been  made 
with  respect  to  this  by  the  Franciscan  monks  who  were  sent  into  New  Spain 
immediately  after  the  conquest,  it  was  found  that  about  two  thousand  five 
hundred  were  sacrificed  every  year  in  Mexico.  C.  207. 

NOTE  [156].  PAGE  330. 

IT  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe,  that  the  Peruvian  Chronology  is  not  only 
obscure,  but  repugnant  to  conclusions  deduced  from  the  most  accurate  and 
extensive  observations,  concerning  the  time  that  elapses  during  each  reign,  in 
any  given  succession  of  Princes.  The  medium  has  been  found  not  to  exceed 
twenty  years.  According  to  Acosta  and  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Huana  Capac, 
who  died  about  the  year  1527,  was  the  twelfth  Inca.  According  to  this  rule 
of  computing,  the  duration  of  the  Peruvian  monarchy  ought  not  to  have  been 
reckoned  above  two  hundred  and  forty  years  ;  but  they  affirm  that  it  had  sub- 
sisted four  hundred  years.  Acosta,  lib.  vi.  c.  19.  Vega,  lib.  i.  c.  9.  By  this 
account  each  reign  is  extended  at  a  medium  to  thirty-three  years,  instead  of 
twenty,  the  number  ascertained  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  observations  ;  but  so 
imperfect  were  the  Peruvian  traditions,  that  though  the  total  is  boldly  marked, 
the  number  of  years  in  each  reign  is  unknown. 

NOTE  [157].  PAGE  332. 

MANY  of  the  earliest  Spanish  writers  assert  that  the  Peruvians  offered  human 
sacrifices.  Xeres,  p.  190.  Zarate,  lib.  i.  c.  11.  Acosta,  lib.  v.  c.  19.  But  Gar- 
cilasso de  la  Vega  contends,  that  though  this  barbarous  practice  prevailed 
among  their  uncivilized  ancestors,  it  was  totally  abolished  by  the  Incas,  and 
that  no  human  victim  was  ever  offered  in  any  temple  of  the  Sun.  This  asser- 
tion, and  the  plausible  reasons  with  which  he  confirms  it,  are  sufficient  to  refute 
the  Spanish  writers,  whose  accounts  seem  to  be  founded  entirely  upon  report, 
not  upon  what  they  themselves  had  observed.  Vega,  lib.  ii.  c.  4.  In  one  of 
their  festivals,  the  Peruvians  offered  cakes  of  bread  moistened  with  blood 
drawn  from  the  arms,  the  eyebrows,  and  noses  of  their  children.  Id.  lib.  vii. 
c.  6.  This  rite  may  have  been  derived  from  their  ancient  practice,  in  their  un- 
civilized state,  of  sacrificing  human  victims. 

NoTt  [158].  PAGE  334. 

THE  Spaniards  have  adopted  both  those  customs  of  the  ancient  Peruvians. 
They  have  preserved  some  of  the  aqueducts  or  canals,  made  in  the  days  of 
the  Incas,  and  have  made  new  ones,  by  which  they  water  every  field  that  they 
cultivate.  Ulloa  Voyage,  torn.  i.  422.  477.  They  likewise  continue  to  use 


SOB  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

guano,  or  the  dung  of  sea-fowls,  as  manure.  Ulloa  gives  a  description  of  tho 
almost  incredible  quantity  of  it  in  the  small  islands  near  the  coast.  Ibid.  481. 

NOTE  [159].  PAGE  335. 

THE  temple  of  Cayambo,  the  palace  of  the  Inca  at  Callo  in  the  plain  of 
Lacatunga,  and  that  of  Atun-Cannar,  are  described  by  Ulloa,  torn.  i.  286,  &c. 
who  inspected  them  with  great  care.  M.  de  Condamine  published  A  curious 
memoir  concerning  the  ruins  of  Atun-Cannar.  Me'm.  de  PAcademie  de  Berlin, 
A.  D.  1746,  p.  435.  Acosta  describes  the  ruins  of  Cuzco,  which  he  had  ex- 
amined. Lib.  vi.  c.  14.  Garcilasso,  in  his  usual  style,  gives  pompous  and 
confused  descriptions  of  several  temples  and  other  public  edifices.  Lib.  iii.  c. 

1.  c.  21.  lib.  vi.  c.  4.  Don. Zapata,  in  a  large  treatise  concerning  Peru, 

which  has  not  hitherto  been  published,  communicates  some  information  with 
respect  to  several  monuments  of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  which  have  not  been 
mentioned  by  other  authors.  MS.  penes  me,  Articulo  xx.  Ulloa  describes  some 
of  the  ancient  Peruvian  fortifications,  which  were  likewise  works  of  great  ex- 
tent and  solidity.  Tom.  i.  391.  Three  circumstances  struck  all  those  observ- 
ers :  the  vast  size  of  the  stones  which  the  Peruvians  employed  in  some  of  their 
buildings.  Acosta  measured  one,  which  was  thirty  feet  long,  eighteen  broad, 
and  six  in  thickness  ;  and  yet,  he  adds,  that  in  the  fortress  at  Cuzco  there  were 
stones  considerably  larger.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  the  Peruvians  could 
move  these,  and  raise  them  to  the  height  even  of  twelve  feet.  The  second 
circumstance  is,  the  imperfection  of  the  Peruvian  art,  when  applied  to  working 
in  timber.  By  the  patience  and  perseverance  natural  to  Americans,  stones  may 
be  formed  into  any  shape,  merely  by  rubbing  one  against  another,  or  by  the 
use  of  hatchets  or  other  instruments  made  of  stone  ;  but  with  such  rude  tools 
little  progress  can  be  made  in  carpentry.  The  Peruvians  could  not  mortise 
two  beams  together,  or  give,  any  degree  of  union  or  stability  to  any  work  com- 
posed of  timber.  As  they  could  not  form  a  centre,  they  were  totally  unac- 
quainted with  the  use  of  arches  in  building  ;  nor  can  the  Spanish  authors  con- 
ceive how  they  were  able  to  frame  a  roof  for  those  ample  structures  which 
they  raised. 

The  third  circumstance  is  a  striking  proof,  which  all  the  monuments  of  the 
Peruvians  furnish,  of  their  want  of  ingenuity  and  invention,  accompanied  with 
patience  no  less  astonishing.  None  of  the  stones  employed  in  those  works 
were  formed  into  any  particular  or  uniform  shape,  which  could  render  them 
fit  for  being  conlpacted  together  in  building.  The  Indians  took  them  as  they 
fell  from  the  mountains,  or  were  raised  out  of  the  quarries.  Some  were 
square,  some  triangular,  some  convex,  some  concave.  Their  art  and  industry 
were  employed  in  joining  them  together.,  by  forming  such  hollows  in  the  one 
as  perfectly  corresponded  to  the  projections  or  risings  in  the  other.  This 
tedious  operation,  which  might  have  been  so  easily  abridged  by  adapting  the 
surface  of  the  stones  to  each  other,  either  by  rubbing,  or  by  their  hatchets  of 
copper,  would  be  deemed  incredible,  if  it  were  not  put  beyond  doubt  by  in- 
specting the  remains  of  those  buildings.  It  gives  them  a  very  singular  ap- 
pearance to  a  European  eye.  There  is  no  regular  layer  or  stratum  of  building, 
and  no  one  stone  resembles  another  in  dimensions  or  form.  At  the  same  time, 
by  the  persevering  but  ill-directed  industry  of  the  Indians,  they  are  all  joined 
with  that  minute  nicety  which  I  have  mentioned.  Ulloa  made  this  observation 
concerning  the  form  of  the  stones  in  the  fortress  of  Atun-Cannar.  Voy.  i.  p. 
387.  Penito  gives  a  similar  description  of  the  fortress  of  Cuzco,  the  most  per- 
fect of  all  the  Peruvian  works.  Zapata  MS.  penes  me.  According  to  M.  de 
Condamine,  there  were  regular  strata  of  building  in  some  parts  of  Atun- 
Cannar,  which  he  remarks  as  singular,  and  as  a  proof  of  some  progress  in 
improvement. 

NOTE  [160].  PAGE  337. 

THE  appearance  of  those  bridges  which  bend  with  their  own  weight,  wave 
with  the  wind,  and  are  considerably  agitated  by  the  motion  of  every  person 


NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  50* 

who  passes  along  them,  is  very  frightful  at  first.  But  the  Spaniards  have 
found  them  to  be  the  easiest  mode  of  passing  the  torrents  in  Peru,  over  which 
it  would  be  difficult  to  throw  more  solid  structures  either  of  stone  or  timber. 
They  form  those  hanging  bridges  so  strong  and  broad,  that  loaded  mules  pass 
along  them.  All  the  trade  of  Cuzco  is  carried  on  by  means  of  such  a  bridge 
over  the  river  Apurimac.  Ulloa,  torn.  i.  p.  358.  A  more  simple  contrivance 
was  employed  in  passing  smaller  streams  :  A  basket,  in  which  the  traveller 
was  placed,  being  suspended  from  a  strong  rope  stretched  across  the  stream, 
it  was  pushed  or  drawn  from  one  side  to  the  other.  Ibid. 

NOTK  [161].  PAGE  341. 

MY  information  with  respect  to  those  events  is  taken  from  Noticia  breve  de 
la  expedicion  militar  de  Sinora  y  Cinaloa,  su  exito  feliz,  y  vantojoso  estado,  en 
que  por  consecuentia  de  ello,  se  han  puesto  ambas  provincias,  published  at 
Mexico,  June  17th,  1771,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  merchants, 
who  had  furnished  the  viceroy  with  money  for  defraying  the  expense  of  the 
armament.  The  copies  of  this  Notida  are  very  rare  in  Madrid ;  but  I  have 
obtained  one,  which  has  enabled  me  to  communicate  these  curious  facts  to  the 
public.  According  to  this  account,  there  was  found  in  the  mine  Yecorato  in 
Cinaloa  a  grain  of  gold  of  twenty-two  carats,  which  weighed  sixteen  marks 
four  ounces  four  ochavas ;  this  was  sent  to  Spain  as  a  present  fit  for  the  king, 
and  is  now  deposited  in  the  royal  cabinet  at  Madrid. 

NOTE  [162].  PAGE  341. 

THE  uncertainty  of  geographers  with  respect  to  this  point  is  remarkable,  for 
Cortes  seems  to  have  surveyed  its  coasts  with  great  accuracy.  The  Archbishop 
of  Toledo  has  published,  from  the  original  in  the  possession  of  the  Marquis 
del  Valle,  the  descendant  of  Cortes,  a  map  drawn  in  1541,  by  the  pilot  Domingo- 
Castillo,  in  which  California  is  laid  down  as  a  peninsula,  stretching  out  nearly 
in  the  same  direction  which  is  now  given  to  it  in  the  best  maps  ;  and  the  point 
where  Rio  Colorada  enters  the  gulf  is  marked  with  precision.  Hist,  de  Nueva 
Espagna,  327. 

NOTE  [163].  PAGE  342. 

I  AM  indebted  for  this  fact  to  M.  L'Abbe"  Raynal,  torn.  iii.  103  ;  and  upon 
consulting  an  intelligent  person,  long  settled  on  the  Mosquito  shore,  and  who 
has  been  engaged  in  the  logwood  trade,  I  find  that  ingenious  author  has  been 
well  informed.  The  logwood  cut  near  the  town  of  St.  Francis  of  Campeachy 
is  of  much  better  quality  than  that  on  the  other  side  of  Yucatan :  and  the 
English  trade  in  the  Bay  of  Honduras  is  almost  at  an  end. 

NOTE  [164].  PAGE  348. 

P.  TORRIBIO  DE  BENEVENTE,  or  Motolinea,  has  enumerated  ten  causes  of 
the  rapid  depopulation  of  Mexico,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  the  Ten 
Plagues.  Many  of  these  are  not  peculiar  to  that  province.  1.  The  introduc- 
tion of  the  small  pox.  This  disease  was  first  brought  into  New  Spain  in  the 
year  1520,  by  a  Negro-slave,  who  attended  Narvaez  in  his  expedition  against 
Cortes.  Torribio  affirms,  that  one  half  of  the  people  in  the  provinces  visited 
with  this  distemper  died.  To  this  mortality,  occasioned  by  the  small  pox, 
Torquemada  adds  the  destructive  effects  of  two  contagious  distempers  which 
raged  in  the  year  1545  and  1576.  In  the  former  800,000,  in  the  latter  above 
two  millions  perished,  according  to  an  exact  account  taken  by  order  of  the 
viceroys.  Mon.  Ind.  i.  642.  The  small  pox  was  not  introduced  into  Peru  for 
several  years  after  the  invasion  of  the  Spaniards  ;  but  there,  too,  that  distem- 
per proved  very  fatal  to  the  natives.  Garcia  Origin,  p.  88.  2.  The  numbers 
who  were  killed  or  died  of  famine  in  their  war  with  the  Spaniards,  particularly 
during  the  siege  of  Mexico.  3.  The  great  famine  that  followed  after  the  re- 
duction of  Mexico,  as  all  the  people  engaged,  either  en  one  side  or  other,  had 


510  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

neglected  the  cultivation  of  their  lands.  Something  similar  to  this  happened 
in  all  the  other  countries  conquered  by  the  Spaniards.  4.  The  grievous  tasks 
imposed  by  the  Spaniards  upon  the  people  belonging  to  their  Repartimientos. 
5.  The  oppressive  burden  of  taxes  which  they  were  unable  to  pay,  and  from 
which  they  could  hope  for  no  exemption.  6.  The  numbers  employed  in  col- 
lecting the  gold  carried  down  by  the  torrents  from  the  mountains,  who  were 
forced  from  their  own  habitations,  without  any  provision  made  for  their  sub- 
sistence, and  subjected  to  all  the  rigour  of  cold  in  those  elevated  regions.  7. 
The  immense  labour  of  rebuilding  Mexico,  which  Cortes  urged  on  with  such 
precipitate  ardour  as  destroyed  an  incredible  number  of  people.  8.  The  num- 
ber of  people  condemned  to  servitude,  under  various  pretexts,  and  employed 
in  working  the  silver  mines.  These,  marked  by  each  proprietor  with  a  hot 
iron,  like  his  cattle,  were  driven  in  herds  to  the  mountains.  9.  The  nature  of 
the  labour  to  which  they  were  subjected  there,  the  noxious  vapours  of  the  mines, 
the  coldness  of  the  climate,  and  scarcity  were  so  fatal,  that  Torribio  affirms 
the  country  found  several  of  those  mines,  particularly  near  Guaxago,  was 
covered  with  dead  bodies,  the  air  corrupted  with  their  stench,  and  so  many  vul- 
tures and  other  voracious  birds  hover'ed  about  for  their  prey,  that  the  sun  was 
darkened  with  their  flight.  10.  The  Spaniards,  in  the  different  expeditions? 
which  they  undertook,  and  by  the  civil  wars  which  they  carried  on,  destroyed 
many  of  the  natives  whom  they  compelled  to  serve  them  as  Tamemes,  or  car- 
riers of  burdens.  This  last  mode  of  oppression  was  particularly  ruinous  to 
the  Peruvians.  From  the  number  of  Indians  who  perished  in  Gonzalo  Pizarro's 
expedition  into  the  countries  to  the  east  of  the  Andes,  one  may  form  some 
idea  of  what  they  suffered  in  similar  services,  and  how  fast  they  were  wasted 
by  them.  Torribio,  MS.  Corita,  in  his  Breve  y  Summaria  Relacion,  illus- 
trates and  confirms  several  of  Torribio's  observations,  to  which  he  refers.  MS. 
penes  me. 

NOTE  [165].  PAGE  348. 

EVEN  Montesquieu  Las  adopted  this  idea,  lib.  viii.  c.  18.  But  the  passion  of 
that  great  man  for  system  sometimes  rendered  him  inattentive  to  research ; 
and  from  his  capacity  to  refine,  he  was  apt,  in  some  instances,  to  overlook 
obvious  and  just  causes. 

NOTE  [166].  PAGE  349. 

A  STRONG  proof  of  this  occurs  in  the  testament  of  Isabella,  where  she  dis- 
covers the  most  tender  concern  for  the  humane  and  mild  usage  of  the  Indians. 
Those  laudable  sentiments  of  the  queen  have  been  adopted  in  the  public  law 
of  Spain,  and  serve  as  the  introduction  to  the  regulations  contained  under  the 
title  Of  the  good  treatment  of  the  Indians.  Recopil.  lib.  vi.  tit.  x. 

NOTE  [167].  PAGE  350. 

IN  the  seventh  Trifle  of  the  first  book  of  the  Recopilacion,  which  contains  the 
laws  concerning  the  powers  and  functions  of  archbishops  and  bishops,  almosl 
a  third  part  of  them  relates  to  what  is  incumbent  upon  them  as  guardians  of 
the  Indians,  and  points  out  the  various  methods  in  which  it  is  their  duty  to 
interpose,  in  order  to  defend  them  from  oppression  either  with  respect  to  their 
persons  or  property.  Not  only  do  the  laws  commit  to  them  this  honourable 
and  humane  office,  but  the  ecclesiastics  of  America  actually  exercise  iti 

Innumerable  proofs  of  this  might  be  produced  from  Spanish  authors.  But  I 
rather  refer  to  Gage,  as  he  was  not  disposed  to  ascribe  any  merit  to  the  popish 
clergy  to  which  they  were  not  fully  entitled.  Survey,  p.  142. 192,  &c.  Henry 
Hawks,  an  English  merchant,  who  resided  five  years  in  New  Spain  previous 
to  the  year  1572,  gives  the  same  favourable  account  of  the  popish  clergy. 
Hakluyt,  iii.  466.  By  a  law  of  Charles  V.  not  only  bishops,  but  other  eccle- 
siastics, are  empowered  to  inform  and  admonish  the  civil  magistrates,  if  any 
Indian  is  deprived  of  his  just  liberty  and  rights ;  Recopilac.  lib.  vi.  tit.  VK  ley 
14:  and  thus  were  constituted  legal  protectors  of  the  Indians.  Some  of  the 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  511 

Spanish  ecclesiastics  refused  to  grant  absolution  to  such  of  their  countrymen 
as  possessed  Encomiendas,  and  considered  the  Indians  as  slaves,  or  employed 
them  in  working  their  mines.  Gonz.  Davil.  Teatro  Eccles.  i.  157. 

NOTE  [168].  PAGE  350. 

ACCORDING  to  Gage,  Chiapa  dos  Indos  contains  4000  families  ;  and  he  men- 
tions it  only  as  one  of  the  largest  Indian  towns  in  America,  p.  104. 

NOTE  [169].  PAGE  350, 

IT  is  very  difficult  to  obtain  an  accurate  account  of  the  state  of  population 
in  those  kingdoms  of  Europe  where  the  police  is  most  perfect,  and  where  sci- 
ence has  made  the  greatest  progress.  In  Spanish  America,  where  knowledge 
is  still  in  its  infancy,  and  few  men  have  leisure  to  engage  in  researches  merely 
speculative,  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  this  curious  inquiry.  But  in  the 
year  1741,  Philip  V.  enjoined  the  viceroys  and  governors  of  the  several  pro- 
vinces in  America,  to  make  an  actual  survey  of  the  people  under  their  jurisdic- 
tion, and  to  transmit  a  report  concerning  their  number  and  occupations.  In 
consequence  of  this  order,  the  Conde  de  Fuen-Clara,  Viceroy  of  New  Spain, 
appointed  D.  Jos.  Antonio  de  Villa  Segnor  y  Sanchez  to  execute  that  commis- 
sion in  New  Spain.  From  the  reports  of  the  magistrates  in  the  several  dis- 
tricts, as  well  as  from  his  own  observations  and  long  acquaintance  with  most 
of  the  provinces,  Villa  Segnor  published  the  result  of  his  inquiries  in  his  Teatro 
Americano.  His  report,  however,  is  imperfect.  Of  the  nine  diocesses,  into 
which  the  Mexican  empire  has  been  divided,  he  has  published  an  account  of 
five  only,  viz.  the  archbishopric  of  Mexico,  the  bishoprics  of  Pueblo  de  los 
Angeles,  Mechoacan,  Oaxaca,  and  Nova  Galicia.  The  bishoprics  of  Yucatan, 
Verapaz,  Chiapa,  and  Guatimala,  are  entirely  omitted,  though  the  two  latter 
comprehend  countries  in  which  the  Indian  race  is  more  numerous  than  in  any 
part  of  New  Spain.  In  his  survey  of  the  extensive  diocess  of  Nova  Galicia, 
the  situation  of  the  different  Indian  villages  is  described,  but  he  specifies  the 
number  of  people  only  in  a  small  part  of  it.  The  Indians  of  that  extensive 
province,  in  which  the  Spanish  dominion  is  imperfectly  established,  are  not 
registered  with  the  same  accuracy  as  in  other  parts  of  New  Spain.  According 
to  Villa  Segnor,  the  actual  state  of  population  in  the  five  diocesses  above  men- 
tioned is  of  Spaniards,  negroes,  inulattoes,  and  mestizos,  in  the  diocesses  of 

Families. 

Mexico 105,202 

Los  Angeles --        -        -        -  30,600 

Mechoacan 30,840 

Oaxaca      ---- 7,296 

Nova  Galicia 16,770 


190,708 
At  the  rate  of  five  to  a  family,  the  total  number  is  ...    953,540 

Indian  families  in  the  diocess  of  Mexico      -  119,511 

Los  Angeles 88,240 

Mechoacan         ..........  36,196 

Oaxaca           -        -        - -  44,222 

Nova  Galicia 6,222 

294,391 

At  the  rate  of  five  to  a  family,  the  total  number  is  1,471,955.  We  may  rely 
with  great  certainty  on  this  computation  of  the  number  of  Indians,  as  it  is 
taken  from  the  Mairicula^  or  register,  according  to  which  the  tribute  paid  by 
them  is  collected.  As  four  diocesses  of  nine  are  totally  omitted,  and  in  that 


512  NOTES    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

of  Nova  Galicia  the  numbers  are  imperfectly  recorded,  we  may  conclude  ihat 
the  number  of  Indians  in  the  Mexican  empire  exceeds  two  millions. 

The  account  of  the  number  of  Spaniards,  &c.  seems  not  to  be  equally  com- 
plete. Of  many  places,  Villa  Segnor  observes  in  general  terms,  that  several 
Spaniards,  negroes,  and  people  of  mixed  race,  reside  there,  without  specifying 
their  number.  If,  therefore,  we  make  allowance  for  these,  and  for  all  who  re- 
side in  the  four  diocesses  omitted,  the  number  of  Spaniards,  and  of  those  of  a 
mixed  race,  may  probably  amount  to  a  million  and  a  half.  In  some  places 
Villa  Segnor  distinguishes  between  Spaniards  and  the  three  inferior  races  of 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizos,  and  marks  their  number  separately.  But  he 
generally  blends  them  together.  But  from  the  proportion  observable  in  those 
places,  where  the  number  of  each  is  marked,  as  well  as  from  the  account  of 
the  state  of  population  in  New  Spain  by  other  authors,  it  is  manifest  that  the 
number  of  negroes  and  persons  of  a  mixed  race  far  exceeds  that  of  Spaniards. 
Perhaps  the  latter  ought  not  to  be  reckoned. above  500,000  to  a  million  of  the 
former. 

Defective  as  this  account  may  be,  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  such  in- 
telligence concerning  the  number  of  people  in  Peru,  as  might  enable  me  to  form 
any  conjecture  equally  satisfying  with  respect  to  the  degree  of  its  population. 
I  have  been  informed  that,  in  the  year  1761,  the  protector  of  the  Indians  in  the 
viceroyalty  of  Peru  computed  that  612,780  paid  tribute  to  the  king.  As  all 
females,  and  persons  under  age,  are  exempted  from  this  tax  in  Peru,  the  total 
number  of  Indians  ought  by  that  account  to  be  2,449,120.  MS.  penes  me. 

I  shall  mention  another  mode  by  which  one  may  compute,  or  at  least  form  a 
guess  concerning  the  state  of  population  in  New  Spain  and  Peru.  According 
to  an  account  which  I  have  reason  to  consider  as  accurate,  the  number  of 
copies  of  the  bull  of  Cruzada  exported  to  Peru  on  each  new  publication,  is, 
1,171,953 ;  to  New  Spain,  2,649,326.  I  am  informed  that  but  few  Indians 
purchase  bulls,  and  that  they  are  sold  chiefly  to  the  Spanisli  inhabitants,  and 
those  of  mixed  race  ;  so  that  the  number  of  Spaniards,  and  people  of  a  mixed 
race,  will  amount,  by  this  mode  of  computation,  to  at  least  three  millions. 

The  number  of  inhabitants  in  many  of  the  towns  in  Spanish  America  may 
give  us  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  population,  and  correct  the  inaccurate  but 
popular  notion  entertained  in  Great  Britain  concerning  the  weak  and  desolate 
state  of  their  colonies.  The  city  of  Mexico  contains  at  least  150,000  people. 
It  is  remarkable  that  Torquemada,  who  wrote  his  Monarquia  Indiana  about 
the  year  1612,  reckons  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  at  that  time  to  be  only  7000 
Spaniards  and  8000  Indians.  Lib.  iii.  c.  26.  Puebla  de  los  Angeles  contains 
a.bove  60,000  Spaniards,  and  people  of  a  mixed  race.  Villa  Segnor,  p.  247. 
Guadalaxara  contains  above  30,000  exclusive  of  Indians.  Ibid.  ii.  206.  Lima 
contains  54,000.  De  Cosme  ^Bueno  Descr.  de  Peru,  1764.  Carthagena  con- 
tains 25,000.  Potosi  contains  25,000.  Bueno,  1767.  Popayan  contains  above 
20,000.  Ulloa,  i.  287.  Towns  of  a  second  class  are  still  more  numerous. 
The  cities  in  the  most  thriving  settlements  of  other  European  nations  in  Ame* 
rica  cannot  be  compared  with  these. 

Such  are  the  detached  accounts  of  the  number  of  people  in  several  towns, 
which  I  found  scattered  in  authors  whom  I  thought  worthy  of  credit.  But  I 
have  obtained  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  in  the  province 
of  Quito,  on  the  accuracy  of  which  I  can  rely ;  and  I  communicate  it  to  the 
public,  both  to  gratify  curiosity,  and  to  rectify  the  mistaken  notion  which  I 
have  mentioned.  St.  Francisco  de  Quito  contains  between  50  and  60,000 
people  of  all  the  different  races.  Besides  the  city,  there  are  in  the  Corregimi- 
ento  twenty-nine  euros  or  parishes  established  in  the  principal  villages,  each  of 
which  has  smaller  hamlets  depending  upon  it.  The  inhabitants  of  these  are 
mostly  Indiajis  and  mestizos.,  St.  Juan  de  Pasto  has  between  6  and  8000  in- 
habitants, besides  twenty-seven  dependent  villages.  St.  Miguel  de  Ibarra, 
7000  citizens,  and  ten  villages.  The  district  of  Havalla,  between  18  and  20,000 
people.  The  district  of  Tacuna,  between  10  and  12,000,  The  district  of 
Ambato,  between  8  and  10,000,  besides  sixteen  depending  villages.  The  city 
of  lliobamba,  between  16  and  20,000  inhabitants,  and  nine  depending  villages. 
The  district  of  Chimbo,  between  6  and  8000.  The  city  of  Guayaquil,  from  16 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  513 

to  20,000  inhabitants,  and  fourteen  depending  villages.  The  district  of  Atuasi, 
between  5  and  6000  inhabitants,  and  four  depending  villages.  The  city  of 
Cuonza,  between  25  and  30,000  inhabitants,  and  nine  populous  depending 
villages.  The  town  of  Laxa,  from  8  to  10,000  inhabitants,  and  fourteen  de- 
pending villages.  This  degree  of  population,  though  slender  if  we  consider 
the  vast  extent  of  the  country,  is  far  beyond  what  is  commonly  supposed.  I 
have  omitted  to  mention^  in  its  proper  place,  that  Quito  is  the  only  province  in 
Spanish  America  that  can  be  denominated  a  manufacturing  country ;  hats, 
cotton  stuffs,  and  coarse  woollen  cloths  are  made  there  in  such  quantities  as  to 
be  sufficient  not  onlv  for  the  consumption  of  the  province,  but  to  furnish  a  con- 
siderable article  for  exportation  into  other  parts  of  Spanish  America.  1  know 
not  whether  the  uncommon  industry  of  this  province  should  be  considered  as 
the  cause  or  the  effect  of  its  populousness.  But  among  the  ostentatious  in- 
habitants of  the  New  World,  the  passion  for  every  thing  that  comes  from 
Europe  is  so  violent,  that  I  am  informed  the  manufactures  of  Quito  are  so 
much  undervalued  as  to  be  on  the  decline. 

NOTE  [170].  PAGE  352. 

THESE  are  established  at  the  following  places  : — St.  Domingo  in  the  island 
of  Hispaniola,  Mexico  in  New  Spain,  Lima  in  Peru,  Panama  in  Tierra  Firme, 
Santiago  in  Guatimala,  Guadalaxara  in  New  Galiqia,  Santa  Fe  in  the  New 
Kingdom  of  Granada,  La  Plata  in  the  country  of  Los  Charcas,  St.  Francisco 
de  Quito,  St.  Jago  de  Chili,  Buenos  Ayres.  To  each  of  these  are  subjected 
several  large  provinces,  and  some  so  far  removed  from  the  cities  where  the 
courts  are  fixed,  that  they  can  derive  little  benefit  from  their  jurisdiction.  The 
Spanish  writers  commonly  reckon  up  twelve  Courts  cf  Audience,  but  they  in- 
clude that  of  Manilla,  in  the  Philippine  islands. 

NOTE  [171].  PAGE  354. 

ON  account  of  the  distance  of  Peru  and  Chili  from  Spain,  and  the  difficulty 
of  carrying  commodities  of  such  bulk  as  wine  and  oil  across  the  isthmus  of 
Panama,  the  Spaniards  in  those  provinces  have  been  permitted  to  plant  vines 
and  olives  :  but  they  are  strictly  prohibited  from  exporting  wine  or  oil  to  any 
of  the  provinces  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which  are  in  such  a  situation  as  to  re- 
ceive them  from  Spain.  Recop.  lib.  i.  tit.  xvii.  1.  15 — 18. 

NOTE  [172].  PAGE  355. 

THIS  computation  was  made  by  Benzoni,  A.  D.  1550,  fifty-eight  years  after 
the  discovery  of  America.  Hist.  Novi  Orbis,  lib.  iii.  c.  21.  But  as  Benzoni 
wrote  with  the  spirit  of  a  malecontent,  disposed  to  detract  from  the  Spaniards 
in  every  particular,  it  is  probable  that  his  calculation  is  considerably  too  low. 

NOTE  [173].  PAGE  355. 

MY  information  with  respect  to  the  division  and  transmission  of  property  in 
the  Spanish  colonies  is  imperfect:  The  Spanish  authors  do  not  explain  this 
fully,  and  have  not  perhaps  attended  sufficiently  to  the  effects  of  their  own  in- 
stitutions and  laws.  Solorzano  de  Jure  Ind.  (vol.  ii.  lib.  ii.  1.  16.)  explains 
in  some  measure  the  introduction  of  the  tenure  of  Mayorasgo,  and  mentions 
some  of  its  effects.  Villa  Segnor  takes  notice  of  a  singular  consequence  of  it. 
He  observes,  that  in  some  of  the  best  situations  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  a  good 
deal  of  ground  is  unoccupied,  or  covered  only  with  the  ruins  of  the  houses 
once  erected  upon  it ;  and  adds,  that  as  this  ground  is  held  by  right  of  Mayo- 
rasgo, and  cannot  be  alienated,  that  desolation  and  those  ruins  become  perpetual. 
Teatr.  Amer.  vol.  i.  p.  34. 

NOTE  [174].  PAGE  356. 

THERE  is  no  law  that  excludes  Creoles  from  offices  either  civil  or  ecclesiastic. 
On  the  contrary,  there  are  many  Cedulas,  which  recommend  the  conferring: 
VOL.  I.— 65 


614  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

places  of  trust  indiscriminately  on  the  natives  of  Spain  and  America.  Betan 
court  y  Figueroa  Derecho,  &c.  p.  5,  6.  But,  notwithstanding  such  repeated 
recommendations,  preferment  in  almost  every  line  is  conferred  on  native 
Spaniards.  A  remarkable  proof  of  this  is  produced  by  the  author  last  quoted. 
From  the  discovery  of  America  to  the  year  1637,  three  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
bishops,  or  archbishops,  have  been  appointed  to  the  different  diocesses  in  that 
country,  and  of  all  that  number  only  twelve  were  Creoles,  p.  40.  This  predi- 
lection for  Europeans  seems  still  to  continue.  By  a  royal  mandate,  issued  in 
1776,  the  chapter  of  the  cathedral  of  Mexico  is  directed  to  nominate  European 
ecclesiastics  of  known  merit  and  abilities,  that  the  King  may  appoint  them  to 
supply  vacant  benefices.  MS.  penes  me. 

NOTE  [175].  PAGE  358. 

MODERATE  as  this  tribute  may  appear,  such  is  the  extreme  poverty  of  the 
Indians  in  many  provinces  of  America,  that  the  exacting  of  it  is  intolerably 
oppressive.  Pegna  Itiner.  par  Paroches  de  IndiQs,  p.  192. 

NOTE  [176].  PAGE  358. 

IN  New  Spain,  on  account  of  the  extraordinary  merit  and  services  of  the  first 
conquerors,  as  well  as  the  small  revenue  arising  from  the  country  previous  to 
the  discovery  of  the  mines  of  Sacatecas,  the  encorwendas  were  granted  for 
three,  and  sometimes  for  four  lives.  Recopil.  lib.  vi.  tit.  ii.  c.  14,  &c. 

NOTE  [177].  PAGE  359. 

D.  ANT.  ULLOA  contends,  that  working  in  mines  is  not  noxious,  and  as  a 
proof  of  this  informs  us,  that  many  Mestizos  and  Indians,  who  do  not  belong  to 
any  Repartimiento,  voluntarily  hire  themselves  as  miners ;  and  several  of  the 
Indians;  when  the  legal  term  of  their  service  expires,  continue  to  work  in  the 
mines  of  choice.  Entreten.  p.  265.  But  his  opinion  concerning  the  whole- 
someness  of  this  occupation  is  contrary  to  the  experience  of  all  ages  ;  and 
wherever  men  are  allured  by  high  wages,  they  will  «ngage  in  any  species  of 
labour,  however  fatiguing  or  pernicious  it  may^be.  D.  H«rn,  Carillo  Altamirano 
relates  a  curious  fact  incompatible  with  this  opinion.  Wherever  mines  are 
wrought,  says  he,  the  number  of  Indians  decreases ;  but  in  the  province  of 
Campeachy,  where  there  are  no  mines,  the  number  of  Indians  has  increased 
more  than  a  third  since  the  conquest  of  America,  though  neither  the  soil  nor 
climate  be  so  favourable  as  in  Peru  or  Mexico.  Colbert  Collect.  In  another 
memorial  presented  to  Philip  III.  in  the  year  1609,  Captain  Juan  Gonzales  de 
Azevedo  asserts,  that  in  every  district  of  Peru  where  the  Indians  are  compelled 
to  labour  in  the  mines,  .their  numbers  were  reduced  to  the  half,  and  in  some 
places  to  the  third,  of  what  it  was  under  the  viceroyalty  of  Don  Fran.  Toledc 
in  1581.  Colb.  Collect. 

NOTE  [178].  PAGE  359. 

As  labour  of  this  kind  cannot  be  prescribed  with  legal  accuracy,  the  tasks 
seem  to  be  in  a  great  measure  arbitrary,  and,  like  the  services  exacted  by  feudal 
superiors  in  vinea  prato,  aut  messe,  from  their  vassals,  are  extremely  burden- 
some, and  often  wantonly  oppressive.  Pegna  Itiner.  par  Paroches  de  Indios. 

NOTE  [179].  PAGE  359. 

THE  turn  of  service  known  in  Peru  by  the  name  of  Mita  is  called  Tanda  in 
New  Spain.  There  it  continues  no  longer  than  a  week  at  a  time.  No  person 
is  called  to  serve  at  a  greater  distance  from  his  habitation  than  24  miles.  This 
arrangement  is  less  oppressive  to  the  Indians  than  that  established  in  Peru. 
Memorial  of  Horn.  Carillo  Altamirano.  Colbert  Collect. 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  515 


NOTE  [180].  PAGE  360. 

THE  strongest  proof  of  this  may  be  deduced  from  the  laws  themselves.  By 
the  multitude  and  variety  of  regulations  to  prevent  abuses,  we  may  form  an 
idea  of  the  number  of  abuses  that  prevail.  Though  the  laws  have  wisely  pro- 
vided that  no  Indian  shall  be  obliged  to  serve  in  any  mine  at  a  greater  distance 
from  his  place  of  residence  than  thirty  miles  ;  we  are  informed,  in  a  memorial 
of  D.  Hernan  Carillo  Altamirano  presented  to  the  king,  that  the  Indians  of 
Peru  are  often  compelled  to  serve  in  mines  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred,  a 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  even  two  hundred  leagues  from  their  habitation.  Col- 
bert Collect.  Many  mines  are  situated  in  parts  of  the  country  so  barren  and 
so  distant  from  the  ordinary  habitations  of  the  Indians,  that  the  necessity  of 
procuring  labourers  to  work  there  has  obliged  the  Spanish  monarchs  to  dis- 
pense with  their  own  regulations  in  several  instances,  and  to  permit  the  vice- 
roys to  compel  the  people  of  more  remote  provinces  to  resort  to  those  mines. 
Escalona  Gazophyl.  Perub.  lib.  i.  c.  16.  But,  in  justice  to  them,  it  should  be 
observed  that  they  have  been  studious  to  alleviate  this  oppression  as  much  as 
possible,  by  enjoining  the  viceroys  to  employ  every  method  in  order  to  induce 
the  Indians  to  settle  in  some  part  of  the  country  adjacent  to  the  mines.  Id.  ibid. 

NOTE  [181].  PAGE  362. 

TORQUEMADA,  after  a  long  enumeration  which  has  the  appearance  of  accu- 
racy, concludes  the  number  of  monasteries  in  New  Spain  to  be  four  hundred. 
Mon.  Ind.  lib.  xix.  c.  32.  The  number  of  Monasteries  in  the  city  of  Mexico 
alone  was,  in  the  year  1745,  fifty-five.  Villa  Segnor  Theat.  Amer.  i.  34.  Ulloa 
reckons  up  forty  convents  in  Lima ;  and  mentioning  those  for  nuns,  he  says 
that  a  small  town  might  be  peopled  out  of  them,  the  number  of  persons  shut 
up  there  is  so  great.  Voy.  i.  429.  Philip  III.,  in  a  letter  to  the  Viceroy  of 
Peru,  A.  D.  1620,  observes,  that  the  number  of  convents  in  Lima  was  so  great, 
that  they  covered  more  ground  than  all  the  rest  of  the  city.  Solorz.  lib.  iii.  c. 
23.  n.  57.  Lib.  iii.  c.  16.  Torquem.  lib.  xv.  c.  3.  The  first  monastery  in 
New  Spain  was  founded  A.  D.  1525,  four  years  only  after  the  conquest.  Torq. 
lib.  xv.  c.  16. 

According  to  Gil  Gonzalez  Davila,  the  complete  establishment  of  the 
American  church  in  all  the  Spanish  settlements  was,  in  the  year  1649, 1  patri- 
arch, 6  archbishops,  32  bishops,  346  prebends,  2  ,  abbots,  5  royal  chaplains,  840 
convents.  Teatro  Ecclesiastico  de  las  Ind.  Occident.  Vol.  i.  Pref.  When 
the  order  of  Jesuits  was  expelled  from  all  the  Spanish  dominions,  the  colleges, 
professed  houses,  and  residences  which  it  possessed  in  the  province  of  New 
Spain  were  thirty,  in  Quito  sixteen,  in  the  New  Kingdom  of  Granada  thirteen, 
in  Peru  seventeen,  in  Chili  eighteen,  in  Paraguay  eighteen ;  in  all,  a  hundred 
and  twelve.  Collection  General  de  Providencias  hasta  aqui  tomadas  sobre 
estranamento,  &c.  de  la  Compagnia,  part  i.  p.  19.  The  number  of  Jesuits, 
priests,  and  novices  in  all  these  amounted  to  2245.  MS.  penes  me. 

In  the  year  1644  the  city  of  Mexico  presented  a  petition  to  the  king,  praying 
that  no  new  monastery  might  be  founded,  and  that  the  revenues  of  those 
already  established  might  be  circumscribed,  otherwise  the  religious  houses 
would  soon  acquire  the  property  of  the  whole  country.  The  petitioners  request 
likewise,  that  the  bishops  might  be  laid  under  restrictions  in  conferring  holy 
orders,  as  there  were  at  that  time  in  New  Spain  above  six  thousand  clergymen 
without  any  living.  Ibid.  p.  16.  These  abuses  must  have  been  enormous  in- 
deed, when  the  superstition  of  American  Spaniards  was  shocked,  and  induced 
to  remonstrate  against  them. 

NOTE  [182].  PAGE  363. 

THIS  description  of  the  manners  of  the  Spanish  clergy  I  should  not  Lave 
ventured  to  give  upon  the  testimony  of  Protestant  authors  alone,  as  they  may 
be  suspected  of  prejudice  or  exaggeration.  Gage,  in  particular,  who  had  a 
better  opportunity  than  any  Protestant  to  view  the  interior  state  of  Spanish 


516  NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

America,  describes  the  corruption  of  the  church  which  he  had  forsaken  with 
so  much  of  the  acrimony  of  a  new  convert,  that  I  should  have  distrusted  his 
evidence,  though  it  communicates  some  very  curious  and  striking  facts.  But 
Benzoni  mentions  'the  profligacy  of  ecclesiastics  in  America  at  a  very  early 
period  after  their  settlement  there.  Hist.  lib.  ii.  c.  19,  20.  M.  Frezier,  an  in- 
telligent observer,  and  zealous  for  his  own  religion,  paints  the  dissolute  manners 
of  the  Spanish  ecclesiastics  in  Peru,  particularly  the  regulars,  in  stronger 
colours  than  I  have  employed.  Voy.  p.  51.  215,. &c.  M.  lentil  confirms  this 
account.  Voy.  i.  34.  Correal  concurs  with  both1,"  and  adds  many  remarkable 
circumstances.  Voy.  i.  61.  155.  161.  I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  the 
manners  6f  the  regular  clergy,  particularly  in  Peru,  are  still  extremely  indecent. 
Acosta  himself  acknowledges  that  great  corruption  of  manners  had  been  the 
consequence  of  permitting  monks  to  forsake  the  retirement  and  discipline  of 
the  cloister,  and  to  mingle  again  with  the  world,  by  undertaking  the  charge  of 
the  Indian  parishes.  De  Procur.  Ind.  Salute,  lib.  iv.  c.  13,  &c.  He  mentions 
particularly  those  vices  of  which  I  have  taken  notice,  and  considers  the  tempt- 
ations to  them  as  so  formidable,  that  he  leans  to  the  opinion  of  those  who 
hold  that  the  regular  clergy  should  not  be  employed  as  parish  priests.  Lib.  v. 
c.  20.  Even  the  advocates  of  the  regulars-  admit,  that  many  and  great  enor- 
mities abounded  among  the  monks  of  diiferent  orders,  when  set  free  from  the 
restraint  of  monastic  discipline ;  and  from  the  tone  of  their  defence,  one  may 
conclude  that  the  charge  brought  against  them  was  not  destitute  of  truth.  In 
the  French  colonies  the  state  of  the  regular  clergy  is  nearly  the  same  as  in  the 
Spanish  settlements,  and  the  same  consequences  have  followed.  M.  Biet, 
superior  of  the  secular  priests  in  Cayenne,  inquires,  with  no  less  appearance 
of  piety  than  of  candour,  into  the  causes  of  this  corruption,  and  imputes  it 
chiefly  to  the  exemption  of  regulars  from  the  jurisdiction  and  censures  of  their 
diocessans ;  to  the  temptations  to  which  they  are  exposed  ;  and  to  their  en- 
gaging in  commerce.  Voy.  p.  320.  It  is  remarkable,  that  all  the  authors  who 
censure  the  licentiousness  of  the  Spanish  regulars  with  the  greatest  severity, 
concur  in  vindicating  the  conduct  of  the  Jesuits.  Formed  under  a  discipline 
more  perfect  than  that  of  the  other  monastic  orders,  or  animated  by  that  con- 
cern for  the  honour  of  the  society  which  takes  such  full  possession  of  every 
member  of  the  order,  the  Jesuits,  both  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  it  is  allowed,  main- 
tain a  most  irreproachable  decency  of  manners.  Frezier,  223.  Gentil.  i.  34. 
The  same  praise,  is  likewise  due  to  the  bishops  and  most  of  the  dignified  clergy. 
Frez.  Ibid. 

A  volume  of  the  Gazette  de  Mexico  for  the  years  1728, 1729,  1730,  having 
been  communicated  to  me,  I  find  there  a  striking  confirmation  of  what  I  have 
advanced  concerning  the  spirit  of  low  illiberal  superstition  prevalent  in  Spanish 
America.  From  the  newspapers  of  any  nation  one  may  learn  what  are  the 
objects  which  chiefly  engross  its  attention,  and  which  appear  to  it  most  inte- 
resting. The  Gazette  of  Mexico  is  filled  almost  entirely  with  accounts  of  re- 
ligious functions,  with  descriptions  of  processions,  consecrations  of  churches, 
beatifications  of  saints,  festivals,  autos  de  fe,  &c.  Civil  or  commercial  affairs, 
and  even  the  transactions  of  Europe,  occupy  but  a  small  corner  in  this  maga- 
zine of  monthly  intelligence.  From  the  titles  of  new  books,  which  are  regularly 
inserted  in  this  Gazette,  it  appears  that  two-thirds  of  them  are  treatises  of 
scholastic  theology,  or  of  monkish  devotion..  • 

NOTE  [183].  PAGE  363. 

SOLORZANO,  after  mentioning  the  corrupt  morals  of  some  of  the  regular 
clergy,  with  that  cautious  reserve  which  became  a  Spanish  layman  in  touching 
on  a  subject  so  delicate,  gives  his  opinion  very  explicitly,  and  with  much  firm- 
ness, against  committing  parochial  charges  to  monks.  He  produces  the  testi- 
mony of  several  respectable  authors  of  his  country,  both  divines  and  lawyers, 
in  confirmation  of  his  opinion.  De  Jure  Ind.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  16.  A  striking  proof 
of  the  alarm  excited  by  the  attempt  of  the  Prince  d'Esquilache  to  exclude  the 
regulars  from  parochial  cures,  is  contained  in  the  Colbert  collection  of  papers. 
Several  memorials  were  presented  to  the  lung  by  the  procurators  for  the  mo- 
nastic orders,  and  replies  were  made  to  these  in  name  of  the  secular  clergy. 


NOTES    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  517 

An  eager  and  even  rancorous  spirit  is  manifest  on  both  sides  in  the  conduct  of 
this  dispute. 

NOTE  [184].  PAGE  365. 

NOT  only  the  native  Indians,  but  the  Mestizos,  or  children  of  a  Spaniard 
and  Indian,  were  originally  excluded  from  the  priesthood,  and  refused  admis- 
sion into  any  religious  order.  But  by  a  law  issued  Sept.  28th,  1588,  Philip  11. 
required  the  prelates  of  America  to  ordain  such  mestizos  born  in  lawful  wed- 
lock, as  they  should  find  to  be  properly  qualified,  and  to  permit  them  to  take 
the  vows  in  any  monastery  where  they  had  gone  through  a  regular  noviciate. 
Ilecopil.  lib.  i.  tit.  vii.  1.  7.  Some  regard  seems  to  have  been  paid  to  this  law 
in  New  Spain  ;  but  none  in  Peru.  Upon  a  representation  of  this  to  Charles 
II.  in  the  year  1697,  he  issued  a  new  edict,  enforcing  the  observation  of  it,  and 
professing  his  desire  to  have  all  his  subjects,  Indians  and  mestizos  as  well  sa 
Spaniards,  admitted  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  same  privileges.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  the  aversion  of  the  Spaniards  in  America  to  the  Indians  and  their 
race,  that  this  seems  to  have  produced  little  effect;  for  in  the  year  1725  Philip 
V.  was  obliged  to  renew  the  injunction  in  a  more  peremptory  tone.  But  so 
urisunnountable  are  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  Indians  among  the  Peruvian 
Spaniards,  that  the  present  king  has  been  constrained  to  enforce  the  former 
edicts  anew,  by  a  law  published  September  11,  1774.  Real  Cedula,  MS. 
penes  me. 

M.  Clavigero  has  contradicted  what  I  have  related  concerning  the  ecclesias- 
tical state  of  the  Indians,  particularly  their  exclusion  from  the  sacrament  o 
the  eucharist,  and  from  holy  orders,  either  as  seculars  or  regulars,  in  such  a 
manner  as  cannot  fail  to  make  a  deep  impression.  He,  from  his  own  know- 
ledge, asserts,  "  that  in  New  Spain  not  only  are  Indians  permitted  to  partake  of 
the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  but  that  Indian  priests  are  so  numerous  that  they 
may  be  counted  by  hundreds  ;  and  among  these  have  been  many  hundreds  6^ 
rectors,  canons,  and  doctors,  and,  as  report  goes,  even  a  very  learned  bishop 
At  present  there  are  many  priests,  and  not  a  few  rectors,  among  whom  there 
have  been  three  or  four  our  own  pupils."  Vol.  II.  348,  &c.  I  owe  it,  therefore, 
as  a  duty  to  the  public  as  well  as  to  myself,  to  consider  each  of  these  points 
with  care,  and  to  explain  the  reasons  which  induced  me  to  adopt  the  opinion 
which  I  have  published. 

I  knew  that  in  the  Christian  church  there  is  no  distinction  of  persons,  but 
that  men  of  every  nation,  who  embrace  the  religion  of  Jesus,  are  equally  en- 
titled to  every  Christian  privilege  which  they  are  qualified  to  receive.  I  knew 
likewise  that  an  opinion  prevailed,  not  only  among  most  of  the  Spanish  laity 
settled  in  America,  but  among  "  many  ecclesiastics  (I  use  the  words  of  Herrera, 
dec.  ii.  lib.  ii.  c.  15),  that  the  Indians  were  not  perfect  or  rational  men,  and 
were  not  possessed  of  such  capacity  as  qualified  them  to  partake  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  altar,  or  of  any  other  benefit  of  our  religion."  It  was  against 
this  opinion  that  Las  Casas  contended  with  the  laudable  zeal  which  I  have 
described  in  Books  III.  and  VI.  But  as  the  Bishop  of  Darien,  doctor  Sepul- 
vida,  and  other  respectable  ecclesiastics,  vigorously  supported  the  common 
opinion  concerning  the  incapacity  6f  the  Indians,  it  became  necessary,  in  order 
to  determine  the  point,  that  the  authority  of  the  Holy  See  should  be  interposed  ; 
and  accordingly  Paul  III.  issued  a  bull,  A.  D.  1537,  in  which,  after  condemning 
the  opinion  of  those  who  held  that  the  Indians,  as  being  on  a  level  with  brute 
beasts,  should  be  reduced  to  servitude,  he  declares  that  they  were  really  men, 
and  as  such  were  capable  of  embracing  the  Christian  religion,  and  participating 
of  all  its  blessings.  My  account  of  this  bull,  notwithstanding  the  cavils  of  M. 
Clavigero,  must  appear  just  to  every  person  who  takes  the  trouble  of  perusing 


council  of  Lima  (I  call  it  by  that  name  on  the  authority  of  the  best  Spanish 
authors)  discountenanced  the  admission  of  Indians  to  the  holy  communion. 
Torquem.  lib.  xvi.  c.  20.  In  New  Spain  the  exclusion  of  Indians  from  the 
sacrament  was  still  more  explicit.  Ibid.  After  two  centuries  have  elapsed,  and 


518  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

notwithstanding  all  the  improvement  that  the  Indians  may  be  supposed  to  have 
derived  from  their  intercourse  with  the  Spaniards  during  that  period,  we  are 
informed  by  D.  Ant.  Ulloa,  that  in  Peru,  where,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel 
of  this  note,  they  are  supposed  to  be  better  instructed  than  in  New  Spain, 
their  ignorance  is  so  prodigious  that  very  few  are  permitted  to  communicate,  as 
being  altogether  destitute  of  the  requisite  capacity.  Voy.  i.  341,  &c.  Solorz. 
Polit.  Ind.  i.  203. 

With  respect  to  the  exclusion  of  Indians  from  the  priesthood,  either  as  secu- 
lars or  regulars,  we  may  observe  that  while  it  continued  to  be  the  common 
opinion  that  the  natives  of  America,  on  account  of  their  incapacity,  should 
not  be  permitted  to  partake  of  the  holy  sacrament,  we  cannot  suppose  that 
they  would  be  clothed  with  that  sacred  character  which  entitled  them  to  con- 
secrate and  to  dispense  it.  When  Torquemada  composed  his  Monarquia  In- 
diana it  was  almost  a  century  after  the  conquest  of  New  Spain  ;  and  yet  in  his 
time  it  was  still  the  general  practice  to  exclude  Indians  from  holy  orders.  Of 
this  we  have  the  most  satisfying  evidence.  Torquemada  having  celebrated 
the  virtues  and  graces  of  the  Indians  at  great  length,  and  with  all  the  com- 
placency of  a  missionary,  he  starts  as  an  objection  to  What  he  had  asserted, 
"  If  the  Indians  really  possess  all  the  excellent  qualities  which  you  have  de- 
scribed, why  are  they  not  permitted  to  assume  the  religious  habit  ?  Why  are 
they  not  ordained  priests  and  bishops,  as  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  converts  were 
in  the  primitive  church,  especially  as  they  might  be  employed  with  such  su- 
perior advantage  to  other  persons  in  the  instruction  of  their  countrymen ?" 
Lib.  xvii.  c.  13, 

In  answer  to  this  objection,  which  establishes,  in  the  most  unequivocal  man- 
ner, what  was  the  general  practice  at  that  period,  Torquemada  observes,  that 
although  by  their  natual  dispositions  the  Indians  are  well  fitted  for  a  subordi- 
nate situation,  they  are  destitute  of  all  the  qualities  requisite  in  any  station  of 
dignity,  and  authority;  and  that  they  are  in  general  so  addicted  to  drunken- 
ness, that  upon  the  slightest  temptation  one  cannot  promise  on  their  behaving 
with  the  decency  suitable  to  the  clerical  character.  The  propriety  of  excluding 
them  from  it,  on  these  accounts,  was,  he  observed,  so  well  justified  by  experi- 
ence, that  when  a  foreigner  of  great  erudition,  who  came  from  Spain,  con- 
demned the  practice  of  the  Mexican  church,  he  was  convinced  of  his  mis- 
take in  a  public  disputation  with  the  learned  and  most  religious  Father  D.  Juan 
de  Gaona,  and  his  retraction  is  still  extant.  Torquemada  indeed  acknowledges, 
as  M.  Clavigero  observes  with  a  degree  of  exultation,  that  in  his  name  some 
Indians  had  been  admitted  into  monasteries ;  but,  with  the  art  of  a  disputant, 
he  forgets  to  mention  that  Torquemada  specifies  only  two  examples  of  this, 
and  takes  notice  that  in  both  instances  those  Indians  had  been  admitted  by 
mistake.  Relying  upon  the  authority  of  Torquemada  with  regard  to  New 
Spain,  and  of  Ulloa  with  regard  to  Peru,  and  considering  the  humiliating  de- 
pression of  the  Indians  in  all  the  Spanish  settlements,  I  concluded  that  they 
were  not  admitted  into  the  ecclesiastical  order,  which  is  held  in  the  highest 
veneration  all  over  the  New  World. 

But  when  M.  Clavigero,  upon  his  own  knowledge  asserted  facts  so  repugnant 
to  the  conclusion  I  had  formed,  I  hegan  to  distrust  it,  and  to  wish  for  further 
information.  In  order  to  obtain  this,  I  applied  to  a  Spanish  nobleman,  high  in 
office,  and  eminent  for  his  abilities,  who,  6n  different  occasions,  has  permitted 
me  to  have  the  honour  and  benefit  of  corresponding  with  him.  I  have  been 
favoured  with  the  following  answer  :  "What  you  have  written  concerning  the 
admission  of  Indians  into  holy  orders,  or  into  monasteries,  in  Book  VIII., 
especially  as  it  is  explained  and  limited  in  Note  LXXXVIII.  of  the  quarto  edi- 
tion, is  in  general  accurate,  and  conformable  to  the  authorities  which  you  quote. 
And  although  the  congregation  of  the  council  resolved  and  declared,  Feb.  13, 
A.  D.  1682,  that  the  circumstance  of  being  an  Indian,  or  mulatto,  or  mestizo, 
did  not  disqualify  any  person  frojn  being  admitted  into  holy  orders,  if  he  was 
possessed  of  what  is  required  by  the  canons  to  entitle  him  to  that  privilege ; 
this  only  proves  such  ordinations  to  be  legal  and  valid  (of  which  Solorzano  and 
the  Spanish  lawyers  and  historians  quoted  by  him,  Pol.  Lid.  lib.  ii.  c.  29,  were 
persuaded),  but  it  neither  proves  the  propriety  of  admitting  Indians  into  holy 
orders,  nor  what  was  then  the  common  practice  with  respect  to  this  ;  but,  on 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  519 

the  contrary,  it  shows  that  there  was  some  doubt  concerning  the  ordaining  of 
Indians,  and  some  repugnance  to  it. 

u  Since  that  time  there  have  been  some  examples  of  admitting  Indians  into 
holy  orders.  We  have  now  at  Madrid  an  aged  priest,  a  native  of  Tlascala. 
His  name  is  D.  Juan  Cerilo  de  Castilla  Aquihual  Catehuttlo,  descended  of  a 
cazique  converted  to  Christianity  soon  after  the  conquest.  He  studied  the 
ecclesiastical  sciences  in  a  seminary  of  Puebla  de  los  Angeles.  He  was  a  can- 
didate, nevertheless,  for  ten  years,  and  it  required  much  interest  before  Bishop 
Abren  would  consent  to  ordain  him.  This  ecclesiastic  was  a  man  of  unexcep- 
tionable character,  modest,  self-denied,  and  with  a  competent  knowledge  of 
what  relates  to  his  clerical  functions.  He  came  to  Madrid  above  thirty-four 
years  ago  with  the  sole  view  of  soliciting  admission  for  the  Indians  into  the 
colleges  and  seminaries  in  New  Spain,  that  if,  after  being  well  instructed  and 
tried,  they  should  find  an  inclination  to  enter  into  the  ecclesiastical  state,  they 
might  embrace  it,  and  perform  its  functions  with  the  greatest  benefit  to  their 
countrymen,  whom  they  could  address  i.n  their  native  tongue.  He  has  ob- 
tained various  regulations  favourable  to  his  scheme,  particularly  that  the  hrst 
college  which  became  vacant  in  consequence  of  the  exclusion  of  the  Jesuits 
should  be  set  apart  for  this  purpose.  But  neither  these  regulations,  nor  any 
similar  ones  inserted  in  the  laws  of  the  Indies,  have  produced  any  effect,  on 
account  of  objections  and  representations  from  the  greater  part  of  persons  of 
chief  consideration  employed  in  New  Spain.  Whether  their  opposition  be  well 
founded  or  not  is  a  problem  difficult  to  resolve,  and  towards  the  solution  of 
which  several  distinctions  and  modifications  are  requisite. 

"  According  to  the  accounts  of  this  ecclesiastic,  and  the  information  of  other 
persons  who  have  resided  in  the  Spanish  dominions  in  America,  you  may  rest 
assured,  that  in  the  kingdom  of  Tierra  Firme  no  such  thing  is  known  as  either 
an  Indian  secular  priest  or  monk  ;  and  that  in  New  Spain  there  are  very  few 
ecclesiastics  of  Indian  race.  In  Peru,  perhaps,  the  number  may  be  greater,  as 
in  that  country  there  are  more  Indians  who  possess  the  means  of '-acquiring 
such  a  learned  education  as  is  necessary  for  persons  vho  aspire  to  the  clerical 
character." 

NOTE  [185].  PAGE  366. 

UZTARIZ,  an  accurate  and  cautious  calculator,  seems  to  admit,  that  the 
quantity  of  silver  which  does  not  pay  duty,  may  be  stated  thus  high.  According 
to  Herrera  there  was  not  above  a  third  of  what  was  extracted  from  Potosi  that 
paid  the  king's  fifth.  Dec.  8.  lib.  ii.  c.  15.  Solorzano  asserts  likewise',  that  the 
quantity  of  silver  which  is  fraudulently  circulated,  is  far  greater  than  that 
which  is  regularly  stamped,  after  paying  the  fifth.  De  Ind.  Jure,  vol.  ii.  lib 
v.  p.  846. 

NOTE  [186].  PAGE  368. 

When  the  mines  of  Potosi  were  discovered  in  the  year  1545,  the  veins  were 
so  near  the  surface,  that  the  ore  was  easily  extracted,  and  so  rich  that  it  was 
refined  with  little  trouble  and  at  a  small  expense,  merely  by  the  action  of  fire. 
The  simple  mode  of  refining  by  fusion  alone  continued  until  the  year  1574, 
when  the  use  of  mercury  in  refining  silver,  as  well  as  gold,  was  discovered. 
Those  mines  having  been  wrought  without  interruption  for  two  centuries,  the 
veins  are  now  sunk  so  deep,  that  the  expense  of  extracting  the  ore  is  greatly 
increased.  Besides  this,  the  richness  of  the  ore,  contrary  to  what  happens  in 
most  other  mines,  has  become  less  as  the  vein  continued  to  dip.  The  vein 
has  likewise  diminished  to  such  a  degree,  that  one  is  amazed  that  the  Spaniards 
should  persist  in  working  it.  Other  rich  mines  have  been  successively  disco- 
vered; but  in  general  the  value  of  the  ores  has  decreased  so  much,  while  the  ex- 
pense of  extracting  them  has  augmented,  that  the  court  of  Spain  in  the  year 
1736  reduced  the  duty  payable  to  the  king  from  a.  fifth  to  a  tenth.  All  the  quick- 
silver used  in  Peru  is  extracted  from  the  famous  mine  of  Guancabelica,  dis- 
covered in  the  year  1563.  The  crown  has  reserved  the  property  of  this  mine 
to  itself;  and  the  persons  who  purchase  the  qujcksilver  pay  not  only  the  price 


520  NOTES    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

of  it,  but  likewise  a./2/2/t,  as  a  duty  to  the  king.  But  in  the  year  1761  this  dutj 
on  quicksilver  was  abolished,  on  account  of  the  increase  of  expense  in  working 
mines.  Ulloa,  Entretenimientos,  xii — xv.  Voyage,  i.  p.  505.  523.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  abolition  of  thejifth,  and  some  subsequent  abatements  of  price, 
which  became  necessary  on  account  of  the  increasing  expense  of  working  mines, 
quicksilver,  which  was  formerly  sold  at  eighty  pesos  the  quintal,  is  now  de- 
livered by  the  king  at  the  rate  of  sixty  pesos.  Campomanes,  Educ.  Popul.  ii, 
132,  note.  The  duty  on  gold  is  reduced  to  a.- twentieth,  or  five  per  cent.  Any 
of  my  readers  who  are  desirous  of  being  acquainted  with  the  mode  in  which 
the  Spaniards  conduct  the  working  of  their  mines,  and  the  refinement  of  the 
ore,  will  find  an  accurate  description  of  the  ancient  method  by  Acosta,  lib.  iv, 
c.  1 — 13,  and  of>ttheir  more  recent  improvements  in  the  metallurgic  art,  by 
Gamboa  Comment,  a  las  ordenanz.  de  Minas,  c.  22. 

NOTE  [187].  PAGE  369. 

MANY  remarkable  proofs  occur  of  the  advanced  state  of  industry  in  Spain 
at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  number  of  cities  in  Spain  was 
considerable,  and  they  were  peopled  far  beyond  the  proportion  that  was  com- 
mon in  other  parts  of  Europe.  The  causes  of  this  I  have  explained.  Hist, 
of  Cha.  V.  p.  68.  Wherever  cities  are  populous,  that  species  of  industry 
which  is  peculiar  to  them  increases :  artificers  and  manufacturers  abound. 
The  effect  of  the  American  trade  in  giving  activity  to  these  is  manifest  from  a 
singular  fact.  In  the  year  1545,  while  Spain  continued  to  depend  on  its  own 
industry  for  the  supply  of  its  colonies,  so  much  work  was  bespoke  from  the 
manufacturers,  that  it  was  supposed  they  could  hardly  finish  it  in  less  than  six 
years.  Campom.  i.  406.  Such  a  demand  must  have  put  much  industry  in 
motion,  and  have  excited  extraordinary  efforts.  Accordingly,  we  are  informed, 
that  in  the  beginning  of  Philip  II.'s  reign,  the  city  of  Seville  alone,  where  the 
trade  with  America  centred,  gave  employment  to  no  fewer  than  16,000  looms 
in  silk  or  woollen  work,  and  that  above  130,000  persons  had  occupation  in  car- 
rying on  these  manufactures.  Campom.  ii.  472.  But  so  rapid  and  pernicious 
was  the  operation  of  the  causes  which  I  shall  enumerate,  that  before  Philip  III. 
ended  his  reign  the  looms  in  Seville  were  reduced  to  400.  Uztariz,  c.  7. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition,  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  find  my 
ideas  concerning  the  early  commercial  intercourse  between  Spain  and  her  colo- 
nies confirmed  and  illustrated  by  D.  Bernardo  Ward,  of  the  Junto  de  Com- 
ercio  at  Madrid,  in  his  Proyicto  Economico,  part  ii.  c.  i.  "  Under  the  reigns 
of  Charles  V.  and  Philip.  II."  says  he,  "  the  manufactures  of  Spain  and  of 
the  Low-Countries  subject  to  her  dominion  were  in  a  most  flourishing  state. 
Those  of  France  and  England  were  in  their  infancy.  The  republic  of  the 
United  Provinces  did  not  then  exist.  No  European  power  but  Spain  had  colo- 
nies of  any  value  in  the  New  World.  Spain  could  supply  her  settlements 
there  with  the  productions  of  her  own  soil,  the  fabrics  wrought  by  the  hands 
of  her  own  artisans,  and  all  she  received  in  return  for  these  belonged  to  herself 
alone.  Then  the  exclusion  of  foreign  manufactures  was  proper,  because  it 
might  be  rendered  effectual.  Then  Spain  might  lay  heavy  duties  upon  goods 
exported  to  America,  or  imported  from,  it,  and  might  impose  what  restraints 
she  deemed  proper  upon  a  commerce  entirely  in  her  own  hands.  But  when 
time  and  successive  revolutions  had  occasioned  an  alteration  in  all  those  cir- 
cumstances, when  the  manufactures  of  Spain  began  to  decline,  and  the  de- 
mands of  America  were  supplied  by  foreign  fabrics,  the  original  maxims  and 
regulations  of  Spain  should  have  been  accommodated  to  the  change  in  her 
situation.  The  policy  that  was  wise  at  one  period  became  absurd  in  the 
other." 

NOTE  [188].  PAGE  372. 

No  bale  of  goods  is  ever  opened,  no  chest  of  treasure  is  examined.  Both 
are  received  on  the  credit  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  belong  ;  and  only  one 
instance  of  fraud  is  recorded,  during  the  long  period  in  which  trade  was  carried 
on  with  this  liberal  confidence.  All  the  coined  silver  that  was  brought  from 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  521 

Peru  to  Porto-bello  in  the  year  1654  was  found  to  be  adulterated,  and  to  be 
mingled  with  a  fifth  part  of  base  metal.  The  Spanish  merchants,  with  senti- 
ments suitable  to  their  usual  integrity,  sustained  the  whole  loss,  and  indemni- 
fied the  foreigners  by  whom  they  were  employed.  The  fraud  was  detected, 
and  the  treasurer  of  the  revenue  in  Peru,  the  author  of  it,  was  publicly  burnt. 
B.  Ulloa.  Retablis.  de  Manuf.,  &c.  liv.  ii.  p.  102. 

NOTE  [189].  PAGE  374. 

MANY  striking  proofs  occur  of  the  scarcity  of  money  in  Spain.  Of  all  the 
immense  sums  which  have  been  imported  from  America,  the  amount  of  which 
J  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  mention,  Moncada  asserts,  that  there  did 
not  remain  in  Spain,  in  1619,  above  two  hundred  millions  of  pesos,  one  half  in 
coined  money,  the  other  in  plate  and  jewels.  Restaur.  de  Espagna,  disc.  iii.  c. 
1.  Uztariz,  who  published  his  valuable  work  in  1724,  contends,  that  in  money, 
plate,  and  jewels,  there  did  not  remain  a  hundred  million.  Theor.,  &c.  c.  3. 
Campomanes,  on  the  authority  of  a  remonstance  from  the  community  of  mer- 
chants in  Toledo  to  Philip  111.,  relates,  as  a  certain  proof  how  scarce  cash  had 
become,  that  persons  who  lent  money  received  a  third  of  the  sum  which  they 
advanced  as  interest  and  premium.  Educ.  Popul.  i.  417. 

NOTE  [190].  PAGE  375. 

THE  account  of  the  mode  in  which  the  factors  of  the  South  Sea  company 
conducted  the  trade  in  the  fair  of  Porto-bello,  which  was  opened  to  them  by 
the  Assiento,  I  have  taken  from  Don  Dion.  Alcedo  y  Herrera,  president  of  the 
Court  of  Audience  in  Quito,  and  governor  of  that  province.  Don  Dionysio 
was  a  person  of  such  respectable  character  for  probity  and  discernment,  that 
his  testimony  in  any  point  would  be  of  much  weight ;  but  greater  credit  is 
due  to  it  in  this  case,  as  he  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  transactions  which  he 
relates,  and  was  often  employed  in  detecting  and  authenticating  the  frauds 
which  he  describes.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  his  representation,  being 
composed  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  which  broke  out  between  Great 
Britain  and  Spain,  in  the  year  1739,  may,  in  some  instances,  discover  a  portion 
of  the  acrimonious  spirit  natural  at  that  juncture.  His  detail  of  facts  is 
curious ;  and  even  English  authors  confirm  it  in  some  degree,  by  admitting 
both  that  various  frauds  were  practised  in  the  transactions  of  the  annual  ship, 
and  that  the  contraband  trade  from  Jamaica,  and  other  British  colonies,  was 
become  enormously  great.  But  for  the  credit  of  the  English  nation  it  may  be 
observed,  that  those  fraudulent  operations  are  not  to  be  considered  as  deeds  of 
the  company,  but  as  the  dishonourable  arts  of  their  factors  and  agents.  The 
company  itself  sustained  a  considerable  loss  by  the  Assiento  trade.  Many  of 
its  servants  acquired  immense  fortunes.  Anderson  Chronol.  deduct,  ii.  388. 

NOTE  [191].  PAGE  377. 

SEVERAL  facts  with  respect  to  the  institution,  the  progress,  and  the  effects  of 
this  company,  are  curious,  and  but  little  known  to  English  readers.  Though 
the  province  of  Venezuela,  or  Caraccas,  extends  four-hundred  miles  along  the 
coast,  and  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  America,  it  was  so  much  neglected  by 
the  Spaniards,  that  during  the  twenty  years  prior  to  the  establishment  of  the 
company,  only  five  ships  sailed  from  Spain  to  that  province ;  and,  during  six- 
teen years,  from  1706  to  1722,  not  a  single  ship  arrived  from  the  Caraccas  in 
Spain.  Noticias  de  Real  Campania  de  Caraccas,  p.  28.  During  this  period 
Spain  must  have  been  supplied  almost  entirely  with  a  large  quantity  of  cacao, 
which  it  consumes,  by  foreigners.  Before  the  erection  of  the  company,  neither 
tobacco  nor  hides  were  imported  from  Caraccas  into  Spain.  Ibid.  p.  117. 
Since  the  commercial  operations  of  the  company,  begun  in  the  year  1731,  the 
importation  of  cacao  into  Spain  has  increased  amazingly.  During  thirty 
years  subsequent  to  1701,  the  number  of  fanegas  of  cacao  (each  a  hundred  and 
ten  pounds)  imported  from  Caraccas  was  643,215.  During  eighteen  years  sub- 
sequent to  1731,  the  number  offamgas  imported  was  869,247  ;  and  if  we  sup- 

VOL.  I.— b'6  24 


6S2  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

pose  the  importation  to  be  continued  in  the  same  proportion  during  the  re- 
mainder of  thirty  years,  it  will  amount  to  1,448, 746  fanegas,  which  is  an  increase 
of  805,53 Ifanegas.  Id.  p.  148.  During  eight  years  subsequent  to  1756,  there 
•have  been  imported  into  Spain  by  the  company  88,482  arrobqs  (each  twenty- 
five  pounds)  of  tobacco  ;  and  hides  to  the  number  of  177,354.  Id.  161.  Since 
the  publication  of  the  Noticias  de  Campania,  in  1765,  its  trade  seems  to  be  on 
the  increase.  During  five  years  subsequent  to  1769,  it  has  imported  179,156 
fanegas  of  cacao  into  Spain,  36,208  arrobas  of  tobacco,  75,496  hides,  and  221,432 
pesos  in  specie.  Campomanes,  ii.  162.  The  last  article  ia  a  proof  of  the  grow- 
ing wealth  of  the  colony.  It  receives  cash  from  Mexico  in  return  for  the  cacao, 
with  which  it  supplies  that  province,  and  this  it  remits  to  Spain,  or  lays  out  in 
purchasing  European  goods.  But,  besides  this,  the  most  explicit  evidence  is 
produced,  that  the  quantity  of  Cacao  raised  in  the  province  is  double  to  what 
it  yielded  in  1731 ;  the  number  of  its  live  stock  is  more  than  treble,  and  its  in- 
habitants much  augmented.  The  revenue  of  the  bishop,  which  arises  wholly 
from  tithes,  has  increased  from  eight  to  twenty  thousand  pesos.  Notic.  p.  69. 
In  consequence  of  the  augmentation  of  the  quantity  of  cacao  imported  into 
Spain,  its  price  has  decreased  from  eighty  pesos  for  thefanega  to  forty.  Ibid. 
61.  Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition.  I  have  learned  that  Guyana, 
including  all  the  extensive  provinces  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco,  the 
Islands  of  Trinidad  and  Margarita  are  added  to  the  countries  with  which  the 
company  of  Caraccas  had  liberty  of  trade  by  their  former  charters.  Real  Ce- 
dula,  Nov.  19,  1776.  But  I  have  likewise  been  informed,  that  the  institution  of 
this  company  has  not  been  attended  with  all  the  beneficial  effects  which  I  have 
ascribed  to  it.  In  many  of  its  operations  the  illiberal  and  oppressive  spirit  of 
monopoly  is  still  conspicuous.  But  in  order  to  explain  this,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  enter  into  minute  details,  which  are  not  suited  to  the  nature  of  this 
work. 

NOTE  [192].  PAGE  380. 

THIS  first  experiment  made  by  Spain  of  opening  a  free  trade  with  any  o. 
her  colonies,  has  produced  effects  so  remarkable,  as  to  merit  some  further  illus- 
tration. The  towns  to  which  this  liberty  has  been  granted,  are  Cadiz  and 
Seville,  for  the  province  pf  Andalusia  :  Alicant  and  Carthagena,  for  Valencia 
and  Murcia ;  Barcelona,  for  Catalonia  and  Aragon ;  Santander,  for  Castile  ; 
Corugna,  for  Galicia  ;  and  Gijon,  for  Asturias.  Append,  ii.  a  la  Educ.  Popul. 
p.  41.  These  are  either  the  ports  of  chief  trade  in  their  respective  districts,  or 
those  most  conveniently  situated  for  the  exportation  of  their  respective  produc- 
tions. The  following  facts  give  a  view  of  the  increase  of  trade  in  the  settle- 
ments to  which  the  new  regulations  extend.  Prior  to  the  allowance  of  free 
trade,  the  duties  collected  in  the  custom  house  at  the  Havanna  were  computed 
to  be  104,208  pesos  annually.  During  the  five  years  preceding  1774,  they  rose 
at  a  medium  to  308,000  pesos  a  year.  In  Yucatan  the  duties  have  arisen  from 
8000  to  15,000.  In  Hispaniola,  from  2500  to  5600.  In  Porto  Rico,  from  1200 
to  7000.  The  total  value  of  goods  imported  from  Cuba  into  Spain  was 
reckoned,  in  1774,  to  be  1,500,000  pesos.  Educ.  Popul.  i.  450,  &c. 

NOTE  [193].  PAGE  382. 

THE  two  treatises  of  Don  Pedro  Rodriguez  Campomanes,  Fiscal  del  real  Con- 
sejo  y  Supremo  (an  officer  in  rank  and  power  nearly  similar  to  that  of  Attorney- 
General  in  England),  and  Director  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  History,  the  one 
entitled  Discurso  sobre  el  Fomento  de  la  Industria  Popular  ;  the  other,  Dis- 
curso  sebre  la  Education  Popular  de  los  Artesanos  y  su  Fomento  ;  the  former 
published  in  1774,  and  the  latter  in  1775,  afford  a  striking  proof  of  this. 
Almost  every  point  of  importance  with  respect  to  interior  police,  taxation, 
agriculture,  manufactures,  and  trade,  domestic  as  well  as  foreign,  is  examined 
in  the  course  of  these  works ;  and  there  are  not  many  authors,  even  in  the 
nations  most  eminent  for  commercial  knowledge,  who  have  carried  on  their 
inquiries  with  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  those  various  subjects,  and 
a  more  perfect  freedom  from  vulgar  and  national  prejudices,  or  who  have 


NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  523 

united  more  happily  the  calm  researches  of  philosophy  with  the  ardent  zeal  of 
a,  public  spirited  citizen.  These  books  are  in  high  estimation  among  the 
Spaniards  ;  and  it  is  a  decisive  evidence  of  the  progress  of  their  own  ideas, 
•that  they  are  capable  of  relishing  an  author  whose  sentiments  are  so  liberal. 

NOTE  [194].  PAGE  384. 

THE  galeon  employed  in  that  trade,  instead  of  the  six  hundred  tons  to  which 
it  is  limited  by  law,  Recop.  lib.  xlv.  1.  15,  is  commonly  from  ^welve  hundred  to 
two  thousand  tons  burden.  The  ship  from  Acapulco,  taken  by  Lord  Anson, 
instead  of  the  500,000- pesos  permitted  by  law,  had  on  board  1,313,843  pesos, 
besides  uncoined  silver  equal  in  value  to  43,611  pesos  more.  Anson's  Voy.  384. 

NOTE  [195].  PAGE  384. 

THE  price  paid  for  the  bull  varies  according  to  the  rank  of  different  persons. 
Those  in  the  lowest  order  who  are  servants  or  slaves,  pay  two  reals  of  plate, 
or  one  shilling  ;  other  Spaniards  pay  eight  reals,  and  those  in  public  office,  or 
who  hold  encomiendas,  sixteen  reals.  Solorz.  de  Jure  Ind.  vol.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  25. 
According  to  Chilton,  an  English  merchant  who  resided  long  in  the  Spanish 
settlements,  the  bull  of  Cruzado  bore  a  higher  price  in  the  year  1570,  being 
then  sold  for  four  reals  at  the  lowest.  Hakluyt,  iii.  461.  The  price  seems  to 
have  varied  at  different  periods.  That  exacted  for  the  bulls  issued  in  the  last 
Predication  will  appear  from  the  ensuing  table,  which  will  give  some  idea  of 
the  proportional  numbers  of  the  different  classes  of  citizens  in  New  Spain  and 
Peru. 

There  were  issued  for  New  Spain — 

Bulls  at  10  pesos  each  ---------  4 

at  2  pesos  each        --.-...-  22,601 

at  1  peso  each      ---------  164,220 

at  2  reals  each        -        -        -'-        -        -        -        -  2,462,500 

2,649,325 
For  Peru — 

at  16  pesos  4j  reals  each      -----.-  3 

at  3  pesos  3  reals  each      -        -        -        -        -        -        -  14,202 

at  1  peso  5i  reals  each          ...        t     ......  78,822 

at  4  reals  each 410,325 

at  3  reals  each    - 668,601 

1,171,953 


NOTE  [196].  PAGE  385. 

As  Villa  Segnor,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  this  information  contained  in 
bis  Theatro  Americano,  published  in  Mexico  A.  D.  1746,  was  accomptarit-gene- 
ral  in  one  of  the  most  considerable  departments  of  the  royal  revenue,  and  by  that 
means  had  access  to  proper  information,  his  testimony  with  respect  to  this  point 
merits  great  credit.  No  such  accurate  detail  of  the  Spanish  revenues  in  any 
part  of  America  has  hitherto  been  published  in  the  English  language  ;  and  the 
particulars  of  it  may  appear  curious  and  interesting  to  some  of  my  readers. 

From  the  bull  of  Cruzado,  published  every  two  years,  there  arises 

an  annual  revenue  in  pesos  --..-.-  150,000 
From  the  duty  on  silver 700,000 

850,000 


524  NOTES  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Brought  forward 
From  the  duty  on  gold      &n<-  d*    •        _.._,. 

From  tax  on  cards    - - •  '    b*    , 

From  tax  on  pulque,  a  drink  used  by  the  Indians  -    . '  •»?&&»$*  OK 
From  tax  on  stamped  paper      -        -        -        -        -  •;»  i 

From  ditto  on  ice          ----.---.. 

From  ditto  on  leather       -------- 

From  ditto  on  gunpowder     -------- 

From  ditto  on  salt    ------..- 

From  ditto  on  copper  of  Mechoachan  -        -        -        -        -        - 

From  ditto  on  alum  -        -        -        -        -        -•- 

From  ditto  oji  Juego  de  los  gallos          ---.._ 
From  the  half  of  ecclesiastical  annats        -         .... 

From  royal  ninths  of  bishoprics,  £c.     ------ 

From  the  tribute  of  Indians      ------- 

From  Alcavala,  or  duty  on  sale  of  goods       - 

From  the  Almajorifasgo,  custom  house      -        -        -        - 

From  the  mint      ---------- 


850,000 

60,000 

70,000 

161,000 

41,000 

15,522 

2,500 

71,550 

32,000 

1,000 

6,500 

21,100 

49,000 

68,800 

650,000 

721,875 

373,333 

357,500 

3,552,680 


This  sum  amounts  to  819,161  sterling^. ;  -and  if  we  add  to  it  the  profit  ac- 
cruing from  the  sale  of  5000  quintals  of  quicksilver,  imported  from  the  mines 
of  Almaden,  in  Spain,  on  the  King's  account,  and  what  accrues  from  the  Averia, 
and  some  other  taxes  which  Villa' Segnor  does  not  estimate,  the  public  revenue 
in  new  Spain  may  well  be  reckoned  above  a  million  pounds  sterling  money. 
Theat.  Mex.  vol.  i.  p.  38,  £c.  According  to  Villa  Segnor,  the  total  produce  of 
the  Mexican  mines  amounts  at  a  medium  to  eight  millions  of  Pesos  in  silver 
annually,  and  to  5912  marks  of  gold.  Ibid.  p.  44.  Several  branches  of  the 
revenue  have  been  explained  in  the  course  of  the  history  ;  some  of  which 
there  was  no  occasion  of  mentioning,  require  a  particular  illustration.  The 
riglit  to  the  tithes  in  the  New  World  is  vested  in  the  crown  of  Spain,  by  a  bull 
of  Alexander  VI.  Charles  V.  appointed  them  to  be  applied  in  the  following 
manner:  One  fourth  is  allotted  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocess,  another  fourth  to 
the  dean  and  chapter,  and  other  officers  of  the  cathedral.  The  remaining  half 
is  divided  into  nine  equal  parts.  Two  of  these,  under  the  denomination  of 
los  dos  Novenos  reales,  are  paid  to  the  crown,  and  constitute  a  branch  of  the 
royal  revenue.  The  other  seven  parts  are  applied  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
parochial  clergy,  the  building  and  support  of  churches,  and  other  pious  uses. 
Recopil.  lib.  L  tit.  xvi.  Ley,  23,  &c.  Avendano  Thesaur.  Indie,  vol.  i.  p.  184. 

The  Alcavala  is  a  duty  levied  by  an  excise  on  the  sale  of  goods.  In  Spain 
it  amounts  to  ten  per  cent.  In  America  to  four  per  cent.  Solorzano,  Polit. 
Indiana,  lib.  vi.  c.  8.  Avendano,  voL  i.  186. 

The  Almajorifasco,  or  custom  paid  in  America  on  goods  imported  and  ex- 
ported, may  amount  on  an  average  to  fifteen  per  cent.  Recopil.  lib.  viii.  tit. 
xiv.  Ley,  i.  Avendano,  vol.  i.  p.  188. 

The  Averia,  or  tax  paid  on  account  of  convoys  to  guard  the  ships  sailing  to 
and  from  America,  was  first  imposed  when  Sir  Francis  Drake  filled  the  New 
World  with  terror  by  his  expedition  to  the  South  Sea.  It  amounts  to  two  per 
cent,  on  the  value  of  goods.  Avendano,  vol.  i.  p.  189.  Recopil.  lib.  ix.  tit.  ix. 
Ley,  43,  44. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  any  accurate  detail  of  the  several  branches 
of  revenue  in  Peru  later  than  the  year  1614.  From  a  curious  manuscript  con- 
taining a  state  of  that  viceroyalty  in  all  its  departments,  presented  to  the  Mar 
quis  of  Montes-Claros  by  Fran.  Lopez  Caravantes,  accomptant-general  in  the 
tribunal  of  Lima,  it  appears  that  the  public  revenue,  as  nearly  as  f  can  com- 
pute the  value  of  the  money  in  which  Caravantes  states  his  accounts,  amounted 
in  ducats  at  4s.  lid.  to  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  2,372,768 

Expenses  of  government      -------         1,242,992 

Net  free  revenue    1,129,776 


NOTES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS.  W& 

The  total  in  sterling  money £583,303 

Expenses  of  government  -        -        -        -        -.        -        -  305,568 

Net  free  revenue        277,735 

But  several  articles  appear  to  be  omitted  in  this  computation,  such  as  the 
duty  on  stamped  paper,  leather,  ecclesiastical  annats,  &c.  so  that  the  revenue 
of  Peru  may  be  well  supposed  equal  to  that  of  Mexico, 

In  computing  the  expense  of  government  in  New  Spain,  I  may  take  that  of 
Peru  as  a  standard.  There  the  annual  establishment  for  defraying  the  charge 
of  administration  exceeds  one  half  of  the  revenue  collected,  and  there  is  no 
reason  for  supposing  it  to  be  less  in  New  Spain. 

I  have  obtained  a  calculation  of  the  total  amount  of  the  public  revenue  of 
Spain  from  America  and  the  Philippines,  which,  as  the  reader  will  perceive 
from  the  two  last  articles,  is  more  recent  than  any  of  the  former. 

Alcavalas  (Excise)  and  Aduanas  (Customs),  &c.  in  pesos  fuertes  -  2,500,000 

Duties  on  Gold  and  silver 3,000,000 

Bull  of  Cruzado 1.000,000 

Tribute  of  the  Indians 2,000,000 

By  sale  of  quicksilver 300,000 

Paper  exported  on  the  king's  account,  and  sold  in  the  royal  ware- 
houses        300,000 

Stamped  paper,  tobacco,  and  other  small  duties          -  1,000,000 

Duty  on  coinage  of,  at  the  rate  of  one  real  de  la  Plata  for  each  mark  300,000 
From  the  trade  of  Acapulco,  and  the  coasting  trade  from  province 

to  province 500,000 

Assiento  of  Negroes 200,000 

.From  the  trade  ofMathe^  or  herb  of  Paraguay,  formerly  monopolized 

by  the  Jesuits 500,000 

From  other  revenues  formerly  belonging  to  that  order   -  400,000 

Total    12.000,000 


Total  in  sterling  money   £2,700,000 

Deduct  half,  as  the  expense  of  administration,  and  there  remains 

net  free  revenue  -        -        -        - £1,350,000 

NOTE  [197].  PAGE  385. 

AN  author  long  conversant  in  commercial  speculation  has  computed,  that 
from  the  mines  of  New  Spain  alone  the  king  receives  annually,  as  his  fifth,  the 
sum  of  two  millions  of  our  money.  Harris,  Collect,  of  Voy.  ii.  p.  164.  Ac- 
cording to  this  calculation,  the  total  produce  of  the  mines  must  be  ten  millions 
sterling ;  a  sum  so  exorbitant,  and  so  little  corresponding  with  all  accounts  of 
the  annual  importation  from  America,  that  the  information  on  which  it  is 
founded  must  evidently  be  erroneous.  According  to  Campomanes,  the  total 
product  of  the  American  mines  may  be  computed  at  thirty  millions  of  pesos, 
which,  at  four  shillings  and  sixpence  a  peso,  amounts  to  7,425,OOOZ.  sterling,  the 
king's  fifth  of  which  (if  that  were  rermlarly  paid)  would  be  1,485,OOOZ.  But 
from  this  sum  must  be  deducted  what  is  lost  by  a  fraudulent  withholding  of  the 
fifth  due  to  the  crown,  as  well  as  the  sum  necessary  for  defraying  the  expense 
of  administration.  Educ.  Popular,  vol.  ii.  p. '131.  note.  Both  these  sums  are 
considerable. 

NOTE  [198].  PAGE  385. 

ACCORDING  to  Bern,  de  Ulloa,  all  foreign  goods  exported  from  Spain  to 
America  pay  duties  of  various  kinds,  amounting  in  all  to  more  than  25  per 
cent.  As  most  of  the  goods  with  which  Spain  supplies  her  colonies  are  foreign, 
such  a  tax  upon  a  trade  so  extensive  must  yield  a  considerable  revenue. 


526  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Retablis.  de  Manuf.  et  du  Commerce  d'Esp.  p.  150.  He  computes  the  valu? 
of  goods  exported  annually  from  Spain  to  America  to  be  about  two  millions 
and  a  half  sterling,  p.  97. 

NOTE  [199].  PAGE  386. 

THE  Marquis  de  Serralvo,  according  to  Gage,  by  a  monopoly  of  salt,  and  by 
embarking  deeply  in  the  Manilla  trade,  as  well  as  in  that  to  Spain,  gained 
annually  a  million  of  ducats.  In  one  year  he  remitted  a  million  of  ducats  to 
Spain,  in  order  to  purchase  from  the  Conde  Olivares,  and  his  creatures,  a  pro- 
longation of  his  government,  p.  61.  He  was  successful  in  his  suit,  and  con- 
tinued in  office  from  1624  to  1635,  double  the  usual  time. 


I  N  D  EX. 


j3J5  YSSfNIA,  an  embassy  sent  to  that  country 
by  John  II.  king  of  Portugal,  41. 

•ticapulco,  the  nature  of  the  trade  carried  on  from 
thence  to  Manilla,  383.  Amount  of  the  trea- 
sure on  board  the  bhip  taken  by  Lord  Anson, 
523. 

./Icosta,  his  method  of  accounting  for  the  differ- 
ent degrees  of  heat  in  the  old  and  new  conti- 
nents, 462. 

Adair,  his  account  of  the  revengeful  temper  of 
the  native  Americans,  478. 

Adanson,  hisjustification  of  Hanno's  account  of 
the  African  seas,  449. 

Africa,  the  western  coast  of,  iirst  explored  by 
order  of  John  I.  king  of  Portugal,  34.  Is  dis- 
covered from  Cape  Non  to  Bojador,  35.  Cape 
Bojador  doubled,  36.  The  countries  south- 
ward of  the  river  Senegal  discovered,  39.  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  seen  by  Bartholomew  Bias,  40. 
Causes  of  the  extreme  heat  of  the  climate 
there,  125.  Ignorance  of  the  ancient  astrono- 
mers concerning,  449.  Expedition  to  the  coast 
of,  394. 

Agriculture,  the  state  of,  among  the  native  Ame- 
ricans, 158.  Two  principal  causes  of  the  de- 
fects of,  161. 

Aguadu,  is  sent  to  Hispaniola,  as  a  commissioner 
to  inspect  the  conduct  of  Columbus,  72. 

Affuilar,  Jerom  de,  is  relieved  from  a  long  capti- 
vity among  the  Indians  at  Cozumel  by  Fer- 
nando Cortes,  201. 

Albuquerque,  Rodrigo,  his  barbarous  treatment 
of  the  Indians  of  Hispaniola,  108. 

Alcavala,  in  the  Spanish  Customs,  the  terms  ex- 


plained, 524. 
Alex 


exander  the  Great,  his  political  character,  23. 
His  motive  in  founding  the  city  of  Alexandria, 
ib.  His  discoveries  in  India,  ib. 

Ale-xander,  VI.  Pope,  grants  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  of  Castile  the  right  of  all  their  western 
discoveries,  65.  Sends  missionaries  with  Co- 
lumbus on  his  second  voyage,  ib. 

Almagro,  Diego  de,  his  birth  and  character,  262. 
Associates  with  Pizarro  and  De  Luque  in  a 
voyage  of  discovery,  ib.  His  unsuccessful 
attempts,  283.  Is  neglected  by  Pizarro  in  his 
Spanish  negotiation,  265.  Is  reconciled  to  him, 
266.  Brings  reinforcements  to  Pizarro  at  Peru, 
274.  Beginning  of  dissensions  between  him 
and  Pizarro,  280.  Invades  Chili,  281.  Is 
created  governor  of  Chili,  and  marches  to 
Cuzco,  283.  Seizes  Cuzco  out  of  the  hands  of 
Pizarro,  284.  Defeats  Alvarado,  and  takes 
him  prisoner,  ib.  Is  deceived  by  the  artful 
negotiations  of  Francis  Pizarro,  285.  Is  de- 
feated by  the  Pizarros,  286.  Is  taken  prisoner, 
287  Is  tried  and  condemned,  ib.  Is  put  to 
death,  ib. 

,  the  son,  affords  refuge  to  his  father's 

followers  at  Lima,  291.  His  character,  ib. 
Heads  a  conspiracy  against  Francis  Pizarro, 
292.  Pizarro  assassinated,  ib.  Is  acknow- 
ledged as  his  successor,  ib.  His  precarious 
situation,  293.  Is  defeated  by  Vaca  de  Castro, 
294.  Is  betrayed  and  executed,  ib. 
Mmajorifasgo,  in  the  Spanish  American  Cus- 
tonis,  the  amount  of,  524. 


Alvarado,  Alonzo,  is  sent  from  Lima  by  Franc  • 
Pizarro  witli  a  body  of  Spaniards  to  relieve 
his  brothers  at  Cuzco,  284.  Is  taken  prisoner 
by  Alrnagro,  ib.  His  escape,  285. 

,  Pedro  de,  is  left  by  Cortes  to  command 

at  Mexico,  while  he  marched  against  Narvaez, 
231.  He  is  besieged  by  the  Mexicans,  233. 
His  imprudent  conduct,  234.  His  expedition 
to  Quito  in  Peru,  279. 

Amazons,  a  community  of,  said  to  exist  in  South 
America,  by  Francis  Orellana,  290. 

America,  the  continent  of,  discovered  by  Chris- 
topher Columbus,  76.  How  it  obtained  this 
name,  81.  Ferdinand  of  Castile  nominates 
two  governments  in,  98.  The  propositions 
offered  Jo  the  natives,  99.  Hi  reception  of 
Ojeda  and  Nicuessa  among  them,  ib.  The 
South  Sea  discovered  by  Balboa,  104.  Rio  de 
Plata  discovered,  108.  The  natives  of,  inju- 
riously treated  by  the  Spaniards,  117.  The 
vast  extent  of,  123.  The  grand  objects  it  pre- 
sented to  view,  ib.  The  circumstances  of, 
favourable  for  commerce  and  civilizt  ion,  ib 
The  climates  of,  124.  Various  causes  of  the 
peculiarity  of  its  climates,  125.  Its  rude  and 
uncultivated  state  when  first  discovered,  126. 
Its  animals,  127.  Its  insects  and  reptiles,  128. 
Birds,  ib.  General  account  of  its  soil,  129. 
Inquiry  into  the  first  population  of,  ib.  Could 
not  he  peopled  by  civilized  nations,  132.  The 
northern  extremity  of,  contiguous  to  Asia,  133. 
Probably  peopled  by  Asiatics,  137.  Condition 
and  character  of  the  native  inhabitants  in- 
quired into,  ib.  Were  more  rude  than  the 
natives  of  any  other  known  parts  of  the  earth, 
ib.  The  Peruvians  and  Mexicans  excepted, 

138.  The  first  discoverers  incapable  of  a  judi- 
cious speculative  examination,  ib.  The  various 
systems  of  philosophers  respecting  the  natives, 

139.  Method  observed  in  the  present  review 
of  their  bodily  constitution  and  circumstances, 

140.  The  venereal  disease  derived  from  this 
part  of  the  world,  148.    Why  so  thinly  inha- 
bited, 161.    The  country  depopulated  by  con- 
tinual wars,  174.    Causes  of  the  depopulation 
of,  traced,  347.     This  depopulation  not  the 
result  of  any  intentional  system  of  policy,  348. 
Nor  the  result  of  religion,  349.    Number  ot 
Indian  natives  still  remaining  in  Mexico  and 
Peru,  350.    All  the  Spanish  dominions  there 
subjected  to  two  viceroys,  351.    Its  third  vice- 
royalty  lately  established,  ib.     Cause  of  the 
extreme  coldness  toward  the  southern  extre- 
mity of,  464.    The  natural  uncultivated  state 
of  the  country  described,  465.    Bones  of  large 
extinct  species  of  animals  discovered  under 
ground  near  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  ib.    Why 
European  animals  degenerate  there,  466.  Sup- 
posed to  have  undergone  a  convulsive  separa- 
tion froi  i  Asia,  467.    The  vicinity  of  the  two 
continents  of  Asia  and  America  clearly  ascer- 
tained, 468, 469, 470.  -See  Mexico,  Peru,  Cortes, 
Pizarro,  Cabot,  &c. 

,  North,  project  of  settling  there,  396. 

First  expedition  to,  fails,  397.  A  second  expe- 
dition to,  ends  disastrously,  ib.  Plan  of  settling 
there  resumed  without  effect,  ib.  The  coast 


528 


INDEX. 


of,  divided  into  two  parts,  402.  Charters 
granted  to  two  companies  for  settling  colonies 
in,  ib.  Emigrations  from  England  to,  436. 
See  Colonies,  New-England,  Virginia,  &c. 
Americans,  native,  in  Spanish  America,  their 
bodiiy  constitution  and  complexion,  140, 141. 
Their  strength  and  abilities,  141,  142.  Their 
insensibility  with  regard  to  their  women,  142. 
No  deformities  in  their  frame,  144.  This  cir- 
cumstance accounted  for,  ib.  Uniformity  of 
their  colour,  145.  A  peculiar  race  of,  described, 
146.  The  Esquimaux,  ib.  Patagonians,  147. 
The  existence  of  Patagonian  giants  yet  remain- 
ing to  be  decided,  ib.  Their  diseases,  148.  The 
venereal  disease  peculiarly  theirs,  ib.  The 
powers  and  qualities  of  their  minds,  149.  Are 
only  solicitous  to  supply  immediate  wants,  ib. 
The  art  of  computation  scarcely  known  to 
them,  150.  Have  no  abstract  ideas,  ib.  The 
North  Americans  much  more  intelligent  than 
those  of  the  South,  151.  Their  aversion  to 
labour,  152.  Their  social  state,  ib.  Domestic 
union,  153.  The  women,  ib.  Their  women 
not  prolific,  154.  Their  parental  affection  and 
filial  duty,  155.  Their  modes  of  subsistence,' 
156.  Fishing,  ib.  Hunting,  157.  Agriculture, 
]58.  The  various  objects  of  their  culture,  ib. 
Two  principal  causes  of  the  defects  of  their 
agriculture,  159.  Their  want  of  tame  animals, 
ib.  Their  want  of  useful  metals,  i<5u.  Their 
political  institutions,  161.  Were  divided  into 
small  independent  communities,  ib.  Unac- 
quainted wiih,the  idea  of  property,  162.  Their 
high  sense  of  equality  and  independence,  ib. 
Their  Ideas  of  subordination  imperfect,  ib.  To 
what  tribes  these  descriptions  apply,  163. 
Some  exceptions,  164.  Florida,  ib.  The 
Natchez,  ib.  The  islands,  165.  In  Bogota,  ib. 
Inquiry  into  the  causes  of  these  irregularities, 
ib.  Their  art  of  war,  167.  Their  motives  to 
hostility,  ib.  Causes  of  their  ferocity,  ib. 
Perpetuity  of  their  animosities,  168.  Their 
modes  of  conducting  war,  ib.  Are  not  destitute 
of  courage  and  fortitude,  169.  Incapable  of 
military  discipline,  170.  Their  treatment  of 
prisoners,  ib.  Their  fortitude  under  torture, 
171.  Never  eat  human  flesh  but  to  gratify  re- 
venge, 172.  How  the  South  Americans  treated 
their  prisoners,  ib.  Their  military  education, 

173.  Strange  method  of  choosing  a  captain 
among  the  Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco, 
ib.    Their  numbers  wasted  by  continual  wars, 

174.  Their  tribes  now  recruit  their  numbers 
by  adopting  prisoners,  ib.    Are  never  formida- 
ble in  war  to  more  polished  nations,  175.  Their 
arts,  dress,  and  ornaments,  ib.     Their  habita- 
tions, 176.    Their  arms,  173.    Their  domestic 
utensils,  ib.    Construction  of  their  canoes,  ib. 
The  listlessness  with  whicti  tl'ry  apply  to  la- 
bour, 179.     T'.icir  religion,  ib.     Some  tribes 
altogether  destitute  of  any,  180.    Remarkable 
diversity  in  their  religious  rations,  181.    Their 
ideas  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  183.  Their 
modes  of  burial,  184.    Why  their  physicians 
pretend  to  be  conjurors,  ib.     Their  love  of 
dancing,  185.    Their  immoderate  passion  for 
gaming,  187.  Are  extremely  addicted  to  drunk- 
enness, ib.     Put  their  aged  and  incurable  to 
death,  189.    General  estimate  of  their  charac- 
ter, ib.    Their  intellectual  powers,  ib.    Their 
political  talents,  190.    Powers  of  affection,  191. 
Hardness  of  heart,  ib.    Their  insensibility,  ib. 
Taciturnity,  192.    Their  cunning,  ib.    Their 
virtues,  193.    Their  spirit  of  independence,  ib. 
Fortitude,  ib.     Attachment  to  their  commu- 
nity, ib.     Their  satisfaction  with  their  own 
condition,  194.    General  caution  with  respect 
to  this  inquiry,  ib.  Two  distinguishable  classes, 
195.     Exceptions  as  to  their  character,  196. 
An  antipathy  industriously  encouraged  be- 
tween them  and  the  Negroes  in  America,  by 
the  Spaniard8,-358.    Their  present  condition, 


ib.  How  taxed,  ib.  Stated  services  demandert 
from  them,  ib.  Mode  of  exacting  ti.ese  ser- 
vices, 359.  How  governed,  ib.  Protector  of 
the  Indians,  his  function,  ib.  seasons  why 
so  small  a  progress  is  made  in  their  conversion, 
364.  Their  characteristic  features  described, 
470  Instances  of  their  persevering  speed, 

Amerigo,  Vespucci,  publishes  the  first  written 
account  of  the  New  World,  and  hence  gave 
name  to  America,  81.  His  claim  as  a  disco- 
verer examined,  458. 

Anacoana,  a  female  cazique  of  Hispaniola,  her 
base  and  cruel  usage  by  the  Spaniards,  93,  94. 

Andes,  stupendous  height  and  extent  of  that 
range  of  mountains,  123.  Their  height  com- 
pared with  other  mountains,  46  J  Gonzalo 
Pizarro's  remarkable  expedition  over,  5iS9. 

Animals,  large,  very  few  found  in  America  at  its 
first  discovery,  128. 

Ancients,  cause  of  the  imperfection  of  the  art  of 
navigation  among  them,  18.  Their  geographi- 
cal knowledge  extremely  confined,  449. 

Arabians,  peculiarly  attached  to  the  study  of 
Geography,  28 

Argonauts,  the.  expedition  of,  why  so  famous 
among  the  Greeks,  2J 

Arithmetic,  or  computation,  the  art  of,  hardly 
known  to  the  native  Americans,  150 

Ascollno,  Father,  his  extraordinary  mission  to 
the  Prince  of  the  Tartars,  30. 

Asiatic  discoveries  made  by  the  Russians,  135. 

Assiento  trade,  the  n,alure  of,  explained,  374. 
The  frauds  in,  and  how  put  an  end  to,  375. 

Atahualpa,  is  left  by  his  father  Huascar  his  suc- 
cessor in  the  kingdom  of  Quito,  269.  Defeats 
his  brother  Huascar,  and  usurps  the  empire  of 
Peru',ib.  Sends  presents  to  Pizarro,  270.  Visits 
Pizarro,  272.  Is  perfidiously  seized  by  him, 
273.  Agrees  with  Pizarro  on  a  ransom,  ib 
Is  refused  his  liberty,  275.  His  behaviour  dur- 
ing his  confinement,  276.  A  form  of  trial  be- 
stowed on  him,  ib.  Is  put  to  death,  277.  Com- 
parison of  authorities  relating  to  his  transac- 
tions with,  and  treatment  by  Pizarro,  497. 

Audience  of  New  Spain,  board  of,  established  by 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  259.  Courts  of,  their 
jurisdiction,  352. 

Averia,  a  Spanish  tax  for  convoy  to  and  from 
America,  when  first  imposed,  524.  Its  rate,  ib. 

Azores,  those  islands  discovered  by  the  Portu- 
guese, 38. 

Bacon,  Nathaniel,  heads  an  insurrection  in  Vir- 
ginia, 424.  Forces  the  governor  and  council 
there  to  fly,  ib.  They  apply  to  England  for 
succour,  425.  His  death  terminates  the  rebel- 
lion, ib. 

Balboa,  Vasco  Nugnez  de,  settles  a  colony  at 
Santa  Maria,  in  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  100.  "Re 
ceives  intelligence  of  the  rich  country  of  Peru, 
102.  His  character,  103.  Marches  across  the 
isthmus,  104.  Discovers  the  Southern  Ocean, 
ib.  Returns,  105.  Is  superseded  in  his  com- 
mand by  the  appointment  of  Pedrarias  Davila, 
ib.  Is  fined  by  Pedrarias  for  former  transac- 
tions, 106.  Is  appointed  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  countries  on  the  South  Sea,  and  marries 
Pedrarias's  daughter,  106, 107.  Is  arrested  and 
put  to  dnath  by  Pedrarias,  107. 

Bark,  Jesuits',  a  production  peculiar  to  Peru,  368. 

Barrere,  his  description  of  the  construction  of 
Indian  houses,  482. 

Behaim,  Martin,  the  honour  of  having  discovered 
America  falsely  ascribed  to  him  by  some  Ger- 
man authors,  455.  Account  of  him  and  his 
family,  ib. 

Behring  and  Tschirikow,  Russian  navigators, 
thought  to  have  discovered  the  north-west 
extremity  of  America  from  the  eastward,  135 
Uncertainty  of  their  accounts,  467. 

Bcnalcazar,  governor  of  St.  Michael,  reduces 


INDEX. 


529 


T  the  kingdom  of  Quito,  278, 279.  Is  deprived 
of  his  command  by  Pizarro,  289. 

Benjamin,  the  Jew  of  Tudela,  his  extraordinary 
travels,  30. 

Bernaldes,  instance  of  the  bravery  of  the  Carib- 
bees  mentioned  by  him,  484. 

Bcthencourt,  John  de,  a  Norman  baron,  conquers 
and  possesses  the  Canary  islands,  33. 

Birds,  an  account  of  those  natural  to  America, 
128.  The  flight  of,  often  stretch  to  an  immense 
distance  from  land,  453. 

Bogota,  in  America,  some  account  of  the  inha- 
bitants of,  165.  Causes  of  their  tame  submis- 
sion to  the  Spaniards,  166,  Their  religious 
doctrines  and  rites,  183. 

Bojador,  Cape,  the  first  discovery  of,  35.  Is 
doubled  by  the  Portuguese  discoverers,  36. 

Bossu,  his  account  of  the  American  war  song, 

Bovadilla,  Francis  de,  is  sent  to  Hispaniola  to 
inquire  into  the  conduct  of  Columbus,  83. 
Sends  Columbus  home  in  irons,  83,  84.  Is  de- 
graded, 85. 

Bougainville,  his  defence  of  the  Periplus  of 
Hanno,  448. 

jBouffuer,  M.,  his  character  of  the  native  Peru- 
vians, 473. 

Brasil,  the  coast  of,  discovered  by  Alvarez  Ca- 
bral,  82.  Remarks  on  the  climate  of,  463. 

Bridges,  Peruvian,  described,  508. 

Buenos  Jlyres,  in  South  America,  some  account 
of  that  province,  344. 

Bulls,  papal,  of  no  force  in  Spanish  America, 
before  examined  and  approved  by  the  royal 
council  of  the  Indies,  361.  See  Crusado. 

Burial  of  the  dead,  American  mode  of,  184. 

Cabot,  Giovanni,  is  appointed  to  command  the 
first  expedition  to  explore  unknown  countries, 

390.  Embarks  with  his  son  at  Bristol,  ib. 
Discovers  Newfoundland,  ib.    Returns  to  Eng- 
land, ib.     No  advantage  is  derived  from  his 
discoveries,  ib.     The  scheme  is  abandoned, 

391.  He  is  appointed  governor  of  a  company 
of  merchant  adventurers,  for  whom  he  obtains 
a  chatter,  393. 

• ,  Sebastian,  sails  on  an  expedition  to  South 

America,  392.  Visits  Brasil,  and  touches  at 
Hispaniola  and  Puerto  Rico,  ib.  His  voyage 
extends  the  sphere  of  English  navigation,  and 
proves  the  means  of  opening  an  intercourse 
with  the  Archipelago,  and  some  towns  on  the 
coast  of  Syria,  ib. 

Cabral,  Alvarez,  a  Portuguese  commander,  dis- 
covers the  coast  of  Brasil,  82. 

Cacao,  the  best  in  quality,  produced  in  the  Spanish 
American  colonies,  368.  The  preparation  of 
chocolate  from,  derived  from  the  Mexicans, 
376. 

Cadiz,  the  galeons  and  flota  removed  thither  from 
Seville,  372. 

California,  the  peninsula  of,  discovered  by  Fer- 
nando Cortes,  260.  The  true  state  of  this 
country  long  unknown,  341.  Why  depreciated 
by  the  Jesuits,  ib.  Favourable  account  of, 
given  by  Don  Joseph  Galvez,  ib. 

Califormans,  the  character  of,  by  P.  Venegas, 
474. 

Campeachy,  discovered  by  Cordova,  who  is  re- 
pulsed by  the  natives,  119 

Campomanes,  Don  Pedro  Rodriguez,  character  of 
his  political  and  commercial  writings,  522. 
His  account  of  the  produce  of  the  Spanish 
American  mines,  525. 

Canary  islards,  erected  into  a  kingdom  by  Pope 
Clement  VI.,  33.  Are  conquered  by  John  de 
Bethencourt,  ib. 

Cannibals,  no  people  ever  found  to  eat  human 
flesh  for  subsistence,  though  often  for  revenge, 
172.  480. 

Canoes,  American  the  construction  of,  described, 
1V8. 

VOL.  I.— 67 


Caraccas,  establishment  of 'the  company  trading 
to  that  coast,  377.  Growth  of  the  trade,  &il. 

Caribbee  islands,  discovered  by  Columbus  in  his 
second  voyage,  66. 

Caribbees,  their  spirit  peculiarly  fierce,  196 
Their  character,  by  M.  de  Chanvalon,  474. 
Probable  conjecture  as  to  the  distinction  in 
character  between  them  and  the  natives  of 
the  larger  islands,  485. 

Carpini,  his  extraordinary  mission  to  the  Prince 
of  the  Tartars,  30. 

Carthagena,  the  harbour  of,  the  safest  and  best 
Jortiried  of  any  in  all  the  Spanish  American 
dominions,  345 

Carthaginians,  state  of  commerce  and  navigation 
among,  20.  The  famous  voyages  of  Li  anno 
and  Himlico,  ib. 

Carvajal,  Francisco  de,  contributes  to  Vaca  de 
Castro's  victory  over  young  Almagro,  294. 
Encourages  Gonzalo  Pizarro  to  assume  the 
government  of  Peru,  300  Advises  Pizarro  to 
assume  the  sovereigntv  of  the  country,  302. 
Is  seized  by  Gasca,  and  executed,  308. 

Castillo,  Bernal  Diaz  del,  character  of  his  His- 
toria  Verdadera  de  la  Conquista  de  la  Nueva 
Espagna,  486. 

Centeno,  Diego,  revolts  from  Gonzalo  Pizarro  to 
the  viceroy  of  Peru,  301.  Is  defeated  by  Car- 
vajal, and  secretes  himself  in  a  cave,  302w 
Sallies  out,  and  seizes  Cuzco,  306,  307.  In 
reduced  by  Pizarro,  307.  Is  employed  by 
Gasca  to  make  discoveries  in  the  regions  about 
the  river  Plata,  310. 

Chancelour,  Richard,  sails  in  search  of  a  north- 
west passage,  393.  The  fleet  is  scattered  in  a 
storm,  ib.  He  enters  the  White  Sea,  and  win- 
ters at  Archangel,  ib.  Visits  Moscow,  a  dis- 
tance of  1200  miles,  and  delivers  a  letter  to  the 
czar,  ib.  Is  the  means  of  opening  a  trade 
with  Russia,  ib.  Is  empowered  by  Queen 
Elizabeth  to  negotiate  with  the  czar  in  her 
name,  ib. 

Chanvalon,  M.  de,  his  character  of  the  native 
Caribbees,  474. 

Chapetones,  in  the  Spanish  American  colonies, 
who  thus  distinguished,  356. 

Charles  III.,  king  of  Spain,  establishes  packet 
boats  between  Spain  and  the  colonies,  378. 
Allows  free  trade  to  the  Windward  islands,  ib. 
Grants  the  colonies  a  free  trade  with  each 
other,  380. 

V.,  Emperor,  sends  Roderigo  de  Figueroa 

to  Hispaniola,  as  Chief  Judge,  to  regulate  the 
treatment  of  the  Indians,  113.  Causes  this 
subject  to  be  debated  before  him,  115.  Equips 
a  squadron  at  the  solicitation  of  Ferdinand 
Magellan,  253.  Resigns  his  claim  on  the  Mo- 
luccas to  the  Portuguese,  255.  Appoints  Cortes 
governor  of  New  Spain,  256.  Rewards  him 
on  coming  home,  259.  Establishes  a  board 
called  the  Audience  of  New  Spain,  ib.  His 
consultations  on  American  affairs,  294.  Esta- 
blishes new  regulations,  206. 

Chesapeak.    See  Virginia. 

Chili,  is  invaded  by  Amiagro,  281.  How  sub- 
jected by  the  Spaniards,  342.  Excellence  ot 
its  climate  and  soil,  ib.  Cause  of  its  being 
neglected,  343.  Prospect  of  its  improvement, 
ib. 

Chiquiios,  political  state  of  that  people,  from 
Fernandez,  478. 

Chocolate,  the  use  of,  derived  from  the  Mexicans! 
376. 

Cholula,  in  Mexico,  arrival  of  Cortes  there,  with 
some  account  of  the  town,  217.  A  conspiracy 
against  Cortes  discovered,  and  the  inhabitant! 
destroyed,  ib. 

Church  government,  sentiments  respecting,  at 
the  Reformation,  427.  Religious  persecution 
in  the  reigns  of  Queen  Mary  and  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, 428.  Intolerant  spirit  of  the  church,  429. 
Separation  of  the  Puritans  from  the  church, 


530 


INDEX. 


ib.  They  are  reduced  into  an  ecclesiastical 
system  by  Bobert  Brown,  a  popular  declaimer, 
and  adopt  the  name  of  Brownists,  430.  Take 
refuge  in  Holland,  431.  Remove  thence  to 
America,  432.  Church  government  is  esta- 
blished in  Massachusetts  Bay,  435.  Its  intole- 
rance, ib.  The  intolerance  of  Laud  increases 
the  emigrations  from  England,  436. 

Cicero,  instance  of  his  ignorance  in  geography, 
450. 

Cinaloa,  political  state  of  the  people  there,  478. 
Their  mode  of  living,  481.  Are  destitute  of 
all  religion,  483.  Extraordinary  large  grain  of 
gold  found  there,  509. 

Cineffuilla,  in  the  province  of  Sonora,  late  dis- 
coveries of  rich  mines  made  there  by  the  Spa- 
niards, 340.  Probable  effects  of  these  disco- 
veries, 341. 

Clavigero,  M.,  several  of  his  objections  answered, 
518,  519. 

Clement  VI.,  Pope,  erects  the  Canary  islands  into 
a  kingdom,  33. 

Climates,  influenced  by  a  variety  of  causes, 
124.  Their  operation  on  mankind,  .195.  In- 
quiry into  the  cause  of  the  different  degrees  of 
neat  in,  462. 

Cochineal,  an  important  production,  almost  pe- 
culiar to  New  Spain,  368. 

Cold,  extraordinary  predominance  of,  in  the  cli- 
mate of  America,  124.  Causes  of  this  pecu- 
liarity, 125. 

Colonies,  English  American,  project  of  settling 
them,  396.  Two  expeditions  fail,  397,  The 
first  colony  established  in  Virginia,  398.  In 
danger  of  perishing  by  famine:  it  returns  to 
England,  399.  A  second  attempt  made  to 
settle  there,  but  the  colony  perishes  by  famine, 
400.  The  scheme  of  settling  there  is  aban- 
doned, ib.  Circumstances  in  the  reign  of  Eli- 
zabeth unfavourable  to  colonization,  401.  The 
reign  of  James  favourable  to  the  establishment 
of  colonies,  ib.  James  divides  the  coast  of 
America  into  two  parts ;  the  one  called  the  first 
or  south  colony  of  Virginia,  the  other  the 
second  or  north  colony,  402.  He  grants  char- 
ters to  two  companies  for  the  government  of 
them,  ib.  Tenor  and  defects  of  those  charters, 
403.  Under  these  charters  the  settlements  of 
the  English  in  Virginia  and  New  England  were 
established,  ib.  Capt.  Newport  sails  from 
England  for  Virginia,  and  discovers  the  Chesa- 
peak,  404.  Sails  up  James  river,  and  founds 
a  settlement  in  Jamestown,  ib.  Its  bad  ad- 
ministration, ib.  It  is  annoyed  by  the  Indians, 
and  suffers  ftom  scarcity  and  the  unhealthiness 
of  the  climate,  405.  Seasonable  succours  are 
sent  from  England,  406.  A  survey  of  the 
country  is  undertaken,  ib.  The  colony  depends 
for  subsistence  chiefly  on  supplies  from  the 
natives,  407.  A  change  is  made  in  the  consti- 
tution of  the  company,  and  a  new  charter  is 
granted  with  more  ample  privileges,  ib.  Lord 
Delaware  is  appointed  governor  of  the  colony, 
ib.  Anarchy  prevails  there,  408.  It  is  almost 
reduced  by  famine,  ib.  Lord  Delaware  arrives, 
and  by  his  wise  administration  restores  order 
and  discipline,  409.  His  health  obliges  him  to 
return  to  England,  and  he  is  superseded  by  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  who  establishes  martial  law, 
ib.  A  new  charter  is  issued  to  the  colony,  and 
new  privileges  are  granted,  410.  Cultivation 
of  the  land  is  promoted,  and  a  treaty  entered 
into  with  the  natives,  ib.  The  land  in  Virginia 
becomes  property,  411.  The  culture  of  tobacco 
is  introduced,  and  its  pernicious  consequences, 
ib.  The  company  in  England  send  out  a 
number  of  young  women  to  induce  the  colo- 
nists to  form  more  extensive  plans  of  industry, 
41S.  Negroes  are  first  introduced,  ib.  A 
Tanv  constitution  is  given  to  the  colony,  ib.  A 
general  massacre  of  the  English  is  planned  by 
the  Indians,  and  executed  in  most  of  the  set- 


tlements, 414.    A  bloody  war  is  commenced 
with  the  Indians,  and  neither  old  nor  young 
are  spared,  ib.    The  settlements  extend,  and 
industry  revives,  415.  .  Defects  in  the  first  con- 
stitution of  the  colonies,  417.    King  Charles's 
arbitrary  government  of  them,  418.    He  grants 
them  new  privileges,  419.   They  flourish  under 
the  new  government,  420.    The  colonists  re- 
main attached  to  the  royal  cause,  and  parlia- 
ment makes  war  on  Virginia,  which  is  obliged 
to  acknowledge  the  Commonwealth,  420,  421. 
Restraints  are  laid  on  the  trade  of  the  colonies, 
431.    The  colonists  are  dissatisfied  with  these 
restraints,  ib.     Are  the  first  to  acknowledge 
Charles  II.,  but  their  loyalty  is  ill  rewarded,  ib. 
Restraints  on  their  commerce  further  extended 
by  the  navigation  act,  422.    Effects  of  the  act, 
423.    Colonists  remonstrate  against  it,  ib.    The 
colony  of  Virginia  is  attacked  by  the  Indians, 
ib.    Discontents  are  produced  by  the  grants  of 
land  by  the  crown,  ib.    A  colony  is  established 
at  New  Plymouth  in  New  England,  432.    Plan 
of  its  government,  ib.    A  grand  council  is  ap- 
pointed, 433.    A  new  colony  is  projected,  ib. 
Settles  at  Massachusetts  Bay,  434.    The  char- 
ter of  the  company  in  England  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  colonies,  they  extend  in  conse- 
quence of  it,  436.    The  colonists  increase,  437. 
New  settlers  arrive,  439.    Sectaries  settle  in 
Providence  and  Rhode  Island,  440.    Theologi- 
cal contests  give  rise  to  a  colony  at  Connecticut. 
441.    Emigrants  from  Massachusetts  Bay  settle 
there,  ib.    Settlements  are  formed  in  the  pro- 
vinces  of  New-Hampshire    and    Maine,   ib. 
State  of  the  colonies  at  the  Revolution,  444. 
Are  exempted  from  certain  duties,  445.    Enter 
into  a  league  of  confederacy,  ib.    Assume  the 
right  of  coining,  446.    Are  patronized  by  Crom- 
well, who  proposes  to  transport  them  to  Ja- 
maica.ib.    They  decline  his  ofler,  447.    See 
New- England,  Virginia,  &c. 
Colonies,  Spanish  American,  view  of  the  policy 
and  trade  of,  347.    Depopulation  the  first  effect 
of  them,  ib.    Causes  of  this  depopulation,  ib. 
The  small-pox  very  fatal  to,  348.    Genera!  idea 
of  the  Spanish  policy  in,  ib.    Early  interposi- 
tion of  the  regal  authority  in,  349.    An  exclu 
sive  trade  the  first  object  in,  353.    Compared 
with  those  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  354. 
The  great  restrictions  they  are  subject  to,  ib. 
Slow  progress  of  their  population  from  Europe, 
355.    Are  discouraged  by  the  state  of  property 
there,  ib. ;  and  by  the  nature  of  their  ecclesi 
astical  policy,  '356.     The  various  classes  of 
people  in,  ib.     Ecclesiastical  constitution  of, 
360.      Form  and  endowments  of  the  church- 
there,  361.    Pernicious  effects  of  monastic  in- 
stitutions there,  ib.     Character  of  the  eccle- 
siastics there,  362.    Productions  of,  365.    The 
mines,  366.    Those  of  Potosi  and  Sacotecas, 
ib.    The  spirit  with  which  they  are  worked, 
ib.    Fatal  effects  of  this  ardour,  367.    Other 
commodities  that  compose  the  commerce  of, 
368.    Amazing  increase  of  horned  cattle  there, 
ib.    Advantages  which  Spain  formerly  derived 
from  them,  369.    Why  the  same  advantages 
are  not  still  received,  ib.    Guarda  cosfas  em 
ployed  to  check  the  contraband  trade  in,  375. 
The  use  of  register  ships  introduced,  376 ;  and 
galeons  laid  aside,  ib.     Company  of  the  Ca- 
raccas  instituted,  377.  Establishment  of  regulai 
packet  boats  to,  378.    Free  trade  permitted  be- 
tween them,  ib.    New  regulations  in  the  go- 
vernment of,  380.    Reformation  of  the  courts 
of  justice,  ib.     New  distribution  of  govern- 
ments, ib.    A  fourth  viceroyalty  established, 
ib.    Attempts  to  reform  domestic  policy,  381. 
Their  trade  with  the  Philippine  islands,  383. 
Revenue  derived  from,  by  Spain,  384.   Expense- 
of  administration  there,  385.    State  of  popu- 
lation in,  512:     The  number  of  monasteries 
there,  513.    See  Mexico,  Peru,  &e. 


INDEX. 


531 


Columbus,  Bartholomew,  is  sent  by  his  brother 
Christopher  to  negotiate  with  Henry  VII.  king 
of  England,  46.  The  misfortunes  of  his  voy- 
age, 48.  Follows  his  brother  to  Hispaniola 
69,  70.  Is  vested  with  the  administration  ot 
affairs  there  by  his  brother  on  his  return  to 
Spain,  73.  Founds  the  town  of  St.  Domingo 
77. 

,  Christopher,  birth  and  education  of, 

42.  His  early  voyages,  ib.  Marries  and  settles 
at  Lisbon,  ib.  His  geographical  reflections,  43. 
Conceives  the  idea  of  making  discoveries  to 
the  westward,  44*  Offers  his  services  to  the 
Genoese  senate,  45.  Cause  of  his  overtures 
being  rejected  in  Portugal,  46.  Applies  to  the 
courts  of  Castile  and  England,  ib.  His  propo- 
sal, how  treated  by  the  Spanish  geographers. 
47.  Is  patronized  by  Juan  Perez,  48.  His 

Eroposals  again  rejected,  49.  Is  invited  by 
sabella,  and  engaged  in  the  Spanish  service, 
50.  Preparations  for  his  voyage,  51.  The 
amount  of  his  equipment,  ib.  Sails  from 
Spain,  52.  His  vigilant  attention  to  all  cir- 
cumstances during  his  voyage,  ib.  Apprehen- 
sions of  his  crew,  ib.  His  address  in  quieting 
their  cabals,  ib.  Indications  of  their  approach- 
ing land,  54.  An  island  discovered,  55.  He 
lands,  56.  His  interview  with  the  natives,  ib. 
Names  the  island  San  Salvadore,  ib.  Prose- 
cutes his  discoveries  southward,  57,  Discovers 
and  lands  on  the  island  of  Cuba,  ib.  Discovers 
Hispaniola,  58.  Suffers  shipwreck,  but  is  saved 
by  the  Indians,  59.  Builds  a  fort,  60.  Returns 
to  Europe,  61.  His  expedient  to  preserve  the 
memory  of  his  discoveries  during  a  storrn,  62. 
Arrives  at  the  Azores,  ib.  Arrives  at  Lisbon, 
ib.  His  reception  in  Spain,  63.  His  audience 
with  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  ib.  His  equip- 
ment for  a  second  voyage,  65.  Discovers  the 
Carribbee  islands,  66.  Finds  his  colony  on 
Hispaniola  destroyed,  ib.  Builds  a  city,  which 
he  calls  Isabella,  67.  Visits  the  interior  parts 
of  the  country,  ib.  His  men  discontented  and 
factious,  68.  Discovers  the  island  of  Jamaica, 
69.  Meets  his  brother  Bartholomew  at  Isa- 
oella,  70.  The  natives  ill  used  by  his  men, 
and  begin  to  be  alarmed,  ib.  He  defeats  the 
Indians,  71,  Exacts  tribute  from  them,  ib. 
Returns  to  Spain  to  justify  his  conduct,  73.  Is 
furnished  with  a  more  regular  plan  for  coloni- 
zation, 74.  His  third  voyage,  75.  Discovers 
the  island  of  Trinidad,  76.  Discovers  the  con- 
tinent of  America,  ib.  State  of  Hispaniola  on 
his  arrival,  ib.  Composes  the  mutiny  of  Roldan 
and  his  adherents,  78.  Is  distressed  by  the 
factious  behaviour  of  hi-s  men,  82.  Complaints 
carried  to  Spain  against  him,  ib.  Is  sent  home 
in  irons,  84.  Clears  his  conduct,  but  is  not 
restored  to  his  authority,  ib.  His  solicitations 
neglected,  86.  Forms  new  schemes  of  disco- 
very, ib.  Engages  in  a  fourth  voyage,  87. 
His  treatment  at  Hispaniola,  ib.  Searches 
after  a  passage  to  the  Indian  ocean,  88.  Is 
shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  Jamaica,  89.  His 
artifice  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  Indians, 

90.  Is  delivered,  and  arrives  at  Hispaniola, 

91.  Returns  to  Spain,  ib.    His  death,  92.    His 
right  to  the  original  discovery  of  America  de- 
fended, 298.    The  spirit  of  adventure  raised 
in  England  by  his  discoveries,  389.    Is  checked 
by  the  want  of  skill  in  navigation,  ib.    His 
system  of  opening  a  passage  to~  India  by  steer- 
ing a  western  course  is  adopted  by  Cabot,  390. 

,  Don  Diego,  sues  out  his  claim  to  his 

father's  privileges,  97.  Marries,  and  goes  over 
to  Hispaniola,  ib.  Establishes  a  pearl-fishery 
at  Cubagua,  98.  Projects  the  conquest  of  Cuba, 
100.  His  measures-  thwarted  by  Ferdinand, 
108.  Returns  to  Spain,  ib. 
Commerce,  the  era  from  which  its  commencement 
is  to  be  dated,  17.  Motives  to  an  intercourse 
among  distant  nations,  18.  Still  flourished  in 


the  eastern  empire  after  the  subversion  of  the 
western,  28.    Revival  of,  in  Europe,  31. 

Compass,  mariner's,  navigation  extended  more 
by  the  invention  of,  than  by  all  the  efforts  of 
preceding  ages,  32.  By  whom  invented,  ib. 

Condamine,  M.,  his  account  of  the  country  at 
the  foot  of  the  Andes,  in  South  America,  465. 
His  remarks  on  the  character  of  the  native 
Americans,  473. 

Congo,  the  kingdom  of,  discovered  by  the  Portu- 
guese, 39. 

Constantinople,  the  consequence  of  removing 
the  seat  of  the  Roman  Empire  to,  27.  Conti- 
nued a  commercial  city  after  the  extinction  of 
the  western  empire,  28.  Became  the  chief 
mart  of  Italy,  29. 

Cordova,  Francisco  Hernandez,  discovers  Yuca- 
tan, 119.  Is  repulsed  at  Campeachy,  and  re- 
turns to  Cuba,  ib. 

Corita,  Alonzo,  his  observations  on  the  contra- 
band trade  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  382,  383. 
Character  of  his  American  memoirs,  500,  501. 

Cortes,  Fernando,  his  birth,  education,  and  cha-  < 
racter,  197.  Is  by  Velasquez  appointed  com 
mander  of  the  armament  fitted  out  by  him 
against  New  Spain,  198.  Velasquez  becomes 
jealous  of  him,  199.  Velasquez  sends  an  order 
to  deprive  him  of  his  commission,  and  lay  him 
under  an  arrest,  199.  Is  protected  by  his 
troops,  ib.  The  amount  of  his  forces,  200. 
Reduces  the  Indians  at  Tabasco,  201.  Arrives 
at  St.  Juan  de  Ulua,  ib.  His  interview  with 
two  Mexican  commanders,  ib.  Sends  presents 
to  Montezuma,  203.  Receives  others  in  return, 
ib.  His  schemes,  205.  Establishes  a  form  of 
civil  government,  207.  Resigns  his  commis- 
sion under  Velasquez,  and  assumes  the  com- 
mand in  the  king's  name,  207, 208.  His  friend- 
ship courted  by  the  Zempoallans,  208.  Builds 
a  fort,  209.  Concludes  a  formal  alliance  with 
several  caziques,  210.  Discovers  a  conspiracy 
among  his  men,  and  destroys  his  ships,  211. 
Advances  into  the  country,  212.  Is  opposed 
by  the  Tlascalans,  213.  Concludes  a  peace 
with  them,  215.  His  rash  zeal,  216.  Proceeds 
to  Cholula,  217.  Discovers  a  conspiracy 
against  him  there,  and  destroys  the  inhabitants, 
ib.  Approaches  in  sight  of  the  capital  city  of 
Mexico,  ib.  His  first  interview  with  Monte- 
zuma, 218.  His  anxiety  at  his  situation  in  the 
city  of  Mexico,  221.  Seizes  Montezuma,  223. 
Orders  him  to  be  fettered,  224.  Reasons  for 
his  conduct,  ib.  Prevails  on  Montezuma  to 
own  himself  a  vassal  to  the  Spanish  crown, 

225,  Amount  and  division  of  his  treasure, 

226.  Enrages  the  Mexicans  by  his  imprudent 
zeal,  227.     An  armament  sent  by  Velasquez 
to  supersede  him,  228.     His  deliberations  on 
this  event,  230.    Advances  to  meet  Narvaez, 
231.     Defeats  Narvaez,  and  takes  him  pri- 
soner, 233.    Gains  over  the  Spanish  soldiers  to 
his  interest,  ib.    Returns  to  Mexico,  234.    His- 
improper  conduct  on  his  arrival,  ib.    Is  reso- 
lutely attacked  by  the  Mexicans,  235.    Attacks 
them  in  return  without  success,  ib.    Death  of 
Montezuma,  236.      His  extraordinary  escape 
from  death,  237.    Abandons  the  city  of  Mex- 
ico, ib.    Is  attacked  by  the  Mexicans,  ib.    His 
great  losses  in  the  encounter,  238.    Difficulties 
of  his  retreat,  ib.     Battle  of  Otumba,  239. 
Defeats  the  Mexicans,  240.      Mutinous  spirit 
of  his  troops,  241.    Reduces  the  Tepeacans, 
242.  Is  strengthened  by  several  reinforcements, 
ib.    Returns  towards  Mexico,  543.    Establishes 
his  head-quarters  at  Tezeuco,  244.    Reduces 
or   conciliates   the   surrounding  country,  ib. 
Cabals  among  his  troops,  245.    His  prudence 
in  suppressing  them,  ib.    Builds  and  launches 
a  fleet  of  brigantines  on  the  lake,  246.     Be- 
sieges Mexico,  247.    Makes  a  grand  assault  to 
take  the  city  by  storm,  but  is  repulsed,  248. 
Evades  the  Mexican  prophecy,  250.     Takes 


532 


INDEX. 


Guatimozin  prisoner,  251.  Gains  possession ' 
of  the  city,  ib. ;  and  of  the  whole  empire,  252. 
Defeats  another  attempt  to  supersede  him  in 
his  command,  256.  Is  appointed  governor  of 
New  Spain,  ib.  His  schemes  and  arrange- 
ments, 256,  257.  Cruel  treatment  of  the  na- 
tives 257.  His  conduct  subjected  to  inquiry, 
258.  '  Returns  to  Spain  to  justify-himself,  259. 
Is  rewarded  by  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  ib. 
Goes  back  to  Mexico  with  limited  powers,  ib. 
Discovers  California,  260.  Returns  to  Spain, 
and  dies,  ib.  Inquiry  into  the  nature  of-his 
1  otters  to  the  emperor  Charles  V. ,  485.  A  uthprs 
who  wrote  of  his  conquest  of  New  Spain,  ib. 

Council  of  the  Indies,  its  power,  353. 

Creoles  in  the  Spanish  American  colonies,  cha- 
racter of,  356. 

Crofflan,  Colonel  George,  his  account  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  bones  of  a  large  extinct  species 
of  animals  in  North  America,  465. 

Crusades  to  the  Holy  Land,  the  great  political 
advantages  derived  from,  by  the  European  na- 
tions, 29. 

Orusado,  bulls  of,  published  regularly  every  two 
years  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  384.  Prices  of, 
and  amount  of  the  sale  at  the  last  publication, 
523. 

Cuba,  the  island  of,  discovered  by  Christopher 
Columbus,  57.  Is  sailed  round  by  Ocampo,  97. 
The  conquest  of,  undertaken  by  Diego  Velas- 
quez, 101.  Cruel  treatment  of  the  cazique 
Hatuey,  and  his  repartee  to  a  friar,  ib.  Co- 
lumbus's  enthusiastic  description  of  a  harbour 
in,  453.  The  tobacco  produced  there  the  finest 
in  all  America,  368. 

Cubagua,  a  pearl  fishery  established  there,  98. 

Cumana,  the  natives  of,  revenge  their  ill  treat- 
ment by  the  Spaniards,  118.  The  country  de- 
solated by  Diego  Ocampo,  ib. 

Cuzco,  the  capital  of  the  Peruvian  empire,  founded 
by  Manco  Capac,  268.  Is  seized  by  Pizarro, 
278.  Is  besieged  by  the  Peruvians,  282.  Is 
surprised  by  Almagro,  233.  Is  recovered  and 
pillaged  by  the  Pizarros,  286,  287.  Was  thi 
only  city  in  all  Peru,  338. 

Dancing,  the  love  of,  a  favourite  passion  among 
the  Americans,  185. 

Darien,  the  isthmus  of,  described,  103.  The  in- 
crease of- settlement  there  obstructed  by  the 
noxiousness  of  the  climate,  345. 

Delaware,  Lord,  is  appointed  governor  of  Virgi- 
nia, 407.  His  wise  administration  there,  409. 
(s  obliged  to  return  to  England  on  account  of 
his  health,  ib. 

De  Solis,  his  unfortunate  expedition  up  the  river 
Plata,  108. 

• ,  Antonio,  character  of  his  Historia  de 

la  Conquista  de  Mexico,  486. 

D"1  Esquilache,  Prince,  viceroy  of  Peru,  his  vi- 
gorous measures  for  restraining  the  excesses  of 
the  regular  clergy  there,  363.  Rendered  inef- 
fectual, ib. 

Diaz,  Bartholomew,  discovers  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  40. 

Discoveries,  the  difference  between  those  made 
by  land  and  those  by  sea  stated,  450. 

Dodwell,  his  objections  to  the  Periplua  of  Hanno 
exploded,  448. 

Domingo,  St.,  on  the  island  of  Hispaniola,  found- 
ed by  Bartholomew  Columbus,  76,  77. 

Dominicans,  those  in  Hispaniola  publicly  remon 
strata  against  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  Indians, 
109.  See  Las  Casas. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  sails  round  the  world,  395. 

Drunkenness,  strong  propensity  of  the  Americans 
to  indulge  in,  187. 

Earth,  the  globe  of,  how  divided  into  zones  by 
the  ancients,  26. 

Egyptians,  ancient,  state  of  commerce  and  na- 
vigation among  them>  19. 


El  Dorado,  wonderful  reports  of  a  country  so 
called,  made  by  Francis  Orellana,  290. 

Elephant,  that  animal  peculiar  to  the  torrid  zone, 
465. 

Elizabeth,  the  reign  of,  auspicious  to  discovery, 
394.  She  encourages  commerce,  and  secures 
the  trade  to  Russia,  395.  Circumstances  in 
her  reign  unfavourable  to  colonization,  401. 
Her  high  idea  of  her  superior  skill  in  theology, 
428,  note. 

Escurial,  curious  calendar  discovered  in  the 
library  there  by  Mr.  Waddilove,  504.  Descrip- 
tion of  that  valuable  monument  of  Mexican 
art,  ib. 

Esquimaux  Indians,  resemblance  between  them 
and  their  neighbours  the  Greenianders,  136. 
Some  account  of,  482, 

Eugene  IV.,  Pope,  grants  to  the  Portuguese  an 
exclusive  right  to  all  the  countries  they  should 
discover,  from  Cape  Non  to  the  continent  of 
India,  38. 

Europe,  how  affected  by  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Roman  empire  by  the  barbarous  nations, 
27.  Revival  of  commerce  and  navigation,  28. 
Political  advantages  derived  from  the  cru- 
sades, 29. 

Ferdinand,  king  of  Castile— see  Coiumbus  and 
Isabella — turns  his  attention  at  length  to  the 
regulation  of  American  affairs,  95.  Don  Diego 
de  Columbus  sues  out  his  father's  claims 
against  him,  97.  Erects  two  governments  on 
the  continent  of  America,  98.  Sends  a  fleet 
to  Darien,  and  supersedes  Balboa,  105.  Ap- 
points Balboa  lieutenant-governor  of  the  coun 
tries  on  the  South  Sea,  106.  Sends  Dias  de 
Solis  to  discover  a  western  passage  to  the  Mo 
luccas,  108,  Thwarts  the  measures  of  Diego 
Columbus,  ib.  His  decree  concerning  the 
treatment  of  the  Indians,  109. 

Fernandez,  Don  Diego,  character  of  his  Historia 
del  Peru,  495. 

,  P.,  hie  description  of  the  political 

state  of  the  Chiquitos,  478. 

Figueroa,  Rpderigo  de,  is  appointed  chief  judge 
of  Hispaniola,  with  a  commission  to  examine 
into  the  treatment  of  the  Indian  natives,  113. 
Makes  an  experiment  to  determine  the  capacity 
of  the  Indians,  117. 

Florida,  discovered  by  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  101. 
The  chiefs  there  hereditary,  164.  Account  of, 
from  Alvara  Nugnez  Cabeca  de  Veca,  475. 

Flota,  Spanish,  some  account  of,  372. 

Fonseca,  bishop  of  Badajos,  minister  for  Indian 
affairs,  obstructs  the  plans  of  colonization  and 
discovery  formed  by  Columbus,  72.  75.  Pa- 
tronizes the  expedition  of  Alonzo  de  Qjeda,  80. 

Frobisher,  Martin,  makes  three  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  discover  a  north-east  passage  to 
India,  395. 

Galeons,  Spanish,  the  nature  and  purpose  of 
these  vessels,  372.  Arrangement  of  their  voy- 
age, ib. 

Oalvez,  Don  Joseph,  sent  to  discover  the  true 
state  of  California,  341. 

Oama,  Vasco  de,  his  voyage  for  discovery,  79. 
Doubles  die  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  ib.  Anchors 
before  the  city  of  Melinda,  ib.  Arrives  at  Gale- 
cut,  in  Malabar,  ib. 

Gaming,  strange  propensity  of  the  Americans 
to,  187. 

Ganges,  erroneous  ideas  of  the  ancients  as  to  the 
position  of  that,  river,  450. 

Gasca,  Pedro  de  la,  sent  to  Peru  as  president  of 
the  Court  of  Audience  in  Lima,  304.  His 
character  and  moderation,  ib.  The  powers  he 
was  vested  with,  ib.  Arrives  at  Panama,  305 
Acquires  possession  of  Panama  with  the  fleet 
and  forces  there,  306.  Advances  towards 
Cuzco.  307.  Pizarro's  troops  desert  to  him, 
308.  His  moderate  use  of  the  victory  ib 


INDEX. 


533 


IDevises  employment  for  his  soldiers,  310.  His 
division  of  the  country  among  his  followers, 
311.  The  discontents  it  occasions,  ib.  Re- 
stores order  and  government,  ib.  His  reception 
at  bis  return  to  Spain,  311,  312. 

Geminus,  instance  of  his  ignorance  in  geogra 
,  phy,  451. 

Geography,  the  knowledge  of,  extremely  confined 
among  the  ancients,  28.  Became  a  favourite 
study  among  the  Arabians,  28. 

Giants,  the  accounts  of,  in  our  early  travellers, 
unconfirmed  by  recent  discoveries,  32.  472. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  conducts  the  first  colony 
to  North  America,  396.  A  charter  is  granted 
to  him  and  his  heirs,  ib.  Conducts  another  ex- 
pedition, which  ends  disastrously,  and  in  which 
he  perishes,  397. 

Gioia,  Flavio,  the  inventor  of  the  mariner's  com- 
pass, 32. 

Globe,  its  division  into  zones  by  the  ancients,  26. 

Gold,  why  the  first  metal  with  which  man  was 
acquainted,  160.  Extraordinary  large  grain  of, 
found  in  the  mines  at  Cinaloa,  509. 

Gomara,  character  of  his  Cronica  de  la  Nueva 
Espagna,  485. 

Good  Hope,  Cape  of,  discovered  by  Bartholomew 
Diaz,  40. 

Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  is  the  first  who  attempts 
to  steer  a  direct  course  from  England  to  North 
America,  401.  Descries  Massachusetts  Bay, 
and  returns  to  England,  ib.  The  consequences 
of  his  voyage,  ib. 

Government,  no  visible  form  of,  among  the  native 
Americans,  163.  Exceptions,  164. 

Gran  Cltaco,  account  of  the  method  of  making 
war  among  the  natives  of,  from  Lozano,  479. 

Granada,  new  kingdom  of,  in  America,  by  whom 
reduced  to  the  Spanish  dominion,  346.  Its  cli- 
mate and  produce,  ib.  A  viceroy  lately  esta- 
blished there,  351. 

Greeks,  ancient,  progress  of  navigation  and  dis- 
covery among  them,  21.  Their  commercial 
intercourse  with  other  nations  very  limited,  34. 

Greenland,  its  vicinity  to  North  America,  136. 

Greenville,  Sir  Richard,  establishes  a  colony  in 
Virginia,  which,  being  in  danger  of  perishing 
by  famine,  is  obliged  to  return  to  England,  398. 
Appears  off  the  coast  soon  after  the  departure 
of  the  colony,  and  lands  fifteen  of  his  crew  to 
keep  possession  of  the  island,  who  are  destroyed 
by  the  savages,  399. 

Grijalva,  Juan  de,  sets  out  from  Cuba  on  a  voy- 
age of  discovery,  120.  Discovers  and  gives 
name  to  New  Spain,  ib.  His  reasons  for  not 
planting  a  colony  in  his  newly  discovered 
lands,  121. 

Guarda  Costas,  employed  by  Spain  to  check  illi- 
cit trade  in  the  American  colonies,  375. 

Guatimala,  the  indigo  there  superior  to  any  in 
America,  368. 

Guatimozin,  nephew  and  son-in-law  of  Monte- 
zuma,  succeeds  duetlavaca  in  the  kingdom  of 
Mexico,  223.  Repulses  the  attacks  of  the  Spa- 
niards in  storming  the  city  of  Mexico,  249.  Is 
taken  prisoner  by  Cortes,  251.  Is  tortured  to 
discover  his  treasure,  252.  Is  hanged,  257. 

Guiana,  Dutch,  cause  of  the  excessive  fertility 
of  the  soil  there,  467. 

Hakluyt,  improves  the  naval  and  commercial 
skill  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  402.  Is  em- 
powered to  settle  any  part  of  the  south  colony 
of  Virginia,  ib. 

Hanno,  his  Periplus  defended,  with  an  account 
of  his  voyage,  448. 

jffatuey,  a  cazique  of  Cuba,  his  cruel  treatment, 
and  memorable  repartee  to  a  Franciscan  friar, 
101. 

i  ffawkesmortK's  voyages,  account  of  New  Hol- 
land, and  the  inhabitants  from,  476. 

Heat,  the  different  degrees  of,  in  the  old  and  new 

,  continents  accounted  for,  462.    Estimated,  466. 


Henry,  prince  of  Portugal,  his  character  and 
studies,  35.  Expeditions  formed  by  his  order, 
36.  Applies  for  a  papal  grant  of  his  new  dis- 
coveries, 37.  His  death,  38. 

Hcrrada,  Juan  de,  assassinates  Francis  Pizarro. 

292.  Dies,  293. 

Herrera,  the  best  historian  of  the  conquest  of 
New  Spain,  486.  His  account  of  Orellana's 
voyage,  499. 

Hispaniola,  the  island  of,  discovered  by  Christo- 
pher Columbus,  58.  His  transactions  with  the 
natives,  ib.  A  colony  left  there  by  Columbus, 
61.  The  colony  destroyed,  66.  Columbus 
builds  a  city  called  Isabella,  67.  The  natives 
ill  used,  and  begin  to  be  alarmed,  70.  Are  de- 
feated by  the  Spaniards,  71.  Tribute  exacted 
from  them,  ib.  They  scheme  to  starve  the 
Spaniards,  72.  St.  Domingo  founded  by  Bar- 
tholomew Columbus,  77.  Columbus  sent  home 
in  irons  by  Bovadilla,  84.  Nicholas  de  Ovando 
appointed  governor,  85.  Summary  view  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Spaniards  towards  the  na- 
tives of,  92.  Unhappy  fate  of  Anacoana,  94. 
Great  produce  from  the  mines  there,  ib.  The 
inhabitants  diminish,  96.  The  Spaniards  re- 
cruit them  by  trepanning  the  natives  of  the 
Lucayos,  ib.  Arrival  of  Don  Diego  de  Colum- 
bus, 97,  98.  The  natives  of,  almost  extirpated 
by  slavery,  100.  103.  Controversy  concerning 
the  treatment  of  them,  109.  Columbus's  ac- 
count of  the  humane  treatment  he  received 
from  the  natives  of,  453.  Curious  instance  of 
superstition  in  the  Spanish  planters  there,  466. 

Holguin,  Pedro  Alvarez,  erects  the  royal  standard 
in  Peru,  in  opposition  to  the  younger  Almagro, 

293.  Vaca  de  Castro  arrives,  and  assumes  the 
command,  294. 

Homer,  his  account  of  the  navigation  of  the  an- 
cient Greeks,  21,  22. 

Honduras,  the  value  of  that  country,  owing  to 
its  production  of  the  logwood  tree,  341. 

Horned  cattle,  amazing  increase  of  them  in  Spa- 
nish America,  368. 

Horses,  astonishment  and  mistakes  of  the  Mexi- 
cans at  the  first  sight  of  them,  489.  Expedient 
of  the  Peruvians  to  render  them  incapable  of 
action,  499. 

Huana  Capac,  inca  of  Peru,  his  character  and 
family,  269. 

Huascar  Capac,  inca  of  Peru,  disputes  his  bro- 
ther Atahualpa's  succession  to  Quito,  269.  Is 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  Atahualpa,  ib. 
Solicits  the  assistance  of  Pizarro  against  his 
brother,  270.  Is  put  to  death  by  order  of  Ata- 
hualpa, 274. 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.,  heads  a  sect  of  religious  wo- 
men in  New-England,  who  are  denominated 
Antinomians,  439.  Her  doctrines  are  con- 
demned by  a  general  synod  there,  440. 

Incas  of  Peru,  received  origin  of  their  empire, 
268.  Their  empire  founded  both  in  religion 
and  policy,  331.  See  Peru. 

India,  the  motives  of  Alexander  the  Great  in  his 
expedition  to,  23.  The  commerce  with,  how 
carried  on  in  ancient  times,  25 ;  and  when  arts 
began  to  revive  in  Europe,  28.  The  first  voy- 
age made  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  79. 
Attempts  to  discover  a  north-west  passage  to, 
unsuccessful,  392.  395.  An  attempt  made  by 
the  north-east  to,  394.  A  company  of  mer 
chants  in  England  is  incorporated  to  prosecute 
discoveries  in,  393.  A  communication  with, 
attempted  by  land,  394.  The  design  is  encou- 
raged by  Queen  Elizabeth,  395. 

Indians  in  Spanish  America.    See  Americans. 

Indies,  West,  why  Columbus's  discoveries  were 
so  named,  64. 

Innocent  IV.,  Pope,  his  extraordinary  mission  to 
the  Prince  of  the  Tartars,  30. 

Inquisition,  court  of,  when  and  by  whom  first 
introduced  into  Portugal,  452. 


534 


INDEX. 


Insects  and  reptiles,  why  so  numerous  and  nox- 
ious in  America,  128. 

Iron,  the  reason  why  savage  nations  were  unac- 
quainted with  this  metal,  160. 

Isabella,  queen  of  Castile,  is  applied  to  by  Juan 
Perez  in  behalf  of  Christopher  Columbus,  48. 
Is  again  applied  to  by  Quintanilla  and  Santan- 
gel.ib.  Is  prevailed  on  to  equip  him,  50.  Dies, 
91.  Her  real  motives  for  encouraging  discove- 
ries in  America,  349. 

_}  the  city  of,  in  Hispamola,  built  by 

Christopher  Columbus,  67. 

Italy,  the  first  country  in  Europe  where  civiliza- 
tion and  arts  revived  after  the  overthrow  of 
the  Roman  empire,  29.  The  commercial  spirit 
of,  active  and  enterprising,  ib. 

Jamaica,  discovered  by  Christopher  Columbus,  69. 

Jerome,  St.,  three  monks  of  that  order  sent  by 
Cardinal  Ximenes  to  Hispaniola,  to  regulate 
the  treatment  of  the  Indians,  111.  Their  con- 
duct under  this  commission,  ib. ;  are  recalled, 

Jesuits,  acquire  an  absolute  dominion  over  Cali- 
fornia, 341.  Their  motives  for  depreciating  the 
country,  ib. 

Jews,  ancient  state  of  commerce  and  navigation 
among  them,  20. 

John  I.,  king  of  Portugal,  the  first  who  sent  ships 
to  explore  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  34.  His 
son,  Prince  Henry,  engages  in  these  attempts, 
36. 

- —  II.,  king  of  Portugal,  patronises  all  attempts 
towards  discoveries,  39.  ,-Sends  an  embassy  to 
Abyssinia,  41.  His  ungenerous  treatment  of 
Columbus,  46. 

Ladrone  islands,  discovered  by  Ferdinand  Ma- 
gellan, 254. 

Lakes,  amazing  size  of  those  in  North  America, 
123. 

Las  Casas,  Bartholomew,  feturns  from  Hispa- 
niola to  solicit  the  cause  of  the  enslaved  Indians 
at  the  court  of  'Spain,  110.  Is  sent  back  with 
.powers  by  Cardinal  Ximenes,  111.  Returns 
dissatisfied,  112.  Procures  a  new  commission 
'to  be  sent  over  on  this  subject,  113-  Recom- 
mends the  scheme  of  supplying  the  colonies 
with  Negroes,  ib.  Undertakes  a  new  colony, 
114.  His  conference  with  the  bishop  of  Darien 
before  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  115, 116.  Goes 
to  America  to  carry  his  schemes  into  execution, 
116.  Circumstances  unfavourable  to  him,  117. 
His  final  miscarriage,  L18.  Revives  his  repre- 
sentations in  favour  of  the  Indians  at  the  de- 
sire of  the  emperor,  295.  Composes  a  treatise 
on  the  destruction  of  America,  296. 

Leon,  Pedro  Cieza  de,  character  of  his  Cronica 
del  Peru,  495. 

Lery,  his  description  of  the  courage  and  ferocity 
of  the  Toupinambos,  479. 

Lima,  the  city  of,  in  Peru,  founded  by  Pizarro, 

Liston,  Mr.,  the  British  minister  at  Madrid,  his 
answer  to  several  interesting  inquiries  relating 
to  the  admission  of  Indians  into  holy  orders, 
518. 

Logwood,  the  commodity  that  gives  importance 
to  the  provinces  of  Honduras  and  Yucatan, 
341.  Policy  of  the  Spaniards  to  defeat  the 
English  trade  in,  342. 

Louis,  St.,  king  of  France,  his  embassy  to  the 
Chan  of  the  Tartars,  31. 

Lozano,  his  account  of  the  method  of  making 
war  among  the  natives  of  Gran  Chaco,  479. 

Luque,  Hernando  de,  a  priest,  associates  with 
Pizarro  in  his  Peruvian  expedition,  262. 

Madeira,  the  island  of,  first  discovered,  36. 
Madoc,  prince  of  North  Wales,  story  of  his  voy- 
age and  discovery  of  North  America  examined, 


Magellan,  Ferdinand,  his  account  of  the  gigantic 
size  of  the  Patagonians,  147.  The  existence 
of  this  gigantic  race  yet  to  be  decided,  ib.  Hi» 
introduction  to  the  court  of  Castile,  253.  la 
equipped  with  a  squadron  for  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery, ib.  Sails  through  the  famous  strait 
that  bears  his  name,  254.  Discovers  the  La- 
drone  and  Philippine  islands,  ib.  Is  killed,  ib 

Magnet,  its  property  of  attracting  iron  known  to 
the  ancients,  but  not  its  polar  inclination,  18. 
Extraordinary  advantages  resulting  from  this 
discovery,  32. 

Malo,  St.,  account  of  its  commerce  with  Spanisn 
America,  374. 

Manco  Capac,  founder  of  the  Peruvian  empire, 
account  of,  268. 

Mandeville,  Sir  John,  his  eastern  travels,  with  a 
character  of  his  writings,  31. 

Manila,  the  colony  of,  established  by  Philip  II. 
of  Spain,  383.  Trade  between,  and  South 
America,  ib. 

Mankind,  their  disposition  and  manners  formed 
by  their  situation,  131.  Hence  resemblances  to 
be  traced  in  very  distant  places  without  com- 
munication, ib  Have  uniformly  attained  the 
greatest  perfection  of  their  nature  in  temperate 
regions,  195. 

Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian,  his  extraordinary  tra- 
vels in  the  East,  31. 

Marest,  Gabriel,  his  account  of  the  country  be- 
tween the  Illinois  and  Michilimackinac,  477. 

Marina,  Donna,  a  Mexican  slave,  her  history 
201. 

Marinus,  Tyrius,  his  erroneous  position  of  China, 
452. 

Martyr,  Peter,  his  sentiments  on  the  first  disco- 
very of  America,  457. 

Maryland,    See  Virginia. 

Massachusetts  Bay.  See  America,  New-Eng- 
land, &c. 

Merchants,  English,  the  right  of  property  in  the 
North  American  colonies  vested  in  a  company 
of,  resident  in  London,  400.  Charters  are 
granted  to  two  companies  of,  to  make  settle- 
ments in  America,  402.  Tenor  and  defects  of 
these  charters,  403.  A  new  charter  is  granted 
to  them,  with  more  ample  privileges,  407. 
They  are  divided  by  factions,  415.  An  inquiry 
is  instituted  into  their  conduct,  416.  They  are 
required  to  eurrender  their  charter,  which  they 
refuse,  ib.  A  writ  of  quo  warranto  is  issued 
out  against  them,  417.  They  are  tried  in  the 
court  of  King's  Bench,  and  the  company  is 
dissolved,  ib.  Their  charter  is  transferred  to 
the  colonies,  4J8. 

Mestizos,  in  the  Spanish  American  colonies,  dis- 
tinction between  them  and  mulattoes,  357. 

Metals,  useful,  the  original  natives  of  America 
totally  unacquainted  with,  160. 

Mexicans,  their  account  of  their  own  origin, 
compared  with  later  discoveries,  137.  Their 
paintings  few  in  number,  and  of  ambiguous 
meaning,  314.  Two  collections  of  them  dis- 
covered, ib.,  note.  Their  language  furnished 
with  respectful  terminations  for  all  its  words, 
501.  How  they  contributed  to  the  support  of 
government,  502.  Descriptions  of  their  histo- 
rical pictures,  ib.  Various  exaggerated  accounts 
of  the  number  of  human  victims  sacrificed  by 
them,  506. 

Mexico,  arrival  of  Fernando  Cortes  on  the  coast 
of,  201.  His  interview  with  two  Mexican  offi- 
cers, 202.  Information  sent  to  Montezuma, 
with  some  Spanish  presents,  203.  Montezuma 
sends  presents  to  Cortes,  with  orders  not  to  ap- 
proach his  capital,  ib.  State  of  the  empire  at 
that  time,  204.  The  Zempoallans  court  the 
friendship  of  Cortes,  208.  Several  caziquee 
enter  into  alliance  with  Cortes,  209.  Character 
of  the  natives  of  Tlascala,  212.  The  Tlasca- 
lans  reduced  to  sue  for  peace,  215.  Arrival 
of  Cortes  at  the  caoital  sity,  218.  The  city 


INDEX. 


535 


described,  220.  Montezuma  acknowledges 
himself  a  vassal  to  the  Spanish  crown,  235. 
Amount  of  the  treasure  collected  by  Cortes,  ib. 
Reasons  of  gold  being  found  in  such  small 
quantities,  227.  The  Mexicans  enraged  at  the 
imprudent  zeal  of  Cortes,  ib. ;  attack  Alvarado 
during  the  absence  of  Cortes,  233.  Their  reso- 
lute attack  on  Cortes  when  he  returned,  235. 
Death  of  Montezuma,  23(5.  The  city  aban- 
doned by  Cortes,  ib.  Battle  of  Otumba,  240. 
The  Tepeacans  reduced,  242.  Preparations  of 
the  Mexicans  against  the  return  of  Cortes,  243. 
Cortes  besieges  the  city  with  a  fleet  on  the 
lake,  247.  The  Spaniards  repulsed  in  storming 
the  city,  249.  Guatimozin  taken  prisoner,  251. 
Cortes  appointed  governor,  250.  His  schemes 
and  arrangements,  257.  Inhuman  treatment 
of  the  natives,  ib.  Reception  of  the  new 
regulations  there,  258.  List  and  character  of 
those  authors  who  wrote  accounts  of  the  con- 
quest of,  485.  A  retrospect  into  the  form  of 
government,  policy,  and  arts  in,  3L3.  Our  in- 
formation concerning,  very  imperfect,  314. 
Origin  of  the  monarchy,  315.  Number  and 
greatness  of  the  cities,  3 16,  Mechanical  pro- 
fessions there  distinguished  from  each  other, 
317.  Distinction  of  ranks,  ib.  Political  insti- 
tutions, 319.  Power  and  solendour  of  their 
monarchs,  320.  Order  of  government,  ib. 
Provision  for  the  support  of  it,  ib.  Police  of, 
ib.  Their  arts,  321.  Their  paintings,  ib. 
Their  method  of  computing  time,  323.  Their 
wars  continual  and  ferocious,  324.  Their  fu- 
neral rites,  ib.  Imperfection  of  their  agricul- 
ture, ib.  Doubts  concerning  the  extent  of  the 
empire,  325.  Little  intercourse  among  its 
several  provinces,  ib.  Ignorance  of  money, 
326.  State  of  their  cities,  ib.  Temples  and 
other  public  buildings,  ib.  Religion  of,  329. 
Causes  of  the  depopulation  of  this  country, 
347.  The  small-pox  very  fatal  there,  348. 
Number  of  Indian  natives  remaining  there, 
350.  Description  of  the  aqueduct  for  the  sup- 
ply of  the  capital  city,  502.  See  Colonies. 

Michael,  St.,  the  gulf  of,  in  the  South  Sea,  dis- 
covered and  named  by  Balboa,  104.  The 
colony  of,  established  by  Pizarro,  268. 

Migrations  of  mankind,  why  first  made  by  land, 

Mind,  human,  the  efforts  of  it  proportioned  to 
the  wants  of  the  body,  151. 

Mines  of  South  America,  the  great  inducement 
to  population,  340.  Some  account  of,  366. 
Their  produce,  ib.  The  spirit  with  which  they 
are  worked,  367.  Fatal  effects  of  this  ardour, 
ib.  Evidence  of  the  pernicious  effects  of  la- 
bouring in  them,  514.  Of  Mexico,  total  pro- 
duce of,  to  the  Spanish  revenue,  523,  524. 

Molucca  islands,  the  Spanish  claims  on,  sold  by 
the  emperor  Charles  V.  to  the  Portuguese,  255. 

Monastic  institutions,  the  pernicious  effects  of, 
in  the  Spanish  American  colonies,  361.  Num- 
ber of  convents  there,  515. 

Monsoons,  the  periodical  course  of,  when  disco- 
vered by  navigators,  25. 

Montcsino,  a  Dominican  preacher  at  St.  Domingo, 
publicly  remonstrates  against  the  cruel  treat- 
ment of  the  Indians,  109. 

Montezuma,  the  first  intelligence  received  by  the 
Spaniards  of  this  prince,  121.  Receives  intel- 
ligence of  the  arrival  of  Fernando  Cortes  in 
his  dominions,  203.  His  presents  to  Cortes,  ib. 
Forbids  him  to  approach  his  capital,  ib.  State 
of  his  empire  at  this  time,  204.  His  character, 
ib.  His  perplexity  at  the  arrival  of  the  Spa- 
niards, ib.  His  timid  negotiations  with  Cortes, 
206.  His  scheme  for  destroying  Cortes  at  Cho- 
lula  discovered,  217.  His  irresolute  conduct, 
218.  His  first  interview  with  Cortes,  219.  Is 
seized  by  Cortes,  and  confined  to  the  Spanish 
quarters,  223.  Is  fettered,  221.  Acknowledges 
himself  a  vassal  to  the  Spanish  crown,  325 


Remains  inflexible  with  regard  to  religion,  227. 
Circumstances  of  his  death,  236.    Account  of 
a  gold  cup  of  his  in  England,  502. 
Midattoes,  in  the  Spanish  American  colonies, 
explanation  of  this  distinction,  357 

Narvaez,  Pamphilo,  is  sent  by  Velasquez  with 
an  armament  to  Mexico,  to  supersede  Cortes. 
229.  Takes  possession  of  Zempoalla.  231.  Is 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  Cortes,  233. 
How  he  carried  on  his  correspondence  with 
Montezuma,  491. 

Natchez,  an  American  nation,  their  political  in- 
stitutions, 164.  Causes  of  their  tame  submis- 
sion to  the  Spaniards,  166.  Their  religious 
doctrines,  ib. 

Navigation,  the  arts  of,  very  slowly  improved 
by  mankind,  17.  The  knowledge  of,  prior  to 
commercial  intercourse,  ib.  Imperfections  ofj 
among  the  ancients,  18.  More  improved  by 
the  invention  of  the  mariner's  compass  than 
by  all  the  efforts  of  preceding  ages,  32.  The 
first  naval  discoveries  undertaken  by  Portugal, 
33. 

Negroes,  their  peculiar  situation  under  the  Spa- 
nish dominion  in  America,  357.  Are  first  in 
troduced  into  Virginia,  412 

New  England,  first  attempts  to  settle  in,  unsuc 
cessful,  426.  Religious  disputes  give  rise  to 
the  colony  there,  427.  A  settlement  is  formed 
at  New  Plymouth  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  432. 
Plan  of  its  goverrment,  ib.  All  property  ia 
thrown  into  a.  common  stock,  433.  A  grand 
council  is  appointed,  ib.  A  new  colony  is  pro- 
jected at  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  a  charter 
granted  for  its  establishment,  434.  Its  settle- 
ment there,  435.  A  new  church  is  instituted 
there,  ib.  Its  intolerance,  436.  Charter  of  the 
English  company  of  merchants  in  London  is 
transferred  to  the  colonies,  ib.  The  colony 
at  Massachusetts  Bay  extends,  437.  None  but 
members  of  the  church  are  admitted  as  free- 
men there,  ib.  Bad  consequences  of  this  regu 
lation,  438.  The  settlement  increases,  and  the 
assembly  is  restricted  to  the  representatives  oi 
freemen,  ib.  Extent  of  political  liberty  as- 
sumed by  tho  assembly,  ib.  Spirit  of  fanati- 
cism spreads  in  the  colony,  439.  New  settlers 
arrive,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Antinomiana 
are  condemned  by  a  general  synod,  440.  Secta- 
ries settle  in  Providence  and  Rhode  Island,  ib. 
Theological  contests  give  rise  to  the  colony  of 
Connecticut,  441.  Emigrants  from  Massachu 
setts  Bay  settle  in  Connecticut,  ib.  The  Dutch, 
who  had  established  a  few  trading  towns  on 
the  river  there,  peaceably  withdraw,  ib.  Set- 
tlements are  formed  in  the  provinces  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Maine,  442.  Further  encroach- 
ments of  the  English  are  resisted  by  the  natives, 
ib.  War  with  the  Pequod  tribes  is  commenced, 
443.  Purification  of  the  army,  ib.  The  In- 
dians are  defeated,  ib.  Cruelties  exercised 
against  them,  444.  Emigrations  from  England 
to  the  colonies  are  prohibited  by  proclamation, 
ib.  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  is  sued  at 
law,  and  found  to  have  forfeited  its  rights,  ib. 
Confederacy  of  the  States  in,  445.  See  Colo- 
nies. 

Newfoundland,  its  situation  described,  462.  Dis- 
covery of,  by  Cabot,  390. 

New  Holland,  some  account  of  the  country  and 
inhabitants,  476. 

New  Plymouth,  settlement  at,  432.  See  Colo- 
nies, New  England. 

New  Spain,  discovered  and  named  by  Juan  de 
Grijalva,  120.  See  Mexico. 

Nigno,  Alonso,  his  voyage  to  America,  81. 

Norwegians,  might  in  ancient  times  have  mi 
grated  to  and  colonized  America,  136. 

Nugnez  Vela,  Blasco,  appointed  viceroy  of  Peru, 
to  enforce  the  new  regulations,  297.  His  cha- 
racter, 2D9.  Commits  Vaca  de  Castro  to  prison, 


536 


INDEX. 


ib.  Dissensions  between  him  and  the  Court  of 
Audience,  300.  Is  confined,  ib.  Recovers  his 
liberty,  301.  Resumes  his  command,  ib.  Is 
pursued  by  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  ib.  Is  defeated 
and  killed  by  Pizarro,  302. 

Ocampo,  Diego,  sent  with  a  squadron  from  His- 
paniola  to  desolate  the  country  of  Cumana, 
117. 

,  Sebastian  de,  first  sails  round  Cuba, 

and  discovers  it  to  be  an  island,  97. 

Ocean,  though  adapted  to  facilitate  the  inter- 
course between  distant  countries,  continued 
long  a  formidable  barrier,  17.  See  Compass 
and  Navigation. 

Ojeda,  Alonzo  de,  his  private  expedition  to  the 
West  Indies,  80.  His  second  voyage,  85.  Ob- 
tains a  government  on  the  continent,  98,  99. 

Olmedo,  Father  Bartholomew  de,  checks  the 
rash  zeal  of  Cortes  at  Tlascala  in  Mexico,  216. 
Is  sent  by  Cortes  to  negotiate  with  Narvaez, 
230. 

*  rellana,  Francis,  is  appointed  to  the  command 
of  a  bark  built  by  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  and  deserts 
him,  290.  Sails  down  the  Maragnon,  ib.  Re- 
turns to  Spain  with  a  report  of  wonderful  dis- 
coveries, ib.  Herrera's  account  of  his  voyage, 
499. 

Orgognez,  commands  Almagro's  party  against 
the  Pizarros,  and  is  defeated  and  killed  by 
them,  286. 

Orinoco,  the  great  river  of,  discovered  by  Chris- 
topher Columbus,  76.  Strange  method  of 
choosing  a  captain  among  the  Indian  tribes  on 
the  banks  of,  173.  The  amazing  plenty  of  fish 
in,  475. 

Otaheite,  the  inhabitants  of,  ignorant  of  the  art 
of  boiling  water,  482. 

Otumba,  battle  of,  between  Cortes  and  the  Mexi- 
cans, 239,  240. 

Ovando,  Nicholas  de,  is  sent  governor  to  Hispa- 
niola,  85.  His  prudent  regulations,  ib.  Re- 
fuses admission  to  Columbus,  on  his  fourth 
voyage,  87.  His  ungenerous  behaviour  to  Co- 
'umbus  on  his  shipwreck,  89,  90.  Receives 
.aim  at  length,  and  sends  him  home,  91.  En- 
gages in  a  war  with  the  Indians,  93.  His  cruel 
treatment  of  them,  ib.  Encourages  cultivation 
and  '/  ir:r;factures,  95.  His  method  of  trepan- 
ning the  natives  of  the  Lucayos,  96.  Is  re- 
called, 97. 

Pacific  Ocean,  why  and  by  whom  so  named,  254. 

Packet  boats,  first  esta>".4ment  of,  between 
Spain  and  her  Americas  w..Ln;'es;  373. 

Panama,  is  settled  by  Pedrarias  Davila,  107. 

Parmenides,  the  first  who  divided  the  earth  by 
zones,  451. 

Patagonians,  some  account  of,  147.  The  reality 
of  their  gigantic  size  yet  to  be  decided,  472. 

Pedrarias  Davila,  is  sent  with  a  fleet  to  super- 
sede Balboa  in  his  government  of  Santa  Maria 
on  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  105.  Treats  Balboa 
ill,  106.  Rapacious  conduct  of  his  men,  ib. 
Is  reconciled  to  Balboa,  and  gives  him  his 
daughter,  107.  Puts  Balboa  to  death,  ib.  Re- 
moves his  settlement  from  Santa  Maria  to  Pa- 
nama, ib. 

Penguin,  the  name  of  that  bird  not  derived  from 
the  Welsh  language,  456. 

Perez,  Juan,  patronizes  Columbus  at  the  court 
of  Castile,  48.  His  solemn  invocation  for  the 
success  of  Columbus's  voyage,  52, 

Periplus  of  Hanno,  the  authenticity  of  that  work 
justified,  448. 

Peru,  the  first  intelligence  concerning  this  country 
received  by  Vasco  Nugnez  de  Balboa,  104. 
The  coast  of,  first  discovered  by  Pizarro,  264. 
Pizarro's  second  arrival,  267.  His  hostile  pro- 
ceedings against  the  natives,  ib.  The  colony 
of  St.  Michael  established,  268.  State  of  the 
empire  at  the  time  of  this  invaskm,  ib.  The 


kingdom  divided  between  Huascar  and  Ata 
hualpa,  269.  Atahualpa  usurps  the  govern' 
ment,  ib.  Huascar  solicits  assistance  from 
Pizarro,  270.  Atahualpa  visits  Pizarro,  272. 
Is  seized  by  Pizarro,  273.  Agreement  foe  his 
ransom,  ib.  Is  refused  his  liberty,  275.  la 
cruelly  put  to  death,  277.  Confusion  of  the 
empire  on  this  event,  ib.  Quito  reduced  by 
Beiialcazar,  278,  279.  The  city  of  Lima 
founded  by  Pizarro,  281.  Chili  invaded  by 
Almagro,  ib.  Insurrection  of  the  Peruvians, 
282.  Almagro  put  to  death  by  Pizarro,  287. 
Pizarro  divides  the  country  among  his  follow- 
ers, 288.  Progress  of  the  Spanish  arms  there, 
289.  Francis  Pizarro  assassinated,  292.  Re- 
ception of  the  new  regulations  there,  297,  298. 
The  viceroy  confined  by  the  court  of  audience, 
300.  The  viceroy  defeated  and  killed  by  Gon- 
zalo Pizarro,  302.  Arrival  of  Pedro  de  la 
Gasca,  306.  Reduction  and  death  of  Gonzalo 
Pizarro,  308.  The  civil  wars  there  not  carried 
on  with  mercenary  soldiers,  309.  But  never- 
theless gratified  with  immense  rewards,  ib. 
Their  profusion  and  luxury,  ib.  Ferocity  of 
their  contests,  310.  Their  want  of  faith,  ib. 
Instances,  ib.  Division  of,  by  Gasca,  among 
his  followers,  311.  Writers  who  gave  accounts 
of  the  conquest  of,  493.  A  retrospect  into  the 
original  government,  arts,  and  manners  of  the 
natives,  313.  The  high  antiquity  they  pretend 
to,  329.  Their  records,  330.  Origin  of  their 
civil  policy,  ib.  This  founded  in  religion,  331 
The  authority  of  the  incas  absolute  and  un 
limited,  ib.  All  crimes  were  punished  capi 
tally,  332.  Mild  genius  of  their  religion,  ib. 
Its  influence  on  their  civil  policy,  ib. ;  and  on 
their  military  system,  333.  Peculiar  state  of 
property  there,  ib.  Distinction  of  ranks,  334. 
State  of  arts,  ib.  Improved  state  of  agricul- 
ture, ib.  Their  buildings,  335.  Their  public 
roads,  ib.  Their  bridges,  336.  Their  mode  of 
refining  silver  ore,  337.  Works  of  elegance, 
ib.  Their  civilization,  nevertheless,  but  im- 
perfect, 338.  Cuzco  the  only  place  that  had 
the  appearance  of  a  city,  ib.  No  perfect  sepa- 
ration of  professions,  ib.  Little  commercial 
intercourse,  ib.  Their  unwarlike  spirit,  ib. 
Eat  their  flesh  and  fish  raw,  339.  Brief  ac- 
count of  other  provinces  under  the  viceroy  of 
New  Spain,  ib.  Causes  of  the  depopulation 
of  this  country,  347.  The  small-pox  very  fatal 
there,  348.  "Their  method  of  building,  508. 
State  of  the  revenue  derived  from,  by  the 
crown  of  Spain,  520.  See  Colonies. 

Peter  I.,  czar  of  Russia,  his  extensive  views  in 
prosecuting  Asiatic  discoveries,  133. 

Philip  II.  of  Spain,  his  turbulent  disposition  aided 
by  his  American  treasures,  369.  Establishes 
the  colony  of  Manila,  383. 

Philip  IH.,  exhausts  his  country  by  inconsiderate 
bigotry,  370. 

Philippine  Islands,  discovered  by  Ferdinand  Ma- 
gellan, 254.  A  colony  established  there  by 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  383.  Trade  between,  and 
America,  ib. 

Phoenicians,  ancient  state  of  commerce  and  na- 
vigation among  them,  19.  Their  trade,  how 
conducted,  448. 

Physic,  the  art  of,  in  America,  why  connected 
with  divination,  184. 

Pinto,  Chevalier,  his  description  of  the  charac- 
teristic features  of  the  native  Americans,  470. 

Pinzon,  Vincent  Yanez,  commands  a  vessel 
under  Columbus  in  his  first  voyage  of  disco- 
very, 51.  Sails  to  America  on  a  private  ad- 
venture with  four  ships,  81.  Discovers  Yuca- 
tan, 97. 

Pizarro,  Ferdinand,  is  besieged  in  Cuzco  by  tlxj 
Peruvians,  282.  Is  surprised  there  by  AlmHgm, 
283.  Escapes  with  Alvarado  285.  Dofe/uis 
his  brother  at  the  court  of  Spain,  288.  la 
committed  to  prison,  ib. 


INDEX. 


537 


fitarro,  Francisco,  attends  Balboa  in  his  settle- 
ment on  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  100.  Marches 
under  him  across  the  isthmus,  where  they  dis- 
cover the  South  Sea,  103.  His  birth,  education, 
and  character,  261.  Associates  with  Almagro 
and  De  Luque  in  a  voyage  of  discovery,  262. 
His  ill  success,  ib.  Is  recalled,  and  deserted  by 
most  of  his  followers,  263,  264.  Remains  on 
the  island  of  Gorgona  for  supplies,  264.  Dis- 
covers the  coast  of  Peru,  ib.  Returns  to  Pa- 
nama, 265.  Goes  to  Spain  to  solicit  reinforce- 
ments, ib.  Procures  the  supreme  command 
for  himself,  266.  Is  assisted  with  money  by 
Cortes,  ib.  Lands  again  in  Peru,  267.  His 
hostile  proceedings  against  the  natives,  ib. 
Establishes  the  colony  of  St.  Michael,  268. 
State  of  the  Peruvian  empire  at  this  time,  ib. 
Cause  of  his  ea.-:y  penetration  into  the  country, 

270.  Is  applied  to  by  Huascar  for  assistance 
against  his  victorious  brother  Atahuaipa,  ib. 
State  of  his  forces,  ib.    Arrives  atCaxamalca, 

271.  Is  visited  by  the  inca,  272.    His  perfi- 
dious seizure  of  him,  273.    Agrees  to  Atahu- 
alpa's  offer  for  his  ransom,  ib.    Division  of 
their  plunder,  274.      Refuses  Atahuaipa  his 
liberty,  275.    His  ignorance  exposed  to  Atahu- 
aipa, 276.    Bestows  a  form  of  trial  on  the  inca, 
ib.      Puts  him  to  death,  277.     Advances  to 
Cuzco,  278.     Honours  conferred  on  him  by  the 
Spanish  court,  280.    Beginning  of  dissensions 
between  him  and  Almagro,  ib.    His  civil  regu- 
lations, ib.     Founds  the  city  of  Lima,  281. 
Insurrection  of  the  Peruvians,  282, 283.    Cuzco 
seized  by  Almagro,  284.    Deludes  Almagro  by 
negotiations,  285.    Defeats  Almagro,  and  takes 
him  prisoner,  286.     Puts  Almagro  to  death, 
337.    Divides  the  country  among  his  followers, 
283,  289.    The  impolitic  partiality  of  his  allot- 
ments, ib.    Makes  his  brother  Gonzalo  governor 
of  Quito,  289.      Is  assassinated  by  Juan  de 
Herreda,  292. 

,  Gonzalo,  is  made  governor  of  Quito 

by  his  brother  Francis,  289.  His  expedition 
over  the  Andes,  ib.  Is  deserted  by  Orellana, 
290.  His  distress  on  this  event,  ib.  His  disas- 
trous return  to  Quito,  291.  Is  encouraged  by 
the  people  to  oppose  Nugnez  Vela,  the  new 
viceroy,  299.  Assumes  the  government  of 
Peru,  301.  Marches  against  the  viceroy,  302. 
Defeats  and  kills  him,  ib.  Is  advised  by  Car- 
vajal  to  assum*1  .ne  sovereignty  of  the  country, 
ib.  Chooses  ,,0  negotiate  with  the  court  of 
Spain,  303.  Consultations  of  the  court  on  his 
conduct,  ib.  His  violent  resolutions  on  the 
arrival  of  Pedro  de  la  Gasca,  305.  Resolves 
to  oppose  him  by  violence,  306.  Marches  to 
reduce  Centcno  at  Cuzco,  307.  Defeats  him, 
ib.  Is  deserted  by  his  troops  on  the  approach 
of  Gasca,  308.  Surrenders,  and  is  executed, 
ib  His  adherents  men  of  no  principle,  309. 

Plata,  Rio  de,  discovered  by  Dias  de  Soils,  108. 
Its  amazing  width,  461. 

Playfair,  Mr.,  professor  of  mathematics  in  Edin- 
burgh, the  result  of  his  comparison  of  the  nar- 
rative and  charts  given  in  Captain  Cook's 
voyages,  published  in  1780,  and  Mr.  Coxe's 
account  of  the  Russian  discoveries,  printed  in 
the  same  year,  in  which  the  vicinity  of  the  two 
continents  of  Asia  and  America  is  clearly  as- 
certained, 468,  469. 

Pliny,  the  naturalist,  instance  of  his  ignorance  in 
geography,  451. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  Juan,  discovers  Florida,  101. 
Romantic  motive  of  his  voyage,  ib. 

Population  of  the  earth,  slow  progress  of,  17. 

Porto  Bello,  discovered  and  named  by  Christo- 
pher Columbus,  88. 

Porto  Rico,  is  settled  and  subjected  by  Juan 
Ponce  de  Leon,  97. 

Porto  Santo,  the  first  discovery  of,  36. 

Portugal,  when  and  by  whom  the  court  of  In- 
.quisition  was  first  introduced  into,  452. 
VOL.  I.— 68 


Portuguese,  a  view  of  the  circumstances  that 
induced  them  to  undertake  the  discovery  of 
unknown  countries,  33.  First  African  disco- 
veries of,  34.  Madeira  discovered,  36.  They 
double  Cape  Bojador,  ib.  Obtain  a  papal  grant 
of  all  the  countries  they  should  discover,  38. 
Cape  Verd  islands  and  the  Azores  discovered, 
ib.  Voyage  to  the  East  Indies  by  Vasco  de 
Gama.  79. 

Potosi,  the  rich  silver  mines  there,  how  disco- 
vered, 366.  The  mines  of,  greatly  exhausted, 
and  scarcely  worth  working,  519. 

Prisoners  of  war,  how  treated  by  the  native 
Americans,  170. 

Property,  the  idea  of,  unknown  to  the  native 
Americans,  161.  Notions  of  the  Brasiliana 
concerning,  477. 

Protector  of  the  Indians  in  Spanish  America,  his 
function,  359. 

Ptolemy,  the  philosopher,  his  geographical  de- 
scriptions more  ample  and  exact  than  those  of 
his  predecessors,  27.  His  Geography  translated 
by  the  Arabians,  28.  His  erroneous  position 
of  the  Ganges,  449. 

Quetlavaca,  brother  of  Montezuma,  succeeds 
him  as  king  of  Mexico,  243.  Conducts  in  per- 
son the  fierce  attacks  which  oblige  Cortes  to 
abandon  his  capital,  ib.  Dies  of  the  small- 
pox, ib. 

Quevcdo,  bishop  of  Darien,  his  conference  with 
Las  Casas  on  the  treatment  of  the  Indians,  in 
the  presence  of  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  115. 

Qicksiluer,  the  property  of  the  famous  mines  of, 
at  Guanacabelica,  reserved  by  the  crown  of 
Spain,  519.  The  price  of,  why  reduced,  520. 

Quinquina,  or  Jesuits'  Bark,  a  production  pecu- 
liar to  Peru,  368. 

Quipos,  or  historic  cords  of  the  Peruvians,  some 
account  of,  330. 

Quito,  the  kingdom  of,  conquered  by  Huana 
Capac,  inca  of  Peru,  269.  Is  left  to  his  son 
Atahuaipa,  ib.  Atahualpa's  general  revolts 
after  his  death,  278.  Is  reduced  by  the  Spa< 
niards  under  Benalcazar,  278, 279.  Benalcazar 
deposed,  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro  made  governor, 
289. 

Raleigh,  resumes  the  plan  of  settling  colonies  in 
North  America,  397.  Despatches  Amadas  and 
Barlow  to  examine  the  intended  settlements, 
who  discover  Virginia,  and  return  to  England, 
397,  398.  Establishes  a  colony  in  Virginia, 
which,  on  account  of  famine,  is  obliged  to  re- 
turn to  England,  398,  399.  Makes  a  second 
attempt  to  settle  a  colony  there,  which  perishes 
by  famine,  400.  Abandons  the  design,  ib. 

Ramusio,  his  defence  of  Hanno's  account  of  the 
coast  of  Africa,  448. 

Register  ships,  for  what  purpose  introduced  in 
the  trade  between  Spain  and  her  colonies,  376. 
Supersede  the  use  of  the  galeons,  ib. 

Religion  of  the  native  Americans,  an  inquiry 
into,  179. 

Rib  as,  his  account  of  the  political  state  of  the 
people  of  Cinaloa,  481.  Of  their  want  of  reli- 
gion, 483. 

Ri'o  dela  Plata  and  Tucuman,  account  of  those 
provinces,  343. 

Rivers,  the  amazing  size  of  those  in  America,  123. 

Robinson,  Professor,  his  remarks  on  the  tempera- 
ture of  various  climates,  462. 

Roldan,  Francis,  is  left  chief  justice  in  Hispanlola 
by  Christopher  Columbus,  73.  Becomes  the 
ringleader  of  a  mutiny,  77.  Submits,  78. 

Romans,  their  progress  in  navigation  and  disco- 
very, 24.  Their  military  spirit  averse  to  me- 
chanical arts  and  commerce,  ib.  Navigation 
and  trade  favoured  in  the  provinces  under  their 
government,  24f  25.  Their  extensive  discove- 
ries by  land,  27.  Their  empire  and  the  sciences 
destroyed  together,  ib. 


INDEX 


Rubruguis,  Father,  his  embassy  from  France  lo 
the  Chan  of  the  Tartars,  31. 

Russia,  a  trade  to,  opened  by  the  English,  393. 
Restricted  to  a  company  of  British  merchants, 
ib  The  connection  with  the  Russian  empire 
encouraged  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  395. 

Russians,  Asiatic  discoveries  made  by  them,  134. 
Uncertainty  of,  467. 

Sacotecas,  the  rich  silver  mines  there,  when  dis- 
covered, 366. 

San  Salvador,  discovered  and  named  by  Chris- 
topher Columbus,  56. 

Sancho,  Don  Pedro,  account  of  his  history  of  the 
conquest  of  Peru,  495. 

Sandoval,  the  shocking  barbarities  executed  by, 
in  Mexico,  257. 

,  Francisco  Tello  de,  is  sent  by  the 

emperor  Charles  V.  to  Mexico,  as  visitador  of 
America,  297.  His  moderation  and  prudence, 
ib. 

Savage  life,  a  general  estimate  of,  189. 

Scalps,  motive  of  the  native  Americans  for  taking 
them  from  their  enemies,  479. 

Serraloo,  Marquis  de,  his  extraordinary  gains 
during  his  viceroyalty  in  America,  526. 

Seville,  extraordinary  increase  of  its  manufac- 
tures by  the  American  trade,  520.  Its  trade 
greatly  reduced,  ib.  The  American  trade  re- 
moved to  Cadiz,  371. 

Silver  ore,  method  of  refining  it  practised  by  the 
native  Peruvians,  337. 

Small-pox,  Indian  territories  depopulated  by,  438. 

Sonora,  late  discoveries  of  rich  mines  made  there 
by  the  Spaniards,  340. 

Soul,  American  ideas  of  the  immortality  of, 
183. 

Soutk  Sea,  first  discovered  by  Vasco  Nugnez  de 
Balboa,  104. 

Spain,  general  idea  of  the  policy  of,  with  regard 
to  the  American  colonies,  350.  Early  interpo- 
sition of  the  regal  authority  in  the  colonies,  ib. 
All  the  American  dominions  of,  subjected  to 
two  viceroys,  352.  A  third  viceroyalty  lately 
established,  ib.  The  colonies  of,  compared 
with  those  of  Greece  and  Rome,  354.  Advan- 
tages she  derived  from  her  colonies,  369.  Why 
she  does  not  still  derive  the  same,  ib.  Rapid 
decline  of  trade,  370.  This  decline  increased 
by  the  mode  of  regulating  the  intercourse  with 
America,  ib.  Employs  guarda  costas  to  check 
illicit  trade,  375.  The  use  of  register  ships  in- 
troduced, 376.  Establishment  of  the  company 
pfCaraccas,377.  Enlargement  of  commercial 
ideas?  there,  ib.  Free  trade  permitted  to  several 
provinces,  378.  Revenue  derived  from  Ame- 
rica, 384.  Specification,  523. 

Spaniards,  their  curious  form  of  taking  posses- 
sion of  newly  discovered  countries,  459. 

Strabo,  a  citation  from,  proving  the  great  geo- 
graphical ignorance  of  the  ancients,  449.  His 
own  want  of  geographical  knowledge,  451. 

Superstition  always  connected  with  a  desire  of 
penetrating  into  the  secrets  of  futurity,  184. 

Tapia,  Christoval  de,  is  sent  from  Spain  to  Mex- 
ico, to  supersede  Cortes  in  his  command,  but 
fails  in  the  attempt,  256. 

Tartars,  the  possibility  of  their  migrating  to 
America,  135. 

Tithes  of  Spanish  America,  how  applied  by  the 
court  of  Spain,  524. 

Tlascala,  in  Mexico,  character  of  the  natives  of, 
213.  Oppose  the  passage  of  the  Spaniards,  ib. 
Are  reduced  to  sue  for  neace,  214,  215. 

Tobacco,  that  of  Cuba  the  best  flavoured  of  any 
in  all  America,  368.  The  use  of,  first  intro- 
duced into  England,  399.  Culture  of,  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  its  consequences,  411.  Its  exporta 
tion  theqce  is  annually  increased,  412.  Trade 
for,  opened  with  Holland.  413.  Grants  and 
monopoly  of,  4J8,  419. 


Toupinambos,  account  of  their  ferocious  courage, 
from  Lery,  479. 

Trade,  no  efforts  made  in  England  to  extend  it 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  Vli.  or  his  immediate 
successors,  391.  To  what  causes  that  neglect 
was  owing,  ib, 

,  free,  opened  between  Spain  and  her  colo- 
nies, 378.  Increase  of  the  Spanish  customs 
from  this  measure,  522. 

winds,  the  periodical  course  of,  when  dis- 
covered by  navigators,  25. 

Travellers,  ancient,  character  of  their  writings 
31,32. 

Trinidad^  the  island  of,  discovered  by  Christopher 
Columbus  on  his  third  voyage,  76. 

Tucuman  and  Rio  de  la  Plata,  account  of  those 
provinces,  343. 

Tyre,  the  commerce  of  that  city,  how  conducted, 
448. 

Ulloa,  Don  Antonio  de,  his  description  of  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  native  Ameri- 
cans, 479.  His  reason  for  the  Americans  not 
being  so  sensible  of  pain  as  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, 480.  His  account  of  the  goods  exported 
from  Spain  to  America,  with  the  duty  on  them, 
525. 

Vaca  de  Castro,  Christoval,  is  sent  from  Spain 
to  regulate  the  government  of  Peru,  288.  Ar- 
rives at  Quito,  293.  Assumes  the  supreme 
authority,  ib.  Defeats  young  Almagro,  294. 
The  severity  of  his  proceedings,  ib.  Prevents 
an  insurrection  concerted  to  oppose  the  new 
regulations,  298.  Is  imprisoned  by  the  new 
viceroy,  299. 

Valoerde,  Father  Vincent,  his  curious  harangue 
to  Atahualpa,  inca  of  Peru,  272.  Gives  his 
sanction  to  the  trial  and  condemnation  of  Ata- 
hualpa, 277. 

Vega,  Garcilasso  de  la,  character  of  his  com- 
mentary on  the  Spanish  writers  concerning 
Peru,  495. 

Vegetables,  their  natural  tendency  to  fertilize  the 
soil  where  they  grow,  129. 

Velasquez,  Diego  de,  conquers  the  island  of  Cuba, 
100.  118.  His  preparations  for  invading  New 
Spain,  197.  His  difficulty  in  choosing  a  com- 
mander for  the  expedition,  ib.  Appoints  Fer- 
nando Cortes,  198.  His  motives  to  this  choice, 
ib.  Becomes  suspicious  of  Cortes,  199.  Orders 
Cortes  to  be  deprived  of  his  commission,  and 
arrested,  ib.  Sends  an  armament  to  Mexico 
after  Cortes,  228. 

Venegas,  P.,  his  character  of  the  native  Califor- 
nians,  474. 

Vemreal  disease,  originally  brought  from  Ame- 
rica, 148.  Appears  to  be  wearing  out,  149. 
Its  first  rapid  progress,  472. 

Venezuela,  history  of  that  settlement,  345. 

Venice,  its  origin  as  a  maritime  state,  29.  Travels 
of  Marco  Polo,  31. 

Verd  Islands,  discovered  by  the  Portuguese,  38. 

Viceroys,  all  the  Spanish  dominions  in  America 
subjected  to  two,  351.  A  third  lately  esta- 
blished, ib.  Their  powers,  ib.  A  fourth  esta- 
blished, 380. 

Villa,  Segnor,  his  account  of  the  state  of  popu- 
lation in  New  Spain,  511.  His  detail  of  the 
Spanish  American  revenue,  523. 

Villefagna,  Antonio,  one  of  Cortes's  soldiers, 
foments  a  mutiny  among  his  troops,  245.  Is 
discovered  by  Cortes  and'hanged,  ib. 

Virginia,  first  discovery  of,  398.  Attempt  to 
settle  there  unsuccessful,  398,  399.  A  second 
attempt  to  settle  there,  when  the  colony  per- 
ishes by  famine,  400.  The  scheme  of  settling 
there  abandoned,  ib.  Is  divided  into  two  colo- 
nies, 402.  Charters  are  granted  to  two  com- 
panies to  make  settlements  in,  ib.  Captain 
Newport  sails  from  England  to,  and  discovers 
the  Chesapeak,  404.  He  proceeds  up  Jamea 


INDEX. 


539 


elver,  and  founds  a  colony  in  Jamestown,  ib. 
Its  bad  administration,  ib.  Captain  Smith  is 
excluded  from  his  seat  at  the  council  board, 
405.  The  colony  is  annoyed  by  the  Indians, 
and  suffers  from  scarcity  and  the  unhealthiness 
of  the  climate,  ib.  Smith  is  recalled,  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  colony  restored,  ib.  He  is 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians,  his  life  spared, 
and  his  liberty  obtained  through  the  interces- 
sion of  the  favourite  daughter  of  an  Indian 
chief,  405,  406.  Returns  to  Jamestown,  and 
finds  the  colony  in  distress,  406.  The  colonists 
are  deceived  by  the^appearance  of  gold,  ib.  A 
survey  of  the  country  is  undertaken  by  Smith, 
ib.  The  company  obtains  a  new  charter  with 
more  ample  privileges,  407.  The  jurisdiction 
of  the  council  in,  is  abolished,  and  the  govern- 
ment vested  in  a  council  resident  in  London, 
ib.  Lord  Delaware  is  appointed  governor  and 
captain-general  of  the  colony,  and  Sir  Thomas 
Gates  and  Sir  George  Summers  are  vested  with 
the  command  till  his  arrival,  ib.  The  vessel 
in  which  they  embark  is  stranded  on  the  coast 
of  Bermudas,  ib.  Smith'  returns  to  England, 
and  anarchy  prevails  in  the  colony,  408.  The 
Indians  withhold  supplies,  and  the  colony  is 
reduced  by  famine,  ib.  Gates  and  Summers 
arrive  from  Bermudas,  and  find  the  colony  in 
a  desperate  situation,  ib.  They  are  about  to 
return  to  England,  when  Lord  Delaware  ar- 
rives, 409.  He  reconciles  all  differences,  and 
perfectly  restores  subordination,  ib.  Is  obliged 
to  resign  the  government,  and  return  to  Eng- 
land on  account  of  his  health,  ib.  Is  super- 
seded by  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  who  establishes 
martial  law,  ib.  Another  charter  is  granted 
to  the  colony,  with  new  privileges,  410.  The 
land  is  cultivated,  and  a  treaty  concluded  with 
the  Indians,  ib.  Rolfe,  a  man  of  rank  in  the 
colony,  marries  the  daughter  of  an  Indian 


chief,  ib.     The  land  first  becomes  property, 
introduced,  ib. 


411.    The  culture  of  tobacco  is  ir 


The  quantity  exported  increases  every  year, 

412.  Negroes  are  first  introduced,  ih.    A  ge- 
neral assembly  of  representatives  is  formed, 
ib.    A  new  constitution  is  given  to  the  colony, 
and  a  trade  for  tobacco  opened  with  Holland, 

41 3.  The  necessary  precautions  for  the  defence 
of  the  colony  being  neglected,  a  general  mas- 
sacre of  the  English  is  planned  by  the  Indians, 
and  executed  in  most  of  the  settlements,  413, 

414.  A  bloody  war  is  commenced  with  the 
Indians,  414.    Their  plantations  are  attacked, 
and  the  owners  murdered,  415.    A  few  escape 
to  the  woods,  where  they  perish  with  hunger, 
ib.    The  settlements  extend,  and  industry  re- 
vives, ib.    The  strength  of  the  colony  is  consi- 
derably weakened,  418.    A  temporary  council 
is  appointed  for  its  government,  ib.    The  arbi- 
trary government  of  the  colonies  on  the  acces- 
sion of  Charles  I.,  ib.    The  colonists  seize  Sir 


John  Harvey,  the  governor,  and  send  him  pri 
soner  to  England,  419.  He  is  released  by  the 
king,  and  reinstated  in  his  government,  ib.  la 
succeeded  by  Sir  John  Berkeley,  whose  wise 
administration  is  productive  of  the  best  effects, 
ib.  New  privileges  are  granted  to  the  colony, 
which  flourishes  under  the  new  government, 
420.  It  is  attacked  by  the  Indians,  423.  Dis- 
contents are  produced  by  grants  of  land  from 
the  crown,  ib.  An  insurrection  breaks  out, 
and  the  governor  and  council  are  forced  to  fly, 
424.  They  apply  to  England  for  succour,  425. 
The  rebellion  is  terminated  by  the  death  of 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  ib.  The  governor  is  rein- 
stated, and  an  assembly  called,  ib.  The  mo- 
deration of  its  proceedings,  ib.  General  state 
of  the  colony  till  the  year  1688,  426.  See 
Colonies. 

folcanos,  remarkable  number  of,  in  the  northern 
parts  of  the  globe,  discovered  by  the  Russians, 
467. 

Wafer,  Lionel,  his  account  of  a  peculiar  race  of 
diminutive  Americans,  146.  Compared  with 
similar  productions  in  Africa,  ib. 

War  song  of  the  native  Americans,  the  senti- 
ments and  terms  of,  479. 

Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh,  sails  in  search  of  a  north 
east  passage  to  India,  393.  Steers  along  the 
coast  of  Norway,  and  doubles  the  North  Cape, 
ib.  His  squadron  is  separated  in  a  storm,  and 
his  ship  driven  into  an  obscure  harbour  in  Rus- 
sian Lapland,  where  he  and  all  his  companions 
are  frozen  to  death,  ib. 

Women,  the  condition  of,  among  the  native  Ame- 
ricans, 153,  154.  Are  not  prolific,  154.  Are 
not  permitted  to  join  in  their  drunken  feasts, 
188.  Nor  to  wear  ornaments,  481. 

Xcrez,  Francisco  de,  secretary  to  Pizarro,  the 
earliest  writer  on  his  Peruvian  expedition,  495 

Ximenes,  Cardinal,  his  regulations  for  the  treat- 
ment of  the  Indians  in  the  Spanish  colonies, 
111.  Patronizes  the  attempt  of  Ferdinand 
Magellan,  253. 

Yucatan,  the  province  of,  discovered  by  Pinzon 
and  Dias  de  Solis,  97.  Described,  460,  461. 
From  whence  that  province  derives  its  value, 
342.  Policy  of  the  court  of  Spain  with  respect 
to,  ib. 

Zarate,  Don  Augustine,  character  of  his  History 
of  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  495. 

Zones,  the  earth  how  divided  into,  by  the  geo- 
graphy of  the  ancients,  26.  By  whom  first  so 
divided,  451. 

Zummaraga,  Juan  de,  first  bishop  of  Mexico, 
the  destroyer  of  all  the  ancient  records  of  the 
Mexican  empire,  314. 


QUESTIONS 

FOR    THE 

EXAMINATION   OF   STUDENTS. 

BY  JOHN  FROST,  A.M. 


'•1 


QUESTIONS 

FOR 

EXAMINATION   OF   STUDENTS 

IN 

ROBERTSON'S  HISTORY  OF  AMERICA. 


N.  B. — The  figures  prefixed  to  each  paragraph  refer  to  the  pages  of  Harper's  stereotype 
edition  uj  Robertson's  History  of  America. 


BOOK   I. 

Page  17. 

Was  the  earth  rapidly  peopled? — What  oc- 
casioned the  first  dispersion  of  the  human 
race? — How  were  the  early  migrations  made? 
—Were  navigation  and  ship-building  rapidly 
perfected? — How  is  their  early  imperfection 
proved? — From  what  era  must  we  date  the 
origin  of  commerce: 

Page  18. 

What  is  the  first  species  of  commerce'; — 
Rive  some  account  of  its  progress. — What 
besides  conquest  became  a  motive  for  long 
voyages  ? — Of  what  did  trade  become  a  great 
source? — Did  navigation  advance  as  rapidly 
as  commerce  ?— Before  the  discovery  of  the 
mariner's  compass  how  far  were  voyages  ex- 
tended I — Were  voyages  longer  than  at  pre- 
sent ? — At  what  season  were  they  undertaken  ? 

Page  19. 

Where  did  the  Egyptians  open  a  commerce  1 
—What  seas  were  crossed  in  these  voyages  ?— 
By  what  route  were  their  commodities  brought 
from  India  to  Egypt7— What  change  took 
place  in  the  character  of  the  Egyptians  ? — 
Where  is  Egypt?— What  other  ancient  nation 
was  devoted  to  commerce  ? — Where  was  an- 
cient Phoenicia? — What  were  its  commercial 
cities  ? — Which  way  is  it  from  Tyre  to  Egypt  ? 
— At  what  did  the  Phoenicians  aim?— What 
places  did  their  ships  visit?— Where  are  the 
Straits  of  Gades? — What  is  the  modern  name? 
— Did  the  Phoenicians  plant  colonies  ? — Where 
did  they  acquire  commodious  harbours  ? — With 
what  countries  did  they  establish  a  regular  in- 
tercourse?— Under  what  kings  did  the  Jews 
direct  their  attention  to  commerce  ?— How  did 
they  obtain  a  share  of  the  Phoenician  com- 
merce ? 

Page  20. 

Where  is  Idumea ?— Where  is  Palestine?— 
Which  way  from  Phoenicia? — Which  way  are 
Tyre  and  Sidon  from  Jerusalem? — Whither 
did  Solomon  send  fleets  ?— Where  were  prob- 
ably the  places  called  Ophir  and  Tarshish? 
— Did  the  Jews  long  continue  commerce  ? — 
Did  they  improve  navigation  or  extend  dis- 
covery?— Who  were  the  descendants  of  the 
Phoenicians  ? — Where  was  ancient  Carthage  ? 
— Did  the  Carthaginians  inherit  the  commer- 
cial spirit  ? — What  countries  did  their  voyagers 
visit  in  the  north-west? — What  countries  in 
the  south  ? — How  far  south  did  they  sail  ? — 
What  islands  did  they  discover? — Did  they 
undertake  voyages  of  discovery  ?— Under  what 


leaders? — Describe  the  voyage  of  Hanno.— 
Of  Himlico. 

Page  21. 

Describe  the  voyage  said  to  have  been  ac- 
complished by  a  Phoenician  fie- 1  fitted  out  by 
Necho.— Who  else  is  said  to  have  accom 
plished  the  same? — Are  these  accounts  well 
authenticated  ? — Why  did  the  Phoenician  and 
Carthaginian  voyagers  conceal  their  disco- 
veries?— When  did  the  memorials  of  their 
naval  skill  perish  ?— Did  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans learn  navigation  and  commerce  from  the 
Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians?— What  was 
the  first  object  among  the  early  Grecian  voya- 
gers?— What  was  the  extent  of  the  famous 
expedition  of  the  Argonauts? — What  is  the 
modern  name  of  the  Euxine  Sea  ?— Had  navi- 
gation advanced  much  in  Homer's  time  1 

Page  22 

Describe  the  ships  of  th ;  early  Greeks.— To 
what  rank  among  maritime  nations  did  th 
ancient  Greeks  afterward  arrive? — What  sort 
of  vessels  were  used  in  the  Persian  war  ?— 
How  far  did  the  ancient  Grecian  commerce 
extend  ?— With  whom  was  their  chief  inter 
course?— What  places  did  they  occasionally 
visit  ? — Which  way  from  Greece  is  Asia  Mino 
or  Lesser  Asia?—  Italy 7- -Sicily ? — The  Eux- 
ine ?— The  Hellespont  ? — What  example  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  Greeks  is  quoted  ?— How  far 
did  the  geographical  knowledge  of  the  Greeks 
extend  ?— Of  what  facts  were  they  ignorant 

Page  23. 

What  expedition  enlarged  the  geographical 
knowledge  of  the  Greeks  ?— What  commercial 
republic  was  among  the  conquests  of  Alex 
ander? — After  reducing  Tyre  and  Egypt  what 
plan  did  he  form  ? — What  city  did  he  found 
— Where?— With  what  design? — What  was 
the  consequence  of  its  situation? — Whither 
did  he  conduct  his  army  by  land  ? — How  far 
into  India  did  he  advance  ? — What  did  he  ro- 
solve  to  examine? — By  what  communication 
did  he  design  to  furnish  his  Asiatic  dominions 
with  the  commodities  of  the  East  ?— How  did 
he  design  to  distribute  them  to  the  rest  of  the 
world? — Whom  did  he  send  to  survey  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  ?— Was  this  justly  considered  a  grea 
undertaking  ? 

Page  24. 

In  executing  it,  what  surprising  discovery 
was  made? — How  was  it  regarded? — How 
long  did  the  voyage  last?— Was  the  navigation 
to  India  by  this  course  continued  ?— Who  were 
enriched  afterward  by  the  Indian  trade  of 


644 


QUESTIONS. 


Alexandria?— What  progress  did  the  Roman 
make  in  navigation  and  discovery  ? — Why  wa 
this  ?— What  made  them  first  aim  at  maritim 
power  ? — For  what  purpose  was  this  powe 
used?— Did  the  Romans  ever  become  a  com 
mercial  people? — In  whose  hands  did  thei 
commerce  remain? — Was  it  well  protectec 
and  profitable  ? — What  improved  under  it  ? 

Page  25. 

What  fact  was  observed  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  ?— What  use  was  made  of  this  obser 
vation  ?— What  was  the  utmost  limit  of  th 
Roman  navigation? — How  far  did  traveller 
probably  penetrate  by  land? — What  amoun 
of  money  was  drawn  annually  from  Rome  b> 
the  Indian  trade  ? — What  nnmber  of  ships  an 
nually  sailed  from  the  Arabian  Gulf  to  India 
--How  was  the  knowledge  of  remote  countries 
obtained  in  ancient  times?— What  countries o 
Europe  were  conquered  by  the  Romans  ? 

Page  26. 

In  Africa  ? — In  Asia  ? — Of  what  countries  h 
Europe  were  the  ancient  Romans  ignorant  ? — 
In  Africa  ? — In  Asia  ? — What  did  the  ancients 
believe  concerning  the  Zones  ? — By  what  class 
of  people  was  this  theory  held? — What  conse^ 
quences  follow  from  this  theory  ? 

Page  27 

What  other  extravagant  theory  did  the  an. 
cients  believe  ?— What  does  this  theory  prove  < 
—Who  brought  geography  to  its  highest  point 
among  the  ancients  ? — When  did  he  flourish 
and  what  did  he  publish  ? — Did  geographica 
knowledge  decline  after  Ptolemy's  time? — 
What  city  became  first  in  point  of  commerce  ? 
—What  was  the  consequence  of  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  empire  ?— What  was  the  first  effect  o. 
the  settlement  of  the  barbarous  nations  in  the 
south  of  Europe? 

Page  28. 

Did  geographical  science  nearly  perish  in 
the  wreck  of  the  Roman  empire  ? — Did  com- 
merce?— What  prevented  commerce  from 
ceasing  altogether?— How  far  did  the  trade  of 
Constantinople  extend?— After  the  conquest 
of  Egypt  by  the  Arabians,  how  were  commodi- 
ties conveyed  from  India  to  Constantinople  ? 
— How  did  the  Arabians  acquire  a  fondness 
for  geographical  science?— Did  they  advance 
the  science?— Where  is  Arabia  ?— Which  way 
from  Egypt  ? 

Page  29. 

What  country  first  began  to  recover  from 
the  desolation  and  barbarism  occasioned  by 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  ?— What  hap- 
pened to  the  Italian  cities  ?— What  was  the 
consequence?— What  foreign  city  became  the 
chief  mart  of  the  Italians?— At  what  other 
cities  did  they  purchase  the  commodities  of 
the  East?— Where  is  Aleppo?— Tripoli  ?— 
Syria?— How  were  the  goods  conveyed  from 
India  to  these  ports  ? — To  what  port  of  Egypt 
did  the  Italian  merchants  resort? — What  were 
the  chief  commercial  cities  of  Italy  ? — To  what 
countries  beyond  the  Mediterranean  did  their 
merchants  resort  ?— What  event  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  commerce  ?— Who  furnished  trans- 
.  ports  and  provisions  to  the  crusaders  ?-  Were 
the  Italians  enriched  by  the  crusades  1 

Page  30. 

Did  the  other  countries  of  Europe  partici- 
pate in  the  benefits  of  the  crusades  ?— Give  an 
account  of  the  travels  of  Benjamin  of  Tudela. 
—Give  an  account  of  the  mission  of  Carpini 
and  Ascolino. 


Page  31. 

What  induced  St.  Louis  to  send  a  mlssteif 
to  Tartary?— Who  were  sent?— What  was 
the  result?— Who  was  Marco  Polo?— When 
did  he  flourish  ?— Under  whose  protection  di(f 
he  travel  ?— How  long  ?— What  countries  be- 
fore unknown  did  he  visit?— What  English- 
man visited  the  same  countries  ?— When  ?— 
Where  is  Pekin  ?— Japan  ? 

Page  32. 

What  was  the  character  of  the  narratives 
of  these  travellers  ?— What  was  their  effect 
on  the  public?— What  important  discovery 
was  made  at  this  time  ?— What  use  did  navi- 
gators make  of  it  ?— Who  was  the  author  of 
the  discovery?— What  injustice  did  he  suffer? 
—Why  was  not  the  discovery  immediately 
used  for  the  purpose  of  making  distant  dis- 
coveries ? 

Page  33. 

How  long  time  elapsed  before  it  was  used 
for  discovery?— For  what  purposes  did  the 
Spaniards  first  visit  the  Canaries?— Where 
are  they  ?— To  whom  did  Clement  VI.  give 
them?— By  what  right? — Who  conquered 
them  ? — How  far  had  navigation  advanced  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  ?— What 
kingdom  first  roused  that  spirit  of  curiosity 
and  enterprise  which  led  to  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World  ?— Who  was  trained  in  this 
school  ? 

Page  34. 

What  had  raised  the  military  spirit  and  en- 
terprise of  the  Portuguese  ? — When  did  John 
1.  become  king  of  Portugal? — What  was  his 
character?— For  what  did  he  equip  a  fleet  and 
armament?— Whither  did  he  send  ships  for 
discovering  new  regions  ?— What  may  we 
date  from  this  ?— What  had  been  the  former 
boundary  of  the  Portuguese  voyagers  ?  * 

Page  35. 

What  was  the  literary  character  of  the  Por- 
uguese  in  the  fifteenth  century  ?— How  far  did 
heir  discoverers  go  in  the  first  voyage  ? — What 
was  the  character  of  Henry  duke  of  Viseo? — 
Where  did  he  fix  his  residence? — For  what 
jurpose? — To  what  sources  of  information 
did  he  apply?— -Whom  did  he  engage  in  his 
service  ? 

Page  36. 

Describe  his  first  effort  ?— What  island  did 
Zarco  and  Vaz  discover  ?— What  was  done- 
next  year?— Describe  the  settlement  of  Ma- 
deira and  its  consequences  ? — Who  first  dou- 
)led  Cape  Bojador  ?— When  ? 

Page  37. 

What  further  discoveries  did  the  Portuguese 
make  towards  the  south  of  Africa  ?— Where  is 
he  river  Senegal? — In  what  latitude? — In- 
what  latitude  is  Cape  Blanco  ?— Cape  Verd  ?— 
Vhat  sort  of  inhabitants  did  the  Portuguese 
nd  south  of  the  Senegal  ?— What  objections 
fere  made  to  prince  Henry's  schemes  ?— Was 
e  deterred  by  them  ?— Who  supported  him  in 
is  designs  1— What  did  he  request  of  the 
ope? 

rege  38. 

hat  grant  was  obtained  from  the  pope  ? — 
Vhat  advantage  arose  from  it  ?— What  was 
e  effect  of  the  Portuguese  discoveries  on  the 
ublic  mind?— What  new  adventurers  entered 
eir  service  ?— What  new  discoveries  were- 
mde  by  them  ? — Where  are  the  Azores  ?— The 
ape  Verd  Isles  7— What  does  the  discovery  of 


QUESTIONS. 


045 


these  clusters  prove  ?— When  did  prince  Henry 
die  7— How  far  south  had  the  Portuguese  dis- 
coveries then  extended  ? — What  extent  of  the 
west  coast  of  Africa  was  explored  7 

Page  39. 

What  prevented  Alphonso  king  of  Portugal 
from  prosecuting  the  African  discoveries  with 
ardour?— To  whom  did  he  commit  them?— 
What  was  the  consequence  7— When  did  the 
Portuguese  cross  the  equinoctial  1 — What  then 
surprised  them  1 — When  did  John  II.  succeed 
Alphonso?— What  did  his  voyagers  find  to  he 
the  character  of  the  country  north  of  the  Sene- 
gal?—What,  south?— What  ensued  1— When 
did  king  John  fit  out  a  new  fleet?— What 
kingdoms  were  discovered? — Where  did  he 
build  forts  and  settle  colonies7 — Where  is 
Benin  ?— Congo?— Guinea? 

Page  40. 

What  country  did  the  Portuguese  expect  to 
arrive  at  by  going  round  Africa  to  the  south? 
—To  whom  did  the  king  of  Portugal  send  an 
embassy?— Was  Prester  John  a  real  person- 
age?—What  was  the  origin  of  his  name?— 
Who  were  the  ambassadors  sent  in  quest  of 
Prester  John's  dominions  by  the  king  of  Por- 
tugal ?— What  other  expedition  did  king  John 
project  ? — To  whom  was  it  intrusted  ?— When  ? 
— What  was  the  length  of  the  voyage  ? — What 
discoveries  did  he  make  7 

Page  41. 

What  cape  was  the  limit  of  his  voyage  7— 
Why  was  it  so  called  ?— How  far  did  Covillam 
and  Pay  va  travel  together  ?— What  countries 
did  they  respectively  visit  after  separating  ?— 
What  important  conclusion  was  conveyed  in 
Covillam's  despatches  ?— What  design  did  the 
king  of  Portugal  now  entertain  ?— Who  were 
alarmed  at  it  ?— Why  T— What  news  was  re- 
ceived before  the  expedition  sailed  7 

BOOK   II. 

Page  42. 

Of  what  country  was  Christopher  Columbus 
a  subject? — How  was  he  educated? — When 
did  he  first  go  to  sea  ?— What  places  did  he 
visit  in  1467?— Whose  service  did  he  next  en- 
ter?— Relate  an  adventure  of  his  off  the  coast 
of  Portugal.— Whither  did  he  go  ?— What  hap- 
pened to  him  there .' 

Page  43. 

Who  was  his  wife?— What  effect  did  the 
perusal  of  Perestrello's  papers  have  on  Colum- 
bus ? — With  what  places  did  he  trade  ? — Wha 
did  he  acquire  by  these  voyages  ?— What  was 
the  great  object  of  voyagers  at  this  time  ? — 
W'hy  7 — What  was  the  only  route  to  India 
which  had  ever  been  thought  of  before  Colum- 
bus's  time?— What  route  did  he  propose  to 
take? 

Page  44. 

On  what  arguments,  drawn  from  the  figure 
and  structure  of  the  earth,  did  Columbus  founc' 
his  belief  of  a  continent  in  the  west?— Wha 
facts  led  to  the  same  conclusion?— What  lee 
Columbus  to  believe  that  this  western  conti 
nent  was  connected  with  India  T — Did  Colum 
bus  suppose  that  the  western  continent  was 
near  the  Western  Isles  7 

Page  45. 

To  whom  did  Columbus  communicate  hi 
opinions  ?-DidPaul  encourage  him  ?— To  wha 
design  did  Columbus's  opinions -Jead  him? — 

VOL.  I.— 69.  25 


What  was  the  first  step  towards  prosecuting 
his  design  7— To  whom  did  he  first  submit  his 
reject?— How  was  it  received?— To  whom 
text  ? 

Page  46. 

How  did  the  king  receive  the  proposal  7— To 

horn  did  he  refer  it?— What  was  the  result? 

— To  whom  did  Columbus  next  apply  ? — When 

d  he  land  in  Spain  ?— To  whom  did  he  send 

is  brother  7— What  circumstances  were  un- 

avourable  to  Columbus's  success  in  Spain  7— 

low  Was  his  character  suited  to  please  the 

Spanish  7 

Page  47. 

What  did  he  gain  by  it  7— To  whom  did  Fer 
dinand  and  Isabella  remit  the  consideration  of 

Columbus's  project  ? — What  remarks  did  the 
Spanish  philosophers  make  on  Columbus's 
project  7-^-How  long  did  Columbus  urge  his 

iroject  before  obtaining  a  report  from  Tala- 

era? — What  was  the  answer  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  founded  on  this  report  ?— To  what 
Spanish  subjects  did  Columbus  next  apply  7— 
With  what  success  1 

Page  48. 

What  had  befallen  Bartholomew  Columbus? 
— Who  prevented  Columbus  from  leaving 
Spain,  and  going  to  England  7 — What  was  the 
character  of  Perez  7— To  whom  did  Perez  ap- 
ply on  behalf  of  Columbus?— What  did  Isa- 
oella  do?— What  was  the  first  effect  of  the 
nterview  ? — What  new  friends  did  Columbus 
acquire  ?— How  did  Ferdinand  regard  Colum- 
bus's plot  7 

Page  49. 

What  demands  did  Columbus  make  7 — How 
did  the  commissioners  proceed  7 — What  was 
the  result  of  the  negotiation  7— What  did  Co- 
lumbus then  do  7 — What  great  event  happened 
about  this  time  7 — What  advantage  did  Quin* 
tanilla  and  Santangel  take  of  it  7— What  argu- 
ments did  they  offer  to  the  queen? 

Page  50. 

What  was  the  effect  7 — What  generous  offer 
did  Isabella  make? — How  did  Santangel  re- 
ceive it '.' — When  was  the  treaty  of  negotiation 
signed?— What  was  the  first  article?— The 
second  7— Third  7— Fourth  ?— Fifth  7— How  did 
Ferdinand  behave7 

Page  51. 

Who  defrayed  the  expense  7— What  precau- 
tion was  taken  with  respect  to  the  Portuguese  7 
— Where  was  the  expedition  fitted  ? — Where 
is  Palos  7 — Who  assisted  and  accompanied  Co- 
lumbus 7 — Of  what  did  the  armament  consist  ? 
— Who  were  the  several  commanders,  and 
what  were  their  vessels'  names  7 — What  was 
the  number  of  men  ? — What  was  the  whole 
sum  employed  in  fitting  out  the  squadron  7 — 
What  circumstances  rendered  the  undertaking 
a  very  bold  one  ? 

Page  52. 

What  religious  act  preceded  the  embarka- 
tion ?— When  did  the  squadron  sail  7— Where 
did  they  arrive  August  13th  7— Where  are  these 
islands  ? — What  accident  happened  to  the  Pin- 
ta? — Whence  and  when  did  Columbus  next 
take  his  departure  7 — What  disposition  did  the 
sailors  manifest  7 — How  were  the  effects  of  it 
prevented  7— What  character  and  qualifications 
did  Columbus  now  exhibit  1 

Page  53. 
What  did  he  endeavour  to  conceal  ?— What 


S>46 


QUESTIONS. 


new  phenomenon  respecting  the  compass 
alarmed I  them  ?-How  did  Columbus  dissipate 
the  fears  occasioned  by  this  appearance ?- 
What  wind  did  he  fall  in  with  ?-What  new 
appearance  alarmed  the  sailors  400  leagues 
west  of  the  Canaries  ?-How  did  Columhus 
recoHcile  them  to  this  .'-How  far  had  they 
advanced,  October  lst?-How  far  didColu.u- 
bus  pretend  that  they  had  advanced? 

;    Page  54. 

What  did  the  sailors  now  resolve  to  do?— 
How  did  Columbus  prevent  them  from  open 
mutiny?— By  what  did  he  next  steer  his 
course 1 1— Did  he  make  the  land  in  this  direc- 
tion 7 — What  was  the  consequence * 

Page  55. 

By  what  means  did  he  overcome  this  new 
.  difficulty  ?- What  signs  of  land  appeared  ?- 
What  orders  did  Columbus  give  ?— What  did 
Columbus  discover  at  10  o'clock,  P.  M.?— From 
which  ship  was  the  cry  of  land  first  heard  ?— 
What  was  discovered  in  the  morning?— What 
religious  act  was  performed  ?— How  did  the 
crews  behave  towards  Columbus  ?— Whal  was 
done  at  sunrise?— What  was  discovered  on 
shore  ? 

Page  56. 

How  did  the  voyagers  behave  on  landing  ? 
—For  whom  did  they  take  possession  of  the 
country? -How  did  the  natives  regard  the 
Spaniards  and  their  ships?— Of  this  newly 
discovered  island,  what  was  the  appearance  of 
the  soil  ?— Climate  ?— Trees  ?— Inhabitants  ?— 
What  sort  of  trade  was  carried  on  between 
the  Spaniards  and  natives?— What  were  the 
boats  of  the  natives  called?— What  title  and 
authority  did  Columbus  assume?— What  did 
he  call  the  island  ?— Where  is  it  ?— Was  it  as 
rich  as  had  been  expected  ? 
Page  57. 

What  induced  Columbus  to  sail  towards  trie 
south  ? — Whom  did  he  take  along  with  him  ? 
—To  what  other  islands  did  he  give  names?— 
What  did  he  next  discover?— Whom  did  he 
send  into  the  interior? — Give  the  particulars 
of  their  discoveries  in  the  interior. — What  is 
maize  7 — Does  it  appear  by  the  narrative  that 
this  is  an  original  production  of  Cuba?  — 
Where  did  the  natives  tell  Columbus  that  they 
found  their  gold  ?— What  did  he  infer  from 
this? — What  part  of  the  coast  of  Cuba  did  he 
explore  ?— Where  is  Porto  del  Principe? 

Page  58. 

To  what  island  did  the  natives  direct  Colum- 
bus in  quest  of  gold?— Where  is  Hayti?— 
What  captain  deserted  the  squadron  ?— When 
did  Columbus  reach  Hayti  ?— What  did  he  call 
the  port? — The  country? — What  port  did  he 
next  visit?— How  did  he  here  contrive  to  open 
a  communication  with  the  natives?— How  did 
they  behave  ?— Did  they  possess  more  gold  than 
the  natives  of  Cuba  ?— By  whom  was  Colum- 
bus here  visited  ?— How  did  this  prrson  be- 
have ?_what  led  Columbus  to  suppose  that 
he  had  arrived  at  Japan  ? 

Page  59. 

Whither  did  he  now  direct  his  course  1— 
What  harbour  did  he  put  into  ?— What  caziqtie 
governed  the  district  ? — What  present  did  he 
make  to  Columbus  ? — When  did  Columbus  set 
sail  to  visit  Guacanahari? — Give  an  account 
of  his  shipwreck.— How  did  the  natives  be- 
have ?— How  did  Guacanahari  ?— What  were 
now  Columbus'*  circumstances  1 


Page 


Did  Columbns  determine  to  return  to  Spain  ? 
— What  means  did  he  adopt  of  prosecuting 
discoveries  in  Hayti  ? — How  was  an  opportu- 
nity presented  of  colonizing  the  country? — 
Did  the  cazique  accept  his  offer?— Give  an  ac- 
count of  the  settlement. — How  did  Columbus 
strike  terror  into  the  natives  j 

Page  61. 

What  was  the  effect  of  firing  the  cannon? — 
How  many  men  did  Columbus  leave  ?— Under 
whom? — What  advice  did  he  give? — When 
did  he  sail  ?— Whom  did  he  overtake '—Did  he 
excuse  Pinzon  ? — What  had  Pinzon  done  in 
his  absence  ?— What  did  Columbus  now  de- 
termine to  do? — What  preparations  did  he 
make? — How  far  and  how  long  did  he  sail 
prosperously  ? 

Page  62. 

What  now  befell  Col  umbus  ?— How  were  the 
sailors  affected  ? — What  did  Columbus  do  to 
preserve  a  record  of  his  voyage  ?— What  land 
was  discovered  on  the  15th  ?— Where  are  the 
Azores  ?— What  disquieted  Columbus  here  ?— 
Whither  was  he  driven  by  a  second  storm  ? — 
How  was  he  treated  there  ? 

Page  63. 

What  satisfaction  did  Columbus  enjoy?— 
How  long  did  he  remain  in  Lisbon  ?— When 
did  he  arrive  in  Palos  ? — After  how  long  a  voy- 
age?— How  was  he  received? — When  did  the 
Pinta  arrive  ? — Where  were  the  sovereigns  ? — 
What  did  they  order? — Describe  Columbus's 
journey.— His  entrance  into  the  city.— How 
was  he  received  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella ! — 
How  was  he  honoured  ? 

Page  64. 

How  rewarded  ?— What  was  he  commanded 
to  do? — How  was  Columbus's  discovery  re- 
garded in  Europe? — To  what  opinion  did  Co- 
lumbus adhere?— By  what  was  it  confirmed? 
— Was  Columbus's  opinion  generally  adopted  ? 
— What  name  was  given  to  the  country  dis- 
covered by  Columbus  ?— After  the  country 
was  found  not  to  be  India,  what  was  it  called* 
— What  were  the  natives  called  1 

Page  65. 

What  number  of  ships  were  provided  for 
the  second  expedition  ? — Of  men  ? — What  did 
they  carry  with  them?— Did  Ferdinand  enter 
into  the  spirit  of  his  subjects  ?— Who  was 
pope  at  this  time?— What  grant  did  he  make 
to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella?— Where  was  the 
celebrated  line  drawn  which  was  to  separate 
the  Spanish  from  the  Portuguese  possessions? 
— What  preparations  were  made  for  convert- 
ng  the  Indians? 

Page  66. 

When  did  Columbus  sail  on  his  second  voy- 
age 7_Where  did  he  touch  ?— How  did  he  vary 
lis  course? — When  did  he  make  the  land? — 
What  did  he  call  it  ?— What  islands  did  he  af- 
.erward  visit? — Where  is  Dominica7 — Mar- 
inica?—  Marigalante  ?—  Guadaloupe  ? — Anti- 
gua]— Porto  Rico? — What  people  inhabited 
!hese  islands  ? — Were  they  cannibals  ? — When 
did  he  arrive  at  Navidad? — What  had  hap- 
wned  there? — What  account  did  the  cazique's 
jroiher  give  of  the  colony? 

Page  67. 

What  colony  did  Columbus  now  found  ? — 
What  was  the  character  of  Columbus's  colo- 
nists ? — Were  they  suitable  persons  for  colo- 


QUESTIONS. 


547 


nizlng  a  new  country  7 — To  what  did  their 
discontent  lead? — How  did  Columbus  treat 
those  who  conspired  against  him? — How  many 
s  ;ips  were  sent  home  .'—What  did  he  request 
from  Spain  ? 

Page  6  3. 

Whom  did  Columbus  send  to  explore  Cibao  ? 
—How  did  he  proceed?— What  were  the  In- 
dian opinions  concerning  the  horses? — How 
did  they  find  the  gold?— Why  did  Columbus 
call  the  port  St.  Thomas  ? — What  distresses 
came  upon  the  colonists  ? — Did  these  lead  to 
discontents? 

Page  69. 

Who  joined  in  them  1— Was  their  discontent 
removed  ?— Whom  did  Columbus  leave  to 
govern  the  colony  while  he  should  make  fur- 
ther discoveries  ? — What  island  did  he  dis- 
cover ? — What  happened  to  him  on  the  south 
coast  of  Cuba?— Whom  did  he  meet  on  his 
return  to  Hispaniola-? — Give  an  account  of 
Bartholomew's  adventures. 

Page  70. 

What  had  been  the  conduct  of  the  soldiers 
under  Margarita?— What  were  the  habits  of 
the  Indians  with  respect  to  food? — What  did 
they  resolve  to  do  ? 

Page  71. 

What  did  Columbus  determine  to  do  ?— What 
was  the  number  of  the  Indians? — What  king 
remained  faithful  to  the  Spaniards?— How  was 
the  attack  managed  ?— What  was  the  result? 
— How  did  Columbus  then  employ  himself? — 
What  tax  did  he  impose?— Why  did  Columbus 
tax  the  Indians  1 

Fage  72. 

Who  was  Columbus's  enemy  at  court? — 
What  was  his  only  means  of  counteracting 
the  machinations  of  his  enemies  at  court? — 
Why  was  the  tribute  peculiarly  oppressive  to 
the  Indians  ? — What  expedient  did  they  devise 
for  freeing  themselves  ?— What  was  its  effect 
on  tlu  Spaniards  ?— On  the  Indians  ?— What 
proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hay  i  perish- 
ed ] — What  complaints  were  made  of  Colum- 
bus?— Wh-.it  was  the  consequence  ?— What 
person  was  appointed  a  commissioner  to  ex- 
amine into  Columbus's  cotiduct  1 

Page  73. 

How  did  Aguado  behave  in  his  new  office  ?— 
What  resolution  did  Columbus  take? — To 
whom  di !  he  commit  the  administration  o 
affairs?— What  was  he  called? — Who  was 
appointed  chief  justice? — What  mistake  die 
Columbus  make  in  directing  his  course  home* 
— What  was  the  consequence? — How  did  h 
behave  in  this  extremity  ?— How  was  he  re 
ceived  at  court  ? 

Page  74. 

What  had  he  done  for  Spain  ? — What  did  he 
promise  '—What  was  the  effect  on  the  king 
and  quee  i  ? — What  plan  was  now  formed  ? — 
What  sort  of  labourers  were  logo  out? — How 
were  they  to  be  supported?— What  irnprope: 
persons  did  Columbus  propose  to  take  out  I 

Page  75. 

What  hindrances  to  Columbus's  enterpris 
existed  ? — How  long  was  he  delayed  by  them 
._How  many  ships  were  prepared  ?— Wha 
course  did  he  resolve  10  steer? — When  did  h 
sail  ? — Where  did  he  touch  ? — From  the  Cana 
ries,  how  many  ships  were  sent  to  Hispaniola 
—What  befell  him  near  the  equinoctial 7 


Page  76. 

How  did  he  alter  his  course?— What  island 
•as  discovered,  August  1st  ? — Where  is  if— 
ear  what  river  ? — Describe  the  river. — How 
as  Columbus's  squadron  endangered  by  it  ? 
—What  did  he  call  it?— What  inference  did 
-,  draw  from  its  size  and  violence  ?— Was  it 
mfirmed? — What  part  of  the  continent  of 
merica  did  Columhus  first  visit  ?— What  sort 
f  people  did  he  there  find  ?— What  animals? 
— What  did  the  admiral  imagine  concerning 
— What  compelled  him  to  go  to  Hayti  ? — 
Vhat  islands  did  he  discover  on  his  way  ?— 
Vhatdid  they  become  remarkable  for?— What 
ras  Columbus's  condition  on  his  arrival?— 
Vhat  happened  in  his  absence  ? 

Page  77. 

What  city  had  the  adelantado  Bartholomew 
junded  in  Hayti  ?— Where  is  it  ?— How  did  he 
ie/e  employ  "the  Spaniards?— Who  rebelled 
gainst  Bartholomew  ?— Who  saved  the  fort 
tSt.  Domingo  from  the  mutineers?— Whither 
id  they  retire?— What  did  they  do?— What 
ad  befallen  the  ships  sent  by  Columbus  from 
he  Canaries? — Who  had  gained  a  large  part 
f  the  crews  of  these  ships  1 — What  was  their 
haracter  ? 

Page  78. 

When  did  these  ships  arrive  at  St.  Domin- 
o? — Why  was  Columbus  reluctant  to  light 
lie  rebels"? — How  did  he  recover  them  to  obe- 
ience  ? — How  did  he  gain  Roldan  ? — Did  these 
eirotiatioris  occupy  much  time? — What  new 
emulation  concerning  the  Indians  was  intro- 
duced?—What  did  this  regulation  introduce? 
—What  were  the  repartirnientos  i — What   ef- 
ect  did  they  have  ? — What  prevented  Colum- 
jus  from  prosecuting  his  discoveries  ? — What 
did  he  send  to  Spain?— What  complaints  did 
loldan  make? — What  did  Columbus? 

Page  79. 

Which  gained  most  credit  ?— For  what  pur- 
.iose  did  Ernanuelof  Portugal  send  out  a  fleet? 
— To  whom  did  he  give  the  command  ? — What 
was  his  character ?— Whence  did  he  sail?— 
'low  long  was  he  in  passing  the  Cape  of  Good 
Plope?— Why?— Which  way  did  he  steer?— 
Where  did  he  anchor  ?— What  sort  of  people 
lad  he  i'ound  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa? — 
How  did  they  change  as  he  advanced  north  ?— 
Whither  did"  he  go  from  Melinda  ?— Where  is 
Melinda?— Calec ut?— What  sort  of  country 
and  people  did  he  find  ?— What  is  observed  of 
he  voyage? 

Page  80. 

When  did  he  land  at  Lisbon,  and  after  how 
long  a  voyage?— Give  a  summary  of  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  fifteenth  century.— What  pri- 
vate adventurer  set  out  for  the  new  world? — 
With  how  many  ships  ? — How  did  Fonseca, 
bishop  of  Badajos,  assist  him  ? — Give  an  ac- 
count of  his  voyage. 

Page  81. 

Who  accompanied  him  ?— What  was  the 
consequence  of  Amerigo's  account  of  the  voy- 
age ? — What  other  private  adventurers  went 
to  the  new  world  ?— Describe  the  voyage.— 
Describe  Pinzon's  voyage. — What  did  the  king 
of  Portugal  undertake  ?— To  whom  did  he  give 
the  command  of  the  expedition  ? 

Page  82. 

Which  way  did  Cabral  steer,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  coast  of  Africa?— What  country  did 
he  accidentally  discover?— For  whom  did  he 
take  possession  of  it?— Where  is  Brazil?— 


548 


QUESTIONS. 


Does  it  appear  by  this  that  America  would 
have  been  discovered  without  Columbus's  voy- 
age ?— What  was  the  state  of  things  in  His- 
paniola  ?— What  was  taking  place  in  Spain  to 
Columbus's  disadvantage  1 

Page  83. 

What  was  the  effect  of  the  accusations  on 
the  minds  of  the  sovereigns  ?— What  person 
was  sent  out  to  try  and  to  supersede  Colum- 
bus ? — How  did  he  proceed  on  his  arrival  ? — 
What  did  Columbus  do  1— How  was  he  treated  ? 
—How  did  he  bear  it  ? 

Page  84. 

How  did  Bovadilla  render  himself  popular 
and  Columbus  unpopular  ?— How  did  he  accu- 
mulate charges  against  Columbus  ? — How  did 
the  captain  treat  Columbus  1 — What  was  Co- 
lumbus's answer  to  the  captain's  offer  to  take 
off  his  chains? — How  were  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  affected  on  hearing  6f  Columbus's  ar- 
rival in  chains  ?— What  orders  did  they  give? 
— How  did  he  behave  at  the  interview  with  the 
sovereigns? — Did  they  degrade  Bovadilla?— 
Why  did  they  not  restore  Columbus  ? 

Page  85. 

Whom  did  they  appoint  governor  of  His- 
paniola?— How  did  Columbus  manifest  his 
feelings  at  this  indignity  ? — What  private  ad- 
venturers fitted  out  two  ships  for  America  in 
January,  1501  ?— What  coast  did  they  discover? 
— WThat  is  that  country  now  called  ?— What 
other  adventurers  visited  the  same  coast  ? — 
For  what  was  awfleet  equipped  at  the  public 
expense  ? — How  was  Bovadilla  proceeding  in 
Hispaniola? — How  did  he  govern  the  Spanish 
colonists ? — How  did  he  treat  the  Indians  ? 

Page  86. 

What  was  the  effect  of  this  oppression  on 
the  Indians  ? — How  many  ships  were  there  in 
Ovando's  armament  ? — How  many  settlers  ? 
—How  did  the  new  governor,  on  his  arrival, 
treat  Bovadilla ?— Roldan ?— The  Indians?— 
The  Spaniards?— Who  was  Bovadilla  ?— Rol- 
dan?— What  regulation  was  introduced  re- 
specting the  gold  ?— What  did  Columbus  de- 
mand of  the  sovereigns  ?— Why  was  it  not 
granted  ? — How  long  was  he  urging  his  claim 
at  court  ?— What  opinion  did  Columbus  adopt 
Concerning  a  passage  to  the  East  Indies  ? 

Page  87. 

What  did  he  ask  of  the  sovereigns  ?— For 
what  purpose  ? — What  reasons  disposed  them 
to  grant  his  request  ?— What  had  been  the  re- 
sult of  the  Portuguese  voyages  to  the  East 
Indies?— What  sort  of  fleet  was  allowed  Co- 
lumbus to  find  his  passage  to  the  East  Indies  ? 
—Who  accompanied  him?— When  did  he 
sail  ?— Where  did  he  touch  ?-What  occasioned 
his  going  to  Hispaniola  ?— What  found  he 
there  ? — What  request  did  he  make  of  Ovan- 
do?— Who  was  Ovando?— What  advice  did 
Columbus  give  him  ? — How  were  Columbus's 
request  and  his  counsel  treated  ?— What  was 
the  consequence?— Did  Columbus  suffer  by 
the  storm  ? 

Pagb  88. 

How  many  ships  of  Ovando's  fleet  were  lost  ? 
-What  men  perished  ?— What  amount  of 
money  was  lost?— Were  Columbus's  effects 
saved?— What  is  remarked  concerning  this 
event  by  historians  ?— What  construction  did 
the  people  of  that  age  put  upon  it?— When  did 
Columbus  leave  Hispaniola  .'—What  island 
did  he  discover?— What  sort  of  inhabitants 
did  he  find  ?— What  information  did  they  give 


him  ?— Did  Columbus  go  to  the  west  ?— What 
kingdom  would  he  have  found  there  .'—Which 
way  did  he  go  ?— What  did  he  discover  ?— De- 
scribe the  situation  of  these  countries  on  the 
map. — WThere  is  Cape  Gracias  a  Dios  ? — Porto 
Bello  ? — Where  did  he  attempt  to  fix  a  colony  1 
—What  was  the  result  ? 

Page  89. 

What  misfortunes  now  befell  Columbus  ?— 
Where  was  he  wrecked  ?— When  ?— Who  un- 
dertook to  carry  intelligence  of  his  situation 
to  Hispaniola  ?— In  what  sort  of  vessel  ?— De- 
scribe the  voyage.— How  were  they  treated  on 
their  arrival  ?— How  long  did  they  solicit  as- 
sistance ? — In  the  mean  time,  what  happened 
to  Columbus  and  his  companions  in  Jamaica  ? 
— What  did  the  seamen  do  ? 

Page  90. 

How  did  the  natives  behave  ?— Relate  Co- 
lumbus's expedient  for  striking  awe  into  the 
minds  of  the  Indians  ? — What  was  the  effect  ? 
—Meantime  what  had  the  mutineers  done  ?— 
How  did  Ovando,  the  governor  of  Hispaniola, 
insult  Columbus  ? 

Page  91. 

How  did  Columbus  explain  this  cruel  pro- 
ceeding to  his  followers?— How  did  the  muti- 
neers proceed  ? — Who  marched  against  them  ? 
— Describe  the  battle  and  its  results. — What 
happened  after  tranquillity  was  restored? — 
How  long  had  they  remained  on  the  island  ? — 
What  island  was  it  ? — Which  way  is  it  from 
Hispaniola? — How  far  distant?— How  did 
Ovando  treat  Columbus  on  his  arrival  at  St. 
Domingo? — How  did  he  treat  the  captain  of 
the. mutineers? — How  the  faithful  men  who 
had  adhered  to  Columbus  ?— When  did  he  sail 
for  Spain  ?— What  befell  him  on  his  voyage  ?— 
Where  did  he  arrive?— Where  is  St.  Lucar? 
— What  event  did  he  hear  of  on  his  arrival  * 
— Why  was  this  news  afflictive  to  him  'I 

Page  92. 

What  did  Columbus  demand  of  Ferdinand  ?  •• 
— How  were  his  claims  treated?— What  was 
he  result  ?— When  and  where  did  he  die  ?— 
How? 

BOOK   III. 

What  was  the  effect  of  Isabella's  regulations 
n  favour  of  the  Indians  of  Hispaniola? — 
What  was  the  effect  of  the  king's  claiming 
half  the  gold  ?— How  did  Ovando  modify  these 
regulations  ? 

Page  93. 

Were  these  acts  of  Ovando  approved? — 
What  was  the  effect  of  this  new  oppression  of 
he  Indians? — How  did  the  Spaniards  regard 
he  Indians? — How  did  they  treat  them? — 
What  occasioned  the  war  against  the  cazique 
of  Higuey  ?— How  was  it  terminated  ?— Who 
was  cazique  of  Xaragua? — How  had  she 
treated  the  Spaniards  ? 

Page  94. 

What  exasperated  the  adherents  of  Roldan 
against  her?— Of  what  did  they  accuse  her? 
— With  what  force  did  Ovando  march  into  her 
country  ?— Under  what  pretence  ?— Relate  the 
manner  in  which  he  betrayed  her  and  her  peo- 
ple.—What  was  her  fate  ?— What  was  the 
effect  of  this  cruel  treatment  on  the  Indians? 
—How  was  Isabella's  death  a  misfortune  to 
he  Indians  ? — How  much  of  the  revenues  of 
:he  New  World  belonged  to  Ferdinand  ?— To 
whom  did  he  confer  grants? — How  did  the 


QUESTIONS. 


549 


courtiers  profit  by  these  grants ! — What  was 
the  effect  in  Ilispaniola  1 

Page  95. 

What  amount  of  money  was  annually  re- 
ceived from  Ilispaniola  ?— How  did  Ovando 
govern  the  Spaniards  ?— What  new  source  of 
wealth  did  he  open? — What  was  the  effect? 
— Who  seconded  Ovando  in  promoting  the 
welfare  of  the  colony?— What  court  did  he 
erect ; — Where  did  it  assemble  ? — Where  is 
Seville  ? — How  did  he  regulate  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal government  of  America  ? — What  did  he 

jhibit  1 

Page  96. 

How  many  inhabitants  were  there  in  His- 
paniola  when  Columbus  discovered  it  ? — To 
what  number  were  they  reduced  in  fifteen 
years? — To  what  causes  does  the  historian 
attribute  this  waste  of  human  life? — What 
was  its  effect  on  the  Spanish  improvements? 
— What  remedy  did  Ovando  propose  ? — Under 
what  pretence  were  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Lucayo  islands  removed  to  Hispaniola  1 — How 
many  were  removed  1 — What  urged  the  Span- 
iards to  new  discoveries  ? 

Page  97. 

Who  was  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon?— What 
island  did  he  settle  ? — Which  way  is  it  from 
Ilispaniola? — Is  it  larger  or  smaller  than 
Ilispaniola  ? — What  became  of  the  original  in- 
habitants of  that  island  ?— What  two  adven- 
turers made  a  voyage  to  the  continent? — What 
country  did  they  discover? — How  is  it  situ- 
ated ? — Between  what  bays  ? — What  important 
discovery  did  Sebastian  de  Ocampo  make ? — 
What  claim  did  Don  Diego  Columbus  prefer 
against  king  Ferdinand  ? — How  much  time  did 
he  waste  in  fruitless  importunity  ?— Before 
what  council  did  he  then  bring  his  celebrated 
lawsuit  with  the  king  ? — What  was  the  deci- 
sion ? — How  did  Don  Diego  strengthen  his  in- 
fluence at  court  ? — At  the  instance  of  the  duke 
of  Alva  and  his  family,  what  did  king  Ferdi- 
nand then  do? 

Page  98. 

Who  accompanied  the  new  governor  to 
Hispaniola? — How  did  he  there  live? — Who 
are  descended  from  the  persons  who  accom- 
panied Don  Diego  Columbus  I — How  were  the 
Indians  treated  by  Don  Diego? — For  what  pur- 
pose was  Cubagua  settled?— Who  were  em- 
ployed to  dive  for  pearls  ? — What  was  the 
effect  ?_HOW  far  south'  did  Solis  and  Pinzon 
go  in  their  second  voyage  ? — Did  they  leav 
colony? — What  adventurers  went  out  to  colo- 
nize the  north  coast  of  South  America? — 
Under  whose  patronage  ? — What  part  of  the 
coast  did  Ferdinand  give  to  Ojeda? — What 
part  to  Nieuessa  ? — Point  these  out  on  the 
rnap,  and  show  to  what  governments  they  now 
belong. 

Page  99. 

Describe  the  manner  in  which  the  Spanish 
lawyers  and  priests  directed  these  adventurers 
to  take  possession  of  South  America. — Did 
the  natives  assent  to  the  doctrines  ? — What  did 
Ojeda  and  Nicuessa  then  do? — What  was  the 
character  of  the  natives? — How  were  they 
armed  ? — What  was  the  consequence  ? — What 
other  disasters  befell  the  Spaniards  ? 

Page  100. 

How  many  reinforcements  did  the  colony 
receive  from  Ilispaniola? — What  befell  the 
greatest  part  of  the  colony  ? — Where  did  the 


emnant  settle  ?— Under  whom  ?— What  two 
ither  great  Spanish  leaders  were  originally 
mgaged  in  this  expedition  ?— Why  did  Cortes 
itay  at  Hispaniola  ?— What  roused  the  spirit 
>f  adventure  among  the  Spaniards  ?— What 
iade  them  leave  Hispaniola  ?— What  island 
d  Don  Diego  Columbus  propose  to  conquer  ? 
— When  ?— Who  was  sent  for  that  purpose? 
—With  how  many  men?— What  is  the  length 
)f  Cuba? 

Page  101. 

What  was  the  character  of  the  people  of 
2uba?— Did  they  prepare  for  defence  ?— Who 
pposed  the  Spaniards  ? — How  was  he  treated  ? 
— Give  an  account  of  his  conference  with  the 
Franciscan  friar. — What  was  the  effect  of  Ve- 
asquez's  cruelty  to  Hatuey?— How  many 
ships  did  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  fit  out  ?— To- 
wards what  islands  did  he  sail  ?— Where  did  he 
ouch  ? — What  country  did  he  discover  ? — Why 
did  he  call  it  Florida ?— Where  is  it?— To 
whom  does  it  now  belong?— How  did  the  na- 
ives  behave  ? — Through  what  channel  did  he 
return  to  Porto  Rico? — What  curious  tradition 
ed  Ponce  de  Leon  to  the  Lucayos? 

Page  102. 

How  is  the  Spanish  belief  of  this  tradition 
accounted  for? — Where  was  Balboa's  colony? 
— How  did  he  try  to  gain  from  the  crown  a 
confirmation  of  his  election  as  governor?— 
Relate  the  incident  which  happened  in  one  of 
his  excursions. — To  what  country  did  the 
cazique  refer  in  this  conversation? — What  did 
Balboa  suppose  ? 

Page  103. 

What  preparations  did  Balboa  make  for  his 
expedition  ?— Describe  the  isthmus  of  Darien. 
— Was  it  easy  to  cross  it? — What  was  Bal- 
boa's character  ? — What  was  the  number  of 
his  men  ? — Of  Indians  who  accompanied  him  ? 
— For  what  purpose  did  he  take  dogs  with 
him  ?— What  difficulties  did  he  encounter  ?— 

Page  104. 

How  did  he  reassure  his  men  ?— How  was 
he  opposed? — What  ensued? — How  many 
days  had  they  spent? — Relate  the  manner  of 
Balboa's  discovering  the  Pacific  Ocean. — In 
what  manner  did  he  take  possession  of  it  ? — 
What  part  of  the  Pacific  did  he  discover?— 
Where  is  it  ?— What  wealth  did  he  obtain  ?— 
How? — What  information  did  he  receive  con- 
cerning Peru  ? — What  country  did  he  suppose 
it  to  be  near  ? 

Page  J05. 

What  did  Balboa  determine  to  do?— To 
what  place  did  he  return  ? — After  how  long  an 
absence? — What  officer  distinguished  himself 
in  this  expedition?— What  was  Balboa's  first 
care? — What  was  the  effect  of  this  intelli- 
gence?— Who  was  Balboa's  enemy  at  court? 
— Who  was  appointed  governor  of  Darien  in- 
stead of  Balboa?— How  many  vessels  and 
soldiers  were  sent  out? — How  many  people 
embarked  in  the  fleet? — How  did  he  find 
Balboa  engaged  ?— How  was  he  received  by 
him? 

Page  106. 

How  did  Balboa  behave  ?— How  was  he 
treated  ?— What  misfortunes  befell  the  colony  ? 
— How  did  the  forces  of  Pedrarias  treat  the  sur- 
rounding Indians  ?— What  country  was  deso- 
lated by  him? — What  is  this  country  now 
called  ? — What  accounts  were  sent  to  Spain 
by  Balboa?— By  Pedrarias  ?— What  did  king 


550 


QUESTIONS. 


Ferdinand  do  ?— What  did  he  order  Pedrarias 
to  do? 

Page  107. 

How  did  Pedrarias  treat  Balboa?— Who  ef- 
fected a  reconciliation  between  them  ?— What 
was  the  consequence  of  it  ? — What  was  the 
first  effect  of  their  concord  ?— For  what  did  he 
begin  to  prepare?— With  what  number  of 
ships  and  men  did  he  furnish  himself  ?— How 
did  Pedrarias  regard  this  ?— What  did  he  order 
Balboa  to  do  ? — Relate  the  manner  of  his  ar- 
rest, trial,  and  death.— Why  did  not  the  king 
punish  Pedrarias  for  this  arbitrary  act? — 
Whither  did  he  remove  the  colony  ?— Of  what 
use  was  this  removal  ?— Where  is  Santa  Ma- 
ria ? — On.  what  ocean  Panama  ? 

Page  108. 

For  what  purpose  did  king  Ferdinand  fit  out 
two  ships  ? — Under  whose  command  did  he 
place  them  ? — What  river  did  he  enter  Janu- 
ary 1st,  1516? — Where  is  Rio  de  Janeiro? — 
What  mistake  did  he  make  concerning'  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata  ?— What  put  a  stop  to  their 
discoveries  and  sent  the  ships  home  ? — How 
did  the  Spaniards  still  regard  Hispaniola? — 
How  did  king  Ferdinand  retrench  the  author- 
ity of  Don  Diego  Columbus  in  Hispaniola  '— 
What  did  Don  Diego  do  ? — Who  was  appointed 
to  the  office  of  distributing  the  Indians  ? — How 
did  hs  execute  it  ? — How  many  Indians  did  he 
find  of  the  60,000  who  had  escaped  their  former 
oppressions? — What  was  the  effect  of  his 
causing  them  to  be  sold  at  auction  ? 

Page  109. 

What  was  the  occasion  of  a  controversy  be- 
tween the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  friars  ? 
— Which  party  befriended  the  Indians  ? — To 
whom  did  they  apply  to  decide  the  dispute?  — 
To  whom  did  Ferdinand  refer  it? — What  was 
the  decision  ? — Did  it  abolish  the  repartitnien- 
tosl — What  did  the  Dominicans  then  do? — 
What  was  the  substance  of  the  decree  by 
which  Ferdinand  silenced  them? 

Page  110. 

What  grants  did  Ferdinand  make  ?— What 
edict  did  he  publish  ?— How  did  the  Domini- 
cans then  proceed  ? — What  new  advocate  for 
the  Indians  did  the  oppression  of  Albuquerque 
call  forth  ? — What  was  his  history  and  char- 
acter?— How  did  he  now  attempt  to  serve  the 
cause  of  the  Indians  ?— How  was  he  received 
by  the  king?— What  did  Ferdinand  promise  ? 

Page  111. 

What  prevented  him  from  fulfininghisprom- 
ise? — Who  succeeded  him? — How  was  Las 
Casas  prevented  from  visiting  Charles  in  the 
Low  Countries  ? — How  did  Cardinal  Ximenes 
settle  the  affair?— Why  did  he  confide  the 
office  of  superintendents  to  monks  of  St.  Je- 
rome ? — What  lawyer  was  joined  with  them  ? 
—What  title  did  he  give  to  Las  Casas?— Who 
opposed  this  measure  of  Xirnenes  ?— How  did 


despatches  ? — How  did  these  new-made  offi- 
cers proceed  on  their  arrival  in  Hispaniola? — 
What  was  the  effect  on  the  colonists  ?— What 
conclusion  did  the  fathers  01'  St.  Jerome  after- 
ward arrive  at  ? 

Page  112. 

What  were  the  habits  of  the  Indians?— 
What  did  the  superintendents  find  necessary? 
—What  did  they  endeavour  to  secure  ? — How  ? 
— What  did  Zuazo  do?— Who  was  Zuazo? — 
How  were  the  Spanish  settlers  pleased  with 
Zuazo  and  the  superintendents  ? — To  whom 


did  they  give  the  credit  of  the  whole  ?— Give 
an  account  of  Las  Casas's  behaviour.— Where 
did  he  take  shelter  ?— With  what  determination 
did  he  set  sail  for  Europe?— In  what  state  did 
he  find  Cardinal  Ximenes? — Wtio  took  the 
government  ?— Who  were  Charles's  counsel- 
lors! 

Page  113. 

How  did  Las  Casas  ingratiate  himself  with 
Charles's  Flemish  ministers?— What  scheme 
did  he  cen  ure? — Who  joined  in  his  censures  ? 
—  Who  were  recalled  ?  — Who  super.sec'ed 
them?— What  was  he  instructed  to  do?  -What 
was  the  objection  to  treating  the  Indians  as 
free  subjects  ?— Wh-it  remedy  did  Las  Casas 
propose  for  this  ?— Had  this  trade  been  abol- 
ished ? — When  had  slaves  been  imported  into 
America? — By  whose  permission  ?— For  what 
reasons  were  they  preferred  to  the  Indians  ? — 
Had  Cardinal  Ximenes  encouraged  this  traf- 
fic .'—Why  did  Las  Casas? 

Page  114. 

Was  his  plan  adopted  ?— What  patent  did 
Charles  grant? — To  whom? — To  whom  did 
he  sell  it  ?— What  did  they  do  ?— What  limited 
he  effects  of  their  trade  !— What  other  expe- 
dient did  Las  Casas  have  recourse  to?— Who 
defeated  it  ?— What  did  he  next  attempt  ?— Of 
what  country  did  he  solicit  a  grant  ?— How, 
and  with  what  sort  of  people  did  he  propose  to 
colonize  it  ? 

Page  115. 

What  objections  did  the  bishop  of  Burgos 
and  the  Council  of  the  Indies  make  to  this 
scheme? — To  whom  did  he  then  have  re- 
course?— To  whom  did  Charles  refer  his  pe- 
tition ? — What  country  did  they  grant  Las 
Casas  ? — Who  censured  this  determination  ? — 
What  was  the  effect?— For  what  did  the  em- 
peror Charles  V.  himself  discover  an  inclina- 
ion  ? — How  was  an  opportunity  afforded? — 
Where  was  the  court  then  held  ? — Where  is 
Barcelona?—  For  what  purpose  did  Charles  re- 
solve to  confront  Las  Casas  and  the  bishop  of 
Darien? — Where  was  the  solemn  audience 
held'' 

Page  116. 

Who  attended  ?— What  observations  did  the 
bishop  of  Darien  make  ? — What  reply  did  Las 
Casas  make  ? — What  patent  did  Charles  grant  ? 
— Wnat  hindered  Las  Casas  from  procuring 
settlers  ? — How  many  did  he  obtain  ? — Did  he 
set  bail  with  these? — Where  did  he  touch? — 
What  news  did  he  hear  there  ?— Owing  to  the 
high  price  of  negroes,  whither  had  the  Span- 
iards lately  resorted  for  slaves? 

Page  117. 

How  did  they  obtain  them  ?— How  were  the 
Indians  of  Cumana  affected  by  these  atroci- 
ties ? — Whom  did  they  murder  ? — How  did  the 
people  of  Hispaniola  resolve  to  revenge  this  ? — 
What  number  of  ships  and  men  were  placed 


he  treat  them? — Did  they  issue  the  necessary    under  the  command  of  Ocarnpo? — For  what 


purpose  ?— Where  did  Las  Casas  meet  this  ar- 
mament ?— What  did  he  perceive  to  be  the  efftct 
of  this  movement? — Whither  did  he  go? — 
How  was  he  received  there  ? — What  had  ren- 
dered him  unpopular  there? — What  experi- 
ment had  Figueroa  there  made? — What  infer- 
ence was  drawn  from  the  result  of  this  experi- 
ment ?— What  did  Las  Casas  obtain  in  His- 
paniola? 

Page  118. 

What  did  he  find  on  returning  to  Ports 
Rico?— What  did  be  do  with  the  remnant  of 


QUESTIONS. 


551 


bis  colonists  ?— What  rendered  their  situation  [  narrative  with  a  disquisition  concerning  the 

dangerous  ?— What  did  he  call  the  place  where    aborigines  of  America,  which  may  be  consider- 

ne  established  his  colony  ?— Did  the  troops  re-    ed  as  superseded  by  the  works  of  writers  of  later 

main  with  him?— Whither  did  he  go  in  search  |  date  and  better  means  of  information  on  that 

ot  protection  for  his  colony  ? — What  happened  to    particular  subject. 

them  in  his  abs3nce? — Whither  did  he  retreat  | 

after  the  complete  failure  of  a'l  his  schemes?  j 

— What  comment  does  the  historian  make  on 

Las  Casas's  system  ?— When  did  Diego  Ve-  I 

lasquez  conquer  Cuba  ?— What  had  been  the  \ 

state  of  the  island  under  his  administration  ? 


—  How  is  Cuba  situated  .'—Had  the  sea  west 
of  it  been  explored  ? — Was  this  sea  considered 
the  best  field  for  discoveries  I 

Page  11 9. 

What  officers  were  desirous  to  attempt  dis- 
coveries in  that  quarter  ?— Whom  did  they 
persuade  to  join  them  ? — Who  approved  and 
assisted  in  the  design  ?— How  many  men  em- 
barked ?— When  /—From  what  port  ?— Where 
is  this  port  situated?— Who  was  pilot  ?— Why 
did  they  sail  due  west?— When  did  they  make 
land? — What  did  it  prove  to  be? — Where  is 
this  cape? — Where  is  Yacaran? — How  were 
they  received  ?— By  what  sort  of  people  ? — On 
landing,  what  befell  them  ?— Which  way  did 
he  sail  when  he  left  this  place? — What  place 
did  he  come  to  next  <— Where  is  this  place  ?— 
Which  way  from  Cape  Catouohe  ?— What 
surprised  the  Spaniards  ?— Where  did  they  find 
a  river1— Which  way  is  this  place  from  Carn- 
peachy  ?— What  befell  the  watering  party 
which  Cordova  landed?— What  befell  the  Span- 
iards on  their  way  back  to  Cuba? 

Page  120. 

What  befell  Cordova  on  his  return? — Did 
the  result  of  this  expedition  damp  the  ardour 
of  discovery  ?-  Why  did  Velasquez  encourage 
a  new  expedition  ?— How  many  embarked  in 
the  new  enterprise  ? — Under  whose  command  ? 
— Whence  and  when  did  it  sail  ? — Who  was 
pilot  ?— What  was  the  lirst  land  they  made  ?— 
Where  is  this  island  7— Why  did  they  noi  stay 
there? — Where  did  they  next  land? — What 
transpired  there?— Which  way  did  they  sail 
from  Fotoiichan  ?— What  did  they  observe  on 
the  coast? — What,  country  did  one  of  the  sol- 
diers say  it  resembled  ' — What  name  did  Gri- 
jalva,  in  consequence,  give  the  country  ?— Was 


this  name   retained -—Where  did   they  next 
land?— Where  is  the  river  Tabasco? 


BOOK  V. 

Page  197. 

What  did  Grijalva  find  on  his  return  to 
Cuba  ?— Who  was  the  author  of  this  expedi- 
tion?— Did  he  defray  a  considerable  part  of 
the  expense? — What  sort  of  commander  did 
Velasquez  seek  ? — Could  he  find  one  courage- 
ous and  servile  too  ? — Who  was  recommended 
to  him  by  Lares  and  Ducro?— Where  and 
when  was  Cortes  born  ? — Where  is  Estrema- 
dura? — To  what  university  was  Cortes  sent? 
— Did  he  finish  his  studies  there  .' — Why  did 
his  father  send  him  abroad  ? 

Page  198. 

What  were  then  the  two  great  fields  of  mili- 
tary enterprise  for  the  Spanish  youth?— What 
prevented  Cortes  from  going  to  Italy  ?— Under 
whose  patronage  did  he  seek  his  fortune  in 
America  ? — How  was  he  employed  in  Hispan- 
iola? — With  whom  did  he  go  to  Cuba? — 
When  ?— flow  did  Velasquez  reward  his  ser- 
vices there  ?— What  was  now  his  character  ?— 
What  did  Velasquez  expect  from  him  ? — How- 
did  he  proceed  on  receiving  his  commission  ? 
—How  were  his  zeal  and  activity  misrepre- 
sented to  Velasquez? 

Page  199. 

Was  Velasquez  suspicious  of  him  ?— Why 
was  his  departure  hastened  ? — When  did  he 
sail  ? — From  what  port  ? — Where  did  he  touch 
for  stores  and  recruits  ? — What  did  Velasquez 
do  after  his  departure  ?— Whom  did  he  em- 
power to  deprive  Cortes  of  his  commission  ? — 
How  did  Cortes  prevent  this? — For  what  port 
did  Cortes  next  sail  ? — What  did  Velasquez 
then  do  ?--How  did  Cortes  hear  of  Velasquez's 
mentions  ? 

Page  200. 

How  did  Cortes  remove  Diego  de  Ordaz  ? — 
Why  ?— What  information  did  Cortes  then 


give  his  troops?—  What  request didthey  make  ? 
—What  ensued  ?— Were  great  efforts  made  in 
.  fitting  out  this  expedition  ?— What  was  the 

Page  121.  [  number  and  size  of  the  vessels  ?— Of  men  ?— 

How  were  they  here  received?— At  what    Hovv  were  lne    s°ldiers    divided  and   corn- 


place  did  they  next  touch? — Where  is  the 
province  of  Guaxaca7— How  were  the  Span- 
iards there  received  ~ What  amount  of  gold 
did  they  obtain  tor  their  toys  in  trade  with  the 
natives  ?— Who  did  the  natives  say  was  their 
king?— Where  did  Grijalva  behold  the  horrid 
effects  of  the  Indian  superstitions'' — Whom 
did  he  despatch  to  Vaiasquez  *—  With  what 
information  ? — From  what  place  ' — To  what 
river  did  ha  then  pioceod  ?—  What  did  Grijal- 
va's off  cers  v  ish  him  t  >  do  ? — Why  did  he  not 
compl)  with  heir  wisies?— To  what  port  of  j 
Cuba  did  he  r<  turn?—  When  ?-  -After  how  long 
a  voyage?— What  aad  the  Spaniards  disco- 
vered in  this  irnortant  voyage  ? 

Page  122. 

In  what  direction  hau  they  pursued  their 
course?— How  far?— Foi  what  purposes  did 
Velasquez  send  a  confidential  messenger  to 
Spain  ? — What  preparations  did  he  make  be- 
fore Grijalva's  return? 

Note.— The  editor  has  omitted  the  Fourth 
Book  in  his  set  of  Questions,  as  it  interrupts  the 


manded  ?— How  many  of  them  had  muskets  ? 
-How  many  were  crossbow-men  ?-How  were 
the  rest  armed  ?— What  sort  of  defensive  arm- 
our did  they  wear? — How  many  horses,  field- 
pieces,  and  falconets  had  they? — When  did 
they  sail  ? — What  sign  and  superscription  was 
on  their  banners  ? 

Page  201. 

Were  they  confident  of  success?— Where 
did  Cortes  first  touch  ? — Wiiat  important  ac- 


Indians  here  altered  since  Grijalva's  visit? — 
Did  Cortes  make  war  on  them  ? — With  what 
success?— Where  did  Cortes  next  land?— How 
was  he  here  received  ?— What  embarrassed 
him  in  his  intercourse  with  these  Indians? 
—How  was  he  relieved  ?— Give  an  account  of 
Donna  Marina. 

Page  202. 

Who  had  sent  two  persons  to  Cortes  ? — For 
what  purpose  had  they  been  sent  .'—What  an 
swer  did  he  give?— What  did  be  do  next  morn- 
ing ? — Who  entered  the  camp  next  morning  7 


552  QUESTIONS. 


—How  did  Cortes  receive  them  ?— What  did 
he  tell  them  ? — How  did  they  receive  the  in- 
formation ?— How  did  they  attempt  to  concili- 
ate him  1 — Of  what  did  this  present  consist  ?— 
What  was  its  effect? — On  what  did  Cortes  in- 
sist ?— During  the  interview,  how  were  some 
of  the  Mexican  attendants  employed  ?— How 
di^.  Cortes  lake  advantage  of  this? 

Page  203. 

What  exhibitions  of  power  and  skill  did  he 
make  ? — How  were  the  Indians  affected  by  it  ? 
—What  information  and  presents  were  now 
aent  to  Montezuma?— What  refinement  in  po- 
lice had  the  Mexican  monarchs  introduced?— 
How  far  was  the  capital  from  St.  Juan  de 
Ulua? — How  soon  were  the  presents  trans- 
ported and  the  answer  returned? — How  did 
the  Mexican  ambassadors  renew  the  negotia- 
tion 1 — Of  what  did  these  presents  consist  ? — 
How  did  Cortes  receive  them? — With  what 
message  were  they  accompanied  1 

Page  204. 

What  reply  did  Cortes  make?— What  did 
the  astonished  Mexican*  prevail  on  him  to  do  ? 
— What  was  the  state  of  the  Mexican  empire 
at  this  time  ? — How  long  had  it  existed  ?— What 
was  its  length  and  breadth  ?— The  character 
of  the  people  ? — The  situation  of  the  monarch  ? 
— Wiiat  would  have  been  the  result,  if  Monte- 
zuma  had  brought  his  forces  at  once  to  act 
against  the  Spanish  intruders?— What  was 
Montezuma's  general  character  ?— What  symp- 
toms had  he  discovered  since  the  appearance 
of  the  Spaniards  ? — What  seems  to  have  been 
the  remote  source  of  his  indecision  and  fear  ? 

Page  205. 

Does  this  tradition  account  in  part  for  the 
alarm  of  Montezuma  and  his  subjects  ?— What 
was  the  effect  on  Montezuma  of  Cortes's  re- 
fusal to  depart? — What  did  his  counsellors 
advise? — With  what  was  their  positive  in- 
junction to  Cortes  to  depart  accompanied?— 
What  two  parties  existed  in  the  Spanish  camp  ? 
— Had  Cortes  become  popular  among  the  sol- 
diers? 

Page  206. 

During  the  intrigues  in  the  camp,  who  ar- 
rived from  the  Mexican  court  ?— With  what  ? 
—When  Cortes  refused  to  depart,  how  did 
Teutile  behave  ? — What  happened  next  morn- 
ing ? — How  did  the  adherents  of  Velasquez 
take  advantage  of  this  ?— Whom  did  they  send 
to  remonstrate  with  Cortes? — What  request 
did  they  make  through  Ordaz? — What  orders 
did  Cortes  then  issue?— What  ensued?- Had 
Cortes  foreseen  this?— Did  he  affect  surprise 
at  it?— What  did  he  declare ?— What  did  he 
say  had  been  his  own  private  opinion  ? 

Page  207. 

What  did  he  offer  to  do  ? — How  was  the  offer 
received  ? — Were  the  malecontents  obliged  to 
join  in  the  enthusiastic  applause  expressed  by 
the  other  soldiers  ?— What  did  Cortes  set 
about? — What  officers  of  the  colony  were 
elected  by  his  contrivance  ? — What  sort  of  per- 
sons were  chosen  ? — Did  they  acknowledge  de- 
pendence on  Velasquez  ?  -What  name  did  they 
give  the  settlement  ?— What  is  this  in  Span- 
ish?—What  is  the  place  now  called  ?— How 
is  St.  Juan  de  Ulua  situated  with  respect  to 
Vera  Cruz  ? — What  did  Cortes  do  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  council  ?— What  was  the  sub- 
stance of  his  harangue  ? — What  did  he  do  after 
having  finished  his  discourse  ? 

Page  208. 
Was  his  resignation  accepted?— To  what 


offices  was  he  then  elected  ? — Who  ratified  the 
choice? — On  accepting  his  new  commission, 
how  did  Cortes  proceed ?— What  did  the  adhe- 
rents of  Velasquez  do  ? — Who  of  them  were 
arrested  by  Cortes  ? — How  were  they  treated 7 
— What  was  the  effect  on  their  dependants  ?— 
How  did  Cortes  conciliate  these  three  leaders  i 
—Did  they  always  afterward  remain  faithful 
to  him?— What  was  the  chief  instrument 
of  Cortes's  intrigue  ?— What  caziques  offered 
friendship  to  Cortes  ?— Why  ?— What  did  Cor- 
tes infer  from  this  offer  ? 

Page  209. 

How  did  he  receive  the  Zempoallans?— 
What  place  had  been  fixed  on  for  a  settlement  ? 
—How  far  from  Vera  Cruz'— Which  way?— 
In  marching  thither  whom  did  Cortes  visit  ? — 
What  did  he  learn  from  the  cazique  ?— To  what 
place  did  Cortes  continue  his  march  ? — Relate 
the  manner  of  building  and  fortifying  this 
town. — Who  assisted  the  Spaniards  in  their 
labours? — How  did  Cortes  gain  the  caziques 
of  Zempoalla  and  Quiabislan  to  his  interest 
while  the  town  was  built  ?— What  insult  did 
they  offer  to  the  Mexican  power  ? 

Page  210. 

Who  saved  the  deputies  of  Montezuma  from 
being  sacrificed  ? — How  did  the  two  caziques 
now  complete  their  union  with  the  Spaniards  ' 
—What  did  they  offer  ?— How  long  had  Cor 
tes  been  in  Mexico  ? — What  had  he  reason  to 
apprehend  ? — Why  ?  —  Before  he  began  his 
march  towards  the  capital  of  Mexico,  what 
did  he  persuade  the  magistrates  of  Vera  Cruz 
to  do  ? — In  this  letter,  what  did  they  say  con- 
cerning Velasquez? — Concerning  Cortes  and 
his  officers  ?— What  request  did  they  make  ?— 
What  did  they  say  concerning  the  country  ?— 
Did  Cortes  write  ? 

Page  211. 

What  did  he  prevail  on  his  soldiers  to  do  ? — 
Who  were  sent  with  the  letters  and  present ? 
— With  what  instructions? — What  alarming 
event  occurred  while  the  vessel  was  preparing 
for  their  departure  ? — How  was  the  conspiracy 
betrayed  ? — What  appearances  did  Cortes  now 
observe  in  his  army?— What  did  he  appre- 
hend ?— What  did  he  resolve  to  do  ?— How  did 
he  prevail  on  his  soldiers  to  destroy  the  ships  ? 
— How  was  the  project  executed  ? — What  re- 
mark does  the  historian  make  on  this  transac- 
tion? 

Page  212. 

What  act  of  Cortes  at  this  time  gave  great 
offence  to  the  Zempoallans? — How  were  the 
consequences  of  it  avoided  ? — When  did  Cortes 
march  from  Zempoalla  ? — With  what  forces 
and  equipments  ? — Where  and  with  whom  did 
he  leave  a  garrison  ?— With  what  did  the  ca- 
zique of  Zempoalla  supply  him? — Where  is 
Flascala? — Which  way  from  Vera  Cruz? — 
What  was  the  character  of  the  people  of  Flas- 
cala?—How  did  Cortes  hope  to  gain  their  alli- 
ance? 

Page  213. 

Whom  did  Cortes  send  to  the  Flascalans  ? — 
How  were  they  treated  ? — Why  ?— When  did 
Cortes  advance  into  the  Flascalan  territories? — 
What  loss  did  he  sustain  in  the  first  battle  with 
the  Flascalans  ? — What  precaution  did  he  then 
take  ? — How  long  did  he  suffer  assaults  from 
them  ? — Did  they  make  any  impression  on  the 
Spaniards? — What  peculiar  practice  was  a 
hindrance  to  them  ? 

Page  214. 
What  were  their  weapons  ?— Were  they  of 


QUESTIONS. 


553 


much  use  against  the  Spaniards?— What  ex- 
amples of  generosity  did  the  Flascalans  ex- 
bibit  ? — When  repulsed,  to  whom  did  they 
have  recourse  1 — What  answer  did  the  priests 
give  1 — What  did  they  do  in  consequence  of 
the  priests'  opinion?— Did  their  night-attack 
succeed  ? — To  what  did  they  then  incline  ? 

Page  215. 

What  made  the  Flascalans  suppose  the 
Spaniards  to  be  benevolent  ? — What  circum- 
stance favoured  the  opposite  opinion  ? — What 
curious  address  did  their  deputies  make  ? — On 
what  terms  was  peace  concluded  ?— What  suf- 
ferings had  the  Spaniards  endured? — What 
caused  them  to  forget  these  sufferings  ? — How 
long  did  Cortes  remain  at  Flascala  ? — For  what 
purpose ! — What  information  did  he  there  ac- 
quire ? 

Page  216. 

How  did  the  Flascalans  regard  the  Span- 
iards?—What  did  they  offer?— How  did  the 
Spaniards  all  consider  themselves  ? — Did  Cor- 
tes attempt  to  convert  the  Flascalans  to 
Christianity  ?  —  Did  they  acknowledge  the 
truth  of  what  he  taught? — What  did  they 
claim  of  him  and  the  other  Europeans  ? — What 
did  Cortes  demand  1 — When  refused,what  was 
he  about  to  do  ? — Who  prevented  him  ? — By 
what  arguments? 

Page  217. 

When  leaving  the  Flascalans  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  own  rites,  what  did  Cortes  re- 
quire?— What  warning  did  the  Flascalans 
give  Cortes  on  his  leaving  the  country  for 
Mexico  ? — How  many  Flascalans  accompanied 
him  ?— Towards  what  place  did  they  march  ? 
—Where  is  Cholula  ?— Had  Montezuma  con- 
sented to  their  going  thither  ? — How  was  the 
place  considered  by  the  Mexicans  ? — What 
offerings  were  there  made  ? — Why  did  Monte- 
zuma invite  the  Spaniards  thither  .' — What 
signs  of  treachery  did  two  Flascalans  disco- 
ver ? — What  information  did  Marina  obtain  ?— 
How  did  Cortes  prepare  to  revenge  this  treach- 
ery ? — Describe  the  massacre. 

Page  218. 

How  long  did  it  last? — How  many  Cholu- 
lans  fell? — How  many  Spaniards  ? — What  did 
Cortes  then  order? — Was  he  obeyed? — To- 
wards what  city  did  Cortes  next  advance  ? — 
Which  way  is  Mexico  from  Cholula  ? — In  his 
march,  what  dispositions  did  he  observe  among 
the  Mexicans  towards  Momezuma's  govern- 
ment ? — Where  did  the  Spaniards  first  behold 
the  plain  of  Mexico? — Describe  the  appear- 
ance of  the  plain. — The  situation  of  the  city  of 
Mexico. — What  messages  did  Cortes  receive 
from  Montezuma? — What  persuasion  seems 
to  have  preserved  the  Spaniards  from  any  at- 
tack? 

Page  219. 

Over  what  did  they  continue  their  march  ? — 
Who  met  them  as  they  drew  near  the  city  ? — 
Whose  approach  did  they  announce? — Who 
preceded  Montezuma  ? — How  was  he  attend- 
ed ? — Describe  the  pageant. — How  did  Cortes 
receive  him  ?— Describe  the  ceremonial.— What 
did  the  Spaniards  hear  among  the  crowd  of 
Mexicans  ? — What  did  Montezuma  say  at  part- 
ing?—Describe  the  place  allotted  for  the  Span- 
iards.—How  did  Cortes  strengthen  it  ?— What 
happened  in  the  evening  ? 

Page  220. 

What  tradition  did  Montezuma  communicate 
to  Cortes?— What  reply  did  Cortes  make?— 
VOL.  I.— 70 


What  happened  next  morning?— How  were 
the  three  succeeding  days  employed  ? — How  is 
Mexico  situated? — How  watered? — What  is 
the  size  of  the  two  largest  lakes  ?— On  what  is 
the  city  of  Mexico  built  ? — By  what  was  the 
access  to  the  city  ?— What  was  the  length  of 
these  causeways  ? — How  were  they  construct- 
ed?—Describe  the  buildings.— How  large  was 
the  great  square  for  the  market  ? 

Page  221. 

What  was  now  the  situation  of  the  Span- 
iards ?— What  circumstances  rendered  it  very 
perilous?— What  had  Cortes  heard  before 
leaving  Cholula  ? — Of  what  did  he  become  sen- 
sible on  his  arrival  in  the  city  of  Mexico? — On 
what  did  his  success  depend  ? 

Page  222. 

What  bold  resolution  did  he  form?— How 
did  his  officers  at  first  receive  it? — Did  they 
afterward  accede  to  it  ? — How  did  he  prepare 
to  execute  it  ? — Who  accompanied  him? — How 
was  Cortes  received? — How  did  he  address 
Montezuma? — How  did  Montezuma  behave? 
— What  orders  did  he  give? — What  reason  did 
Cortes  then  offer  for  Montezuma's  repairing 
to  his  quarters? — What  did  he  promise?— 
How  was  the  proposition  received? — What 
was  the  reply  ?—  How  long  did  the  interview 
last? 

Page  223. 

What  exclamation  did  Velasquez  de  Leon 
utter  ? — What  was  the  effect  ? — How  were  the 
officers  and  people  of  Montezuma  affected  by 
his  surrender  ? — How  did  Monies ama hush  the 
tumult? — What  remark  is  made  concerning 
this  transaction? — How  was  Montezuma  re- 
ceived and  treated  i?\  the  Spanish  quarters  ? — 
Who  were  brought  prisoners  to  Mexico  ? — By 
whose  order  ? — For  what  act  ? — How  were  they 
tried?— What  was  their  sentence ?— What 
part  had  these  men  acted  ? — Of  what  was  the 
pile  composed  on  which  they  suffered  death  ? 

Page  224. 

How  was  Montezuma  treated? — How  did 
this  treatment  affect  him  and  his  attendants? 
—What  happened  on  the  return  of  Cortes  from 
the  execution  ? — What  motive  of  policy  seems 
to  have  actuated  Cortes  in  these  atrocious  acts 
of  cruelty  to  the  officers,  and  contumely  to- 
wards the  sovereign  ? — Did  they  produce  the 
desired  effect  ? — How  long  did  Montezuma  re- 
main tranquilly  in  the  Spanish  quarters? — 
How  were  the  affairs  of  the  empire  conducted ? 

Page  225. 

How  was  Montezuma  guarded  when  hunt- 
ing beyond  the  lake  ? — Is  this  management  of 
Cortes  considered  an  extraordinary  refinement 
in  policy  ? — For  what  purpose  did  he  send 
Spaniards  into  the  interior  ? — While  they  were 
thus  employed,  what  did  Cortes  do  ? — What 
was  still  wanting  to  complete  his  security  ? — 
How  was  this  attained  ?— What  did  he  next 
urge  Montezuma  to  do  ? — Did  he  comply  ? 

Page  226. 

In  what  manner  was  Montezuma  affected  on 
making  his  submission  to  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment ? — How  did  his  princes  receive  the  pro- 
posal ? — How  did  Cortes  reconcile  them  to  it  ? 
— With  what  was  Montezuma's  submission 
accompanied  ? — To  what  did  the  amount  of 
treasure  received  from  the  Mexicans  amount  ? 
— How  much  was  set  apart  for  the  king? — 
For  Cortes? — How  was  the  rest  divided? — 
How  much  did  each  soldier's  share  amount  to? 
—Were  they  satisfied  ? 


554 


QUESTIONS. 


Page  227. 

Why  was  the  amount  of  gold  collected  in  s 
rich  a  country  so  small?— Did  the  Mexica 
use  it  as  money  1 — For  what  purposes  did  th 
ese  it?— Did  they  work  the  mines  of  thu 
country  ? — How  did  they  obtain  gold  ? — O 
what  point  was  Monte/.uma  inflexible  ? — Wh 
was  the  effect  of  his  firmness  on  Cortes? — 
How  was  Cortes  deterred  from  throwing  dow 
all  the  idols? — With  what  did  he  content  hitr 
seif?— What  did  the  Mexicans  now  resolve 
—How  did  they  pro] rose  to  effect  it  ?— Wha 
did  Montezuma  observe  to  Cortes  ? 

Page  228. 

What  threat  did  he  add  to  this  declaration 
— Wuat  answer  diJ  Cortes  give? — What  pre 
parations  did  he  make? — How  long  had  hi 
messengers  to  Spain  been  gone? — What  wa 
his  situation  .' — What  news  was  brought  by 
Mexican  courier  ?— What  by  SandovaPs  coi 
rier  ? — How  nad  Velasquez  learned  the  situa 
tion  of  Cortes  ? — How  was  he  affected  by  the 
intelligence  ? 

Page  229. 

How  had  Velasquez's  messenger  been  re 
ceived  at  the  Spanish  court  ? — What  appoint 
rnent  had  Velasquez  received  ? — What  did  h 
determine  to  do?— What  number  of  ships. 
men,  and  cannon  compose]  his  armament  ?— 
Under  what  commander? — What  were  his  in 
structions  ?— When  and  where  did  he  land  ?— 
How  did  he  obtain  interpreters  and  in  forma 
tion  of  Cortes's  movements  ? — How  did  these 
soldiers  misrepresent  Cortes's  situation? — 
What  message  did  he  send  to  Sandoval,  the 
governor  of  Vera  Cruz  ?— How  were  his  mes- 
senger and  suite  treated  by  Sandoval  ?— How 
by  Cortex  ?— What  was  the  benefit  which  Cor 
tes  derived  from  this  ?— What  information  did 
they  give  concerning  Narvaez? 

Page  230. 

What  representations  had  Narvaez  secretly 
conveyed  to  Montezuma?— What  was  their 
effect  on  the  Mexicans  ?— On  Montezuma  ? — 
What  did  Cortes  resolve  to  do? — Whom  did 
he  send  .to  Narvaez  ?— How  did  he  receive  Ol- 
medo  ?— How  was  Olmedo  received  by  Nar- 
vaez's  men  ?— What  was  the  effect  of  Cortes's 
presents  on  Narvaez's  soldiers  ? 

Page  231. 

What  course  did  Narvaez  take  ?— What  did 
Cortes  determine  to  «lo  .'—Whom  did  he  leave 
in  charge  of  Montezuma  and  the  capital  ?— 
With  how  many  men  ?— When  reinforced  by 
Sandoval,  what  was  his  force  ?— How  did  he 

arm  his  soldiers  against  Narvaez's  cavalry  ? 

Towards  what  place  did  he  advance  ?— What 
prevented  an  accommodation  between  Cortes 
and  Narvaez  .'—How  did  Cortes  take  advan- 
tage of  the  intercourse  between  the  two  ar- 
mies ?— How  were  nearly  all  Narvaez's  officers 
and  men  inclined?— What  was  the  effect  of 
this  on  Narvaez  ? 

Page  232. 

Which  leader  offered  battle  ?— Was  the  offer 
accepted  ?— What  compelled  Narvaez's  soldiers 
to  retreat  to  Zempoalla?— What  did  Cortes 
now  resolve?— What  part  of  the  undertaking 
did  he  intrust  to  Sandoval  ?  —  To  Olid  ?  — 
What  did  he  reserve  for  himself  ?— Describe 
Che  action. 

Page  233. 

What  befell  Narvaez  ?— What  was  the  re- 
sult of  the  action  ?— What  was  the  loss  of 
Cortes?— Of  Narvaez?— How  were  the  van- 


quished party  treated  ?—  What  was  the  effect 
of  this  treatment?  How  many  soldiers  had 
Cortes  now  ?—  To  what  should  these  events  be 
ascribed  ?—  What  news  came  from  Mexico? 

Page  234. 

What  had  occasioned  the  revolt  in  the  city 
of  Mexico?—  What  was  its  extent  ?—  What  did 
Cortes  do  on  hearing  the  news  of  this  revolt? 
—  What  nuniber  of  Flascalans  joined  him  ?  — 
What  did  he  learn  on  entering  the  Mexican 
territories?—  What  precautions  did  the  Mexi- 
cans neglect  to  take?—  What  was  the  conse- 
quence ?—  When  did  Cortes  enter  the  city?— 
How  did  Alvarado  and  his  soldiers  receive 
him?  —  Of  what  imprudence  was  Cortes 
guilty  1 

Page  235. 

Who  reported  the  contemptuous  expressions 
of  Cortes  ?—  What  was  their  effect  ?—  Where 
was  the  first  attack  made?—  What  discovery 
was  made  by  the  Mexicans  on  this  occasion  I 
—What  happened  next  day  ?—  What  was  the 
effect  of  this  determined  attack  on  Cortes  ?  — 
How  did  it  affect  the  soldiers  who  had  come 
with  Narvaez?  —  What  was  the  cause  of  the 
Mexicans  ceasing  from  hostilities  at  night  ?  — 
Whatdid  Cortes  do  next  day  ?—  What  animated 
the  courage  of  the  Mexicans  ?—  What  enabled 
he  Spaniards  to  cut  through  the  Mexicans 
wherever  they  met?  —  What  disadvantages  did 
they  suffer  from  fighting  among  houses  ? 

Page  236. 

Did  the  Spaniards  effect  any  thing  decisive 
on  the  second  day  of  battle  ?—  What  loss  did 

hey  suffer?  —  What  happened  to  Cortes  in  the 

icxt  sally  ?—  What  expedient  was  now  re- 
sorted to?  —  What  was  the  effect  of  Mo.itezu- 
ma's  appearance  ?—  What  did  he  advise?— 
"low  was  his  harangue  received  ?  —When 

VIontezuina  fell,  how  did  his  subjects  behave? 
—  How  did  Montezuma  treat  Cortes's  attempt 

o  console  him  ?  —  In  what  manner  did  he  die  * 


—For  what  did  Cortes  now  prepare?—  What 
icw  motion  of  the  Mexicans  engaged  him  in 

new  conflicts  ?  —  Who  was  commissioned  to 
lodge  them  from  the  tower?  —  How  often 
vas  he  repulsed? 

Page  237. 

What  did  Cortes  then  do?—  What  extraor- 
imry  instance  of  self-devotion  in  two  Mexi- 
ans  is  recorded?  —  When   possessed  of  the 
ower,  how  did  the  Spaniards  dispose,of  it?  — 
Vhat  rendered  a  retreat  absolutely  necessary? 
—How  did  the  Spaniards  attempt  to  effect  their 
scape?  —  Who  commanded    the   van?  —  The 
ear?—  The  centre  ?—  What  relations  of  Mon 
ezuma  were  carried  with  tnem  ?—  How  did  the 
Mexicans  interrupt  their  retreat  ?—  Describe 
he  attack. 

Page  238. 

What  happened  when  the  Spaniard?  began 
give  way?  —  Which  general  first  passed  the 
auseway,  and  reached  the  mainland?  —  With 
3vv  many  men?—  What  did   they  hear?  — 
Vhere  did  those  who  escaped  from  the  city  to 
mainland  assemble  ?—  What  number?— 
Vhat  trait  of  feeling  was  observed  in  Cortes  ? 
—What  distinguished  officer  fell  in  the  action  ? 
—What  supplies  were  lost?—  What  number 
'  Flascalans?  —  What  injury  wis  occasioned 
y  the  gold  in  possession  of  the  Spaniards  1 

Page  239. 

Where  did  the  Spaniards  take  shelter?— 
Which  side  of  the  lake  were  they  on  ?  —  On 
which,  side  was  Flascala  ?-Which  end  of  the 


QUESTIONS. 


655 


Infce  were  they  obliged  to  go  round  ? — Under 
whose  guidance? — To  what  distresses  were 
they  exposed  in  their  retreat  towards  Ftas- 
cala  {— What  circumstance  animated  tnem  '— 
Where  d>d  they  arrive  on  the  sixth  day  ? — What 
exclamation  did  they  hear  from  the  Mexicans 
as  they  approached  towards  it  ? — How  was  its 
meaning  explained? — What  was  the  effect  of 
this  sight  on  the  Spaniards? — What  did  L'orus 
do/ 

Page  240. 

How  did  Cortes  effect  the  dispersion  of  this 
great  army?— What  treasure  did  he  get? — 
Where  did  they  arrive  next  day  ? — How  were 
they  received  by  the  Flascaians  ? — What  losses 
did  Cortes  now  hear  of? — Was  he  discouraged 
from  his  undertaking  by  this  intelligence  ? 

Page  241. 

What  colony  of  the  Spaniards  in  New  Spain 
remained  unmolested? — How  did  Cortes  se- 
cure the  Flascalan  chiefs  ? — What  did  he  bring 
from  VeraCruz? — For  what  did  he  send  to 
Hispaniola  and  Jamaica  ? — What  did  he  pre- 
pare to  build? — What  portion  of  his  army  was 
discontented?— What  "was  the  effect  of  their 
discontent? — What  was  the  utmost  which 
Cortes  could  effect  with  them  .'  -What  expedi- 
tion did  he  employ  them  in  ? 

Page  242. 

What  was  its  success  ? — How  did  he  after- 
ward employ  his  troops? — How  did  ('ones 
gain  the  soldiers  sent  by  Velasquez  to  reinforce 
Narvaez? — What  other  reinforcement  old  Cor- 
tes receive  ? — What  occasioned  their  joining 
him  ?— What  reinforcement  did  he  receive  from 
Spain  '.' — What  was  now  the  amount  of  his 
armv? 

Page  243. 

Whom  did  Cortes  now  dismiss  ?— What 
number  of  soldiers  and  guns  did  he  then  mus- 
ter?— Of  Flas^alans  and  other  friendly  In- 
dians ?— When  did  he  begin  his  march  towards, 
Mexico  ? — Who  had  succeeded  Montezuma? — 
How  had  he  shown  his  courage  and  capacity  ? 
—What  preparations  had  he  made  lor  resisting 
the  renewed  attack  of  the  Spaniards  ? — Had 
he  succeeded  in  gaining  Ihe  Flascalans  ? — 
What  happened  in  the  midst  of  his  prepara- 
tions?—Who  succeeded  Quetlavaca? 

Page  244. 

Of  what  city  did  Cortes  take  possession  ? — 
Where  was  it  situated  ? — How  did  Cortes  se- 
cure his  possession  of  this  place?— Was  he 
ready  to  attack  the  city  ? — How  did  he  employ 
his  troops?— What  was  the  condition  of  mos'. 
of  the  cities  adjacent  to  the  city  of  Mexico  ?— 
How  did  Cortes  prevail  on  several  of  them  to 
acknowledge  the  king  of  Castile  as  their  sove- 
reign?—Did  Guatimozin  attempt  to  prevent 
this? 

Page  245. 

What  soldiers  formed  a  conspiracy  in  the 
Spanish  ca;np? — Who  headed  it? — How  far 
had  it  proceeded  ?— How  was  it  betrayed  ? — 
How  suppressed  .' — By  what  stroke  of  policy 
did  Cortes  retain  the  allegiance  of  all  the  sur- 
viving conspirators  ? 

Page  246. 

Whom  did  Cortes  send  to  bring  down  the 
materials  for  the  brigantines  to  the  lake?— 
With  what  force  ?~What  did  these  materials 
consist  of? — In  what  manner  were  they  con- 
veyed ?  —  By  how  many  Tameues  ?  —  What 
were  the  Tamenes  ?— How  did  they  carry  these 


heavy  articles  ?— How  far  did  the  company  ex- 
tend when  most  scattered? — Did  they  anive 
safe  at  Tezenco  ? — What  nu  nber  of  men, 
hurses,  and  cannon  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  from 
Hispaniola  ?— How  long  was  the  canal  through 
which  the  brigantines  were  conveyed  from  the 
building-place  lo  the  lake  ?— When  were  they 
launched? — With  what  ceremonies? 

Page  247. 

How  did  Cortes  determine  to  attack  the 
city  ? — To  what  officers  did  he  assign  the  three 
points  of  attack? — What  d'd  he  reserve  for 
himself? — How  did  Alvarado  and  Olid  dis- 
tress the  inhabitants  of  the  city  ?— In  what 
condition  did  they  find  the  towns  which  they 
were  sent  to  occupy  on  the  borders  of  the 
lake  ? — How  did  Guatimozin  attempt  to  de- 
stroy the  Spanish  brigantines  ?—  Describe  the 
attack,  and  its  result. — Of  what  advantage  did 
Cortes  find  the  possession  of  the  lake?— Did 
Cortes  conduct  the  siege  in  a  regular  manner? 
— What  was  done  each  morning  ? 

Page  248. 

What  rendered  this  mode  of  warfare  neces- 
sary ?— How  long  did  Cortes  adhere  to  it  ? — 
How  did  he  then  attempt  to  take  the  city? — 
What  officer  was  charged  to  secure  a  retreat  ? 
— How  ? — How  did  he  discharge  the  duty  ? — 
How  did  Guaiimozin  lake  advantage  of  his 
neglect  ? 

Page  249. 

How  did  he  inspirit  his  men  ?— Describe  the 
consequences  of  this  movement  of  Guatimo- 
zin.—How  many  Spaniards  were  lost? — What 
did  the  Spaniards  observe  in  the  city  at  night  ? 
—How  did  Cortes  bear  his  misfortune? — 
Wtiat  proclamation  did  the  Mexicans  send  into 
the  country  I 

Page  250. 

How  did  Cortes  defeat  this  stratagem? — 
When  the  eight  days  expired,  how  did  the  In- 
dians proceed? — How  many  of  them  joined 
Cortes?— How  did  Cortes  now  pioceed  in  the 
siege? — What  weapons  did  his  men  use?— 
How  did  Cortes  deprive  the  besieged  Mexicans 
of  supplies? — What  were  the  consequences  1 
— How  did  Guatimozin  behave? 

Page  25  J. 

How  much  of  the  city  was  laid  in  ruins? — 
What  did  the  Mexicans  now  design  ? — How 
did  they  endeavour  to  conceal  this  devSign? — 
Who  was  ordered  to  watch  their  movements 
on  the  lake  ? — Relai3  the  capture  of  Guatimo- 
zin.— What  was  his  address  to  Cortes  ? — What 
was  the  effect  of  his  capture  ?—  How  long  had 
the  siege  lasted?— By  whose  aid  did  Cortes 
effect  the  reduction  of  Mexico  ? 

Page  252. 

In  what  were  the  Spaniards  disappointed  ? 
— What  had  Guatimozin  done  with  his  trea- 
sures?— By  what  deed  did  Cortes  sully  the 
glory  of  his  conquest  ?— Relate  the  behaviour 
of  Guatimozin  under  the  torture. — What  was 
the  consequence  of  the  fate  of  the  capital  ? — 
How  far  did  the  Spaniards  penetrate  .'—What 
new  discovery  did  Cortes  now  meditate  * 

Page  253. 

Who  was  Ferdinand  Magellan  ?— Where  had 
he  served  ? — Whither  did  he  go,  on  quitting 
the  service  under  Albuquerque? — What  offer 
did  he  make  to  the  king  of  Portugal  ? — Why 
was  his  suit  refused  ? — How  did  Magellan 
manifest  his  indignation  at  this  treatment? — 
Where  did  he  next  offer  his  project  ?— To  what 


556  QUESTIONS. 


minister  did  he  apply?— What  monarch  or- 
dered an  expedition  to  be  equipped  under  Ma- 
gellan ?— What  titles  were  given  him  ?— When 
did  he  sail?— From  what  port?— With  how 
many  ships  and  men  1 

Page  254. 

Where  did  he  search  for  a  passage  to  India? 
—What  river  did  he  reach  January  12th,  1520? 
—What  led  him  to  suppose  that  lifts  was  the 
long-sought  passage? — What  made  him  re- 
nounce the  idea  ? — Where  did  he  winter  ? — In 
what  latitude  ? — What  events  transpired  there  1 
—In  what  latitude  did  he  discover  the  strait  ? 
— How  long  was  he  in  passing  through  it  to 
the  great  Southern  Ocean  ?— What  name  did  he 
give  to  the  strait  ?— How  long  did  he  sail  north- 
west without  discovering  land  1 — What  did  the 
crews  suffer  1 — Why  did  they  call  the  ocean 
Pacific  ? — What  islands  did  he  discover  March 
6th  1— What  others  ?— What  happened  at  one 
of  them  ? — At  what  place  did  the  expedition 
arrive  November  8th  ? 

Page  255. 

What  surprised  the  Portuguese  there?— 
What  sort  of  cargo  was  put  on  board  the  Vic- 
tory ?— Under  whose  command  did  the  expedi- 
tion return  to  Spain  ?— By  what  route  ?— After 
how  long  a  voyage  ? — Was  this  the  first  voy- 
age round  the  world?— To  whom  belongs  the 
honour  of  these  great  discoveries? — What 
merit  now  belonged  to  Spain  ?— For  what  did 
their  men  of  science  contend? — In  what  trade 
did  their  merchants  engage?— For  what  sum 
did  Charles  V.  give  up  the  rich  commerce  of 
the  Spice  Islands  to  the  Portuguese  ? — Was  it 
ever  recovered  by  Spain? — What  important 
commercial  effects  resulted  to  Spain  from  the 
voyage  of  Magellan  ? 

Page  256. 

l  While  effecting  the  conquest  of  Mexico, 
of  what  was  Cortes  destitute  ?— Who  was 
sent  to  supersede  him  1 — By  whose  influence  ? 
—When  and  where  did  Tapia  land  ?— What 
was  his  character  1 — How  did  Cortes  prevail 
upon  him  to  abandon  the  province? — With 
what  did  he  send  deputies  to  Spain  ? — What 
request  were  they  ordered  to  urge? — At  what 
Juncture  did  they  arrive  in  Spain  ? — How  was 
their  account  received? — What  appointment 
did  the  emperor  give  to  Cortes? — What  au- 
thority had  Cortes  already  exercised? 

Page  257. 

Where  did  he  determine  to  establish  the 
seat  of  government? — Did  he  attend  to  the 
mines  and  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
country  ?— What  did  he  grant  his  officers  ? — 
Did  the  Mexicans  submit  to  their  conquerors 
without  resistance  ? — How  did  the  several  re- 
bellions end  1 — How  were  the  common  people 
treated? — The  chiefs?— How  hiany  were  burnt 
at  once  inPanuco?— By  whose  command?— 
With  the  advice  of  Cortes  ?— What  circum- 
stance heightened  the  cruelty  of  the  scene  ? — 
What  other  horrible  example  of  severity  was 
Cortes  guilty  of  ?— What  was  the  effect  of  these 
examples  on  the  inferior  Spanish  officers? 

Page  258. 

Who  distinguished  himself  by  acts  of  cru- 
elty ? — What  circumstance  probably  saved  the 
Mexicans  from  extermination? — When  were 
the  rich  mines  of  Mexico  discovered  ? — What 
was  then  the  state  of  the  colony  ?— Were  the 
conquerors  ot  Mexico  enabled  to  live  in  ease  and 
splendour? — What  arrangement  did  Charles 
V.  make?— What  was  the  character  of  these 


commissioners  ?— What  representations  did 
they  make  concerning  Cortes  ?— What  effect 
did  these  have  on  the  ministers  ? 

Page  259. 

Did  they  infuse  the  same  suspicions  into 
Charles's  mind?— W, hat  did  he  order?— What 
prevented  the  execution  of  Ponce  de  Leon's 
commission  ? — What  was  its  effect  on  the  mind 
of  Cortes  ? — Were  his  actions  still  misrepre- 
sented to  his  sovereign  ? — What  was  the  con- 
sequence ?— What  did  the  followers  of  Cortes 
advise?— What  did  Cortes  do?— How  did  he 
appear  in  Spain  ?— What  did  he  take  with  him  ? 
—Who  attended  him  ?— How  was  he  received  ? 
— What  honours  and  rewards  did  he  receive  .' 
—  How  was  he  treated  by  the  emperor  him- 
self?—-  Was  he  reinstated  in  his  office  ?— What 
department  was  committed  to  him? 

Page  260. 

To  whom  was  the  supreme  direction  of  civil 
affairs  in  Mexico  given  ? — Who  was  afterward 
made  viceroy  ? — What  effect  did  this  arrange- 
ment have  on  Cortes  ? — What  did  he  now  en- 
gage in  ? — What  befell  the  squadrons  sent  out 
by  him  to  make  discoveries? — What  did  he 
then  do  ? — What  country  did  he  discover  ? — 
When  did  he  return  once  more  to  Spain  ? — 
What  sort  of  reception  did  he  meet  with  ? — 
How  did  the  emperor  treat  him  ? — How  was 
the  rest  of  his  life  passed  ? — When  did  he  die  ? 
—In  what  particulars  did  his  fate  resemble  that 
of  all  the  other  persons  who  had  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  discovery  or  conquest  of  the 
New  World  ? 

BOOK  VI. 

Page  261. 

Who  discovered  the  Pacific  Ocean  ?— What 
was  the  effect  of  this  discovery  on  the  adven- 
turers of  the  16th  century  ?— For  what  pur- 
pose were  several  armaments  fitted  out  ? — 
Under  what  sort  of  leaders  ? — What  opinion 
resulted  from  their  failure? — What  three  per- 
sons resolved  to  execute  Balboa's  scheme  ? — 
Who  was  Pizarro  ? — What  was  his  character  ? 
—Where  did  he  first  serve?— Where  after- 
ward ?— With  what  success  ? 

Page  262. 

Who  was  Almagro? — What  was  his  charac- 
ter?— Who  was  Luque? — Who  authorized 
their  confederacy  ? — What  did  Pizarro  engage 
to  do? — What  did  Almagro? — Luque? — How 
was  the  confederacy  confirmed  ? — Whence  did 
Pizarro  sail  ?— With  what  force  ?— What  re- 
tarded his  progress  ? — Where  did  he  touch  t— 
What  difficulties  did  he  encounter  ? 

Page  263. 

Whither  did  he  retire  ? — Describe  Almagro's 
adventures. — What  wound  did  he  receive  ? — 
After  joining  Pizarro,  whither  did  he  repair  ? — 
For  what  purpose  ? — How  many  men  did  he 
raise  ? — What  bay  did  he  and  Pizarro  reach  ? 
—Where  is  it  ?— What  sort  of  country  did  they 
find? — What  prevented  their  invading  it?— 
Whither  did  Pizarro  retire  ?— Whither  did  Al- 
magro go? — For  what  purpose?— What  pre- 
vented his  succeeding? — What  did  the  gov- 
ernor of  Panama  do  ? — What  advice  did  Al- 
magro and  Luque  send  to  Pizarro  ? 

Page  264. 

What  was  Pizarro's  resolution  ? — How  many 
of  his  men  adhered  to  him  ?— Where  did  they 
stay  ? — How  long  was  it  before  the  governor 
sent  a  vessel  to  their  relief  ?— What  did  Pizarro 


QUESTIONS. 


557 


Induce  the  crew  of  the  vessel  and  his  followers 
to  do? — What  coast  did  they  discover? — 
Where  did  they  land  ?— Where  is  Tumbez  ?— 
What  did  they  find  there?— What  chiefly  at- 
tracted their  notice? 

Page  265. 

After  exploring  the  country,  what  did  Pizarro 
take  with  him  ?— Whither  did  he  then  sail  ?— 
After  how  long  an  absence  ?— What  is  ob- 
served of  Pizarro?— Did  the  governor  of  Pa- 
nama still  discourage  Pizarro's  scheme? — 
Why? — To  whom  did  the  three  associates  now 
resolve  to  apply  ? — What  stations  did  they  re- 
spectively resolve  to  apply  for?— Who  went 
to  Spain  to  urge  their  suit  ? — How  did  Pizarro 
conduct  at  court  ? — How  was  his  scheme  re- 
garded by  the  emperor  Charles  V.  and  his  min- 
isters ?— What  did  he  obtain  for  Luque  ?— For 
Alrnagro  ? 

Page  266. 

What  did  Pizarro  secure  to  himself? — What 
was  the  extent  of  his  territory  ?— Of  his  power 
with  respect  to  his  appointments? — Was  he 
to  be  independent  of  the  governor  of  Panama? 
— What  did  he  engage  to  do  in  return  for  these 
concessions  ? — From  what  port  did  he  sail  ?— 
In  what  manner  ? — Why  secretly? — Who  sup- 
plied him  with  money  ? — Where  did  he  land  ? 
—Whither  did  he  march?— What  were  the 
names  of  the  four  brothers  who  accompanied 
him  ? — Wrhat  was  their  character? — Why  was 
Almagro  offended  with  Pizarro? — How  was 
he  pacified?— On  what  terms  was  the  confede- 
racy renewed?— What  was  their  force  ?— When 
did  Pizarro  sail  ? 

Page  267. 

For  what  purpose  was  Almagro  left  at  Pa- 
nama?— How  long  was  the  voyage? — Where 
did  Pizarro  land  his  troops?— Which  way  did 
they  march  ? — What  difficulties  did  ihey  en- 
counter?— What  amount  of  booty  did  they  gain 
in  Coaque  ? — What  was  the  effect  of  this  suc- 
cess ? — Whither  did  Pizarro  despatch  ships  ?— 
Did  he  use  force,  or  did  he  use  policy  in  re- 
ducing the  natives  ? — How  long  was  he  occu- 
pied in  subjecting  Puna? — Where  is  this 
island  ? — How  long  was  he  detained  at  Tum- 
bez ? — By  what  cause  ? — What  reinforcements 
did  he  receive  ? — Under  what  commanders  ? — 
Where  did  he  establish  the  first  Spanish  colony 
in  Peru  ? — Under  what  name  ? 

.Page  268. 

What  was  the  extent  of  Peru  at  the  time  of 
the  Spanish  invasion  ? — What  was  the  char- 
acter of  its  early  inhabitants? — Who,  accord- 
ing to  their  tradition,  appeared  on  the  banks  of 
the  Titiaca  lake  I — From  whom  did  they  claim 
descent? — For  what  did  they  say  they  had  been 
sent  ?— What  city  did  they  found  ?— What  were 
their  names  ? — What  did  Manco  Capac  teach  ? 
—What  did  Mama  Ocollo  ?— What  did  Manco 
Capac  introduce,  after  teaching  the  arts  of 
civilized  life?— What  was  thus  founded?— 
What  was  at  first  the  extent  of  the  empire  ? — 
What  was  the  nature  of  Manco's  authority  ? 

Page  269. 

How  were  the  incas  regarded  ? — Were  the 
royal  lamily  forbidden  to  ally  themselves  with 
their  subjects  ? —Was  their  despotic  power 
abused  ? — What  was  the  character  of  twelve 
of  their  monarchs  in  succession  ?— Who  was 
their  monarch  when  the  Spaniards  first  visited 
Peru  ? — What  was  his  character  ? — What  king- 
dom did  he  subject  ? — How  did  he  violate  the 
ancient  laws?— When  did  he  die?— How  did 


he  divide  his  empire?— What  did  Huascar  re- 
quire his  brother  to  do  ? — How  did  Atahualpa 
proceed  ? — Which  brother  conquered  ? — What 
use  did  he  make  of  his  victory  ?— Why  did  he 
spare  Huascar  ? 

Page  270. 

What  was  the  state  of  the  empire  when  Pi- 
zarro visited  Peru  the  second  time? — What 
prevented  the  Peruvians  from  resisting  his 
encroachments  ? — Who  sent  to  solicit  his  aid  ? 
—What  did  he  determine  to  do?— Where  did 
he  leave  a  garrison  ? — With  what  force  did  he 
march ?— Towards  what  place?— Who  was 
there  ? — Who  met  him  on  his  march  ? — What 
assurances  did  Pizarro  send  to  Atahualpa  1 

Page  271. 

What  opinions  did  the  Peruvians  form  con- 
cerning the  Spaniards  ? — What  sort  of  recep- 
tion did  the  inca  resolve  to  give  them  ? — Did 
he,  in  consequence  of  this  resolution,  neglect 
good  opportunities  to  cut  them  off? — Where 
did  Pizarro  take  his  station  on  entering  Caxa- 
malca  ? — Whom  did  he  send  to  Atahualpa  ? — 
For  what  purpose  ? — How  were  they  received  ? 
— What  did  they  observe  ?— On  their  return, 
what  did  Pizarro  resolve  to  do7 

Page  272. 

How  did  he  prepare  for  seizing  the  mca  ? — 
In  what  style  did  the  inca  appear  when  he 
came  to  Pizarro's  quarters? — What  part  did 
Father  Valverde  perform  in  this  transaction  ? — 
Describe  his  proceedings; — What  did  he  re- 
quire of  Atahualpa?— Was  his  harangue  un- 
derstood?— What  was  the  inca's  reply? 

Page  273. 

How  did  he  exasperate  the  priest  ?— What 
did  the  priest  say  ?— What  did  Pizarro  do  ?— 
Describe  the  massacre  of  the  people  and  the 
capture  of  the  inca.— How  many  Peruvians 
fell  ?— How  many  Spaniards  ?— How  were  the 
Spaniards  affected  by  their  victory  ?—  How  was 
the  inca  affected  by  his  misfortune  ? — Did  Pi- 
zarro attempt  to  console  him  ? — What  disco- 
very did  the  inca  make  ?— What  offer  ?— Was 
it  accepted  ? 

Page  274. 

How  was  the  gold  collected,  the  inca  being 
a  prisoner  ? — Why  was  not  his  rescue  attempt- 
ed ? — Did  all  tue  Spaniards  remain  at  Caxa- 
malca  ?— What  news  did  Pizarro  hear  ?— What 
number  of  soldiers  did  Almagro  bring  ?— How 
was  the  inca  affected  with  the  intelligence  of 
this  reinforcement  ?— What  news  did  he  hear 
from  his  brother  ?— Why  did  this  alarm  him  ? 
—How  did  he  dispose  of  Huascar?— Did  the 
Spaniards  wait  ibr  the  reception  of  all  the 
promised  treasure  before  dividing  it  ?— How 
much  was  set  apart  for  the  crown  of  Spain  ? 
—  How  much  for  Almagro's  men?— How 
much  remained  for  Pizarro  and  his  men  ? 

Page  275. 

With  what  ceremonies  was  it  divided?— 
How  much  did  each  soldier  receive  ?— Is  there 
any  parallel  for  this  in  history  ?— Why  did  Pi- 
zarro allow  sixty  of  his  followers  to  go  to 
Spain  ?— Did  he  now  grant  Atahualpa  his 
liberty?— What  is  observed  of  this  transac- 
tion?—Was  the  possession  of  Atahualpa's 
person  of  as  great  advantage  to  Pizarro  as 
Montezuma's  capture  was  to  Cortes? — Why 
not?_ What  part  of  Pizarro's  army  was  dis- 
satisfied ?— Why  ? 

Page  276. 

What  did  they  insist  on  ?— What  alarmed 


663 


QUESTIONS. 


Pizarro  *— Who  increased  his  apprehensions  ?  |  the  Peruvians  infest?— What  did  the  men  sf 

-Who  was   .his  miscreant  ?-Why  did   he1-— ••-'•' 

wijh  to  cut  off  Ataliualpa  ?— How  did  Atahu- 
alpa  hasten  his  own  tale?— How  did  Pizarro 
seek  to  cover  the  guilt  of  Atahualpa's  murder ? 
—Who  were  his  judges?— What  crimes  was 
he  charged  with  ? 


Page  277. 

How  did  Philippillo  conduct  during  the  trial  ? 
—What  was  Alahualpa's  sentence?  — How 
was  he  affected  by  it?— What  did  Valverde 
offer  him  for  embracing  Ihe  Christian  faith? — 
How  was  he  put  to  death? — Whom  did  Pi- 
zarro now  invest  with  the  ensigns  of  royalty  ? 
—Whom  did  the  people  of  Cuzoo  acknowledge 
as  inca  ?—  What  was  the  state  of  the  country  ? 

Page  278. 

How  did  the  people  behave  after  Atahualpa's 
death?— How  did  the  general  who  commanded 
for  Atahualpa  in  Quilo  behave?— Were  Ihe 
Spaniards  pleased  with  these  appearances? — 
Towards  what  city  did  Pizafro  march  ? — What 
had  been  the  effect  of  the  return  of  some  of 
his  followers  with  their  gold  to  Panama  ?— 
How  many  men  had  he  now? — Was  he  op- 
posed .' — What  was  the  result  ?— Did  he  take, 
Cuzco  ? — What,  treasures  were  found  there  ? — 
When  did  Atahualpa's  son  die  ?— Who  was 
then  acknowledged  as  inca  ?— What  general 
set  out  to  reduce  Quito  ? 

Page  279. 

What  difficulties  did  he  encounter?— Did  he 
take  the  city  ?-  What  disappointment  did  he 
meet  there?— What  other  general  advanced  to 
attack  Quito  ? — With  ho^v  many  men  ? — Where 
did  he  land  ?— What  route  diu  he  tako  ?— What 
hardships  did  he  suffer?— How  many  men  did 
he  lose  '—On  arriving  at  the  plain  of  Quito, 
whom  did  he  find  opposed  to  him  ?— On  what 
terms  did  Alvarado  agree  to  return  to  Guati- 
mala  ? — What  did  most  of  his  followers  do  ? — 
"Whan  did  Ferdinand  Pizarro  land  in  Spain  ? — 
What  "Was  the  effect  of  his  wealth?— How 
was  he  received  by  the  emperor  1 

Page  280. 

How  were  his  brother's  services  recom- 
pensed ? — How  was  Alrhagro  rewarded  ? — 
How  was  Ferdinand  ? — Did  he  set  out  again 
for  Peru  / — When  Almagro  heard  of  his  pro- 
motion, what  did  he  do? — Who  opposed  him  ? 
What  was  the  effect  of  Francis  Pizarro's  ar- 
rival ?— What  were  the  terms  of  their  recon- 
ciliatiort  ?— To  what  part  of  the  country  did 
Pizarro  now  march? — How  did  he  employ 
himself? 

Page  281. 

Where  did  lie  establish  the  capital  of  the 
empire ?— Where  is  Lima?— Cuzco?— Quito  ? 
— Callao?— Whither  did  Almagro  march? — 
With  what  force ?— What  route  did  he  take? 
—What  was  the  consequence  ?— What  sort  of 
people  did  they  find  in  Chili  ?— Were  the  Span- 
iards completely  victorious  and  successful  in 
Chili? 

Page  282. 

What  recalled  them  from  Chili  to  Peru  ?— 
How  did  Pizarro  find  occupation  for  the  nu- 
merous adventurers  who  flocked  to  Peru  ? — 
How  did  Manco  Capac  take  advantage  of  their 
dispersion  into  different  parts  of  the  empire  ? 
— How  did  he  contrive  to  raise  troops  while 
he  was  himself  a  prisoner  ? — How  did  he  make 
his  escape  ? — How  many  men  did  he  raise  ? — 
Whiat  city  did  he  attack?— Who  defended  it? 
—With  how  many  men  I— What  other  city  did 


these  besieged  cities  suppose  concerning  each 
ner? — How  long  was    Cuzco   invested] — 
Who  commanded  there  * 

Page  283. 

How  did  the  Peruvians  imitate  the  Span 
iards  ?— How  much  of  the  city  did  they  re- 
cover from  the  Spaniards  ? — What  officer  fell 
n  the  siege?— What  Spaniard  appeared  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Cuzco?  -What  had  he  re- 
ceived from  Spain  ? — How  did  he  intejpret  it  ? 
— What  was  his  object  in  coming  to  Cuzco  * 
— Who  endeavoured  to  gain  his  friendship  ? 

Page  284. 

Failing  of  this,  how  did  the  inca  proceed  ?  - 
Did  be  gain  his  object? — How  did  Almagro 
gain  possession  of  the  city  ? — Was  his  juris- 
diction over  Cuzco  acknowledged  ? — Whom 
did  Francisco  Pizarro  send  to  Cuzco  to  relieve 
his  brothers? — With  how  many  men? — On 
what  river  were  they  opposed  by  Almagro?— 
How  did  Almagro  attempt  to  gain  these  men 
and  their  leader  ?— When  he  did  not  succeed 
in  this,  how  did  he  contrive  to  surprise  Alva- 
rado's  camp  and  take  him  ? — What  advice  did 
Orgognez  give  Almagro? — What  prevented 
his  taking  his  advice? 

Page  285. 

What  did  Almagro  do  .' — Was  Pizarro  ac 
quamted  with  the  late  events  at  Cuzco  ? — What 
events  did  he  hear  of  at  one  time  ? — What  was 
his  situation  ? — How  did  he  contrive  to  gain 
lime? — Who  escaped  from  Almagro? — With 
how  many  men  ? — What  proposal  aid  Pizarro 
then  make  to  Almagro  ? — Did  Alrnagro  accede 
to  it  ?—  When  Ferdinand  Pizarro  was  released, 
how  did  Francisco  proceed  ? — What  city  did 
he  design  to  attack?— How  many  men  did  he 
muster  ? — Who  had  command  of  them? 

Page  286. 

By  what  route  did  they  approach  Cuzco  ?- 
Why  did  not  Almagro  cut  them  off  in  the  de- 
files of  the  An.ies? — On  what  plain  did  the 
two  factions  meet  ? — Who  were  assembled  to 
witness  the  battle?— Who  led  Almagro's  ar- 
my ?— Why  did  not  he  lead  it  himself  ?— What 
is  observed  of  the  respective  forces  ?— Of  the 
battle? — What  forces  decided  the  fate  of  the 
day  ? — Who  was  dangerously  wounded  ? — 
Who  were  massacred  ? — How  many  men  fell  ? 

Page  287. 

What  befell  Almagro?— How  did  the  Indians 
behave  ?— What  city  was  pillaged  ?— By  whom  ? 
—Was  much  plunder  obtained  ?— Were  the 
new  adventurers  of  Ferdinand  Pizarro's  army 
satisfied  with  this  plunder  ?—  How  did  he  em- 
ploy them? — For  what  did  the  conquerors  im- 
peach and  try  Almagro? — What  was  his  sen- 
tence?—Did  he  attempt  to  avert  his  fate?— 
How? — How  did  he  die?— At  what  age? — How 
many  children  did  he  leave  1 

Page  288. 

Who  first  carried  the  news  of  the  dissen- 
sions in  Peru  to  Spain  ? — Who  arrived  in  Spain 
afterward  ? — What  did  he  endeavour  to  do  ?— 
Who  was  sent  out  to  settle  the  disputes  of  the 
Spaniards  in  Peru  ?— What  were  his  instruc- 
tions ?— How  was  Ferdinand  Pizarro  treated  ? 
— How  was  Francisco  Pizarro  proceeding  in 
Peru?— How  did  he  proceed  in  parcelling  out 
the  territory  ? 

Page  289. 

To  whom  did  he  assign  the  best  portions  of 
the  country  ?— What  was  the  effect  of  this 


QUESTIONS. 


659 


partiality  ? — How  did  Pizarro's  officers  employ 
themselves  ?— Who  invaded  Chili .'— What  city 
did  he  found  ? — Who  succeeded  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Quito  .'  -In  whose  stead  .'—What  was 
Gonzalo  instructed  to  attempt  ? — Why  1 — With 
how  many  soldiers  di-J  he  set  out  from  Quito  ? 
— How  many  Indians  1 — What  did  they  sutler  ? 

Page  290, 

What  river  did  they  reach  ? — Into  what  does 
it  empty  ?—  Where  is  the  Maragnon  .'--Into  what 
does  it  empty  1 — What  ocean  borders  oil  Peru  ? 
— Wuat  did  they  construct  on  their  arrival  at 
the  banks  of  the  Napo? — Who  took  command 
of  it  '/—With  how  many  men  ?— What  scheme 
did  Orellana  now  form  .' — What  is  said  of  it  ? — 
How  far  had  he  to  sail ? — By  what  rivers  did  he 
reach  the  ocean  ?— How  did  he  obtain  provi- 
sions on  his  way  ? — To  what  island  did  he  at 
last  arrive?— Whither  did  he  then  go  ? — What 
marvellous  stories  did  he  tell  there? — Whal 
was  the  fabulous  region  described  by  him 
called  ? — Have  reason  and  observation  at  last 
exploded  Ore'.lana's  fables  ?— Of  what  extensive 
countries  was  he  the  first  discoverer  ?— How 
was  Gonzaio  Pizarro  affected  on  rioi  liuding 
Orellana  at  the  junction  of  the  Napo  and  Ma- 
ragnon 1 

Page  291. 

How  far  did  he  advance  en  the  Maragnon  in 
search  of  him  ? — How  did  he  hear  of  Oreilana's 
treachery  1 — What  was  the  effect  of  this  news 
on  his  men  ? — Did  Puarro  conse.it  to  return  1 
— How  far  were  thay  from  Quito? — To  what 
extremities  of  famine  were  they  reduced  on 
their  return?— How  many  Spaniards  and  In- 
dians perished  in  this  expedition? — How  many 
relumed  to  Quito? — In  what  condition  ? — Who 
composed  the  discontented  party  in  Peru? — 
Who  headed  them  ? — What  was  his  character  ? 
— What  did  they  plot  ?— Was  Pizarro  warned 
of  it  ? — Did  he  regard  the  warning  ] 

Page  292. 

Who  was  Almagro's  tutor?— What  part  did 
he  take? — Relate  the  story  of  Pizarro's  assas- 
sination.— Atler  the  assassination,  how  many 
conspirators  joined  ihe  nineteen  assassins? — 
Whom  did  they  proclaim  governor? — What 
dwellings  were  pillaged  ? 

Page  293. 

How  many  men  did  Almagro  muster?— 
Whom  did  he  appoint  to  act  as  general? — 
Why  ? — Did  all  the  Spanish  officers  join  Al- 
niagVo?— Why  not?— At  what  city  was  the 
royal  standard  erected  ? — While  tri:s  opposition 
to  Aimagro  was  acquiring  vigour,  who  arrived 
in  Popayan  .' — To  what  city  did  he  march  ? — 
On  learning  Pizarro's  death,  what  did  he  do  ? 
— What  two  commanders  acknowledged  his 
jurisdiction  ? — What  talents  did  Vaca  de  Cas- 
tro discover? — How  did  he  gain  followers? — 
For  what  place  did  Almagro  set  out? — Who 
commanded  there  ? — Whom  did  he  lose,  on  the 
march  ? 

Page  294. 

Did  Holguin  escape  from  Almagro? — Whom 
did  he  join  ? — Who  entered  their  camp  and  took 
the  supreme  command  ?— By  what  right  ? — 
Where  did  he  meet  the  followers  of  Almagro? 
—How  far  from  Cuzco  ?— What  distinguished 
veteran  fought  on  Vaca  de  Castro's  side?— 
Which  side  prevailed  ? — How  many  fought  on 
both  sides  ?— How  many  fell  ?— What  did  Vaca 
de  Castro  do  after  the  battle  ?— What  was  Al- 
magro's fate  1 

Page  295. 
Wag  the  expense  of  the  expeditions  to  Peru 


paid  by  the  Spanish  crown?— By  whom  then  1 
— How  long  were  the  Spaniards  occupied  in 
acquiring  their  possessions  in  America  ?— 
Was  the  crown  entitled  to  claim  much  from 
the  conquerors? — Why  not? — What  was  re- 
served lor  the  crown  ? — What  was  the  great 
object  of  the  conquerors  ?— Had  they  any  thing 
like  well-regulated  government  T— What  evil 
in  particular  required  a  remedy  ?— Were  the 
emperor  Charles  V.  and  his  ministers  anxious 
to  prevent  the  extinction  of  the  Indian  race  * 
—Who  was  at  Madrid  then  ? 

Page  29tf. 

What  representations  did  he  make  to  the 
emperor?— What  treatise  did  he  compose?— 
How  was  Charles  affected  ? — Were  his  views 
confined  merely  to  the  relief  of  the  Indians'' 
— How  did  he  regard  the  conquerors  of  Peru? 
— What  did  he  prepare? — Wh'at  provisions  of 
his  code  of  laws  were  approved  ? — What  re- 
gulations were  disapproved  1 

Page  297. 

Who  remonstrated  against  these  regula 
lions? — What  did  they  say? — Did  Charles 
persist  ?— Whom  did  he  send  to  Mexico? — In 
what  capacity  ? — To  Peru  ? — With  what  title  ? 
— How  was  the  entry  of  Sandoval  into  Mexico 
viewed  ?— Did  the  inhabitants  submit  to  the 
new  laws  ?— Why  ?— Did  Mendoza  and  Sando- 
val agree  to  remonstrate  against  the  new 
laws  ? — Did  Charles  relax,  the  rigour  of  the 
laws? 

Page  298. 

Were  the  laws  as  well  received  in  Peru? — 
Why  not  ?— What  did  the  colonists  say  con- 
cerning the  new  laws  ? — For  what  ,were  they 
ready  ?— How  were  they  diverted  'from  their 
design  ? — What  had  now  become  necessary  ? 

Page  299. 

What  was  the  character  of  the  viceroy  ? — 
How  did  he  proceed  on  landing  at  Tumbez  ? — 
How  was  he  received  ? — What  did  he  declare 
on  entering  Lima  ?— How  did  he  behave  there  ? 
—How  did  he  treat  the  persons  of  rank  in 
Lima  ? — How  Vaca  de  Castro  ? — To  whom  did 
the  colonists  look  for  relief? — What  was  his 
character? — What  considerations  prompted 
him  to  rebel  ? — What  restrained  him  ?— What 
induced  him  to  repair  to  Cuzco? 

Page  300. 

How  was  he  received  ? — To  what  office  did 
the  people  elect  him  ! — What  did  they  em- 
power him  to  do?— What  measures  did  he  take 
under  the  sanction  of  this  nomination  ?— Who 
resorted  to  his  standard  1 — Who  deserted  from 
the  viceroy  to  him  ? — What  had  happened  at 
Lima  ?— Who  had  quarrelled  with  the  viceroy? 
—Which  prevailed?— What  did  they  do  with 
the  viceroy  ? — What  did  the  judges  then  do  ? — 
With  what  intention? — Who  corresponded 
with  Pizarro? — What  adviser  had  Pizarro? — 
What  did  he  wish  Pizarro  to  aim  at? — What 
did  Pizarro  demand  ? 

Page  301. 

When  the  judges  hesitated  to  comply  with 
this  command,  what  did  Carvajal  do  ?— What 
did  the  court  of  audience  do  next  morning? — 
Was  Pizarro's  government  firmly  and  quietly 
settled  ? — Relate  the  circumstances  of  Nugnez 
Vela's  embarkation,  sailing  for  Spain,  and  re- 
turn to  Tumbez — What  did  he  do  on  landing 
at  Tumbez  '—Who  joined  him  ?— Who  put  the 
lieutenant-governor  of  Charcas  to  death,  and 
declared  for  the  viceroy  ? — Against  whom  did 
Pizarro  march  ?— Whither  did  Vela  retreat  T— 


560  QUESTIONS. 

Who  pursued  him  7— Whither  did  he  fly  from  ]  happened  on  the  march  1— How  many  soldiers 
Quito?— Who  now  pursued  him?— To  what  |  had  he  on_  arriving  in_sight  of  Huarina?j~ 
place  did  Pizarro  return  ? 

Page  302. 

Whither  did  he  send  Carvajal  ? — How  many 
men  did  the  viceroy  raise  in  Popayan  ? — By 
whose  assistance  ?— Whither  did  he  march  ?— 
When  did  he  arid  Pizarro  meet  ?— What  was 
the  result  of  the  battle  ?— Who  fell  ?— What 
city  did  Pizarro  enter  in  triumph  ? — Who  de- 
feated Centeno  ? — Where  did  Centeno  conceal 
himself? — What  was  now  the  extent  of  Pizar- 
ro's command  ? — Where  did  he  place  a  garri- 
son?— Where  is  Nombre  de  Dios?— How  did 
Pizarro's  followers  behave? — What  was  the 
substance  of  Carvajal 's  letter  to  Pizarro? 

Page  303. 

Who  seconded  these  exhortations  ?— What 
did  he  attempt  to  demonstrate  ?— To  what  did 
Pizarro  confine  his  views  ? — For  what  did  he 
send  a  person  to  Spain  ? — How  was  Charles  V. 
occupied  during  these  troubles  in  Peru  ? — To 
whom  did  he  leave  the  care  of  providing  a 
remedy  for  them  ? — What  were  the  chief  ob- 
stacles to  the  employment  of  force  in  quelling 
the  rebels  in  Peru  ? 

Page  304. 

What  were  the  different  routes  for  arriving 
at  Peru  ? — Were  they  practicable  at  that  time 
for  an  army  ?— What  remained  for  the  minis- 
ters to  do  ? — Whom  did  the  ministers  choose 
for  an  envoy  to  Peru? — What  was  his  charac- 
ter?—What  did  the  emperor  do  ?— Did  Gasca 
accept  the  appointment  ? — What  did  he  refuse  ? 
—What  title  did  he  accept  ?— What  instances 
of  self  denial  did  he  exhibit  ?— What  sort  of  au- 
thority did  he  require  to  be  invested  with  ? 

Page  305. 

Enumerate  some  of  the  powers  which  he 
demanded  for  himself? — Who  refused  them  ? 
—Who  granted  them  ?— In  what  style  did  he 
set  out  for  the  purpose  of  quelling  a  rebellion? 
— Who  received  him  at  Nombre  de  Dios  ? — 
How?— Why?— Who  received  him  at  Pana- 
ma ?— How  ?— What  did  he  declare  in  both 
places  ? — Who  were  gained  over  to  his  inter- 
est ? — What  exasperated  Pizarro  ? — What  did 
he  resolve  to  do  ?— For  what  purpose  did  he 
send  a  deputation  to  Spain  ?— What  did  these 
persons  require  of  Gasca  ? 

Page  306. 

What  instructions  did  they  carry  to  Hino- 
josa?— What  circumstances  pushed  Pizarro  to 
these  wild  measures  ? — To  what  did  he  trust 
for  continuance  in  power  ? — Was  he  aware  of 
the  disaffection  spreading  among  his  follow- 
ers ? — What  did  Hinojosa  and  his  officers  do  ? 
— What  did  the  deputies  ?— What  news  did 
Pizarro  hear  ? — For  what  did  he  prepare  ?— For 
what  did  he  order  Gasca  to  be  tried?— Who 
acted  as  judge  and  condemned  him? — What 
was  the  object  and  effect  of  this  proceeding? 
—Had  Pizarro  the  power  of  executing  the  sen- 
tence at  this  time  ?— Why  not  ?— How  many 
men  did  he  raise  ?— From  what  places  did 
Gasca  raise  troops  ?WVhen  did  he  detach  a 
squadron  of  his  fleet  to  the  coast  of  Peru? — 
Did  they  'and?— How  did  they  do  more  effect- 
ual service  ?— What  was  the  effect  of  the  offers 
of  pardon  ? 

Page  307. 

Who  emerged  from  his  cave,  and  took  Cuzco 
with  a  few  men  ?— What  was  the  number  of 
soldiers  there?— What  did  most  of  them  do? 
— Whom  did  Pizarro  set  out  to  oppose? — What 


Where  is  Huarina  ?— Where  is  the  lake  of  Ti- 
tiaca? — What  was  the  character  of  Pizarro's 
remaining  troops? — When  did  he  attack  Cen- 
teno ? — What  was  Centeno's  force  ? — What 
was  the  result  of  the  battle? — What  counter 
balanced  this  victory  ?— Who  took  possession 
of  Lima?— Who  landed  at  Tumbez?— With 
how  many  men  ?— What  territory  was  now  in 
Pizarro's  possession  ? — What  was  in  Gasca's  ? 
—Which  way  did  Gasca  march  ?— How  did  he 
behave  ?— Where  did  he  stop  ?— For  what  pur- 
pose? 

Page  308. 

How  many  men  had  Pizarro?— Did  he  listen 
to  Gasca's  offers  of  pardon  ? — Who  advised  him 
to  do  so? — Towards  what  city  did  Gasca 
march? — With  how  many  men?— Why  did 
not  Pizarro  advance  to  meet  him  ? — How  near 
did  Gasca  approach  to  Cuzco  ?— When  Pizarro 
had  marched  out  to  meet  him,  who  chose  the 
ground  ? — What  was  there  unusual  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  Pizarro's  army? — Of  Gasca's? — 
Who  deserted  Pizarro  when  both  armies  were 
ready  to  engage  ? — What  was  the  effect  of  this 
defection  ? — What  did  Pizarro  and  Carvajal 
do? — How  soon  was  their  army  dispersed? — 
What  did  Pizarro  say  to  his  officers  1— What 
answer  did  they  make  ? — What  did  he  do  ? — 
What  befell  Carvajal  ?— How  did  Gasca  use 
his  victory  ? — When  was  Pizarro  beheaded  ? — 
How  did  he  die  ?— How  did  Carvajal  die  ? 

Page  309. 

What  befell  Cepeda  ?— Were  the  adventurers 
to  Peru  hired  soldiers  ?— What  did  each  of 
them  expect  to  do  for  himself? — Were  the 
troops  raised  at  a  great  expense? — Did  the 
chiefs  make  expensive  presents  to  their  offi- 
cers ? — What  did  Gonzalo  Pizarro  expend  in 
raising  a  thousand  soldiers  1 — What  did  Gasca 
expend  in  raising  his  army  ?— What  did  Cepeda 
receive?— For  what?— What  did  Hinojosa  re- 
ceive ?—  For  what  ?— What  was  the  effect  of 
this  wealth  on  the  soldiers? 

Page  310. 

What  was  the  character  of  the  conquerors 
of  Peru  ? — What  was  their  leading  passion  1 — 
Give  examples  of  their  rapacity.— Of  their 
treachery  and  inconstancy. — What  was  the 
effect  of  Pizarro's  death  ? — What  two  objects 
now  occupied  the  president's  attention  ? — How 
was  the  former  of  these  accomplished  ? 

Page  311. 

What  was  the  amount  of  repartimientos  to 
be  distributed  in  consequence  of  Pizarro's 
death  -i — Did  Gasca  reserve  any  of  it  for  him- 
self?— Whither  did  he  retire  to  make  the  dis- 
tribution ?— With  whom  ?— How  did  he  avoid 
the  effects  of  his  impartiality  in  the  distribu- 
tion ? — What  was  the  effect  of  publishing  the 
decree  of  partition  ?— Of  what  was  Gasca  ac- 
cused ? — How  was  this  mutinous  spirit  check- 
ed ? — How  did  Gasca  labour  to  sooth  the  male- 
contents  ?— How  did  he  endeavour  to  strength- 
en the  hands  of  his  successors  ? — What  im- 
provements did  he  make  ? — To  whom  did  he 
commit  the  government  of  Peru?— When  did 
he  sail  for  Spain  ?— How  much  of  the  public 
money  did  he  carry  with  him  ? 

Page  312. 

How  was  he  received  in  Spain  ? — Give  a 
summary  account  of  his  services. — How  did 
the  emperor  receive  him? — To  what  office  was 
he  promoted  ? — How  did  he  pass  the  remainder 
of  hie  days  ? — Did  tranquillity  continue  long 


QUESTIONS. 


56! 


in  Peru  after  Gasca's  departure  1 — What  deso- 
lated tile  country  tor  several  years? — What 
were  the  ultimate  effects  of  these  commotions? 
—To  what  state  was  Peru  finally  brought? — 
Where  is  Peru  ?— How  is  it  bounded  ? — What 
are  its  chief  cities  1— Ports  ? — Mountains  ? — 
Does  it  now  belong  to  Spain  ] 

BOOK  VII. 

Page  313. 

How  did  Mexico  and  Peru  differ  from  the 
other  parts  of  the  New  World?— How  did 
they  compare  with  Europe  ? — Were  the  people 
of  these  countries  acquainted  with  the  useful 
metals?— What  animals  had  the  Mexicans 
reared? — What  had  the  Peruvians  tamed ? — 
For  what  were  the  lamas  useful?— What  are 
considered  very  important  steps  in  the  progress 
of  civilization  ? 

Page  314. 

What  effect  had  the  ignorance  of  these  on 
ttio  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  ? — Which  empire 
was  first  subjected  to  the  Spanish  crown  ? — 
Were  Cortes  and  his  followers  well  qualified 
to  examine  the  government  and  policy  of  Mex- 
ico ? — Why  not  ? — How  was  the  memory  of 
past  events  preserved? — Why  did  the  early 
missionaries  destroy  these  records? — What 
was  the  effect  of  this  piece  of  fanaticism  ? — 
Can  tradition  be  depended  upon  for  a  history 
of  past  events  ?— On  what  writers  must  we 
depend  for  the  particulars  uf  the  Mexican,  his- 
tory ? 

Page  315. 

Was  the  Mexican  empire  of  long  duration  ? 
— How  was  their  country  originally  peopled? 
— When  did  certain  tribes  from  the  north  and 
north-west  enter  New  Spain? — When  did  the 
Mexicans  take  possession  of  the  plain  of  Mex- 
ico?— What  town  did  they  found  fifty  years 
afterward  ? — How  were  they  for  a  long  time 
governed  ? — How  afterward  ? — Who  was  their 
ninth  monarch  ? — According  to  this  account, 
what  was  the  age  of  the  ftlexican  nation? — 
Of  the  monarchy  ? 

Page  316. 

Was  the  right  of  private  property  understood 
in  Mexico  ? — Was  the  distinction  between  real 
and  personal  estate  established  ? — Did  any 
part  of  the  citizens  hold  land  so  as  to  trans- 
mit it  to  their  heirs  ? — What  was  the  second 
mode  of  tenure?— To  what  classes  of  citizens 
did  these  modes  of  tenure  appertain  ? — How 
was  land  divided  among  the  great  body  of  the 
people/ — What  other  striking  circumstance 
distinguishes  Mexico  from  other  nations  in 
America  ? 

Page  317. 

Which  were  the  principal  cities? — Did  Cor- 
tes and  his  followers  exaggerate  the  import- 
ance of  these  cities  ? — How  many  inhabitants 
had  the  city  of  Mexico? — What  is  the  next- 
mentioned  symptom  of  improvement  ? — Does 
it  exist  among  savages? — Did  it  exist  to  any 
considerable  extent  in  Mexico  ? — What  is  the 
next  circumstance  that  merits  attention? — 
Were  the  savage  tribes  of  America  distin- 
guished by  this  characteristic  ? 

Page  318. 

Did  it  exist  in  Mexico? — Who  were  the 
Mayeques .?— Describe  their  situation.— How 
were  the  freemen  treated  ?— How  were  the  no- 
bles divided  ?— Were  their  titles  and  lands  here- 
ditary J — What  mark  of  distinction  between  the 
nobles  and  the  people  existed  ?— What  marks 

VOL.  I.—7J 


of  homage  did  the  nobles  pay  the  king  ?— What 
is  observed  of  the  Mexican  tongue? — Have  the 
Spaniards  described  the  Mexican  government 
and  laws  accurately  ?— What  inconsistency 
appears  in  their  accounts  ? 

Page  319. 

From  what  has  it  arisen  ? — What  was  Mon- 
tezuma's  object? — How  did  he  pursue  it? — 
How  was  Cortes  benefited  by  these  proceed- 
ings ofMontezuma? — Where  can  we  discover 
the  original  form  and  genius  of  the  Mexican 
policy  ?— Who  composed  the  most  respectable 
order  of  the  state  ?— Were  they  all  of  equal 
rank  ?— How  many  inhabitants  were  there  iu 
the  territories  of  each  of  the  first  thirty  no- 
bles ? — How  many  inferior  nobles  were  there  ? 
— What  nobles  levied  taxes  from  their  vassals  ? 
—Did  they  all  pay  military  service  and  tribute 
to  the  emperor  ?— What  policy  is  found  in  this 
view  of  the  Mexican  state?— What  ire  the 
three  distinguishing  features  of  tije  fc-.ntal 
system? — Did  the  system  operate  h»-<-p  as  in 
Europe? — Who  possessed  the  real  and  effect- 
ive power  in  Mexico?— What  constitutional 
restraints  had  the  nobles  imposed  on  the  em- 
peror ? — How  was  the  crown  disposed  of? — 
Wiio  at  first  were  electors  ?— Who  afterward  ? 
—Where  did  the  choice  generally  fall? 

Page  320. 

What  was  the  character  of  the  Mexican 
princes  ? — At  what  particular  appearances  in 
Montezuma's  court  were  the  Spaniards  sur- 
prised ?— How  was  justice  administered  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  empire  I — How  was 
the  government  supported? — How  were  the 
taxes  paid  ? — Where  was  the  produce  of  the 
taxes  collected? — What  use  was  made  of 
them  ?— How  did  people  of  inferior  condition 
and  without  property  pay  their  taxes  ?— What 
evidence  of  civilization  is  found  in  the  Mexi- 
can police  and  public  works? 

Page  321. 

What  improvements  of  polished  life  existed 
in  the  city  of  Mexico  ? — What  is  considered  as 
the  most  decisive  proof  of  Mexican  refine- 
ment ?— Gi\e  examples.— Are  the  Spanish  ac- 
counts of  these  manufactures  probably  exag- 
gerated?— Are  they  contradicted  by  the  exist- 
ing remains  of  Mexican  art  ? 

Page  322. 

In  what  view  are  these  rude  pictures  im- 
portant and  interesting  ? — For  what  were  the 
first  essays  of  this  art  probably  first  used  ?— • 
What  is  this  sort  of  record  called  ?— Where 
do  w  e  find  traces  of  it  7 — For  what  did  the  Indian 
chiefs  use  it  ?— Are  the  Mexican  pictures  su- 
perior to  these  Indian  records  ?— What  could 
the  Mexicans  represent  in  their  pictures  ? — 
Who  has  published  the  best  series  of  them  ? — 
What  does  the  first  part  contain  ?— The  sec- 
ond ?— The  third  ?— Who  has  published  another 
specimen  ? 

Page  323. 

What  do  these  pictures  represent  ?— Do  they 
address  the  eye  or  the  understanding? — What 
may  they  be  considered  ? — Are  they  very  de- 
fective records  ?— To  what  might  the  Mexicans 
have  eventually  arrived?— By  what  steps?— 
Were  they  approaching  towards  writing  ? — 
How  did  they  indicate  a  town  ?— How  did  they 
distinguish  one  town  from  another? — Did  they 
sometimes  indicate  a  particular  town  by  the 
emblem  without  the  house?— How  did  they 
represent  a  king  who  had  made  conquests  ? — 
In  what  notation  did  they  attempt  to  exhibit 
ideai  without  any  corporeal  fbrm  ?— Htfw  di 


562 


QUESTIONS. 


they  represent  a  unit  ?— How  small  numbers  ? 
—How  large  numbers?— To  what  amount  ?— 
What  prevented  a  further  improvement?— 
Are  their  records  any  thing  more  than  picture- 
writin"  ?— How  did  the  Mexicans  divide  their 
vear  ?±How  did  they  make  out  the  complete 
year  ?_ What  did  they  call  these  five  days  ? 

Page  324. 

How  did  they  employ  them?— Were  the 
Mexicans  a  warlike  people  ?— What  was  usu- 
ally their  object  in  war?— How  were  their 
captives  treated  ? — How  was  the  emperor's 
funeral  celebrated?— Were  the  Mexicans  a 
hardy,  laborious  people  ?— To  what  was  their 
weakness  attributed? 

'  Page  325. 

Did  Montezuma  rule  over  the  whole  of  what 
is  now  called  Mexico  ?— Who  possessed  the 
provinces  towards  the  north  and  west?— 
What  other  provinces  were  independent  of  the 
emperor? — Was  there  much  intercourse  be- 
tween the  different  parts  of  the  empire  ?— 
What  proofs  of  this  are  given  ? 

Page  326. 

Had  the  Mexicans  any  money  ?— Is  this  a 
strong  proof  of  barbarism? — Was  money  an 
early  invention  in  the  Old  World  ?—  How 
was  commercial  intercourse  carried  on  in 
Mexico?— What  sort  of  nuts  had  acquired  a 
standard  value  like  that  of  money  ? — What  is 
said  of  the  Mexican  cities  ?— How  is  Tlascala 
described  ?  —What  sort  of  a  structure  was  the 
great  temple  of  Mexico  ? 

,    Page  327. 

Did  the  other  temples  resemble  this  ? — Do 
the  Spaniards  describe  the  emperor's  house 
and  those  of  the  nobility  as  being  magnificent  ? 
— What  reason  is  there  to  doubt  their  state- 
ments ? — From  this  enumeration  of  facts,  what 
is  evident  ? — What  is  no  less  manifest  1 

Paga  328. 

Are  the  Spanish  accounts  of  the  Mexican 
government  and  policy  to  be  considered  sub- 
stantially true?— If  Cortes  had  made  false 
statements  to  the  emperor,  would  his  enemies 
have  contradicted  them? — What  institution  of 
the  Mexicans  is  mentioned  which  had  no  par- 
allel in  Europe  at  that  time  ? 

Page  329. 

In  what  respect  were  the  Mexicans  repre- 
sented as  more  barbarous  than  they  really 
were  ? — What  was  the  character  of  the  Mexi- 
can religion  ?— What  were  the  ornaments  of 
their  temples  ? — What  means  were  employed 
to  appease  the  wrath  of  their  gods? — What 
sacrifices  were  deemed  most  acceptable? — 
What  was  the  effect  of  this  religion  on  the 
feelings  and  character  of  the  people? — How 
long  had  Peru  subsisted  as  an  empire  before 
the  conquest  ? — Under  how  many  rnonarchs 

Page  330. 

What  were  the  quipos? — For  what  were 
they  used  ?— Were  they  still  more  imperfec 
records  than  the  Mexican  pictures?— How 
were  most  of  them  lost  ?— Who  attempted  to 
throw  light  on  the  Peruvian  history  by  means 
of  the  quipos  ? — Did  he  succeed  ? — Is  much 
credit  due  to  the  traditional  stories  of  the  early 
Peruvian  monarchs  ? 

Page  331. 

Is  there  any  satisfactory  statement  concern 
ing  the  real  origin  of  Manco  Capac  and  Mama 
Ocollo?— Who  did  they  pretend  to  be?— How 


far  did  Manco's  successors  extend  their  de- 
mi  riion  ' — On  what  was  the  whole  system  of 
policy  in  Peru  founded  ? — How  were  the  chil- 
dren of  the  sun  regarded  ?— Was  it  a  part  of 
the  people's  religion  to  reverence  the  royal 
family  ? — What  consequences  resulted  from 
these  ideas  ?— What  was  the  badge  of  an  ex- 
ecutive officer  of  the  emperor  ? 

Page  332. 

How  were  all  crimes  punished  in  Pern  ? — 
Why  ?— Did  these  severe  laws  render  crimes 
rare? — What  were  the  principal  objects  of 
worship  among  the  Peruvians? — Is  this  sort 
of  superstition  milder  than  the  worship  of 
imaginary  divinities  ? — Where  have  we  exam- 
ples of  the  two  kinds?— What  were  offered  to 
ihe  sun? — Did  the  incas  offer  human  sacri- 
fices?— What  was  the  national  character  of 
the  Peruvians  compared  with  that  of  the  Mex- 
icans ? 

Page  333. 

Was  the  mixture  of  religion  in  the  Peruvian 
aystem  of  policy  favourable  to  the  character 
of  both  kings  and  people  ? — Were  rebellious 
subjects  and  tyrannical  rulers  equally  rare? — 
For  what  did  the  incas  conquer  ? — How  were 
prisoners  treated? — How  were  thfc  lands  di- 
vided in  Peru? — How  was  the  product  of  the 
first  share  employed?— The  second?— The 
third  ? — How  often  was  the  land  divided  ? — 
How  was  it  cultivated  ? — What  was  the  effect 
of  this  arrangement  on  the  character  of  the 
people  1 

Page  334. 

Was  the  distinction  of  ranks  established  in 
Peru? — Who  were  the  Yanaconas? — Were 
they  numerous  ?— Who  were  the  next  class? 
— Who  were  the  Orejones? — Who  were  the 
head  of  all  ? — To  what  was  this  form  of  soci- 
ety favourable  ? — Were  the  arts  more  advanced 
in  Peru  than  in  Mexico?— What  is  observed 
of  agriculture  in  Peru? — How  did  the  Peru- 
vians provide  for  times  of  scarcity  ? — Is  Peru 
well  watered  ?— How  did  the  Peruvians  water 
their  fields  1 

Page  335. 

Did  they  use  the  plough? — How  did  they 
turn  up  the  earth?— How  were  the  houses 
built  on  the  coast  ? — In  the  mountainous  re- 
gions ? — Do  any  of  their  buildings  remain  ? — 
What  is  observed  of  their  temples  and  pal- 
aces?—What  was  the  extent  of  the  temple 
of  Pachacamac  ?— Describe  it.— What  was  the 
greatest  work  of  the  incas  ? 

Page  336. 

What  was  the  extent  of  these  roads  ? — De- 
scribe their  construction. — Did  the  Spaniards 
keep  this  work  in  repair? — In  what  respect 
did  the  Peruvian  policy  resemble  the  Roman  ? 
— Were  the  roads  of  the  incas  superior  to  any 
work  of  public  utility  then  existing  in  Europe  ? 
— Describe  the  rope  bridges  of  the  Peruvians. 

Page  337. 

What  advances  had  the  Peruvians  made  in 
navigation  ? — How  did  the  Peruvians  obtain 
gold  ? — How  did  they  obtain  silver  ? — How  did 
they  supply  the  want  of  bellows?— What  is 
said  of  their  vessels  and  trinkets  ?— What 
were  the  guacas  ?— What  articles  were  found 
in  them  ? — Did  they  use  copper  ? 

Page  338. 

What  was  the  only  city,  properly  so  called, 
of  ancient  Peru  ? — Are  cities  necessary  to  the 
progress  of  refinement  in  arts  and  manners  T~^ 


QUESTIONS. 


563 


Was  the  separation  of  professions  so  complete 
in  Peru  as  in  Mexico? — What  was  the  onl> 
separate  order  of  artists? — What  other  conse- 
quence followed  from  the  want  of  cities  in 
Peru?— Explain  t'te  connexion  between  com- 
merce and  agriculture. — What  was  the  differ- 
ence between  Mexico  and  Peru  with  respect 
to  commerce  ? — What  was  the  most  fatal  de- 
fect in  the  Peruvian  character  ? 

Page  339. 

How  did  they  differ  from  the  other  Ameri- 
cans in  this  respect  ?— Does  the  same  pacific 
character  still  appear  in  the  native  Peruvians? 
— What  cruel  custom  existed  in  Peru? — What 
was  their  reason  for  it  ? — How  many  were 
sacrificed  on  the  death  of  Huana  Capac? — In 
what  particular  were  the  Peruvians  more  bar- 
barous than  the,  most  rude  tribes  ? — Were  Peru 
and  Mexico  the  only  possessions  of  Spain  in  the 
New  World? — When  were  the  others  con- 
quered?— By  whom  1 — What  provinces  of  New 
Spain  were  never  subject  to  the  dominion  of 
the  Mexicans  ? 

Page  340. 

What  is  said  of  their  soil  and  productions  ? — 
What  circumstance  is  favourable  to  the  in- 
crease of  their  population  ? — What  happened 
in  the  provinces  of  Cinaloa  and  Sonora  in 
1765  ? — To  whom  did  the  Spanish  inhabuants 
apply  for  aid  ! — Why  was  he  at  first  unable  to 
give  it  ?— How  did  he  raise  money  for  the 
war? — How  long  did  it  last  ? — How  did  it  ter- 
minate?— What  discoveries  were  made  during 
the  war? — What  was  discovered  at  Cine- 
guilla? 

Page  341. 

Who  discovered  California? — When? — 
Where  is  it  situated  ? — What  religious  order 
acquired  dominion  over  it? — Why  did  they 
represent  it  as  barren  and  unwholesome  ? — On 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  Spanish 
dominions,  who  was  sent  to  California  ? — 
What  discoveries  did  he  make  ? — What  prov- 
inces are  east  of  Mexico? — What  is  their  ex- 
tent?— What  do  they  produce  in  abundance? 
— After  conquering  Jamaica,  what  was  the 
first  object  of  the  English  ? 

Page  342. 

Where  did  they  make  their  first  attempt  ?— 
Where  did  they  afterward  establish  their  prin- 
cipal station  ?— How  did  the  Spaniards  endea- 
vour to  stop  this  encroachment  on  their  terri- 
tories ? — Have  they  been  co'upelled  to  consent 
to  it? — What  method  did  they  devise  for  ren- 
dering it  of  little  consequence?— Where  are 
Costa  Rica  and  Veragua  ? — What  is  said  of 
them  ?— Where  is  Chili  ?— Who  attempted  its 
conquest .'— Die!  Almagro  succeed  ? — What  was 
the  fate  of  Valdivia  .'—Who  saved  the  remnant 
of  his  army? — What  part  of  Chili  was  con- 
quered by  the  Spaniards  ? — What  part  is  pos- 
sessed by  the  Indians? — What  is  the  extent  of 
Chili  ? — What  is  observed  of  its  soil  and  cli- 
mate? 

Page  343. 

What  is  said  of  its  animals  ? — Its  mines  ? — 
Was  it  neglected  by  the  Spaniards  ? — Through 
what  ports  was  its  commerce  long  carried  on 
with  Spain? — Has  a  direct  intercourse  been 
since  opened  ? — What  are  now  the  chief  ports 
of  Chili  ? — Is  it  a  Spanish  province  at  the  pres- 
ent time.'— What  provinces  are  east  of  Chili? 
— What  mountains  separate  them  from  Chili  ? 
— On  what  viceroyaity  were  they  formerly  de- 
pendent ?— What  is  their  extent  ?— How  is  this 


region  divided  ?— What  country  is  north  of 
Rio  de  la  Plata  ? 

Page  344. 

Where  are  Tucumari  and  Buenos  Ayres?— 
What  is  the  chief  settlement  ?— What  is  the 
most  remarkable  feature  of  the  province  of 
Tucuman  ? — By  what  European  animals  have 
these  plains  been  filled? — What  article  of 
commerce  do  they  furnish? — What  sort  of 
trade  was  carried  on  through  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata  and  Brazil  with  Peru  ?— Where  is  Terra 
Firma  ? — What  is  it  now  called  ? — Where  is 
New  Granada  ?— What  lies  east  of  Veragua? 

Page  345. 

What  are  its  harbours  ?— Which  is  on  the 
east  side? — What  were  they  Called? — Was 
another  communication  to  the  Pacific  opened 
afterward? — Where  are  Carthagena  and  St. 
Martha? — Who  conquered  these  provinces? — 
When? — What  does  the  country  produce? — 
What  is  the  chief  port  ? — What  enriched  this 
place? — What  Spaniard  first  visited  Santa 
Martha?— Why  was  Venezuela  so  called 'I—- 
Upon whom  did  Charles  V.  bestow  the  prov 
ince  of  Venezuela  1 — For  what  ? 

Page  346. 

On  what  condition? — To  whom  did  they 
commit  the  execution  of  their  plan? — How 
did  they  proceed? — What  was  the  conse- 
quence ? — To  whom  did  the  province  revert  I — 
What  were  the  other  Spanishjprovinces  on  the 
north  coast  of  South  America? — Where  are 
they  situated  ? — Who  conquered  New  Grana- 
da?—When?— What  rendered  UK  conquest 
difficult? — What  renders  the  climate  of  New 
Granada  temperate?— How  is  gold  obtained 
there? — Who  are  employed  in  finding  it? — 
Why  are  the  negroes  unfit  for  mining  ? 

Page  347. 

What  facts  are  mentioned  illustrating  the 
wealth  of  New  Granada?— To  what  country 
does  New  Granada  now  belong  ? — Is  it  now  a 
Spanish  province  ] 

BOOK  VIII. 

To  what  objects  does  the  historian  now  di- 
rect our  attention  ?— What  was  the  first  conse- 
quence of  the  establishment  of  the  Spaniards 
America? — What  was  the  first  cause  of 
depopulation  ? — Where  was  it  first  experi- 
enced ? — What  was  there  besides  war  to  cause 
the  depopulation  of  these  countries? — How 
were  many  of  the  natives  destroyed  in  Mexi- 
co ? — In  Peru  ? 

Page  348. 

What  was  more  destructive  than  war  to  the 
natives  of  Mexico  and  Peru  .'—What  was  the 
chief  object  of  the  conquerors  of  these  coun- 
tries?— For"  this,  what  did  they  neglect? — 
Where  were  the  mines  situated  ?— Who  were 
employed  to  work  them  ? — From  whence  were 
they  brought  ?— What  was  the  consequence? 
— What  disease  increased  the  evil? — What 
false  charge  is  brought  against  the  Spaniards ? 
— Is  such  a  design  necessary  to  account  for 
the  depopulation  of  Spanish  America? 

Page  349. 

Did  the  Spanish  government  try  to  prevent 
the  destruction  of  lives  among  the  Indians? — 
Why  could  it  not  be  prevented  by  the  govern- 
ment?—To  whom  should  the  desolation  of  the 
New'  World  be  attributed?— To  what  other 
cause  is  the  depopulation  of  Spanish  America 


£64 


QUESTIONS. 


unjustly  attributed  ?— What  reasons  are  op- 
posed to  this  ? 

Page  350. 

Whom  did  the  Indians  consider  as  their 
natural  guardians  and  protectors  ?— Are  many 
of  the  Indians  still  left  in  Mexico  and  Peru?— 
In  what  other  provinces  are  they  numerous  ?— 
Hpw  many  were  there  in  New  Spain  in 
Robertson's  time?— What  nations  were  most 
easily  civilized  ?— Were  the  Spaniards  suc- 
cessful in  civilizing  the  most  savage  tribes?— 
What  was  the  condition  of  the  government  of 
Spain  when  Spanish  America  was  settled  ?— 
What  peculiarity  distinguishes  the  Spanish 
from  other  European  colonies? 

Page  351. 

What  was  the  fundamental  maxim  of  the 
Spanish  colonial  policy?— What  was  their 
great  charter  ? — Was  the  power  of  the  Spanish 
crown  over  the  colonies  absolute  ?— How  was 
Spanish  America  at  first  divided?— How  far 
did  the  jurisdiction  of  the  first  division  extend? 
—  The  second? — What  inconveniences  at- 
tended this  arrangement  ?— Where  was  a  third 
viceroyalty  established  ?— How  far  did  its  ju- 
risdiction extend  ? — What  power  did  the  vice- 
roys iK)ssess  ?— What  pomp  of  state  did  they 
exhibit  1 

Page  352. 

In  whom  was  the  administration  of  justice 
in  Spanish  America  vested? — What  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  most  despotic  govern- 
ments?—How  were  the  Spanish  viceroys  re- 
strained from  intermeddling  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  ? — On  whom  did  tne  govern- 
ment devolve  in  case  of  the  viceroy's  death  ? 

Page  353. 

What  was  vested  in  the  council  of  the  In- 
dies 7 — What  laws  originate  in  this  council  ? — 
What  offices  are  conferred  by  it?— Who  were 
accountable  to  it  ? — What  has  been  the  object 
of  the  Spanish  monarchs  I — Where  did  the 
council  meet?— For  what  was  the  Casade  la 
Contratacion  instituted  .'—Where  and  when  ? 
— What  commerce  was  at  first  confined  to 
Seville?  — On  what  river  is  Seville?— What 
are  the  powers  of  the  house  of  trade  ? — What 
was  the  first  object  of  the  Spanish  monarchs  ? 

Page  354. 

Why  did  they  dread  the  intrusion  of  stran- 
gers ? — What  two  kinds  of  colonies  existed  in 
ancient  times? — Give  examples  of  each. — 
Which  kind  speedilv  became  independent? — 
What  did  the  Spanish  monarchs  do  in  Ameri- 
ca?— How  did  they  secure  the  dependence  of 
the  colonies  on  the  parent  state'?— What  were 
the  colonies  principally  employed  about  ? — 
Whence  were  they  supplied  with  manufactured 
articles  and  a  part  of  their  provisions  ?— What 
was  severely  prohibited  in  the  Spanish  colo- 
nies?—Why  ?— What  did  the  colonies  give  in 
exchange  for  clothes,  furniture,  luxuries,  &c. 
imported  from  Spain  ? — What  vessels  monopo- 
lized all  the  commerce  between  Spain  and  her 
colonies  ? 

Page  355. 

What  restrictions  were  laid  respecting  all 
foreigners '!— What  was  the  effect  of  this  policy 
on  the  colonies? — Was  the  progress  of  the 
colonies  slow? — How  many  Spaniards  were 
there  in  all  the  provinces  sixty  years  after  their 
settlement?— What  is  necessary  in  order  to 
promote  a  rapid  increase  of  people  in  any  new 
settlement  ? — Did  the  Spaniards  regard  this  ?— 
What  were  the  encomiendas?— The  mayoras- 


gw?— How  did  they  descend  ?— Were  the  evil 
effects  of  these  extensive  entails  severely 
felt? 

Page  356. 

What  other  severe  burthen  did  the  Span- 
ish colonies  bear  ? — What  articles  paid  tithes  ? 
—Were  the  colonists  liberal  towards  the 
churches?— Who  were  the  chapetones  1  — 
What  offices  were  confined  to  them  ?— What 
was  meant  by  old  Christians? — What  was  the 
character  of  the  chapetones  '< — Who  were  the 
Creoles  1— What  was  their  character  in  Robert* 
son's  time  ? 

Page  357. 

Who  conducted  the  internal  commerce  of 
the  colonies? — With  what  were  the  Creoles 
satisfied  ? — How  did  the  chapetones  and  Cre- 
oles regard  each  other  ? — Did  the  Spanish  court 
encourage  this  hostility  ?— Why  ?— Were  the 
mestizos  and  mulattoes  numerous  ?— What 
were  carried  on  by  them  ? — How  were  the  ne- 
groes mostly  employed? — Were  they  lavou** 
ites  of  the  Spaniards  ? 

Page  358. 

Whom  did  they  hate  ?-- Why  did  the  Span 
iards  encourage  this  hostility? — Which  was 
the  most  depressed  order  of  men  in  the  Span- 
ish colonies  ? — Who  freed  them  from  slavery? 
—When?— What  tax  was  imposed  on  them? 
— Of  whom  was  every  Indian  in  Spanish 
America  a  vassal  ? — To  whom  was  three- 
fourths  of  the  tax  paid  ? — To  whom  was  the 
country  parcelled  out  when  first  conquered  ? — 
For  how  long  a  time  ? — To  whom  did  the  grant 
then  revert  ? — Was  this  a  constant  source  of 
patronage  and  power  to  the  crown? 

Page  359. 

Were  the  Indians  compelled  to  work?— 
Were  they  paid? — In  what  different  occupa- 
tions were  they  required  to  work? — What 
were  the  mitas  ?— What  portion  of  the  people 
of  a  district  might  be  called  out  at  once  in 
Peru? — In  New  Spain,  how  many  could  be 
called  out  in  a  district  ? — How  long  was  each 
mita  kept  in  a  mine  in  Peru  ? — At  what  wages  ? 
— How  were  the  Indians  in  the  principa. 
towns  governed  ? — How  in  their  own  villages  T 
—Was  the  office  of  cazique  hereditary  ?-  What 
was  the  duty  of  the  officer  called  protector  of 
the  Indians  ? 

Page  360. 

How  was  the  tribute  raised  from  the  Indians 
applied  ?— Have  the  laws  enacted  by  the  coun- 
cil of  the  Indies  proved  effectual  remedies  of 
the  evils  they  were  intended  to  prevent? — 
Why  have  they  not  ? — What  wrongs  did  the 
Indians  suffer  in  defiance  of  these  laws? — 
Where  did  these  wrongs  most  abound  ? — For 
what  did  Ferdinand  solicit  Alexander  VI.  ?— 
On  what  condition  did  he  obtain  it  ? — What 
did  Julius  II.  confer  on  the  kings  of  Spain  ? 

Page  361. 

What  was  the  consequence  of  these  grants? 
— In  what  did  all  authority  in  Spanish  America 
centre  ? — What  council  must  approve  of  all 
papal  bulls  relating  to  Spanish  America  ? — 
What  was  the  effect  of  this  limitation  of  the 
papal  power  in  Spanish  America? — Were  there 
archbishops,  bishops,  &c.  in  Spanish  Ameri- 
ca?—How  were  the  inferior  clergy  divided  ? 
—What  were  the  curas?— The  doctrineros? 
— The  missionerot? — Are  the  revenues  of  the 
church  large? — How  is  the  wealth  of  the 
church  displayed? — Have  the  effects  of  the 
monasteries  been  favourable  to  the  count  rv  ' 


QUESTIONS. 


566 


Page  362. 

Are  the  ecclesiastics  of  Spanish  America 
distinguished  for  their  literary  attainments  !— 
Whom  did  the  popes  permit  to  assume  paro- 
chial charges  in  America? — Did  this  increase 
the  number  of  missionaries? — What  honours 
did  many  of  them  gain  ? 

Page  363. 

What  useful  history  was  written  by  the  Je- 
suit Acosta  ?— Were  many  of  the  missionaries 
from  the  European  convents  to  America  of  a 
bad  character? — What  prince  opposed  the 
regulars  ? — Did  he  succeed  ? — What  edict  did 
Ferdinand  VI.  issue  ? 

Page  364. 

Have  the  priests  been  successful  in  convert- 
ing the  Indians  ? — What  imprudent  course  did 
the  first  missionaries  take? — How  many  Mexi- 
cans did  one  clergyman  baptize  in  a  day  ? — 
How  many  Mexicans  were  baptized  in  a  few 
years  .'-—What  was  the  effect  of  this  mea- 
sure?—What  is  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the 
progress  of  Christianity  among  the  Indians? 

Page  365. 

What  did  the  early  missionaries  say  con- 
cerning: the  Indians? — What  did  the  i-ouncil  of 
Lima  decree  ?— Why  had  the  inquisition  no 
jurisdiction  over  the  Indians? — Were  the 
Spanish  colonies  too  large  for  Spain  to  people  ? 

Page  366. 

What  was  the  chief  object  of  the  Spanish 
colonists? — Why  did  they  abandon  many  of 
their  islands? — To  what  countries  did  they 
crowd  ? — When  were  the  mines  of  Potosi  dis- 
covered ? — In  what  other  provinces  were  rich 
mines  discovered  ? — What  amount  of  gold  and 
silver  was  annually  brought  to  Spam  from  her 
colonies  ? — Were  the  mines  worked  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  crown  ? — Who  was  entitled  to 
own  a  mine  ? — On  what  condition  ? 

Page  307. 

Who  were  the  searchers  ?— How  did  they 
proceed?— What  was  the  effect  of  the  rage  for 
mining  on  commerce  and  agriculture? — What 
ought  to  have  been  the  policy  of  the  Spanish 
government  1 

Page  368. 

Are  the  countries  colonized  by  Spain  in 
America  rich  in  other  productions  besides  gold 
and  silver  ?— Where  is  cochineal  produced  ? — 
What  is  it  ?— Where  is  the  Jesuits'  bark  found? 
—Indigo ?— Cacao ?— The  best  tobacco?— Su 
gar  ?— Hides  ? 


Under  what  sovereigns  was  Spain  an  indus- 
trious country? — What  manufactures  did  the 
Spaniards  engage  in? — What  market  had  they 
for  them  ? — How  many  merchant-ships  had 
Spain  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury?— Was  the  sudden  increase  of  wealth 
unfavourable  to  the  Spanish  character  ? — What 
was  its  effect  on  Philip  II.  ?— What  nations 
did  he  annoy  with  hostile  operations  ? 

Page  370. 

What  was  the  effect  of  his  wars  ? — In  what 
manner "flid  Philip  III.  weaken  his  empire? — 
Describe  the  state  of  Spain  in  the  17th  cen 
tury. — What  occasioned  a  still  further  drain 
of  population  from  Spain  ?— Could  Spain  sup- 
ply her  colonies  with  articles  of  necessary 
consumption  ? — From  what  countries  were 
they  smuggled  ?— Where  did  the  wealth  of  the 
New  World  then  go  ? 


Page  371. 

To  what  expedient  was  Philip  III.  driven  ? 
— Has  the  possession  of  her  colonies  proved  a 
source  of  wealth  to  Spain  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  the  colonies  of  other  countries  ?— 
Was  Spain  anxious  to  monopolize  the  trade 
of  her  colonies  .'—How  have  the  Dutch,  Eng- 
ish,  French,  and  Danes  monopolized  th« 
rade  of  their  East  Indian  colonies? — What 
prevented  Spain  from  adopting  this  policy  ? 

Page  372. 

What  regulation  was  adopted  ? — What  was 
the  consequence? — What  were  the  fleets  to 
America  called?— Whence  did  they  sail  at 
first  ?— Whence  after  1720?— What  countries 
did  the  galeons  supply  ? — Where  did  they 
touch  ? — Who  went  to  Santa  Martha  to  trade 
with  them? — Of  what  kingdoms  was  Porto 
Bello  the  mart  ?— Describe  the  fairs  of  Porto 
Bello.— To  what  port  did  the  flota  go?— What 
province  did  it  supply  ?— Where  did  the  fleets 
rendezvous  ? — Whence  did  they  proceed  from 
Havana  ?— Where  is  Santa  Martha  ? — Cart  ha- 
geua?  —  Vera  Cruz?  —  Havana? — Was  the 
whole  commerce  of  Spain  with  her  colonies 
confined  to  these  two  fleets? — What  was  the 
effect  of  this  absurd  arrangement? — What 
profits  did  the  monopolists  of  Seville  arid  Ca- 
diz charge  on  their  goods  ? 

Page  373. 

Is  it  always  the  interest  of  a  monopolist  to 
check  commerce  ? — Why  ? — What  was  the 
amount  of  tonnage  of  the  two  fleets  ? — What 
violent  punishments  for  smuggling  were  pro- 
posed ? — Was  any  remedy  applied  to  the  evils 
under  which  the  commerce  of  Spain  la- 
boured? 

Page  374. 

What  roused  the  energies  of  Spain  ?— What 
nations  engaged  in  the  war,  and  sent  armies, 
fleets,  and  treasure  to  Spain  ? — What  was  the 
consequence  ?— Who  gained  quiet  possession 
of  the  throne  of  Spain  ? — What  privilege  did 
Philip  V.  grant  to  the  Frencn  merchants? — 
How  did  they  use  it  ? — To  what  provinces 
were  they  limited  ?— Did  their  commodities 
find  their  way  to  all  the  other  provinces? — 
What  would  have  been  the  consequence  if 
this  had  continued  ? — Was  it  prohibited,  and 
the  French  merchants  again  excluded  from  all 
Spanish  America?— What  grants  did  Philip 
V.  make  to  Great  Britain  ? 

Page  375. 

Where  were  British  factories  established  ? 
—What  did  their  agents  learn  ?— How  did  the 
English  merchants  profit  by  this?— How  did 
they  abuse  the  grant  concerning  the  ship  of 
500  tons  ? — By  whom  was  nearly  all  the  com 
merce  of  South  America  engrossed  ? — How 
did  this  affect  the  galeons  ? — How  did  Spain 
attempt  to  check  this  illicit  commerce  .'--What 
led  to  a  war  with  England  ?— What  was  the 
consequence? — What  did  the  smuggling  of 
the  English  teach  the  Spaniards  ? 

Page  376. 

What  inconveniences  attended  the  use  of  the 
galeons  andftota  for  supplying  the  Spanish  col- 
onies ? — How  did  Spain  remedy  these  inconve- 
niences?—What  was  theeffect  of  this  arrange- 
ment?—When  were  the  galeons  laid  aside?— 
How  was  the  commerce  with  Peru  ^ud  Chili 
then  carried  on  ?— What  course  did  the  single 
ships  take  ? — Was  this  favourable  to  Peru  and 
Chili? — What  ports  declined  in  consequence 
of  it  ?— To  what  port  did  all  the  register  ships 
return  ?— How  is  chocolate  made? 


565 


QUESTIONS. 


Page  377. 

Is  it  an  article  of  much  commercial  import- 
ance ? — Where  is  the  cacao  raised? — What 
nation  engrossed  much  of  the  trade  in  it  ? — 
Did  they  supply  Spain  with  it? — How  did 
Philip  V.  remedy  rhis  ?— Who  have  profited  by 
this  institution  .'—Where  were  the  register 
ships  of  this  company  obliged  to  deliver  their 
home  cargo  ? 

Page  378. 

Who  exposed  the  defects  of  the  Spanish  co- 
lonial sysiem  ? — What  was  toe  effect  of  their 
writings  .'—How  did  Charles  III.  open  a  regu- 
lar communication  between  Spain  and  the 
colonies? — What  places  did  the  packet-boats 
visit? — What  cargo  were  they  allowed  to 
carry  ?— What  did  Charles  III.  do  in  17G5  ] 

Page  379. 

What  were  the  effects  of  this  measure  ? — 
How  much  did  it  increase  the  trade  of  Cuba  ? 
— Did  its  benefits  extend  to  Spain  ? — What 
was  its  effect  on  the  sugar  trade  ?— What  regu- 
lation existed  with  respect  to  the  intercourse 
of  the  colonies  with  each  other  ? — Was  this 
good  policy  ? 

Page  380. 

What  were  its  effects? — How  was  this 
grievance  redressed  ? — By  whom  ? — What  re- 
forms did  Don  Joseph  Gal vez  effect? — What 
inconvenience;?  resulted  from  the  great  extent 
of  the  three  Spanish  viceroyalties  ?— Where  did 
Galvez  establish  a  fourth  ?— What  did  it  in- 
clude ? — What  two  advantages  resulted  from 
this! 

Page  381. 

Who  was  the  fourth  viceroy  ?— What  part 
ef  the  former  territories  of  Peru  were  under 
his  jurisdiction? — What  change  was  made  in 
New  Spain?— Who  was  intrusted  with  the 
new  government?— What  was  the  object  of 
the  Bourbons  in  Spain  ? — How  did  they  attempt 
to  effect  this  ? 

Page  382. 

Did  the  Spanish  people  learn  the  defects  of 
their  own  commercial  policy  ? — What  did  their 
writers  notice  ? — What  has  been  the  effect  of 
the  rigid  commercial  regulations  of  Spain  ? — 
What  conduct  of  the  revenue  officers  is  no- 
ticad  ?— To  what  extent  was  the  king  de- 
frauded ? 

Page  383. 

Where  is  Manilla  ? — Which  way  from  Aca- 
pulco  ? — What  ocean  lies  between  them  ? — 
When  did  Philip  II.  establish  a  coiony  at  Ma- 
nilla ? — With  whom  did  this  colony  commence 
an  intercourse  ? — With  what  country  did  this 
colony  afterward  open  a  trade? — To  what 
port? — To  what  port  was  it  afterward  re- 
moved ?— What  amount  of  money  did  the  ships 
take  out  to  Manilla  ?— What  did  they  take  back 
to  Acapulco  ? — How  was  Peru  allowed  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  traffic?— Were  the  Peruvians 
afterward  excluded  from  it  .'—Describe  the 
effects  of  this  trade. 

Page  384. 

Is  this  trade  inconsistent  with  the  usuil 
policy  "<"  «?pain?— What  was  the  first  kind  of 
taxes  paid  by  the  Spanish  colonies  to  the  gov- 
ernnunt  of  Spain?  — What  was  meant  by 
right  of  signiory? — What  by  duty  of  vassal- 
age?—What  does  the  second  branch  of  taxes 
comprehend  ?— The  third  ?— What  was  meant 
by  bull  ofcruzado  ? 


Page  385. 

What  was  the  amount  of  annual  revenue 
of  Spain  raised  in  America?— What  domestic 
sources  of  revenue  on  exports,  <fcc.  are  to  be 
added  to  this  ? — Was  the  government  of  the 
Spanish  colonies  expensive? — How  did  the 
viceroys  augment  it?— What  was  the  salary 
of  the  viceroy  of  Peru  ? 

Page  386. 

Of  Mexico  1 — To  what  were  they  raised  ? — 
How  did  the  viceroys  add  to  their  income  ?— 
What  amount  did  a  viceroy  sometimes  receive 
in  presents  on  name-day? — What  officer  ad- 
ministered his  government  without  corruption  ? 
—What  is  observed  of  him  ? 

BOOK  IX. 

Page  389. 

Whose  dominions  in  America  were  next  in 
extent  to  those  of  Spain  ?-  What  was  the  effect 
of  Columbus's  discoveries  on  the  English  ? — 
Under  what  king  was  a  voyage  to  America 
first  proposed? — Were  the  English  qualified  to 
undertake  it?— Why  not?— What  was  then 
their  commercial  character  ? 

Page  390. 

When  did  the  English  first  trade  with  Spain 
and  Portugal  ? — When  did  they  enter  the  Medi- 
terranean ?— To  whom  did  Henry  VII.  com- 
mit the  command  of  their  first  voyage  of  dis- 
covery?—  With  what  powers? — When?  — 
When  did  Cabot  embark  ? — With  how  many- 
ships  and  barks  ?— What  country  did  they  ex- 
pect to  reach  ?— What  island  was  their  first 
discovery  ?— What  did  they  bring  away  * — 
What  part  of  the  coast  did  he  pass  ? — Did  he 
return  without  landing  on  the  continent? — 
What  advantages  did  England  gain  by  this 
voyage  ? 

Page  391. 

What  circumstances  prevented  Henry  VII. 
from  prosecuting  his  scheme  ? — What  service 
did  Cabot  enter? — What  laws  unfriendly  to 
commerce  existed  in  England  ?— What  pre- 
vented Henry  VIII.  from  prosecuting  discove- 
nes  in  America  ? 

Page  392. 

What  prevented  Mary  ?— How  long  was  the 
scheme  neglected  ? — Who  now  employed  Ca- 
bot?—What  places  did  he  visit? — With  what 
places  in  the  east  was  a  trade  opened  by  Eng- 
lish merchants  ?  — What  was  the  favourite 
project  of  the  nation? — What  attempts  were 
made  iii  it? — With  what  success? — What 
fishery  became  an  object  of  attention  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  VI.  ?— What  did  Cabot  pro- 
pose? 

Page  393. 

What  company  was  formed  ? — For  what 
purpose  ? — Who  was  made  governor  of  it  ? — 
What  did  he  fit  out?— Who  took  the  command 
of  the  fleet?— What  befell  Willoughby?— 
Who  escaped  the  storm,  and  arrived  at  Arch- 
angel ?— Where  is  Archangel  ?— How  does  one 
sail  from  England  thither?— Relate  Chance- 
our's  adventures  in  Russia. — What  did  he 
receive  from  the  czar? — Who  was  queen  when 
he  returned  to  England  ?— To  whom  did  she 
write?— What  did  she  empower  Chancelour 
to  do? — To  whom  did  she  grant  the  exclusive 
right  of  trade?— Whither  did  they  push  their 
discoveries  ? 

Page  394. 
By  what  other  channel  did  they  attempt  to 


QUESTIONS. 


667 


open  a  communication  with  the  east? — How 
far  did  their  factors  go?— Where  is  Choras- 
san  ?— What  part  of  Africa  did  the  English 
visit?—  What  did  they  trade  in  ? — With  what 
countries  did  the  English  open  a  trade  in  the 
reigns  cf  Henry  VIII  ,  Edward  VI.,  and  Mary? 
—Who  succeeded  Mary  ?— Did  she  encourage 
commerce  ? — The  navy  ? 

Page  395. 

With  what  sovereign  did  she  cultivate  com- 
mercial relations?— What  company  did  she 
encourage? — What  empire  did  their  agents 
visit?- What  did  they  effect /—What  scheme 
did  the  earl  of  Warwick  set  on  toot?— Who 
took  command  of  the  expedition  ? — What  coast 
did  he  explore? — What  did  Sir  Francis  Drake 
undertake  "—What  coast  did  he  explore?— 
What  did  he  expect  to  find  there?— Was  he 
the  first  Englishman  who  sailed  round  the 
world  ? 

Page  396. 

Had  the  English  hitherto  attempted  to  settle 
a  colony? — What  circumstances  directed  their 
attention  to  the  formation  of  colonies? — Who 
was  conductor  of  the  first  English  colony  to 
America? — Under  whose  auspices? — What 
were  the  terms  of  his  charter? 

Page  397. 

Who  joined  Gilbert ''—What  was  the  fate 
of  his  expeditions? — Of  himself? — What  island 
did  he  take  possession  of? — For  whom  ? — Did 
this  failure  discourage  Raleigh? — When  did 
he  procure  a  patent  ? — Whom  did  he  s^n.l  out  ? 
—What  course  did  they  take  ?— In  what  part 
of  the  country  did  they  make  researches  ? 

Page  398. 

What  island  did  they  take  ?— Where  is  it  ?— 
With  whom  did  they  trade? — What  accounts 
did  they  give  on  their  return? — What  did  Eliz- 
abeth call  the  country  I — Whom  did  Raleigh 
next  send  out? — Wilh  how  many  ships? — 
Whither  did  he  go  .'—Where  did  he  make  ex- 
cursions?—Where  did  he  establish  a  colony? 
— Was  it  a  suitable  place  1— How  many  men 
were  there  in  the  colony  ? — Under  whose  com- 
mand?—Who  was  Hariot?— What  did  he 
effect  ? — What  was  the  object  of  the  colonists  ? 
— How  did  the  Indians  deceive  them  ? — How 
were  they  punished  ? — What  did  the  colony 
now  suffer  ? 

Page  399. 

Who  relieved  them,  and  took  them  home  to 
England  ? — What  sort  of  account  did  Hariot 
give  of  the  country?— What  fashion  did  Lans 
and  his  people  learn  of  the  Indians  ?— Who 
adopted  it  in  England  ? — What  has  been  the 
consequence  ?— What  happened  a  few  days  , 
after  Drake's  departure? — Who    came  with 
three  ships,  and  left  another  colony  at  Roan- 
oke  •'— What  was  its  fate? 
Page  400. 

What  person  did  Raleigh  send  out  next 
year?— With  how  many  ships?— For  what 
purpose  did  White  return  ? — What  prevented 
his  success? — What  was  the  fate  of  the  colo- 
ny?—What  diverted  Raleigh's  attention  from 
Virginia? — To  whom  did  he  assign  the  coun- 
try and  his  patent? — Did  they  settle  the  coun- 
try ?— When  did  Queen  Elizabeth  Jie  ?— Were 
there  any  English  colonies  in  America  then  ?— 
How  long  was  this  after  Cabot's  discovery  of 
North  America? — Was  Elizabeth  favourable 
to  colonization  ? — Why  not  ? 

Page  401. 
Who  succeeded  her?— What  was  now  the 


state  of  things  .'—Who  was  Gosnold  ?— What 
places  did  he  discover  and  name  ? — How  long 
was  his  voyage  ? — What  were  its  effects  ?— 
Where  is  Elizabeth  Island  .'—Nan tucket  ?- 
Martha's  Vineyard?— Cape  Cod  f 

Page  402. 

Who  sent  out  a  small  vessel  ?— For  what 
purpose?— What  account  did  their  messen- 
gers bring  hack  ? — Who  was  Richard  Hak- 
iuyt  ?— What  did  he  publish  ?— W hat  were  the 
effects  of  his  efforts?— How  did  James  I.  di 
vide  the  country  ? — For  what  reason?— What 
grant  did  he  make  to  Gates,  Summers,  and 
HakluyU— To  whom  did  he  give  the  south 
colony? 

Page  403. 

What  sort  of  government  did  he  establish 
for  the  colony  ? — What  p\ivilege,s  with  respect 
to  duties  and  trade  did  he  grant  the  colonists? 
— What  articles  of  this  charter  were  incon- 
sistent with  freedom  ?— What  articles  were 
contrary  to  the  usual  colonial  policy  of  all 
nations  ? — Which  were  the  two  original  parent 
colonies  of  North  America  ? 

Page  404. 

Who  sailed  for  Virginia,  December  19th?— 
With  how  many  vessels  and  men  ? — What 
persons  of  distinction  were  with  him  ? — What 
land  did  he  first  discover? — What  bay  did  he 
enter ! — What  river  ?— How  far  ? — What  town 
did  the  colonists  found  ? — What  is  said  of  it? 
— What  troubles  ensued  ? 

Page  405. 

\Vhat  act  of  injustice  was  done  ?— Who  an 
noyed  the  colony? — What  other  circumstance 
distressed  them  ? — Who  was  chosen  their 
leader?— What  mea.sures  did  he  take?— What 
was  their  effect  ?— What  befell  him?— Whither 
was  he  carried  ? — What  was  his  sentence  ? — 
By  whom  was  it  pronounced  ? 

Page  406. 

Who  saved  his  life?— How?— What  did  she 
afterward  do  ?^ How  many  colonists  did  Smith 
find  on  his  return  to  Jamestown  ? — What  un- 
lucky incident  now  happened  .' — What  was  its 
effect? — What  remedy  did  Smith  propose? — 
How  was  it  executed  ?— What  discoveries  did 
he  make  ?— How  far  did  he  sail  in  his  boat  ? 

Page  407. 

What  is  said  of  his  account  and  map  of  the 
country  ?— On  what  did  the  colony  depend  for 
subsistence? — What  changes  did  King  James 
make  in  the  government  of  the  colony  ? — What 
was  the  consequence? — Who  was  made  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia  ! — What  was  his  character? 
— Who  was  sent  out  from  England? — With 
what  offices  ?— What  befell  them  ?— Who  ar- 
rived at  Jamestown  ? 

Page  408. 

What  was  now  the  state  of  affairs  in  the 
colony  ?— What  had  disabled  Smith  .'— Whither 
did  he  go  T — What  ensued  ? — What  did  the 
colony  suffer  from  the  Indians? — To  what  ex- 
tremities were  they  reduced  by  famine  ? — What 
loss  of  lives  ensued  ? — What  were  the  circum- 
stances of  Gales  and  Summers's  shipwreck  on 
Bermudas  .'—How  did  they  proceed  ?— Where 
did  they  land  May  23d  ?— What  did  they  there 
find? 

Page  409. 

For  what  place  did  they  set  sail?— What 
prevented  their  voyage  to  Newfoundland?— 
Did  they  return  with  Lord  Delaware  ?— How 


568 


QUESTIONS, 


did  Lord  Delaware  proceed  on  his  arrival  at  j  nists  ?— What  did  the  king  require  to  1 3  s«r- 


Jamestown  1— What  were  the  effects  of  his 
administration  ?— What  caused  his  return  to 
England  ?— Who  succeeded  him  ?— Who  su- 
perseded Mr.  Percy  ?— What  sort  of  law  did 
he  introduce  ? 

Page  410. 

How  did  he  exercise  his  power  ?-*-What  new 
privileges  were  granted  in  the  new  charter  of 
1612?— What  territories  were  added  to  Vir- 
ginia?— How  was  the  expense  defrayed? — 
Was  the  lottery  afterward  abolished  ? — By 
whose  interference  ?— What  was  the  effect  of 
martial  law  in  Dale's  hands  ?— With  whom  did 
he  make  a  treaty  1— To  whom  was  Pocahuntas 
married  ?— Whither  did  they  go  ? 

Page  411. 

Where  did  she  die?— Who  are  descended 
from  her? --Was  Rolfe's  example  generally 
followed  ?--What  had  been  the  state  of  landed 
property  in  Virginia  ?— What  was  the  effect  of 
this  i_How  did  Dale  remedy  it  -—What  en- 
sued?— What  did  the  Virginians  now  begin  to 
cultivate  1— Was  it  profitable  ?— To  what  ex- 
tent was  it  cultivated  ? 

Page  412. 

What  evil  effect  resulted  from  this  ?— What 
was  now  the  state  of  the  colony  ? — What  cir- 
cumstance attached  the  colonists  more  firmly  to 
the  country  ? — What  incident  furnished  them 
with  a  new  kind  of  workmen? — Who  called 
the  first  general  assembly  that  ever  was  held 
in  Virginia? — When? — How  many  corpora- 
tions were  represented  in  it? — What  powers 
did  tney  assume  ?— What  made  it  acceptable 
to  the  people  ?— What  was  issued  by  the  com- 
pany, July  24th?— Where  was  the  supreme 
legislative  power  in  Virginia  vested  ? 

Page  413. 


rendered  1 

Page  417. 

Did  the  company  submit  to  these  orders? — 
What  was  doiie  in  general  court,  October 
20th?— What  did  James  than  direct?— Whom 
did  he  send  to  Virginia  ? — For  what  purpose  ? 
—How  was  the  lawsuit  decided  ?— What  does 
Stith  say  concerning  this  measure  ? 

Page  418. 

How  much  had  been  expended  on  the  Vir- 
ginia colony? — What  were  the  annual  receipts 
from  it  ?— How  many  of  the  colonists  sur- 
vived ? — Who  resolved  to  encourage  the  colo- 
ny ?— To  whom  did  James  commit  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colony  ? — What  prevented  his 
making  a  new  set  of  regulations?— Who  suc- 
ceeded James  I.? — What  did  he  declare? — 
Whom  did  he  appoint  governor?— What  did  he 
intend  ? — How  was  Virginia  governed  during 
most  of  Charles's  reign  ? — What  proclamation 
was  issued? — What  was  the  effect  of  this? 

Page  41 9. 

How  was  the  value  of  land  diminished . 
—Who  succeeded  Yardely  ?— What  was  his 
character  ? — How  did  he  behave  ? — How  was 
he  treated  ?— How  were  the  deputies  of  the 
colonies  treated  by  Charles  ? — Whom  did  he 
appoint  to  succeed  Harvey? — What  was  Berke- 
ley's character? — How  long  was  he  governor? 
—What  were  the  effects  of  his  administra- 
tion ? — For  what  was  the  colony  indebted  to 
the  king  ? — What  directions  did  he  give  Berke- 
ley? 

Page  420. 

What  reasons  are  assigned  for  Charles's 
liberal  treatment  of  the  Virginia  colony  ? — For 
what  was  he  solicitous  ? — What  instructions 
did  he  give  Berkeley  lor  this  purpose  ?— To 


How  were  questions  determined?— By  whom  1  what  number  did  the  colonists  increase-— 
could   laws  be  negatived '—By  whom  were    What  instances  of  attachment  to  the  king  were 


negatv 

they  ratified  ?— How  were  the  members  of  the 
colony  afler  this  time  considered? — What  was 
the  effect  of  this  change  ? — With  whom  was  a 
trade  in  tobacco  opened  ? — To  what  did  this 
lead?— What  did  the  parent  state  require? — 
What  did  the  colony  claim  ?— To  what  rivers 
did  the  settlements  extend? — What  conspiracy 
•was  now  formed  ? 

Page  414. 

Who  was  the  Indian  leader? — What  was 
his  character ?— What  tribes  united?— What 
day  was  fixed  for  the  massacre  ? — How  did  the 
Indians  proceed?— How  many  English  were 
cut  off  in  one  hour  ? — What  saved  Jamestown 
and  the  adjacent  settlements  ?— Where  did  the 
colonists  assemble  ? — What  now  occupied  their 
thoughts? 

Page  415. 

How  did  they  execute  their  purposes? — 
What  was  the  effect  of  this  war  on  the  In- 
dians?— On  the  colony? — What  disturbed  the 
general  courts  of  the  company  ? — What  were 
discussed  in  the  general  courts? — How  did 
James  I.  regard  these  proceedings  ?— What  did 
his  ministers  attempt  ? — Did  they  succeed  ? 

Page  416. 

What  did  James  now  design?— What  pre- 
texts had  he  for  dissolving  the  company? — 
What  sort  of  commission  did  he  issue  ?— What 
did  he  order?— What  sort  of  report  did  the 
commissioners  make  to  the  king? — What  in- 
tention did  he  signify,  8th  October? — What 
was  declared,  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  colo- 


given  by  the  Virginia  colonists  ? — What  ordi- 
nance did  the  parliament  issue ?— What  mea- 
sure was  taken  to  enforce  obedience  ? 

Page  421. 

What  colonies  did  they  compel  to  submit  ? 
— Whither  did  the  squadron  then  go  ? — Who 
opposed  them  ? — What  terms  were  gained  in 
consequence  of  his  resistance? — How  did 
Berkeley  then  behave  ? — What  two  laws  did 
the  parliament  make?— What  did  they  pro- 
hibit in  England  ?— How  long  did  the  colony 
remain  quiet  under  Cromwell's  governors  ?— • 
What  persons  came  out  from  England? — What 
was  the  consequence  ? — What  was  done  afler 
Governor  Matthews's  decease  ?— What  boast 
did  the  Virginians  make  ?— How  was  the  news 
of  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  received  in 
Virginia  ? 

Page  422. 

How  did  Charles  II.  treat  the  Virginians  ?— 
What  did  the  act»  of  navigation  provide? — 
What  did  a  subsequent  law  provide  ?— What 
tax  was  laid  ? 

Page  423. 

How  were  these  statutes  regarded  in  Eng- 
land?—How  in  Virginia  ?-^Did  the  colonists 
remonstrate  against  them? — Were  they  suc- 
cessful?— What  measures  were  taken  to  en- 
force obedience?— Did  the  Virginians  elude 
the  laws  ?— With  whom  did  they  trade?— What 
design  did  some  old  soldiers  of  Cromwell 
form? — Who  disconcerted  their  project? — 
What  was  the  cause  of  the  reduction  in  the 


QUESTIONS. 


of  tobacco  ?~What  was  its  effect?— 
Who  annoyed  the  remote  settlements  ? — What 
act  of  Charles  caused  discontent? — What  was 
the  effect  of  all  these  grievances  on  the  colo- 
nists * 

Page  424. 

Who  was  Nathaniel  Bacon  ?— What  was  his 
character ?— How  did  he  behave?— To  what 
office  was  he  chosen?— Who  refused  him  a 
commission  ? — What  proclamation  did  Berke- 
ley issue  ? — To  what  place  did  Bacon  march? 
—What  did  he  demand  ?— Was  it  granted  ?— 
What  did  the  council  prevail  on  Berkeley  to 
do  ? — How  did  they  proceed  when  Bacon  had 
retired  ? — Whither  did  Bacon  march  on  hear- 
ing of  the  proceedings  of  the  council  ?— Whi- 
ther did  Berkeley  flee  ? — Whither  the  council  ? 
— Who  now  had  supreme  power  ? 

Page  425. 

How  did  he  endeavour  to  confirm  it  ? — How 
did  Berkeley  proceed  ? — What  town  was  burnt 
in  the  contest  ?— To  whom  had  Berkeley  ap- 
plied for  aid  1— What  aid  did  Charles  send  ?— 
What  did  Bacon  and  his  party  resolve  to  do  ? 
— What  event  now  happened  ? — What  was 
the  consequence? — What  is  this  insurrection 
called?— How  long  did  it  last?— Whom  did 
Berkeley  call  together? — How  did  they  pro- 
ceed! 

Page  426. 

Who  succeeded  Berkeley  ? — To  what  time  is 
the  history  brought  down  ? — With  whom  was 
peace  concluded  ?— In  what  spirit  was  the 
government  administered  ?— What  oppressive 
law  was  enacted?— Did  the  colony  still  in- 
crease ? — What  diffused  wealth  among  the 
colonists  ? — What  was  the  number  of  the  colo- 
nists at  the  period  when  the  Revolution  in 
England  took  place  in  1688? 

BOOK    X. 

In  what  ports  of  England  did  James  I.  estab- 
lish two  trading  companies  ? — For  what  pur- 
pose?— Which  was  the  more  flourishing? — 
What  gentlemen  belonged  to  the  Plymouth 
company  ? — Where  was  a  settlement  made  in 
1607? 

Page  427. 

Was  it  continued? — Who  went  out  on  a 
trading  voyage  ? — How  did  he  employ  a  part 
of  his  time? — To  whom  did  he  communicate 
his  discoveries?— What  did  Prince  Charles 
call  the  country? — What  cause  now  began  to 
operate  in  favour  of  emigration  ? — What  was 
the  consequence  of  the  Reformation  ? — Of  what 
was  Calvin  an  advocate  ? — What  did  he  ex- 
hibit ? — Where  was  it  copied  ? 

Page  428. 

What  prevented  the  English  from  adopting 
it  ? — Did  the  English  articles  of  religion  con- 
form to  Calvin's  doctrines  ? — In  what  respects 
did  the  English  church  differ  from  Calvin? — 
Was  the  church  and  the  state  policy  connected 
ni  England?  — What  rites  of  the  Catholic 
church  did  the  English  church  retain  ?— How 
did  Queen  Mary  treat  her  Protestant  subjects  ? 
— What  was  the  effect  of  her  persecution  ? — 
Where  did  those  who  fled  from  it  take  refuge  ? 
—When  did  they  return  ?— With  what  feel- 
ings ?— To  what  mode  of  worship  were  they 
attached? — What  did  they  endeavour  to  re- 
form ? — Who  were  disposed  to  co-operate  with 
them  ? — Who  opposed  them  ? — Why  ? 

Page  429. 

What  act  of  parliament  was  passed  ?— Did 
VOL.  I.— 72 


the  advocates  of  a  further  reformation  relin* 
quish  their  design  ? — What  did  they  do  ?— 
What  name  did  they  acquire  ? — Did  they  ac- 
quire influence  among  the  people  ?— What  do 
you  understand  by  conformists  and  noncon- 
formists ? — Was  toleration  understood  at  this 
period  of  history  ? 

Page  430. 

How  were  the  puritan  clergy  treated  by  the 
queen  ?— What  new  court  was  established?— 
Who  attempted  to  check  the  arbitrary  proceed* 
ings  of  the  queen ?— Did  she  silence  them?-* 
To  what  oppressive  act  did  she  compel  them 
to  assent?— What  was  its  effect  on  the  puri* 
tans  ? — How  did  they  retaliate  the  wrongs  they 
suffered  from  the  queen? — Did  the  people 
follow  them  ?— To  what  form  of  church  gov- 
ernment did  the  more  learned  and  sober  puri- 
tans incline?— Who  was  Robert  Brown? — 
What  did  he  teach  ? 

Page  431. 

What  sort  of  government  does  the  historian 
call  that  of  Brown  ? — What  were  his  follow- 
ers called  ? — How  were  they  treated  ? — How 
did  he  end  his  career  ? — Did  his  sect  become 
extinct? — Whither  did  a  body  of  them  fly? — 
Who  was  their  pastor? — What  directed  their 
attention  towards  America  as  an  asylum  ? — • 
For  what  did  they  apply  to  the  king  ? 

Page  432. 

From  whom  did  the  Brownists  obtain  a 
grant  of  land  ? — How  many  of  them  sailed 
from  England  ?— When  ?— Where  did  they  de- 
sign to  land? — II ow  did  their  captain  deceive 
them?— What  land  did  they  first  make?— 
When  ? — What  did  they  suffer  on  the  voyage? 
— Where  did  they  settle? — At  what  season  ? — 
How  many  died  before  spring  ? — Who  attacked 
them  ? — Were  they  repulsed  ? — What  consola- 
tion had  they  ? — What  church  government  had 
they  ?—  What  system  of  civil  government  ? — 
On  what  did  they  attempt  to  found  their  sys- 
tem of  civil  government  chiefly? 

Page  433. 

In  what  did  they  imitate  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians ? — What  was  the  effect  of  this  ? — Was  it 
relinquished  ? — To  what  number  did  they  in- 
crease in  ten  years  ?— What  did  they  obtain  in 
1030  ? — How  must  this  colony  be  considered?—' 
To  what  was  it  afterward  united  ? — To  whom 
did  James  I.  grant  a  new  charter  in  1620  ?-*• 
With  what  powers  ? — What  was  this  society 
called? — Was  it  successful  in  colonization  ?-*- 
What  was  the  situation  of  the  puritans  in  Eng- 
land 1 — Whither  did  they  wish  to  emigrate  ?— « 
Who  formed  an  association  of  puritanical  gen- 
tlemen ? 

Page  434, 

What  did  they  purchase  ?— When  ?— Where 
did  they  seek  and  find  new  copartners  ? — Did 
these  new  proprietors  consider  the  grant  which 
had  been  obtained  from  the  council  of  Ply- 
mouth  a  sufficient  basis  for  the  government  of 
a  colony  ?— To  whom  did  they  apply  for  full 
powers  of  government? — Did  they  succeed  ? — 
To  what  was  this  charter  similar?— Who 
named  the  first  governor? — Who  had  the  right 
of  electing  his  successors  ? — Who  had  the  ex- 
ecutive power? — Who  the  legislative?— What 
exemption  did  they  obtain? — What  was  the 
object  of  the  charter  ? — Did  Charles  see  the 
real  motives  of  the  puritans  ? 

Page  435. 

What  did  he  expressly  provide  for?— How 
many  ships  and  men  were  sent  out  to  New- 
England  ?-Who  accompanied  them  as  spiritual 


570  QUESTIONS. 


teachers?— What  did  they  find  on  their  arri- 
val?—Who  was  Endicott?— Where  were  he 
and  his  followers  settled  ? — What  form  of 
policy  did  the  new  colony  adopt  ?— What  did 
they  elect  ? — Who  seceded  from  them  ? 

Page  436. 

What  inconsistency  were  the  puritans  now 
guilty  of?— What  did  Endicott  do?— What 
part  of  the  colonists  died  in  the  winter  ? — Who 
were  now  compelled  by  Laud's  persecutions  to 
migrate  to  New-England  ?— On  what  did  these 
new  emigrants  insist? — Did  they  gain  their 
point  ? — Does  the  historian  think  that  the  com- 
pany had  any  right  to  transfer  the  government 
of  the  colony  from  England  to  America? 

Page  437. 

What  does  he  suppose  to  have  been  the 
king's  motive  for  permitting  this  transfer  ?— 
Who  were  appointed  governor  arid  deputy- 
governor  ? — How  many  ships  and  people  sailed 
from  England  for  New-England? — In  what 
places  did  they  settle  ?— What  disposition  ap- 
peared in  their  first  general  court  ? — What 
rights  did  they  take  from  the  freemen? — In 
whom  were  they  vested  ? — When  did  the  free- 
men resume  their  rights  ?— What  singular  law 


Page  438. 

What  were  its  effects? — What  destroyed 
many  of  the  Indians  ? — How  was  this  event 
regarded  by  the  colonists  ? — What  innovation 
was  introduced  in  consequence  of  the  great 
spread  and  increase  of  the  colony? — What 
were  the  pretexts  for  it  ? — How  must  the  colony 
henceforward  be  considered  ? 


Who  was  Williams?— What  did  he  raise  a 
controversy  about ':' — How  was  he  punished  ? 
— Who  now  emigrated  to  New-England?  — 
What  was  Vane's  character? — To  what  office 
was  he  elected  ?— To  what  did  he  direct  his 
attention  ? — For  what  purpose  were  religious 
meetings  held  ? — Who  was  Mrs.  Hutchinson  ? 
—What  did  she  establish  ? 

Page  440. 

What  did  she  teach  ?— Who  embraced  her 
opinions? — What  was  the  consequence? — 
How  was  Mrs.  Hutchinson  treated  ?— Whither 
did  Vane  go  ?— What  was  the  effect  of  these 
dissensions ?— Where  did  Williams  settle?— 
What  island  did  his  followers  buy  of  the  In- 
dians?—What  did  Williams  teach?— What 
was  a  fundamental  maxim  of  his  community? 
—What  was  the  form  of  government  ? 

Page  441. 

What  caused  Mr.  Hooker  to  emigrate  from 
Massachusetts  ?— How  many  persons  went 
with  him?— When?— What  towns  did  they 
found? — On  which  side  of  Connecticut  river 
are  Hartford  and  Weathersfield  ? — On  which 
side  is  Springfield  ?— In  what  state  are  Hart- 
ford and  Weathersfield  ?— In  what  state  is 
Springfield  ?— Where  had  the  Dutch  formed  a 
settlement?— Where  had  Lord  Say  and  Sele 
and  Lord  Brook  formed  a  settlement  ?— Where 
is  Saybrook  ?— Did  the  emigrants  from  Massa- 
chusetts get  rid  of  all  these  competitors  ?— Did 
they  become  independent  of  Massachusetts  and 
gain  a  royal  charter  ?— What  provinces  are 


next  considered  ?— What  two  gentlemen  wer* 
the  first  settlers  of  these  provinces  ? 

Page  442. 

Who  was  Mr.  Wheelwright?— Where  did 
he  found  a  town? — What  was  it  called?— 
What  colony  claimed  jurisdiction  over  them  ? 
—What  new  danger  attended  the  colonists  ? — 
How  did  the  people  of  Massachusetts  acquire 
their  lands  ?— What  warlike  tribes  surrounded 
the  settlers  of  Providence  and  Connecticut  ? — 
What  did  the  Pequods  ask  of  the  Narragan- 
Mtal 

Page  443. 

What  prevented  their  uniting  against  the 
common  enemy  ? — What  did  the  Narragansets 
do?— How  did  the  Pequods  proceed  ?— Where 
were  they  repulsed  ? — What  colony  first  mus- 
tered troops? — What  hindered  the  advance  of 
the  Massachusetts  people  ?— What  troops  ad- 
vanced  to  attack  the  Indians  ?— Where  were 
the  Indians  posted?— What  prevented  their 
being  completely  surprised  and  massacred? — 
What  gave  the  English  a  great  advantage  ?— 
Describe  the  action. — What  was  its  result  ? — 
What  was  done  after  the  arrival  of  the  troops 
from  Massachusetts? — In  how  long  a  time 
were  the  Pequods  extirpated  ? — What  was  the 
character  of  the  English  officers  in  this  first 
New-England  war  ? 

Page  444. 

What  was  the  true  character  of  the  war  ?— 
What  was  its  effect  on  the  other  tribes? — 
What  was  the  effect  of  the  persecution  in  Eng- 
land ? — What  was  done  to  prevent  emigration  ? 
— What  individuals  were  prevented  from  em- 
barking for  New-England?— What  remark  is 
made  on  this  important  event  ? — How  many 
persons  embarked  in  1638  ?— How  did  Charles 
resent  this  contempt  of  his  proclamation  ? — 
What  prevented  Charles  from  punishing  the 
colonists  ? — What  happened  on  the  meeting  of 
the  Long  Parliament  1 

Page  445. 

How  many  persons  had  gone  from  England 
to  New-England  between  1620  and  1640?  — 
How  much  money  had  been  expended  on  the 
colony  ? — What  beginnings  of  commerce  ap 
peared  about  the  latter  part  of  this  period  ? — 
Who  distinguished  the  colony  with  peculiar 
marks  of  favour  ? — What  vote  did  the  house 
of  commpns  pass  ? — What  was  its  effect  ? — 
What  return  did  the  colonists  make  for  these 
favours  ?— What  step  did  the  colonies  take  to- 
wards independence? 

Page  446. 

What  stipulations  did  the  contract  contain? 
— Was  this  measure  censured  in  England  ? — 
Why  not  ? — What  act  of  intolerance  and  op- 
pression was  perpetrated  by  the  general  court 
of  Massachusetts? — What  otheract  of  usurpa- 
tion did  they  commit  ? — Did  the  English  gov- 
ernment censure  these  proceedings? — Why 
not  ?— Did  Oliver  Cromwell  favour  the  colo- 
nies of  New-England  ? 

Page  447. 

What  striking  proof  of  his  attachment  did 
he  give? — What  reasons  did  he  offer  in  sup- 
port of  his  scheme  ?— Why  did  the  colonists 
decline  to  comply  with  his  wishes  ? 


VOYAGES,  TRAVELS,  &c. 


A  NARRATIVE  OF  FOUR  VOYAGES,  TO  THE  SOUTH 

SEA,  NORTH  AND  SOUTH  PACIFIC  OCEAN,  CHINESE  SEA, 
ETHIOPIC  AND  SOUTHERN  ATLANTIC  OCEAN,  INDIAN  OCEAN, 
AND  ANTARCTIC  OCEAN.  From  the  year  1822  to  1831.  Comprising 
Critical  Surveys  of  Coasts  and  Islands,  with  Sailing  Directions.  And  an  ac- 
count of  some  new  and  valuable  discoveries,  including  the  Massacre  Islands, 
where  thirteen  of  the  Author's  Crew  were  massacred  and  eaten  by  Cannibals. 
To  which  is  prefixed,  a  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Authors  early  Life.  By  Capt. 
BENJAMIN  MORRELL,  Jun.  8vo.  With  a  Portrait. 

"  We  are  bold  in  saying  that  everybody  will  want  to  read  this  book,  and  our  com- 
rnnriity  will  not  be  slow  in  ranking  the  author  as  the  American  Cook  or  Parry." — 
N.  Y.  Weekly  Messenger. 

"  IX  does  not  often  fall  to  our  lot  to  be  able  to  commend  a  book  of  this  kind  with  as 
much  confidence  as  we  can  Morrell's  '  Four  Voyages.'  ...  It  may  go  in  company 
with  Stuart's  Voyages,  and  Tyerrnan  and  Bennett's  Journal." — Christian  Advocate 
and  Journal. 

"  This  work  is  among  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  of  the  respectable  contributions 
of  American  navigators  to  the  general  stock  of  knowledge  relative  to  the  condition 
of  man.  Its  author  has  traversed  almost  every  sea,  and  visited  every  important  place, 
in  the  southern  hemisphere ;  and,  with  an  eye  ever  watchful  for  interesting  facts, 
and  a  happy  talent  in  recording  them,  he  has  succeeded  in  producing  a  most  in- 
structive volume.  .  .  .  We  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  find  its  way  into  every  library  in 
our  country,  and  secure  a  perusal  from  many  a  '  fireside  traveller1  who  desires  an 
acquaintance  with  the  world  without  venturing  the  perils  of  the  deep." — The 
Presbyterian. 

NARRATIVE  OF  A  VOYAGE  TO  THE  ETHIOPIC  AND 

SOUTH  ATLANTIC  OCEAN,  INDIAN  OCEAN,  CHINESE  SEA, 
NORTH  AND  SOUTH  PACIFIC  OCEAN,  in  the  Years  1829,  1830,  and 
1831.  By  ABBY  JANE  MORRELL,  who  accompanied  her  Husband,  Capt.  Benja- 
min Morrell,  Jun.,  of  the  Schooner  Antarctic.  12mo.  Portrait. 

The  scenes  and  adventures  of  which  Mrs.  Morrell  was  a  witness  were  highly  in- 
teresting in  their  nature,  and  it  is  believed  that  an  account  of  them,  divested  of 
nautical  technicalities  and  descriptions  purely  maritime,  will  be  read  with  pleasure, 
especially  by  readers  of  her  own  sex  and  country. 

THE  TRAVELS  AND  RESEARCHES  OF  ALEXANDER 

VON  HTJMBOLDT  ;  being  a  condensed  Narrative  of  his  Journeys  in  the 
Equinoctial  Regions  of  America,  and  in  Asiatic  Russia  :  together  with  Analyses 
of  his  more  important  Investigations.  By  W.  MACGILLIVRAY,  A.M.  ISrno. 
With  Engravings. 

The  celebrity  enjoyed  by  Baron  Humboldt,  earned  by  a  life  of  laborious  investigation 
and  perilous  enterprise,  and  by  the  most  extensive  contributions  to  science,  renders 
his  name  familiar  to  every  person  whose  attention  has  been  drawn  to  statistics  or 
natural  philosophy ;  and  his  works  are  ranked  among  the  very  first  for  the  splendid 
pictures  of  scenery  which  they  contain,  the  diversified  information  which  they  afford 
respecting  objects  of  universal  interest,  and  the  graceful  attractions  with  which  he 
has  invested  the  majesty  of  science.  The  present  volume  contains  an  abridged  ac- 
count of  all  the  travels  and  researches  of  this  eminent  observer  of  nature,  in  which 
nothing  is  omitted  that  can  be  either  interesting  or  useful  to  the  general  reader,  while 
the  several  narratives  are  sufficiently  condensed  to  bring  them  within  the  compass  jf 
a  convenient  volume. 

NARRATIVE  OF   DISCOVERY  AND  ADVENTURE    IN 

AFRICA,  from  the  earliest  Period  to  the  Present  Time.  By  HUGH  MURRAY, 
Esq.  18mo.  With  Engravings. 


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poets  of  antiquity.  To  them  this  work  will  be. a  treasure." — Sunday  Times. 

"  We  see  no  reason  why  this  work  should  not  find  its  way  into  the  boudoir  of  the 
lady,  as  well  as  into  the  library  of  the  learned.  It  is  cheap,  portable,  and  altogether 
a  work  which  may  safely  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  persons  of  both  sexes." — Weekly 
Free  Press. 

This  work  cannot  fail  to  be  acceptable  to  youth  of  both  sexes,  as  well  as  to  a  large 
portion  of  the  reading  community,  who  have  not  had  the  benefit  of  a  learned  educa- 
tion."— Gentleman's  Magazine,  Dec.  1829. 


BOY'S  AND  GIRL'S  LIBRARY. 

This  course  of  publications  will  more  especially  embrace  such  works  as  are 
adapted,  not  to  the  extremes  of  early  childhood  or  of  advanced  youth,  but  to  that 
intermediate  space  which  lies  between  childhood  and  the  opening  of  maturity, 
when  the  trifles  of  the  nursery  and  the  simple  lessons  of  the  school-room  have 
ceased  to  exercise  their  beneficial  influence,  but  before  the  taste  for  a  higher  order 
of  mental  phasure  has  established  a  fixed  ascendency  in  their  stead.  In  the  selec- 
tion of  works  intended  for  the  rising  generation  in  this  plastic  period  of  their  exist- 
ence, when  the  elements  of  future  character  are  receiving  their  moulding  impress, 
the  publishers  pledge  themselves  that  the  utmost  care  and  scrupulosity  shall  be  ex- 
ercised. They  are  fixed  in  their  determination  that  nothing  of  a  questionable  tend- 
ency on  the  score  of  sentiment  shall  find  admission  into  pages  consecrated  to  the  holy 
purpose  of  instructing  the  thoughts,  regulating  the  passions,  and  settling  the  princi- 
ples of  the  young.  Several  interesting  numbers  of  this  Library  are  now  before  the 
public. 

LIBRARY  OF  SELECT  NOVELS. 

Fictitious  composition  is  now  admitted  to  form  an  extensive  and  important  por- 
tion of  literature.  Well-wrought  novels  take  their  rank  by  the  side  of  real  narratives, 
and  are  appealed  to  as  evidence  in  all  questions  concerning  man.  In  them  the  cus- 
toms of  countries,  the  transitions  and  shades  of  character,  and  even  the  very  pecu- 
liarities of  costume  and  dialect  are  curiously  preserved. 

This  "  Library  of  Select  Novels"  will  embrace  none  but  such  as  have  received  the 
impress  of  general  approbation,  or  have  been  written  by  authors  of  established  char- 
acter; and  the  publishers  hope  to  receive  such  encouragement  from  the  public 
patronage  as  will  enable  them  in  the  course  of  time  to  produce  a  series  of  works  of 
uniform  appearance,  and  including  most  of  the  really  valuable  novels  and  romances 
that  have  been  or  shall  be  issued  from  the  modem  English  and  American  press. 

Sixteen  works,  by  eminent  authors,  have  already  been  published  in  this  Library, 
which  are  sold  separately  or  in  complete  sets. — For  the  titles  see  the  Catalogue. 


551* 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED   BELOW 


RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-25m-6,'66(G3855s4)458 


138573 

E1U3 
Robertson,  W.  R6 

History  of  the 
discovery  &  settlement 
of  America* 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


